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Javier started to walk back toward her, but Chloe threw her hand up to halt him. “No, don’t move. The lighting is perfect and I don’t want to lose my shot.”
The spotlight was nowhere near right, but it was close enough. Javier seemed to struggle for a reason to approach her. Failing that, he returned to his original place. She adjusted the camera lens, tweaking the focus and the aperture. She also awaited the inevitable. They’d gotten this far in the process three times before and each time, Javier had declared the pose wrong for some asinine reason or another. The only thing giving her hope was that the man was beginning to run out of places in the kitchen to stand.
Sure enough, just as she bent to click a shot, Javier threw up his hands. “This feels too awkward. I would never stand like this while cooking.”
Chloe took a deep breath and counted to ten before speaking. “You aren’t cooking. You’re posing for a calendar. The idea of this shot isn’t to show you working, but to capture you in your workplace. You’re the one who chose to take the picture in the kitchen. Trust me. This pose is the best. Now hold still.”
She plastered a fake smile on her face and decided if the asshole wanted to continue to bitch, he’d have to do so while she snapped away. She started clicking despite Javier’s refusal to pose properly. If the bastard thought he was going to blow this shoot and drag her back here again for another attempt, he was sorely mistaken. She’d give money out of her own pocket to send in another photographer. She knew a couple of large, no-nonsense male colleagues who would be only too happy to do her a favor.
Chloe pretended Javier was doing a great job, even though she could see from his tight expression he was trying to come up with a way to stall. “Those are great. Now, what if you pick up one of the kitchen utensils? Grab that silver bowl. Maybe you’d feel better using props.”
Javier hesitated, but Chloe kept snapping. Maybe the gods would take mercy on her and one of the shots would actually look good.
“Perhaps you could show me what you mean.”
It was a deliberate attempt to draw her closer. Chloe wasn’t biting. “You’re the cooking expert. I’m just the photographer. I’m going to switch lenses. Just find a way that feels comfortable and natural.” Chloe bent to grab the lens, intent on making the change as quickly as possible.
When she looked at him once more, Javier was grinning, his pose perfect. Hallelujah. The guy must have caught her hint. She focused and started to snap.
She’d only taken a few pictures when Javier turned around, pretending to reach for a pan hanging from a rack behind him. Chloe took two more pictures before her finger caught up with her brain.
“Where the hell are your boxers?”
Javier glanced over his shoulder, his slimy smile wide. “You said comfortable and natural.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Chloe’s head was beginning to pound, her patience officially gone.
“It would be easier if you came over here and posed me the way you wanted.”
Chloe opened her mouth to inform the idiot the only way this would be easier was if he had a fucking brain, but at that moment, she was saved.
“Hey, Chloe. Whoa,” Blake said, stopping mid-step. “Thought this calendar was PG.”
Elise hovered just behind Blake. She giggled when she caught sight of her boss’s bare ass.
“This is a closed photo shoot,” Javier said furiously as he turned back around, the apron mercifully covering something Chloe really didn’t want to see.
“I’m going to go adjust the menu. There’s no way we’re going to get the tarts made today.” Before she left, Elise glanced at Blake, then gave Chloe an impressed look that said she approved of the cavalry.
Blake walked over to Chloe and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’m going to stick around. I’m Chloe’s assistant.”
Javier’s face went red with frustration and fury. “I’m not comfortable working with another man in the room.”
“I can see why,” Blake murmured.
Chloe wavered between laughing hysterically and crying her eyes out. She’d been running a hundred miles an hour since recovering from the flu. Now she was starting to think a relapse of the illness would be a welcome respite.
“Have your assistant wait outside.” Javier drew out the word assistant to prove he wasn’t buying Blake’s lie.
Blake tucked a stray hair behind her ear before cupping her cheeks in his hands. The action was one of pure possessiveness. He didn’t speak as he studied her face. She wasn’t sure what he saw there. Probably because there were too many things to see. Chloe was tired, frustrated and, if she was being completely honest, somewhat amused by Javier’s ridiculous antics now that Blake was here and she felt safe.
Mercifully, Blake didn’t pick a fight with Javier. Instead, he made it clear that Chloe was spoken for.
Even though technically, she wasn’t.
“Take your pictures, Chloe. I’ll be right outside. How much longer do you need?”
Chloe glanced at Javier and saw the man’s narrowed eyes. The chef didn’t like discovering she wasn’t available.
Even though technically, she was.
“Five minutes.” It would be a miracle if she got a useable shot in that amount of time, but she didn’t trust herself alone with the asshat chef for one second longer than that.
“There’s no way we can finish in five—”
Blake cut off Javier’s complaint. “I’ll be back here in five minutes to help you pack up your stuff.”
“But—” Javier blustered.
Blake tugged his phone out of his back pocket. “I’ll make a few calls while I wait.”
“Thanks, Blake.”
Blake walked out of the kitchen, but from the clomping of his boots, she could tell he hadn’t taken two steps into the other room before he stopped.
“Is that your boyfriend?” Javier asked. “I thought you said you weren’t seeing anyone.”
Foolishly, she had made that comment at their first meeting. She could only assume that was what had triggered open season on Chloe for the guy.
She glanced over her shoulder, certain Blake had remained within listening distance. She’d love to lie and say he was her boyfriend, simply to get the octopus off her back. But, knowing Blake, he’d find some way to make her repay him for that deceit. Probably with sex.
And with that thought, her libido reared its ugly head, assuring her it was a price it was more than willing to pay. It figured the one man who turned her into a raving sex maniac was also the one who’d broken her heart…and her trust.
Chloe simply nodded in response to Javier’s question. Maybe that would cool his engines and Blake would be none-the-wiser about her pretending he was her boyfriend.
“Yes what? Yes, you’re seeing him or yes, you aren’t seeing anyone?”
“Javier, I don’t see why my personal life has any bearing on this photo shoot. I’m here to take your picture for this calendar and that’s it. Now, if you would just put your boxers back on and pick up that whisk, I could—”
Javier was across the room in three long strides. He grasped her shoulders tightly, tugging her against his chest. When he spoke, his voice was quiet enough that Chloe knew he understood how close Blake was as well. “You must know how much I want you, Chloe.”
“Let go of me, Javier. I’m really, really not interested.”
The chef paused and Chloe got the sense he was confused.
“Hasn’t anyone ever said no to you before?” she asked.
He chuckled, the sound husky and deep. “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course not.”
His answer—so completely cocky—made her laugh. Javier released her, joining in her mirth.
She placed her hands in her front pockets. “Wow. You really are something.”
“And yet, you’re not interested?”
She shook her head. “Sorry.”
“Not nearly as much as I am. Your boyfriend is a very lucky man.”
For the first time, Chloe could see why other women would be attracted to the chef. After all, he was rich and famous, and attractive in a tall, boyishly handsome way. He rubbed elbows with Hollywood elite as well as international royalty. And he could cook.
However, none of that was even remotely appealing to her. Her ideal man had dark hair and crystal-blue eyes with a muscular body that wouldn’t stop. He had a charming smile, wicked wit and a tattoo on his upper left arm.
She made herself stop listing attributes. She was describing Blake. Dammit.
“Our time appears to be running out. Shall we try to get in a good shot before your assistant returns?”
Chloe nodded, relieved when Javier tugged his boxers on—though he kept his back turned toward her—making a show of it. Then he turned on the charm for the camera, posing as if he’d walked straight off the pages of GQ. Of all her models thus far, Javier was the most natural, knowing how to highlight his gorgeous features to perfection.
Chloe had only snapped about two dozen shots when Blake returned, but she wasn’t worried. She could probably fill the entire calendar with just the last few pictures of Javier and the thing would sell.
Blake didn’t speak immediately. Chloe wondered if he could sense the tide had turned. She flipped through the images on her viewfinder and, satisfied with the results, she looked at Javier and smiled. “All set.”
