“Okay, I’ll do it,” Justice finally said. When she thought of Blake Savoy she just hoped that she wasn’t making a big mistake.
“W
e got everything settled and are ready to start things rolling now, Blake.”
Blake turned when Tonya and Justice reentered the room. His cousin had a confident smile on her face but Justice still seemed unsure about things. Evidently like him she had decided pretty much to just roll with the flow.
He smiled but his amusement faded the moment his and Justice’s gazes again met and held. Just thinking of how Justice Manning would look wearing those outfits made the air between them hot.
Not liking where his thoughts had gone, he scowled and shifted his gaze to Tonya. He said, probably a bit too briskly, “I’m glad we’re finally getting started since we wasted valuable time already. I’ll get things set up while Miss Manning changes into her first outfit.”
“Justice.”
His gaze shifted back to the woman and watched as her dark brow arched expressively. “What?” he asked.
“It would be easier for you to call me Justice instead of Miss Manning, don’t you think? Especially since you introduced yourself to me as Blake earlier. Besides, there’s no reason for such formality since I feel a part of the Savoy family.”
Blake shrugged. If she thought saying that would make him feel better she had another thought coming. Because of her close friendship with Tonya, she might feel like she was a part of his family, but the truth was that she wasn’t. His body knew that point and he was having a heck of a time getting it under control.
“And I apologize to have wasted your valuable time, Blake,” Justice added.
He frowned at her statement of apology and couldn’t help but note the almost-smile that touched her lips. Tonya had said this woman wouldn’t be difficult but already she was trouble in more ways than one. However, he would deal with it. He placed an almost-smile on his lips as well and said. “Apology accepted. Now if we can get this show on the road I’d appreciate it.”
***
Ten minutes later Justice stared at herself in the full-length mirror of Tonya’s basement bathroom. Although she had supported Tonya in her business venture by making a couple of purchases, her buys had always been what she’d considered as practical items such as robes or long gowns. When she thought of sleepwear for herself, her mind reflected on her supply of extra-large T-shirts and not the sexy, risqué outfit she had on. It was a jaguar print chemise of stretch mesh and lace with matching G-string panties. It had a sexy Tarzan “Jane” hemline that hit high on her upper thighs with a crisscross low-cut back. She thought it fit her body well, too well.
“Girl, you look good in this,” Tonya exclaimed walking around her, giving her the once over and smiling brightly. “This outfit has your name written all over it and is one of the most popular items in my jaguar series of lingerie. You look absolutely stunning.”
Justice shook her head, wanting to groan out loud. Stunning? In her opinion the outfit made it hard for her to even recognize herself. Could displaying your stuff in such an outfit have that much effect? Evidently it did. The print of the outfit made the color of her eyes appear a deep coffee brown and a part of her couldn’t help but wonder what
Blake would think when he saw her.
Good grief
, she thought, tugging at the neckline of her outfit. It was no use. The way the lingerie was made seemed to deliberately nest her breasts so the cleavage showed in a wanton fashion; a deliberate open invitation. She met Tonya’s gaze. “I don’t know about this,” she said doubtfully.
Tonya chuckled and shook her head. “Hey, don’t worry, like I said you look great and as far as Blake is concerned, he’s a professional. But then he wouldn’t be a man if he didn’t notice you at first so don’t sweat things. If I were you I would enjoy the attention. Now get your butt in gear and go on out there. I’ll let Blake know you’re almost ready.”
After Tonya slipped out the door, closing it behind her, Justice buried her face behind her hands, peered through the gap in her fingers to look at herself in the mirror again, then softly said, “Oh, Lawd.”
***
“I’m ready, Blake.”
Blake turned and gave Justice’s face a quick glance before zeroing in on the rest of her. Pulse leaping, his body reacted immediately and he was grateful that he’d had the sense to make sure his shirt was still hanging low.
He breathed in deeply and at the same time wondered if somehow he was dying a slow death. No woman should look that good in an outfit she was supposed to sleep in. The way he saw it, this was an outfit a man was supposed to take off a woman with thoughts of making love to her on his mind. He liked sex, especially the uncomplicated kind, and hadn’t given much thought to just how much he liked it until today.
He frowned. That was a discomforting notion, especially when he thought of the last time he’d made love to a woman. It was hard to believe it had been over a year ago while on a photo shoot in Australia when he’d had an affair with Earlene. She’d been a reporter on assignment for CNN.
Dragging his mind back to the present, Blake took a deep breath and tried to keep his focus off the lower part of Justice’s body as he wondered how he was going to keep things on a strictly professional basis.
“Where’s Tonya?” Justice asked, glancing around.
He sighed. Evidently she was as uncomfortable with the strong sexual chemistry flowing between them as much as he was. “Someone was at the door. A delivery I think,” he responded.
Justice nodded as she glanced over to where reflectors, umbrellas and a camera in a tripod were set up. “Well, I’m ready when you are,” she said, not meeting his gaze. “What do you want me to do?”
Don’t ask
,
Blake thought as he walked over to the tripod to remove the camera.
Trust me when I say that you don’t want to know
, he thought further. “I think Tonya wants a natural effect,” he said, taking the camera firmly in his hand. “And since you’re definitely photogenic, that shouldn’t be a problem.”
Justice lifted an arched brow. He thought she was photogenic? Her gaze flickered to him and she watch as he went about readying the equipment and felt her pulse rate increase as he bent over to adjust something. His jeans stretched tight, doing amazing things to his thighs and butt. There was just something about looking at a well-built man.
She cleared her throat. “Did Tonya say how she wanted me to play out this scene?”
He glanced at her over his shoulder. “Yes, she wants the sexy look on all the pictures. She wants photos of how a man would see you if you were in the bedroom waiting for him and dressed in one of those outfits.”
Tilting her head on the side Justice chuckled. It had been a long time since she’d been waiting for a man in her bedroom. “That may be hard to do.”
He turned to face her and wondered why but decided it would be safer not to ask. “We’re going to use that bed for the first prop. How about reclining on it, close to the edge.”
Justice walked across the room and sat on the bed, and did as Blake instructed she sat close to the edge while placing her body in a reclining position. She watched as he aimed his camera and focused on her through the viewfinder. Seconds later he lowered the camera.
“You look too stiff and your smile appears forced. Try and relax. And each time I snap a picture, slowly change positions, something smooth and easy that won’t necessarily focus on your change of movement but on the outfit you’re wearing. If it will help, think of something pleasant. Something you would like to have.”
Justice smiled, thinking that would be easy since she would definitely like to have him – short term and for the fun of it. For some reason this man made her feel very, very aroused. She blinked, wondering where that thought had come from, then accepted it had come from the innermost workings of her mind and couldn’t be denied. He was an attractive man and she was a woman, one who was strong and independent. She was also a woman who hadn’t been intimate with a man in quite some time – although she didn’t plan to do anything about it. But still, there was nothing wrong with having fantasies and she could imagine one in particular – a single shattering night of passion with the man looking at her with his camera.
Just like he had instructed, each time he triggered the flash, she moved her body, twisting this way and that, smiling seductively and giving him on film what she hoped was a perfect picture of a passionate woman. She tried to convince herself that the reason she was putting everything she had into it was for the women who would purchase the lingerie off Tonya’s Web site, but deep down she knew she was doing it for Blake Savoy.
As he moved back and forth in front of her, she watched him, fascinated by his proximity and swift movements and wondered if he would have similar movements in the bedroom. For some reason she couldn’t push away the carnal thoughts from her mind. Although in front of her he was fully dressed, she was able to drum up images of him naked, his dark skin showing smooth muscles and strong, long limbs.
And she detected the masculine scent of cologne she hadn’t encountered before. It was something woodsy and seductive, a scent that would linger long after the man was gone.
She bit her bottom lip, thinking that she was certainly losing it.
***
Perfect
,
Blake thought
. The woman was perfect at this
.
Perspiration formed on his forehead as he clicked away with his camera, capturing her at different angles, shot after shot, and getting aroused by the second. He felt the huge bulge in his pants and his breath was coming in faster and faster as ideas popped inside his head, one more hot and erotic than the next. His pulse was beating almost out of control but he was determined to capture the very essence of what he was seeing through the lens of his camera.
He wondered what Justice was thinking to have such a sensuous look on her face? He didn’t have to prompt her to move any particular way since she was doing a hell of a job on her own. In fact she seemed to enjoy posing for the camera and playing the role of a temptress in the outfit she was wearing.
He could imagine being the man who came home to find her dressed this way. She would definitely drive a man wild with desire. No man in his right mind would be able to get enough of her beautiful body. Full hips, plump and ripe breasts and voluptuous thighs that would give you a hard-on for days if you didn’t do something about it. And he had a feeling that she would be a fantastic lover in bed. A man would want to keep her on her back for hours... days, he thought, as he continued to click the shutter to the camera rapidly, in quick succession, the same way he would want to take her.
He breathed in deeply knowing he had to end this session before he ran out of film, or really did something stupid like explode in his pants. Slowly, he brought the camera down away from his face. “That’s enough for that scene. You can go change into your next outfit,” he said huskily. “You were great.”
He watched as she blinked twice as if coming back from wherever she had gone and he couldn’t help but wonder where that place had been. It must have been one hell of a sensuous trip and he would have loved to have gone there with her. He wondered if she had a steady man in her life. A lover? Would there be someone special to see her in the outfit she was wearing? What about all the others she planned to be photographed in? Would some man see her in those too?
He shrugged as he watched her sashay off to the room she was using to change in. It wasn’t his concern if she was involved with someone or not. And to be quite honest, he wasn’t really surprised with the way his body was responding to her. He’d experienced lust before, numerous times. He was a hot-blooded male and a Savoy at that.
He sighed deeply, wondering where in the hell Tonya was and what was taking her so long to return. He needed her as a buffer; someone to take the heat off things. With her around he could keep his mind focused on the photographs he was supposed to be taking and not on Justice’s luscious body.
“I’m back. Sorry it took so long,” Tonya said coming down the steps.
Blake smiled. Luckily, someone had heard his prayer. Now there was hope of getting through the evening.
“Okay, I’m ready.”
Hearing Justice’s voice, he glanced around the moment she came out of the room wearing . . .
Ahh hell
.
His heart thumped in his chest and he wondered where a bottle of Jack Daniels was when a brother needed it?
“H
ey, man, you okay?”
Blake looked up into the face of his cousin Tyler. Sweat was pouring down Tyler’s face as well as his own. He and four of his cousins had just finished playing a mean game of basketball and they were all tired, sweaty, and out of breath.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
Tyler grinned. “Because your game could have been better. So what’s going on? Woman trouble? Or were you in the Australian outback too long?”