EroticTakeover (13 page)

Jodi lifted her hands in surrender and backed away. She
busied herself with making them a salad and garlic bread.

Mac babied his spaghetti as though it were his first-born.
He studied her spices and tasted a bit of each before choosing the ones he
wanted to add to his pot.

She noted how he didn’t include onion powder to the mix, nor
any of the fresh onions she’d bought. As though he wanted their breaths to be
sweet for whatever came after dinner.

Her belly fluttered.

During their meal, Jodi kept gushing about his spaghetti,
which wasn’t bad. The pasta was overcooked and he’d added too much sugar for
her taste, but it was edible.

With his head tilted back, Mac held a strand of spaghetti
over his mouth and licked it clean. “I think I put in too much cinnamon.”

“It’s fine.” She patted his hand.

Smiling, he held hers, not letting go even when they’d
finished their food. They stared at each other, neither of them saying a word.
Their kiss happened naturally, their mouths and bodies joined as they stumbled
down the hall to her bedroom and fell onto the mattress.

The springs squeaked loudly from their combined weight. Clothes
flew. Mac snatched his jeans to pull out several condoms. He made love to her
missionary style, their gazes locked, smiles happy.

Because they’d had fun tonight, like the good buddies they
were. Telling herself to be grateful for that, Jodi cradled him in her arms
after they’d climaxed. He snuggled his head between her boobs, his chest
billowing with harsh breaths.

When he calmed down, Mac held Jodi to him and stayed the
night.

* * * * *

One day hurried after the other until it was the end of the
week. Unable to delay the inevitable any longer, Mac emailed Jodi a dozen
photos from her shoot. Six raw. Six Photoshopped.

Let me know what you think
, he’d written.

Mac knew it was weird to email her the shots when the studio
was empty and she was less than thirty feet away. However, he didn’t want to
dwell on the photos. If she was on his lap, he figured they’d go through every
one, reliving what happened during each.

After that, he’d still be reminded of what he had to do.

Mac ran his hand down his face and sighed deeply.

Several minutes passed before he heard Jodi’s footfalls
nearing his door. Already tense, he found it hard to sit still. When the slap
of her sandals stopped, Mac hesitated and looked over.

She frowned. Uncertain whether that was good or bad, he
spoke cautiously, “You don’t like them?”

“Of course I do,” she blurted, her voice trembling. “They’re
beautiful.” She studied him. “Why’d you email them to me?”

“Just being cute,” he lied.

She crossed the room and brushed her lips over his.
“Thanks.”

Mac grabbed her wrist before she could move away. “For being
cute?”

“Making me look good.”

“All I did was point the camera and click.”

Jodi waved her hand in dismissal. “Show them to Quinn,
please.”

Mac released her and nodded.

* * * * *

Mac didn’t get around to emailing the shots until Monday. He
kept letting things get in the way or forgetting the photos until Jodi and then
Quinn brought them up again.

Forty minutes after he’d sent the email to Quinn, the man
was on the line. “You fucking bastard, I want to kill you. I should tear you
apart.”

“Bad day?” Mac asked.

Quinn laughed. An older man, his voice was scratchy from age
and possibly too much booze. “Hell no, it’s not a bad day, it’s shitting great.
Just like last week could have been if you hadn’t dragged your goddamn feet
with these pictures. I love them. She’s perfect. I have to have her as the body
for my line. What’s her name?”

Mac clenched his jaw so tightly his teeth hurt. “You like
the shots.”

“Hell yeah. She’s fucking succulent. My god, her boobs and
ass are giving me a hard—“

Mac pulled the phone away from his ear and pressed his
fingers into the corners of his eyes. His pulse beat so hard he felt as if he’d
sprinted up twenty flights of stairs.

His thoughts kept returning to Jodi’s surprise that Viv
modeled nude when she had kids and a husband. A guy who didn’t seem to mind how
she exposed her body to the world. It was natural. Nothing to be ashamed of.
The argument Mac had given Jodi, his enlightened views just what this goddamn
country needed. Cold, hard logic untainted by need, desire, jealousy.

Love.

He brought his iPhone back to his ear.

“Hey,” Quinn shouted. “Why am I talking to myself? Are you
still there?”

Mac spoke through his teeth. “I am.”

“Email me the final contracts,” Quinn said. “I’ll have my
attorney look them over today so we can—“

“Not going to happen,” Mac said before he knew he would.
“She can’t do it. She’s not available.”

There was a moment’s silence then the sound of Quinn’s
pissed huff. “What do you mean she can’t do it? You just sent me her photos.”

“Her guy doesn’t want her doing it, all right?” Mac shot
back. “He doesn’t want to share her with the fucking world.”

Mac knew he was wrong to think such a thing or to do this,
but he simply couldn’t display Jodi. He realized it now. She’d only agreed to
do this—hell, she’d let him coax her into this because she needed the money.
Modeling Quinn’s shit wasn’t her life. It wasn’t her fucking career.

He didn’t want to share her with anyone and didn’t want to
know why.

“That doesn’t make any fucking sense,” Quinn snapped. “This
is America. Since when do men tell their women what to do and the women
actually listen?”

“She’s not available,” Mac said, calmer now, his decision
made. All he had to do was tell Jodi.

When it came to Mac and her photos, Jodi was beginning to
feel like a nagging wife with an absentminded husband. No, scratch that. With a
man who didn’t hear her any longer or even care about his client.

Mac seemed completely indifferent to whatever Quinn might
have wanted or expected, despite the fact he was a paying customer. Never had
Jodi seen Mac behave like that with anyone else.

Chewing the side of her thumb, she glanced at him. His back
was to her, hair tousled, shoulders dangerously broad. Willow, Samantha and
Nadine certainly seemed to notice his raw male power and heat. Their carnal
hunger didn’t appear to be all show for the camera.

Jodi’s gut twisted with jealousy that she had no business
feeling. At most, she and Mac were friends and fuck buddies. She’d never own
his heart.

On a weary sigh, she dragged her attention away from the
models and brought up her photos, worried that her first reaction might have
been way off. She’d expected them to be horrible and when they hadn’t been, she
might have made more of the shots than she should have.

Braced for disappointment, she forced herself to look at
them again.

The breathtaking angles still stunned, just as they had the
first time. Mac had stood on the stool to shoot her from above then he’d knelt
on the floor to capture her from that position. Both angles had accentuated her
breasts and cunt.

She swallowed.

His lighting created dramatic shadows that spilled across
her pale skin, stopping just short of the crotchless thong, chastity belt,
elaborate cincher and finally the corset-harness, displaying the garments in
exquisite and sensual detail. The nipple rings glinted seductively against her
areolas, the erect tips as rosy as her mouth. She’d used her lip stain on each.

In the Photoshopped images, Mac had lengthened her hair and
changed her eye color to match his baby blues. The tint was a striking contrast
to her black mask, which hid a good portion of Jodi’s features. No one would
ever guess she was the woman in the photos, animal heat in her gaze, her naked
longing the most stunning part of the shots.

This was some of Mac’s best work.

Then again, maybe not. She wasn’t an artist like he was. No
doubt, he’d seen things in these shots that hadn’t pleased him.

Jodi wondered if that’s why he’d kept dragging his feet on
this or if Quinn hadn’t responded because he’d been less than impressed. For
hours, Jodi had expected a call or an email from him to the studio account,
saying the shoot was a go. She was tempted to look in Mac’s email—she had his
password but couldn’t bring herself to use it. That would be like him rifling
through her purse.

Edgy, she watched him work. Not once did Mac glance at her
as he’d done in the past. At those times, he’d reminded her of a little boy
eager for attention, shouting repeatedly, “Look at me. Look at
me.”

She couldn’t focus on anything else.

He sank to one knee, feet bare as always, and squeezed off
his shots. A short time later, while Cait brought a prop to the scene and
Hilary fixed Willow’s makeup, Mac messed with his camera.

Look at me,
Jodi willed him.

As though he’d heard, he turned slightly, his profile to
her, his focus on the front door.

Jodi looked. No one had come inside. She wondered if he was
expecting Quinn and figured that was nuts since they could complete their
transaction without ever seeing each other, unless it was on their respective
webcams.

“It’s nearly three,” Cait suddenly said. “Hilary and I are
hungry.”

“Just a few more,” Mac muttered.

He worked everyone for another half hour before he allowed a
break.

The models slouched on the sofa. Willow called out to Jodi,
“We’ll have our usual. Now. We’re starving.”

Ignoring her, Jodi tried to catch Mac’s eye. He walked past
her desk, seemingly deep in thought. She got up from her desk and followed him
to his office. When she shut and locked his door, Mac turned, surprise not
pleasure racing across his face.

Jodi talked fast. “I hate to keep pestering you about this,
but has Quinn seen the shots?”

Mac turned to Cait and Hilary’s voices just beyond the door
as they walked past, apparently heading to the restroom.

Taking Jodi’s hand, he led her to his chair. “Sit down.”

Her stomach fell. “I don’t want to.”

“Please.”

She sank onto his chair, her legs too spongy to hold her.
Mac went to one knee at her side, his hand on her leg. She sagged back.

“He didn’t like the shots, did he?”

“Actually he did. Very much.”

Jodi’s mouth fell open then closed just as quickly. Not
certain she’d heard him correctly, she asked, “He thought they were good?”

“Yep.”

She grinned. Mac didn’t. Her stomach cramped again.

“What’s wrong?”

He watched his forefinger draw lazy circles on her thigh.
“He thinks you’re beautiful, which you are, but he’s going with another model.”

Huh? “Why?”

At last, Mac lifted his face to hers, his expression so neutral
his feelings were impossible to read. The obvious tension in his body was
another matter. Jodi sensed he had something to tell her that she might not
want to hear.

“Go on,” she prodded. “I want to know.”

He glanced past her, clearly stalling while he figured out
what to say.

“Please,” she begged. “Just tell—“

“It’s no big deal,” he interrupted then paused, his
expression suddenly pained as if he didn’t know what to say or how to go on.

“What?” she pressed.

Mac sighed. “You’re beautiful. He said you were beautiful.
He thinks you’re amazing.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Again, he hesitated. “He couldn’t talk about you enough.”
Mac swallowed hard. “I couldn’t get the bastard to shut the fuck up.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Look, you didn’t even want to do this, right? I talked you
into it. I shouldn’t have. It was wrong.”

Jodi gripped his arm. “I don’t undersand what you’re saying.
He likes me, but he’s going with another model. Why exactly?”

“Because he is. You shouldn’t be doing this. You’re too good
for it.”

Right. Spoken like a guy who didn’t want to tell a woman the
sorry truth and see her cry. Jodi’s throat continued to constrict. She cleared
it. “Okay.”

“Jodi, really, he loved how you looked. I would never lie to
you about that. And I know you’re worried about paying me back,” Mac added
quickly, “but don’t. You’ll still get the sitting fee for your time. I’ve
already cut the check.”

She forced a smile. “Thanks.”

Mac pulled her into his arms. “This has nothing to do with
you. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have put you through this.”

“I’m okay.” She hugged him. “It didn’t work out. He liked
someone else’s looks better. I understand.”

“No you don’t.” Mac eased back and cupped her face in his
hands. “Quinn couldn’t gush enough about how you looked. He loved you, but you
should be happy about not having to do this. Now you don’t have to worry about
your parents ever finding out. You have the money for your car, and you didn’t
have to expose yourself to strangers like Viv, Willow and the other models do.
That’s not you, Jodi. It never has been. Never will be.”

His kindness should have comforted rather than hurt. Jodi
felt like a little kid again when her dad had tried to soothe her after the
neighborhood bullies had made fun of her weight and glasses.
“They’re just
jealous,”
he’d said,
“because you look so pretty and smart.”

Jodi’s faith in her dad’s sweet words had faded right along
with her belief in Santa Claus. “I better let you get back to work.”

“Not until I know you’re okay.”

Mac’s tender concern touched Jodi as nothing else had. He
looked nearly as dejected as she felt.

“I am. I better go; the models want their food.”

“Screw ’em. They can get it themselves.”

Jodi laughed softly. “Not if they’re wearing nothing but
body makeup.”

“I’ll go. You stay here. What do they usually get?”

“I can’t let you—“

“Let me? Fuck that, I’m the boss.” He smiled and softened
his voice. “Stay here and relax. What do you want me to get you?”

“I’m not hungry.”

He looked worried but dropped the subject, waiting while
Jodi wrote down what the others usually had. With the list in hand, Mac kissed
her gently then left from the seldom-used back exit just outside his office.

The models’ loud conversation drifted down the hall.

“What is taking so long?” Nadine whined.

“Who knows,” Willow said. “Has anyone checked the john to
see if she’s in there?”

“I’m too tired to move,” Samantha answered. “You do it.”

“I’m busy.”

“You’re never going to find—“

“Ohmygod,” Willow cut in. “You have to see this.” She
laughed loudly. “This is so…I can’t find the word. Sad?”

“What?” Nadine’s voice was eager with curiosity.

Jodi heard the models padding across the front of the studio
followed by momentary silence then their noisy laughter. “Are those for real?”
Nadine asked.

“Unfortunately,” Samantha said. “Who is that?”

“Don’t know. There’s only a date, no name.”

“Where’d you find them?” Nadine asked.

“They were already up on the screen when I was trying to
find our shots to see what Mac had come up—“

Jodi didn’t hear the rest. Mac’s chair squeaked loudly as
she left it and rushed out of his office, praying she was wrong about what had
made them laugh.

They must have heard her footfalls. When Jodi rounded the
corner, Nadine, Willow and Samantha were well away from her desk as if it had
nothing to do with them.

Jodi looked at her computer. Apparently she’d forgotten to
bring up the desktop. Her body went cold at her Photoshopped images on the
screen. Ones she’d thought were so great but Quinn hadn’t wanted and these
three had found funny. No…
sad
. That’s the word Willow had used.

Samantha and Nadine were still sniggering.

Jodi’s cheeks burned. Turning away, she went into the
restroom and leaned against the door, telling herself that what they thought
didn’t matter. Mac had been so freaking right. Those pictures weren’t who she
really was or had ever been.

None of this was or would ever be.

* * * * *

Mac returned with the food and handed it to Willow.

She purred, “Thanks, baby.”

Nodding, he studied Jodi. She hadn’t looked up from her
computer screen when he’d come in. She seemed deep in thought, her expression
revealing nothing.

The slump of her shoulders told Mac how hard she’d taken his
news, or rather this lie. He’d wanted to tell her why he’d refused to let Quinn
use the photos but the words had stuck in his throat. He should have told her
how he felt, except Mac wasn’t certain what that was, except that he liked her
more than any woman he’d ever known. He wanted to be with her. When they were
apart, it killed him. When they were together, he couldn’t get enough of her.
He felt protective, possessive, out of control.

Was that love?

Shit, he didn’t know. He’d come from a family that hadn’t a
clue about fidelity or tenderness. Jodi had caused him to crave too much. She’d
turned him inside out until Mac was afraid to think, feel, move.

He remained just short of her desk, not budging, willing her
to acknowledge him.

She typed something, pushed her glasses up her nose and
checked the screen then continued typing. He wanted to say something but didn’t
know what.

Mac went into his office and got the check he’d told her
about. Another lie. Quinn was hardly paying for Jodi’s time since he’d wanted
her badly and had accepted the new model with little grace. She’d be here this
weekend for the shoot when Jodi wasn’t around. Mac slipped the check into an
envelope, pausing to read the amount. A thousand over what her car had cost, to
give her a little extra, allow her to breathe and not worry about money so
fucking much.

When he returned to her desk, she wasn’t there. He checked
the hall. The bathroom door was open, light off. He finally found her in the
kitchen drinking a glass of water.

“Here.” Taking her hand, he slipped the envelope inside and
curled his fingers around it. “I wanted you to have this right away so you could
put it into your account.”

She smiled faintly then glanced at Willow and Nadine. The
models were gushing about how cool the new Batman movie was.

Mac stared at Jodi’s pale throat. It bobbed with her hard
swallow. He joked, “Are you up for more of my special spaghetti tonight?”

Her fingers tightened around the envelope, crinkling it. “I
told my parents I’d have dinner with them.”

She looked at him finally. Her expression was cordial, the
way it had been when she first interviewed for the job. Gone was the softness
and heat Mac had come to expect.

“They haven’t seen me in a while. They worry. I can’t stay
late tonight. Sorry.”

“No biggie. We’ll do it tomorrow.”

She put down her glass and held up the check. “Thanks for
this, but it’s yours.” She offered it to him. “For my car.”

Mac pushed his hands into his pockets. “You earned more than
what covered the repairs.”

“Then that will also pay you back for all the food you
bought me and the gas for the rides. I really appreciate it.” She put the
envelope on the counter and returned to her desk.

After that, she didn’t speak to him unless Mac spoke to her
first, which he did frequently, asking questions he didn’t need to ask, making
stupid comments. Jodi responded to all of them, even smiling at one of his
dumber jokes, but she wasn’t the same.

When she grabbed her purse to leave, he told his models to
take five. Stopping Jodi at the door, he spoke softly, “Is everything okay?”