edge of the table for support.
Plump lips smiled wide above his light beard, so that the bow was sharp between the smile lines.
His button-fly denims sat low on his slim hips but there was no mistaking that he was pure muscle beneath those tight trousers. Because, as he stood there for a second, his hands thrust deep into his trouser pockets, looking from table to table, scanning the horizon that was the confines of the shop, every movement he made seemed magnified.
The entire room seemed to shrink around him.
How did he do that? How did he just waltz in and master the room as though he was in command of the space and everyone in it?
This man was outdoors taken to the next level. No wonder he worked in Alaska. She could certainly imagine him standing at the helm of some ice-breaker, head high, legs braced. The master of his universe.
The hair on the back of her neck prickled with recognition.
Instead of giving her the up and down once-over, his gaze locked on to her face and stayed there, unmoving for a few seconds, before the corner of his mouth slid into a lazy smile.
The corners of those amazing eyes crinkled slightly and the warmth of that smile seemed to heat the air between them. And, at that moment, this smile was for her. And her heart leapt. More than a little. But just enough to recognize that the blush of heat racing through her neck and face were not due to the extra-warm coat and scarf that she was wearing.
In that instant Toni knew what it felt like to be the most important and most beautiful person in the room. Heart thumping. Brain spinning. An odd and unfamiliar tension hummed down her veins. Every cell of her suddenly alive and tuned into the vibrations emanating from his body.
Suddenly she wanted to preen and flick her hair and roll her shoulders back so that she could stick her chest out.
It was as if she had been dusted with instant lust powder.
Standing a little straighter, Toni quickly focused her gaze on the engraving on the glass that she was still holding, trying to find something to do with her hands, only too aware that he was still watching her.
She could practically feel the heat of that laser beam gaze burning a hole through her forehead and was surprised that there was no smell of smoke or a scorch mark on the wall behind her.
‘Miss Baldoni. I’m surprised to see you here at this time on a Sunday morning. I thought that you might be enjoying a lie-in. I do hope that I didn’t wake you up on my way out this morning. It was very early.’
‘I didn’t hear a thing, Mr Elstrom. As for my being here?’ Toni very carefully put down the glass and lifted her chin. ‘As I explained last night, I have a contract to paint the head of Elstrom Mapping. No matter whom that may be.’ She braved a small smile. ‘I am so looking forward to painting your portrait. Perhaps we can get started with some photographs? Show me your best pose. I dare you!’
Scott’s reply was to rest his hands, splayed out, on the table, his left hand loose and relaxed, the right bandaged around the fingers. He leaned the top half of his long wide frame towards her from the hips so that she had to fight the urge to lean back against the display table and protect her space.
She liked hands, always had. It was usually one of the first things she noticed about a person. She could tell from the way he protected his bandaged fingers that he must be in pain. His left hand had long slender fingers with clean short nails. The knuckles were scarred and bruised as though they had been bashed at regular intervals and the veins on the back of his hand stood out in prominent raised rivers. Sinewy. Powerful.
They were clever, fast, working hands.
No manicures for Scott Elstrom.
The neck of his top stretched open and revealed a hint of deeply tanned skin around the neckline and more than a few dark blond chest hairs.
At this distance, she could have reached out and touched the curved flicks of thick blond slicked-back hair that had fallen over one side of his temple, but she had the idea that he would like that far too much so she simply lifted her chin and inhaled a long calming breath through her nose.
Big mistake.
Instead of a background aroma of leather and lavender and old books, she was overwhelmed with the scent of gentle rain on freshly cut grass blended with lime zest which was tangy and fresh against the sweetness of the air.
He had certainly made good use of the bath at Freya’s!
He smelt wonderful. Expensive, distinctive and on a scale of one to ten on the testosterone level she would give him a twelve. From the sun-bleached hair on his arms and the way the muscles in his neck flexed when he moved, to the know-it-all confidence in the smile he was giving her at that moment, he was off the scale.
He was about as different from Peter as it was possible to be—on the surface.
He was a fashion photographer’s dream. She knew several professionals who would have signed him on the spot if they had seen him like this. And somehow she had to paint his portrait! Wow! Thank you, Freya.
So what if she was attracted to him? It was only natural.
Until now, she had believed that she was immune to such charms. After all, she had been exposed to this type of infection many times before and just about survived. Working in studio photography exposed her to egos the size of small planets most days of the week, girls and boys.
But this man was a carrier for a super-powerful version of charm that no amount of previous experience had a chance of fighting off.
For a moment her heart went out to him.
He had travelled thousands of miles to come back to take over a family business with frostbitten fingers. The last thing he needed was a pest like her turning up to annoy him.
Then his gaze shot to her face. It was fierce and intense, and for one microsecond she had an insight into the power and strength of this man who could freeze her to ice with just one glance.
She might have guessed. He probably expected everyone to jump when he clicked his fingers and not complain in the process.
‘There seems to be a misunderstanding, Miss Baldoni. I thought that I made it clear last night that the situation has changed. And I have no plans to have my portrait painted by you or anyone else for that matter.’
His voice came from the depths of his chest and was no doubt intended to intimidate lesser mortals who got in his way.
Not this time! She was way too used to dealing with the divas of the media world to let a feeble excuse like logic stop her from getting her way.
She needed this commission!
‘Oh, I understand what you’re telling me perfectly, Mr Elstrom. Plans do have a nasty habit of changing on us without warning, don’t they? It’s most inconvenient.’
Rubbing her hands together in delight, Toni dived into her capacious shoulder bag and pulled out her digital camera. ‘My
