time he was near, she sat on razor’s edge. Val was not a fan.
Maybe it was the way his intense green eyes tracked her, or the tattoos over his tanned flesh and whipcord-lean body with ridiculously defined muscles...if you liked that sort of thing. Her libido sat up and strutted. As if to say, Hello, I like that sort of thing.
There was no way she was going to be humiliated in front of him. She turned to rush James along. “James, if you’re dropping me, say the words and get it over with. I have things to do.”
* * *
Bennett Cooper needed a way out. How the hell had he ended up in this position?
When he’d agreed to a contract with publishing magnate Milton Voss, he’d been thinking of all the ways it would boost his career. Bennett might have the perfect dream job of photographing models, but he wanted more, and Voss could give it to him. For the last week, Bennett had been thinking about all the places he would travel. He’d been thinking this job meant the opportunity to make his father proud. He hadn’t been thinking about Voss’s wife. The same wife who had made a pass at him at his gallery opening last year. He’d managed to extricate himself from that situation, but tonight—tonight was a whole other ball game.
You have options, Ben. He could quit. But that wasn’t in his nature. And he didn’t run from a fight. Except from the unpleasant memories from your past. Damn, he really didn’t need a subconscious battle right now. He needed an escape route.
Grabbing a drink downstairs with the creative director of Voss Magazines had been a good idea. The two of them saw eye to eye on a few things. While Voss owned the usual smatterings of sports magazines and women’s magazines, the real passion in the company was nature conservation. Those were the kind of photos that would challenge Bennett and save the world. The kind of photos his father had taken. Game changers.
Not that he was opposed to fashion photography. Fashion came with models. And, well, models...enough said. But he’d always wanted to do more. Be more.
For years, his career had been growing steadily. Luckily he’d been able to avoid too many years as an assistant. At the point that his own street photographs with models he’d taken for free started to outshine those of his paid mentors, his phone had begun to ring off the hook. He’d never thought the scared, orphaned kid from Cali would ever have to say no to too much love. Except he had. But now everything was in jeopardy because Adriana Voss thought she had the hots for him.
His meeting with Stephen had wrapped up and he’d stayed to finish his drink. Next thing he knew, Adriana turned up, looking to see his latest pieces. He wasn’t an idiot. He knew a setup when he saw one. She’d fooled Stephen into inviting her along or she’d checked his schedule. Either way it spelled bad news for Bennett.
The moment she wound her arm around his waist and lifted his drink before pressing it to her lips, he’d known he was in trouble. All kinds of trouble. Not that Adriana wasn’t beautiful. She was. Even though she was pushing forty at least, she was stunning. With curves to give a man fantasies and a face that could easily have launched a thousand ships, she was the kind of woman that Bennett would happily have slept with. If she wasn’t married.
That was a deal breaker for him. Yes, he was a womanizer. He loved women. A variety of women. And they were plentiful and available. But he didn’t do married women. Not just for the headache, but also because, well, wrong. Second, he liked his boss. Genuinely liked the man, so he wasn’t going there. But he had to be careful, because Adriana was well-known for her...vindictive streak.
“Benny, I can’t wait to see your latest work. I mean, I made poor Milton buy every single photograph that wasn’t already nailed down at your gallery the last time.”
He swallowed hard. “It’s Bennett, actually. Either Bennett or Ben.” Benny had been his mother’s nickname for him. It hurt to hear it.
“Okay, Bennett it is, then. Do you still have some of those self nudes you took?”
This was not his lucky day. The self nudes weren’t really nudes. Just an illusion as he’d paid respect to one of his favorite artists. They stepped onto the elevator and he tried to think fast. He could pretend to get a call. He could call his best friend, Trevor, over. He could feign a tapeworm. Something...anything. Because no matter what he did, he would lose his job. But that wasn’t going to happen. He wouldn’t let it.
Adriana clung to his arm and he sighed. Think. Think. You can do this, Bennett. And then he saw it, his salvation. His prickly-as-hell neighbor. The two of them were not friends. Like, at all. Hell, they weren’t even friendly. She was uptight and bossy, and a pain in his ass. She was always asking the co-op board to stop him from having parties.
His place was a work and live loft, just like hers. He couldn’t help it if his lifestyle was more fun. He wasn’t sure what it was she did for a living, but he knew she was tense. Like she had a stick jammed so far up her... Well, he’d just leave it at that. And she was with that needle-necked douche waffle she called a boyfriend.
Bennett was not a fan. Especially as the guy had hit on one of the models who left his place after a New Year’s Eve shoot. He doubted Miss Prim and Proper knew about that. God, what he wouldn’t give to rumple her up just a little. She’d probably never even dated a guy like him before, someone with edge, who didn’t buy his clothes from the Nerds ‘r’ Us line. She had a type, and Bennett knew he wasn’t it. But for tonight, maybe he could be.
Because right about now, it looked like Needle Neck was dumping her. What? Was that the second guy on or around Valentine’s Day? The guy was dragging it out. Rookie mistake. When Bennett heard her say, “Can we get this show on the road?” it solidified his plan. He just prayed she didn’t knee him in the balls.
Though given the alternative, he didn’t really have much choice. “Ah, Adriana, look, you get to meet my girlfriend.”
Voss’s wife blinked up at him as if she was trying to compute the words. “G-girlfriend? I was told you were single.”
He shook his head. “Not sure who told you that. But that’s my girl, Valentine.”
Adriana’s brows drew up. “What kind of name is Valentine?”
Easy does it, mean girl. “It’s the one her parents gave her.” Carlton Banks twin was winding down, so Bennett only had a second to make this work if he was going to do it. He extricated himself from Adriana’s astonishingly tight grasp. And strode right for Valentine. Her dark eyes widened as she watched him in surprise.
Easy on the family jewels, sweetheart. “Hi, baby. I see you’re finally having that talk with John.”
Pencil Pusher’s brows rose. “It’s James, actually.”
Bennett shrugged. “Whatever.”
Valentine stared at him, full lips parted and dark eyes wide. Bennett deliberately nudged James aside and went for it. Go big or go broke, right? He wound an arm around her waist, his mind briefly registering that she smelled like honeysuckle. And that she looked surprisingly sexy in her flared pink dress. But he didn’t have time to drink in the image. He had a career to save.
Her soft gasp of shock was all he cataloged as he dipped his head and brushed his lips against hers. On first contact, his mind went blank. Completely absent of thought as joules of electricity shot through him, and he was forced to go on instinct.
She could have shoved at him, she could
