She nodded slowly. “Are you British?”

“No…”

“Oh. Well, that’s an interesting name.”

She actually had the grace not to make fun of me. “Yeah…” Okay, now what? How did I get this girl on my sheets? “I’m in medical school.” I blurted that out of nowhere, but I was nervous. How did you talk to a supermodel?

“That’s nice.” She made an awkward face like she didn’t know what to say.

“So I’m good-looking and smart.” Wasn’t that redundant?

The beautiful smile on her face started to fade. Her openness and friendliness started to disappear. Suspicion and distrust started to take hold of her frame. She tensed, making her shoulders stressed. “Nice to know.” The humor in her voice was gone.

“My family is very wealthy.” What the fuck was wrong with me? God, I had the worst game in the world.

“Congratulations on all the cash.” Now disdain was heavy in her words.

I was losing her. Shit, how do I backtrack? “You look hot in that dress.” I just needed to shut my mouth and walk away.

She didn’t accept the compliment. She grabbed her beer. “Have a good night.”

I couldn’t believe she was still being nice to me. “Wait.” I grabbed her arm and steadied her.

The look she gave me made my heart rate spike. “Let. Go.” The warning was in her eyes and her body. She was small and petite, but I could tell she was a girl I shouldn’t mess with. I had a feeling she could throw a good punch. When I didn’t let go, her body tensed. “Now.”

I loosened my hold on her wrist. “Sorry, I’m usually better at this sort of thing. Honestly.”

“Then go practice on someone else.” She turned away.

“Wait.” I refrained from touching her this time.

She turned around and looked at me, the irritation obvious.

Uh…last chance. Fuck. What do I say? “You want to hook up at my place?” Someone needed to take me out back and just shoot me in the head. I had no confidence when I said it and I was flustered. I didn’t even say it in the right way. Panicked, I was blurting whatever came to my mind. I had horrible moves with this girl, and I successfully made her despise me.

She didn’t react to my words. “No, thank you.”

“Can I get your phone number then?”

The fire burned in her eyes. “I have something better. You want my advice?”

Huh?

“In the beginning of our conversation, you were real. You listened to me and responded. When the lines started coming out, I wanted to get the hell away from you as fast as possible. Next time you hit on a girl, just be yourself. Cut this bogus crap.” She turned around and headed to her table, joining her friend in the booth. Her friend looked at me then snickered, clearly overhearing our conversation.

I totally struck out.

Depressed, I walked back to the table and sat across from Sage.

Sage tried not to laugh. He smirked and stared at me.

At least he didn’t kick me when I was down. I pulled out my wallet and tossed the hundred-dollar bill at him. “Congratulations.”

He pocketed it. “Thank you.”

CHAPTER SIX

Alaska

The photo shoot was going well.

The groom-to-be dipped her down then kissed her, smiling while he did it. She giggled then looked up at him with warmth in her eyes. I snapped a few shots, using my special lens. It captured close shots without running the clarity.

When he picked her up again, she kept laughing, nervous. Then he cupped her face and kissed her. Her laughter ceased immediately and she melted into him. I almost forgot to take the picture because I was so entranced by them.

I’d done a lot of these shoots, but never before had I taken a picture of a couple more in love. He stared at her like she was the only thing in the world. Their affection was natural and spontaneous. I didn’t need to direct them or show them how to move. They did everything on their own.

Jace and I were nothing like that.

We used to be affectionate all the time. He couldn’t keep his hands off me, and his lips caressed my body obsessively. He wanted to be in the bedroom all the time, making love to me until I screamed his name.

Now he cared more about baseball games and hitting the bars with his friends. He was always too tired from work to do anything. He was attracted to other women more than he was to me.

Was I doing something wrong? Had I gained weight? Maybe I wasn’t fulfilling his needs? I wasn’t sure.

Realizing I was getting distracted, I finished their photoshoot and got more pictures than I’d ever need.

“You guys are cute,” I said with a smile.

The bride smiled. “No, my fiancé makes us cute.”

He rubbed his nose against hers. “I just think we’re adorable together.”

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous.

We packed up everything and parted ways. “I’ll have these ready for you in a week.”

“Awesome.” The groom shook my hand. “Thank you so much.”

“Of course.” I hugged the bride then got into my beat up Ford. It was made in 1980 and didn’t have an AC. But it was my grandfather’s and I could never get rid of it. They didn’t make them like this anymore. I rolled down the window and took advantage of the San Diego breeze.

When I got home, I got to work on the picture. I had all the equipment I needed to enhance and edit each one. I used Photoshop but I tried to limit the number of alterations on people. While I wanted them to look good, I didn’t want them to be so altered that it wasn’t believable. Besides, every person I’d ever photographed was beautiful. I didn’t need to do anything.

I had an interview with a gallery tomorrow. I wanted to sell some of my photographs in an established and respected gallery. While I loved doing freelance photography, I wanted to be respected as a real artist. And I took pictures of things besides people. Actually, it was my favorite type of photography.

My phone rang and I saw Jace’s name on the screen.

I was nervous to talk to him, and not in a good way. Things were different now. I couldn’t put my thumb on it, but our relationship had changed in a negative way. I didn’t want to sit down and talk about it, but I didn’t know what else to do at this point. I answered it. “Hello?”

“Hey, baby. Sorry it took so long to get back to you.”

“It’s okay.” I’m used to it anyway.

“Something wrong? You sound down.”

He finally noticed. “Can we get coffee or something?” I preferred to have this conversation in a public place. If we broke up, which I had a feeling we would, I didn’t want to kick him out of my apartment or leave his house.

“Coffee?”

We never got coffee so I understood why he thought it was odd. “Just somewhere we can talk.”

He was quiet for a while. “Is this because of lunch the other day?”

I didn’t want to have this conversation over the phone. “Can we just meet somewhere?”

“I’ll just come to your apartment.”

I sighed. “Fine.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

I hung up without saying goodbye. I guess I didn’t realize how mad I was until now. I got back to work and tried not to think about it.

A few minutes later, he knocked on my door.

The anxiety pooled in my stomach. I took a deep breath before I walked to the door and opened it.

The concern was in his eyes. He studied my face, examining my lips and eyes. “Hey.”

“Hi…”

The tension was obvious to both of us.

He came inside and shut the door behind him. “Alaska, what’s going on?” He kept his arms by his sides but he still seemed threatening. He was jittery, uncomfortable. I could hear the fear in his voice. If he was so scared I was going to dump him, then why didn’t he act happier to be with me?

“Let’s sit down.”

He sighed and clenched his fists before he did as I asked.