Page 37 of Building Courage

She took a half step back. Her voice was huskier than normal when she said. “I’ve already had mine.”

He laughed.

“I hope you like cheesecake,” she rushed on.

“It’s my favorite.”

“I’m glad I chose it then. It was either that or a double chocolate brownie that weighed possibly five pounds.”

He laughed. “I’d have accepted that challenge.”

“Me, too. Chocolate is my weakness.”

“We all have them.”

With their fingers linked, they walked back toward the house.

“What’s yours?” she asked, curious.

“Long-legged ladies with sun-streaked hair and sherry-colored eyes. Why aren’t you in front of the camera instead of behind it, Brynn?”

A sudden memory of cameras being shoved in her face made her mentally flinch. “I don’t enjoy the limelight. I like to stand on the edge of the crowd and take everything in.”

He opened the sliding glass door for her to enter the kitchen.

When they had settled at the table with their cheesecake, she extended her cell phone to him. “I edited the camera footage of our scuba shopping trip. I thought I’d show it to you before posting it. Just push play.”

Chapter 12

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Tucker turned the phone and hit the icon on the screen. The video started to run.

As they moved through the store, he heard his voice with that hint of Mississippi droning on about the gear. Jesus…did he really sound like that? But at least he was getting the information across to her. She’d been true to her word. There wasn’t a single frame with his face in it.

But there was something else he noticed in the background. A man behind them, following them through the store from a distance. He looked about five eight or nine with straight dark hair and olive skin, but he kept his head turned just enough to make it impossible to get a good glimpse of his face. Tucker couldn’t tell if he was following them because he was curious about what they were doing or because he was interested in Brynn.

But then…what man wouldn’t be?

As they neared the check-out counter at the end of their shopping expedition, he caught a clearer glimpse of the guy looking straight at them and paused the video to study him. But even when he froze the image, the man was in motion, and his features were still blurred. Still, there was something familiar about him.

If he called her attention to the guy, how would she react?

The guy could have just been interested in what they were doing, or he may have recognized Brynn from her podcast. There was nothing threatening in his demeanor; otherwise, he’d have approached them.

“When do you plan to upload the video?” he asked.

“Later tonight if you’re okay with it.”

“I’m okay.” He took up his fork again to finish his cheesecake, then set it down again. He needed to know she was cautious. “When you’re on a photo shoot like the one where we met, do you ever hire an assistant to go with you?”

“I have a friend who lives down the hall from me. She acts as my assistant on the weekends and in the afternoons when she doesn’t have class. Her name is Jessica Wilder. She repacks my cameras and lenses, replaces batteries, and switches out SD cards. And she guards my equipment when there’s no one else to look out for it.”

He was relieved she didn’t work alone all the time. “Have you ever had equipment stolen from a shoot?”

“Yes. Only once.” Something in her expression shifted, and she looked away. “It was recovered later, and the memory card was used as evidence of a crime.”

“The guy took pictures after he stole the camera?”

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