Page 8 of Be With Me

The camera shutter opened and closed rapidly as I took shot after shot. When it was done, I looked out from behind the lens and nodded at Tyler. He dropped his arm and stepped back, then started talking casually with Cora, keeping one eye on me.

Stefanie squeezed my arm. “You did it! We got it! I know it. Let me see.”

I tore my eyes from Tyler’s and guided Stef to the back of the room where we looked through the shots. I had to admit she was right. This was the shot. “So, we’re good?” I asked.

“Yup. We’re good.” She gave me a quick hug. “Thank you! Thank you! You’re the best.”

“Aww, I don’t know about that. But thanks.”

“No. Really. Thank you,” she said. “I would ask if you wanted to grab some dinner, but I really need to get Cora back so she’s not late for work.”

I barely held back my sigh of relief. “Don’t worry about it. Another time.”

Cora came over to thank me and to let me know she’d be open to doing more shoots. I got her contact info, and with a wave to Tyler, they were gone.

I stood there awkwardly with a lens cap in one hand, my camera in the other, and watched them leave. I should do something, but the weight of Tyler’s stare, even from all the way across the room, made me self-conscious, and I couldn’t bring myself to move. My emotions were all over the place, my body flushed one moment and trembling the next, and strangely, I felt tears burning my eyes. I just wasn’t sure whether it was fear that all of his talk earlier had been one big hysterical joke…

Or, that he’d completely and utterly meant everything he’d said.

Then I laughed nervously to myself, and I might have even done it out loud. I couldn’t tell you. All I could think about was Tyler seeing my naked body for the first time and abruptly changing his mind. I would be mortified. More than mortified. And what if word got around? Models talk, right? I had an excellent reputation as a photographer. I had that reputation because I always—ALWAYS—remained pleasant and professional with my models, and because I listened to what my clients wanted. I was out of my mind to even think about messing that up.

But that wasn’t the real reason I stood there staring longingly at the door through which there was no escape. The plain truth of the matter was this: I was way too old for this shit.

And yet a part of me…a newly awakened part of me…didn’t want anything more.

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