Page 71 of This Side of Beautiful

I shrugged. “Then we don’t let it happen. Now, can we go eat or something?”

Everyone started moving around, and Del said near my ear, “Can you and Janae stay back?”

Cedrick narrowed his eyes, and I waved him on. “We’ll catch up. We won’t take long.”

The crew started putting away their equipment, and soon the studio was empty except for the three of us, sitting in a small circle.

“I’ve arranged a few promo stops for you outside of the band. We want to get a photoshoot, so we have some publicity photos featuring the two of you. The photographer wants to capture you in love in New York.”

“No, Del,” I replied.

Janae picked up my hand. “Hear him out.”

Del leaned forward. “The shoot can be intimate. Just you and the photographer. Your relationship is the buzz. You’ve been spotted out and about during the tour. Everyone wants to know more about you. Whatever happened between you and Cedrick the day you arrived in New York was captured, and the world is in a frenzy.Is there trouble in paradise already?We have to jump on it and make sure that the narrative stays positive.”

“I don’t want to use our relationship to sell records.” My chest started to tighten.

Janae rubbed my hand. “We’re not. We’re selling Black love in all its beauty. I want the world to know how crazy I am about you.” She implored me with her eyes. “Baby, we can keep you comfortable. Your hat can partially block your face, and you can have your guitar. We can request that we do it in a studio and not outside. If the photographer wants it to be around New York, he or she can edit it later.”

I shook my head. “I don’t want to do a shoot without them. These photos might seem like the first step to a solo career.”

She gazed up at me. “Trust me. This gets you out of the shadows. People need to see the genius you really are and that real men are more than the alphas of the world. Think of the boy you were and how you can inspire those who are still the way you were. This isn’t about breaking away from the group. This is you showing us who Landon Hayes really is.”

I inhaled and slowly exhaled. “Okay.”

I never knew love would make me expand my comfort zone, and maybe that was what Cedrick was really jealous of. Janae could convince me to do things for the sake of my career that he never could.

Chapter Twenty-Five

janae

May 8

“We can’t use any ofthese,” I said as I reviewed the photographer’s computer screen in Landon’s office at his brownstone. Although he and I had made an attractive pair in various romantic and passionate poses from our shoot earlier that day, Landon had never fully relaxed, and it showed in the photos.

His hands were fists beside me. “I told you I didn’t want to do this.”

“And it shows. You look like you hated every minute.”

The photographer said, “I can edit some things to make the pics work.”

Landon stared at his hands, his jaw and mouth tight. He’d wanted to make me happy by agreeing to the shoot, but I’d done nothing to make him comfortable beyond suggesting his home as the shoot location. He was himself in this space more than he was in any space I’d seen him. We could do better in the photos, and we would.

I asked the photographer, “Can you come back in maybe an hour, two tops?”

The chic woman, whose hair remained stiff no matter how often she moved, looked around at her lighting equipment and the young male assistant. We’d been at it for hours. Hours I knew that worried Landon after he’d told the band he wouldn’t miss any more rehearsals. “We can take a break.”

I walked them to the front door. “I have an idea. Once you get back, you can tell me if it works.”

Landon stood at the window in the office, staring out at the quiet Harlem community. “Sorry.”

I propped my phone up on his desk, facing the window, and placed it on a timer to take multiple shots. I walked up to him, wrapped my arms around his taut waist, and rested my head against his back. “I’m sorry for expecting you to be anyone other than yourself. The woman was a stranger.”

He looked back over his shoulder and smiled.

“God, I hope my phone caught that.”

Landon’s brow furrowed, and he glanced at the desk.

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