Page 221 of Banter & Blushes

Reaching down to pet Dozer, he smiled. “We will have to see what we can do about that.”

CHAPTER 8

The clear blue sky seemed to stretch on and on forever from the coast of the Bay as Melanie pulled a camera out of her bag and started snapping photos of the Landings’ coastline. A string of fishing boats lined the background. Looking at the digital screen, she smiled at the way the light hit the bows of each ship.

Turning the other direction she hesitated, waiting for a man to clear her shot. He was walking down the path with a dog running by his side. He had a serious look to him as if she would bother him by saying hello. Huh, she wondered how he’d look in the photo. Holding up her lens she looked through. He was muscular and fit, but rugged at the same time. His baseball cap was on backwards showing off his chiseled face when he turned his head. Knowing better than to photograph anyone without their permission, she knew she needed to speak up. “Excuse me, sir?” She called ahead. He turned slowly as the sun hit his face. “Have you ever modeled? “

“Modeled? You have to be kidding,” he snarled, barely coming to stop. “Whatever you’re selling’ I ain't buying.” He turned around to keep walking with Dozer.

“Selling?” She giggled, bouncing her hair along her shoulders as she tried to catch up to him. “I’m not selling anything. I’m sorry if it was an odd question. I’m a photographer here in the Landings. I think I saw you at the ground breaking?”

“And you shoot models?” His sarcasm was teetering on sarcastic.

“Oh goodness no.“ She thought back to the last few family shoots she did. “Lots of dogs,” she added. Dozer cocked his head to the side. “You’re a pretty boy, aren’t you?” She couldn’t ignore his big brown eyes staring at her. “Actually I do landscapes, mostly. We have a lot of beautiful nature here.”

Softening a little from the initial question, he smiled. “You definitely do.”

“Melanie Zander Reynolds,” she offered her hand to shake. “We didn’t officially meet the other day at the job site,” she shook his hand firmly.

“John Mitchell. But most people call me Mitch.”

“You know what? I get it now.” She studied the strong features across his face.

“What do you get?” He did not know what she was saying or how she knew him when he never heard of her.

“Let’s just say that you’ve become very popular in our little circle,” she teased. “Anyway, this may sound odd, but would you at all be willing to let me photograph you walking down the shoreline? I’m building a new website for North Shores and I want to highlight the beauty of our Landings.” She closed her eyes, waiting for an assertive no.

“Just walking? I don’t have to do anything else? You don’t need any runway strutting or anything?”

A laugh escaped her lips, “nope. Just walking.” She smiled, thinking he was funny.

Instead of answering her he looked at his dog, “what do you think, boy? Have you ever wanted to be a model?”

“I promise it will only be a few minutes of your time. You won’t even know I’m here.” She glanced at the gorgeous beams of evening sun dancing on the sand, then to her watch. She was running out of the perfect light.

He patted the top of his dog’s head, then letting out a loud sigh he said, “okay.” Walking onto the sand his gate was rigid and strong. Melanie started snapping photos, unsure of how well they’d turn out. At least Dozer running through the breaking waves was adorable.

“Hey, is this a closed set?” She heard Elva’s cheerful voice behind her. She was in a white and blue floral dress, carrying her sandals in her hands. That’s when a light bulb went off.

“Just the person I was hoping for,” she smiled. “What do you think about being a model for me? If you could walk next to Mr. Mitch there and I can get a couple of pics before the sun is too low?”

“A model?” She felt her cheeks blush.

“If you could just walk next to him, like… you know, friends?”

She looked from the photographer to Mitch and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t see why I can’t.”

Walking next to one another, Melanie noticed Mitch’s posture soften. His once stiff back was more relaxed, and his face even smiled. “That’s great! You two are naturals.” She complimented, snapping away.

“This is silly,” he glanced at Elva, walking by his side now.

“She’s hoping to make a new website for our town, highlighting the new projects at North Shores. It’s all for a good cause, I can assure you.”

Furrowing his brows, he studied her face. “So you were in on this?”

“Being photographed?” Her eyes widened. “Oh no. I’m more of a behind-the-scenes kind of gal.” Her hand playfully landed on the back of his bicep.

Watching their adorable exchange, Melanie called out from behind her camera lens, “how would you feel about holding hands?”

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