Page 49 of Ruined Promises

“You look fucking gorgeous, Lex. You’re going to blow Ben’s mind.” Brynn smiles before looking back down at the camera. “Damn, Aubrey, you’re amazing, I might need to book one of these shoots, too, but I don’t have anyone to show them to.”

“I’ve had clients just do this for themselves before; it’s not a crazy idea.”

Hadley has since returned to the couch and has popped the bottle of champagne Aubrey pulled out. She keeps it on hand to help loosen up the client if they feel nervous. “I think we all know that Cal would love those photos.” She tips her glass in her direction.

As Aubrey goes back to instructing me how to pose, she asks, “Is that your boyfriend?”

Hadley and I snicker while Brynn rolls her eyes.

“No, he’s just my best friend. We’ve been best friends since birth.”

“But they have amazing chemistry—just neither realizes it.”

“You’ve never even thought about it?” Aubrey asks in between the sound of the camera clicking.

“I don’t know. Yeah, he’s gorgeous, but it’s Callum,” Brynn says as if that explains it. “If things went south, I would lose my best friend.” Brynn shrugs before snagging Hadley’s champagne glass and taking a sip.

She is clearly uncomfortable talking about this. I guess I never really thought about what there is to lose. But am I any different? If things were to go south with Ben, would I have to get a new job? Would things be too awkward for us to find a working relationship? I wish I could say that it would be fine, but I might be in way too deep.

“Woah, where you’d go right there?” Aubrey asks as she swaps out the SIM cards on the camera.

“Thinking about Ben, I bet,” Hadley giggles.

“And that’s your boyfriend, right?” Aubrey confirms.

“Yes.” I can’t hide the smile from my face. I love hearing “Ben” and “boyfriend” close together. I would have loved the other day to shock the hell out of the girls, who clearly daydream about him in ways that I actually get to be with him, only behind closed doors.

“And her boss,” Brynn adds.

“They have a secret relationship,” Hadley joins in.

“Oh, I see” is Aubrey’s only response.

“It’s a long story,” I softly say. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and while it’s super complicated, I hate hiding what Ben means to me. While I love the bubble we’ve created, I want not to hide when we are in public or at work. I think I want to tell the world.”

“Hey.” Aubrey takes a seat on the bed next to me. “We all have a past, and every relationship brings complications—trust me, I get that.” I can see in her eyes that there is more to her statement, but I don’t push it. “If he makes you happy and he is worth it, the complications don’t matter. Is he worth it?”

I nod, nibbling on my bottom lip. Without a doubt, Ben is worth it. My eyes fill with unshed tears, but I refuse to let them fall, mainly because I don’t want Hadley to bitch about needing to redo my makeup and because she is right.

“So how about this? Let’s change up your outfit and make Ben lose his mind with the final results of these photos.”

Now that’s a plan I can get behind.

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