Page 29 of Rock Out Together
That much I haven’t told Emma. She has no clue I could be thrown out if they realize I’m here all the time.
However, when I pull open the door, I’m more shocked than I’d like to let on. I smother it quickly because that will only give him more ammunition. His megawatt smile is in full force. So that is how he got past reception.
“Do you have anappointment?”
Ronan grins. “I come bearing gifts.”
“I never ordered anything.”
“Oh, I beg to differ.” He peers around me into the studio.
If he wasn’t a world-famous rock star, I’d leave him in the hallway. Given that most of the tenants will have been alerted he’s here, it’s best to get him out of sight.
“A certain photograph,” he says smugly.
I step back and let him in, hiding the intrigue and excitement about the picture.
To be honest, I didn’t think he was going to come through for me. It’s been three weeks since the wedding. It sunk in a few days later that Ronan Christian was entertaining himself at the wedding and had no intention of holding up our bargain.
It’s lucky I only gave him song recommendations and nothing of any real value. I’d brushed it off after that. And now he’s here.
“I thought we agreed to ask him to send the picture to me. I gave you my email address.”
“Must have lost your card,” he walks inside and looks around.
It’s a good-sized space. I have two individual sets, one with a white backdrop and lights, another is a half room which I set up with props and furniture to suit whatever style of shoot I’m doing.
Then I have my desk, and workspace where I do all the editing, meeting with clients and other boring stuff. The walls are adorned with pictures I’ve taken over the years.
And much like Ronan with his Walkman, I have apenchant for working in outdated ways, so there is a dark room for developing film.
“Yet you still found my place of business?” I close the door and follow him in.
He wanders onto the white backdrop set and touches some of the lights. Given his profession, he will have spent a lot of time in places like this.
“Imagine that.” He winks at me. “This is a nice place,” he comments.
“Do you have the photograph?”
“Of course.” He walks around another light stand further away from me.
Ronan has swagger I’ll give him that. Not that he needs it with the face and body he’s blessed with. He’s trying to push my buttons. What he doesn’t realize, he’s challenging someone who is a master at this game.
“I thought you would have forgotten all about me, given your current problems.”
Okay, maybe that was a step too far. His lips are pressed into a tight line when he looks over his shoulder.
The entire world knows there is a legal battle going on within Velvet Echo. I was as shocked as the rest of the world when Perry and Christopher got into a fight with cameras there. Of course, I didn’t see it until two days after the wedding. For one, I had the hangover from hell. And two, I had a photo album to put together for an engagement shoot.
By the time I caught up with what was going on, the press was already talking about an unfixable rift with their lead singer. It’s been all over the news ever since.
It’s not in my nature to feel bad about the things I say or do, but this was a low blow.
“Sorry,” I tell him. I can be contrite when the need arises.
“Maybe I wanted to do something nice to forget about my…current problems.” He lifts a brow.
“Well, you shouldn’t have come here.”
