Page 25 of Not Part of the Plan
“They don’t have a photographer.”
“Uh-uh. I don’t do weddings.”
“You did Summer’s,” Emma countered.
“That was different. She scares me, and she made me do it.”
“You not doing weddings is the whole point,” Emma said in exasperation. “We can’t just shove you back into some fashion photo shoot. We have to take you out of what’s familiar to break whatever psychological crap you’ve got going on. Which means you need a new challenge.”
“I’ll admit that has the potential to make sense, but I don’t think adding the pressure of documenting the happiest day of someone’s life is going to help me break out of my shitty mental funk.”
“This isn’t some bridezilla who needs fifteen bridal albums of Photoshopped bliss. It’s Phoebe and my dad. They’re just thrilled to finally tie the knot. We can use that to help you.”
“We?”
It was Emma’s turn to shrug. “Friends helping friends.”
Niko rubbed his hand over the stubble on his jaw.
“Look,” Emma tried again. “My dad and Phoebe have been looking forward to this day for a long time coming. It’s the blending of two families. It’s the beginning of new history. You’re going to have moments out the ass to capture,” Emma told him.
“Exactly! Thisisa big deal. What if I say yes, I shoot it, and I have nothing but lifeless crap to give them because I now suck at photography?”
“Drink your beer, Nikolai,” Emma ordered gently.
He picked up his glass and sipped morosely.
“Look,” she began. “They didn’t want all of the traditional fuss. They just want to celebrate their special day with friends and family. You’re not going to be doing group portraits and wrangling ring bearers. You’re going to tote a camera around and capture the moment my dad sees his new bride for the first time. You’re going to shoot me and my sisters crying like babies when we stand up there next to our dad and all of the Pierce kids running amuck. You’ll have fun doing it. And that’s the point. Take the work out of it and just let it happen naturally. Just see what you find behind the camera.”
“What if I don’t find anything?”
“Then we’ll start looking for jobs for you around Blue Moon. How do you feel about auto detailing? Or do you by chance have any experience in the law? I’m sure Beckett could use a partner.”
“Maybe I could wrangle goats?”
Emma grinned. “That’s the spirit.”
He looked at her and sighed. “I’ll think about it.”
She nodded briskly. “That’s all I ask. Wedding’s on Sunday.”
Niko leaned in over the arm of his chair, his expression intent, and suddenly the evening chill was replaced with a wave of heat. His fingers brushed hers where they lay against the wood of the chair, and he picked up her hand, holding it in his.
“Why do you care, Emma?”
She looked away from the questions she saw in those dark eyes and instead focused on their joined hands. His grip was warm, solid. She felt her blood heat as if he had the power to warm her from the inside out with just a casual touch.
She should pull free, reestablish the rules. But Emma answered him first.
“I’m a fixer. You confided a problem in me, and now it gives me great joy to force solutions on you until the problem is solved.”
She couldn’t read the thoughts happening behind those serious eyes. But her pulse picked up, an instinctive warning.Dangerous territory.
She reclaimed her hand and put some space between them, ordering her heart rate to steady. Just friends,she reminded herself.
Niko shed his intensity like a jacket. “Now that we’ve worked through my creativity crisis, what’s next on the evening’s agenda?”
Emma produced a deck of cards. “Know how to play Dutch Blitz?”
