Jacquie D’Alessandro - Why Not Tonight?

“Jeez, I guess not,” Nick said, sliding the proof sheets nearer.

“It was my intention to ask her to reschedule when she arrived, but I took one look at her and ‘wanna reschedule’ came out as ‘Adam Clayton, photographer, at your service.’”

“Can’t say I blame you.” Leaning closer, Nick carefully examined the photos. “I gotta say, these are really good.”

“Thanks. But look what I had to work with.”

“She’s beautiful,” Nick agreed. “Still, for a guy who spent all his time at the stock exchange, you’ve got a great eye for a photograph.”

“Even though it’s been a while, I still remember my way around a camera lens from high school.”

Nick grinned. “Yeah-how geeky were we? The president and vice president of the photography club.”

“Hey, it was a great way to meet girls.”

“Sure was.” Nick straightened. “Look, I know you’re looking to make a career change-you might want to consider coming on board. I want to expand the business, and if this is the type of work you can do without really even knowing what the hell you’re doing…well, I’m impressed.”

“Well, you might not be so impressed when you see the proofs of the other shots I took that day. After how great the first session went, I admit I was feeling pretty confident. So when Mrs. Wentworth showed up with her twins, I figured I’d take those pictures, as well.”

“And?”

Adam slid another manila envelope toward Nick. “Read ’em and weep.”

Nick slid the sheets from the envelope and winced when he saw the first one.

“I had a hell of a time,” Adam said, raking his hands through his hair. “Nothing was cooperating. Not the equipment, not Mrs. Wentworth, and least of all the twins. You think one baby makes a lot of noise? Try two. It’s deafening. Not to mention nerve-racking.”

“Welcome to my world.” Nick pointed to one print showing a pair of red-faced, teary-eyed, screaming one-year-olds. “They do not look happy.”

Adam glanced at the shot. “Yeah? Well, that’s the happiest they were the whole time. Listen, I’m looking for a low-pressure, non-stress job and with the Wentworth gig, I could practically feel my blood pressure rising.”

Nick shook his head. “These are awful, dude.”

“I agree. Clearly I’m only good at taking pictures of sexy women wearing lingerie.”

Nick grinned. “Well, if you’ve got to be good at something…”

Adam laughed. “Right.” He paused, then said, “Actually, she wasn’t just any woman. I know her. She used to live not five miles from here, and only a few blocks from my family.”

“Hell, I lived only a few blocks from your family.” He looked at the picture again. “Face isn’t ringing any bells. What’s her name?”

“Mallory Altman.”

Nick shook his head. “Not familiar, but you always had more girls than I could keep track of.”

“You and I had already graduated from high school when Mallory and her mom moved here from Chicago. I used to mow her lawn during the summer.”

“Man, you scored more chicks with that landscaping job. Helluva lot more than I did working in the photo lab.”

“Yeah, but that’s where you eventually found Annie and ended up with the real prize.”

“That I did.” He nodded toward the photos of Mallory. “So, anything ever happen between you two?”

He hesitated. He’d never told Nick about his love affair with Mallory. Nick had spent that summer traveling as part of a photography course. By the time he’d returned, Adam’s relationship with Mallory was over and he hadn’t wanted to talk about it. Even now he still felt reluctant to tell Nick about his past intimate relationship with Mallory. “We were good friends.”

Clearly Nick deduced everything he needed to know in Adam’s hesitation because he nodded knowingly. “Gotcha. So why’d you break up? Was she lousy in bed?”

God. No. She’d been…perfect. “The timing just wasn’t right.”

“How’s the timing now?”

“She had these taken for her boyfriend.”

“Bummer, dude.”

“Nah. She’s the past. I’m looking forward to the future. Besides, I’d categorize her as a ‘long-term’ sort of woman-and right now, my ‘long-term’ is three, maybe four hours.”

Nick turned toward the front picture window and cleared his throat. “Speak of the devil…here comes your lingerie-wearing friend now.”

Adam looked toward the glass door and his heart performed a crazy somersault at the sight of Mallory striding across the street. Dressed in a bright pink sleeveless top and a full ivory skirt dotted with splashes of matching pink that flirted just above her knees, and cream high heels, she looked lovely, cool, feminine, and…really, really tempting. Like an ice-cream cone on a hot day from which you wanted to take a nice long lick.

He’d just finished sliding her proofs back into the envelope when she entered the studio.

“Hi, Adam,” she said with a smile. “I got your message about the proofs.”

“Hi, Mallory.” After uttering those two words, his powers of speech seemed to go into a holding pattern and he found himself staring at her, uncharacteristically tongue-tied. She’d pulled back her dark glossy hair into a loose, attractive knot, which left her neck bare. Her big brown eyes were surrounded by thick dark lashes, and the same smattering of gilt freckles he recalled paraded across her nose.

Unfortunately thoughts of freckles had him picturing the trio of dots he knew formed a triangle beneath her left breast. And the single tiny spot that graced the curve of her right buttock. Gorgeous, enticing spots he’d explored with his fingers and lips, tasted with his tongue.

Shoving the distracting images aside, he concentrated on her mouth. Oh, yeah, like that’s less distracting, his inner voice snickered. Her lips were just as he recalled, too-full and moist and currently highlighted with some sort of luscious-looking pink gloss. He knew exactly how those delectable lips felt and tasted: soft, plump, smooth and delicious. Knew exactly how her tongue felt rubbing against his-

Nick’s loud, pointed throat clearing jerked him from his reverie. After he’d introduced her to Nick, Mallory said to him, “Congratulations on your new baby.”

“Thanks. Hey, want to see her picture?”

“Love to.” She grinned. “As a photographer, I bet you just happen to have one or two.”

“More like one or two thousand,” Adam said with a laugh as Nick reached for his wallet.

“Oh, she’s adorable,” Mallory said, looking at the image of Caroline.

“Nick’s going to be sweeping guys off the front porch,” Adam teased.

Nick shot him “the look.” “Since she can’t date until she’s thirty, I have some time to purchase my broom.”

“Spoken like a true father of a daughter,” Mallory said, chuckling. “I think all dads swear the same thing.”

“And how does it work out?” Nick asked.

“You probably don’t want to know.”

They all laughed, then Adam handed her the manila envelope containing her proofs. “Here you go.”

“Thanks. How’d they turn out?”

Incredible. Too incredible. I haven’t been able to erase them-or you-from my mind. “I think they’re great, if I may say so myself, but it’s what you think that matters.” He glanced at the clock. “Do you have time for that cup of coffee? Or maybe even lunch?”

She hesitated for several seconds then nodded. “I have about an hour before I have to meet my next client.”

Adam refused to acknowledge the relief and anticipation that surged through him at her acceptance of his invitation. “Great.” He turned to Nick. “Think you can stay awake for an hour?”