Behind the Lens

by Heather Dahlgren

  “Kallie, that was fucking amazing. I love you.” She kisses me and looks into my eyes.

  “I love you too.” I know she does, and now the world knows she does. A declaration that anyone would be honored to get, but when it’s coming from the most beautiful woman in the world, it means that much more. A girl who made me chase her, but what a fucking chase it was. I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat if it meant I ended up here, with her in my arms.

  I AM WALKING AROUND SNAPPING random photos, loving every second of this opportunity. It was such an honor when I got an email from Storytime Book Magic, asking if I’d like to be the official photographer for the signing she was planning. I couldn’t have agreed fast enough. The thought of being in the presence of all these amazing authors and models was a dream come true and great promotion for me as a photographer.

  The last six months have been unreal. I sometimes need to pinch myself to make sure this is real life. My photography business has never been so busy. I’m booked months out. I’ve found some new models, and I’ve shot with my current models. I’ve gotten several authors who exclusively use my photos, and it still makes me squeal when I see them on the covers. I don’t think that is a feeling that will ever get old.

  As for me and Jax, things have been perfect. I didn’t think it was possible to fall more in love with him, but I have. After we both put our videos out on social media, the response was huge. There were comments about how sweet our love is, how romantic he was, and how lucky we both were. I didn’t need to read them to know that, but it sure as hell was a better feeling than the horrible comments I’d been getting. Jax even went onto my computer one night and posted a few photos from the shoot I ended up doing with him. I received many messages telling me I should be doing modeling. As great as that felt, it’s not something that will ever happen. I belong behind the lens, for sure.

  Jax, on the other hand, has gotten even bigger, if you can believe that. He’s been traveling all over to shoots and signings. He’s even gotten his own fan club, which he still says must be a mistake. Although, no matter how busy we are, how crazy our lives get, as long as we are in the same town, we are in each other’s bed. When one of us is traveling, being away is hard, but coming home makes it worth it. He knows exactly how to show me how much he’s missed me, and I look forward to those moments from the minute one of us leaves.

  “How’s my girl?” I turn in his arms and kiss him. I hear a few ‘sighs’ from the people around us, but it’s something I’m used to now.

  “I’m great. How are you doing?” He grins at me and gives me that wink that still gets my panties wet.

  “I’m at this amazing signing, and I’ve got you in my arms. I’d say I’m pretty fucking great.” I giggle and hug him as close as I can with my camera between us. “I was talking with Blake and Max, and they want to go check out a few bars while we are in New York. I said I’d check to see what you feel like doing.” He is forever thinking of me.

  “I think it sounds like fun.” He swats my ass and kisses me quickly before pulling away.

  “Awesome. Now go take some photos.” I shake my head and laugh before moving on to the next author to get her photo. I make my way around the entire room, and I’m happy with the results.

  “There’s my favorite photographer.” I smile at Blake. He’s so excited to be at his first signing. He did a shoot a few months back for this author, and it has been a complete success. When he got an email from her asking if he’d like to come, he freaked out. The cover is amazing. Shannon did a great job, and whomever the cover designer is made it over the top fabulous.

  “Hey. I didn’t get a photo of you two together. Can I get that now?” They get together, and I have to admit she is beautiful. They actually look good together. “Thank you. By the way, I’m Kallie Gregory.” She sticks out her hand and shakes mine.

  “It is such a pleasure to meet you. I’m London Tweed. I love your work. I was hoping we could get together sometime and talk about a few shoots I had in mind.” I like her already.

  “I would love that, London. Let me give you my cell number, and we can set something up. Are you in California?” I write down my number and hand it to her.

  “Yes, I’m actually close to where Blake lives. Only about a half hour away.” We end up talking for quite a while, and I found out we have so much in common. I actually hated to leave her table, so I invited her out with us tonight, and she happily accepted.

  I spend the rest of the day taking photos of everything and anything. Meeting and connecting with a ton of authors and models was great, but when the event was over, I was most happy to be leaving hand in hand with Jax.

  We all head back to the hotel, and once we are in our room, I fall onto the bed. He leans over me and smiles. “You want to stay in tonight?” I laugh and push up onto my elbows.

  “No, I want to go get my drink on. I actually invited that author, London that Blake was with. She was really cool.” He kisses me, and I lie back when he climbs on top of me.

  “We’ll go out and have a good time, but later, you will be screaming my name.” I can’t fucking wait.

  We both get ready, and when I step out of the bathroom, I see him sitting on the bed and smiling. He takes my breath away. He came into my life and turned it upside down. He made me question everything, but damn, it was worth it. I never thought I’d find my happily ever after with a sexy model, but sometimes, life has a funny way of working out the complete opposite of how you planned. Sometimes, there is nothing you can do but hold on for the ride, because it might get bumpy, it might toss you around, but when it stops and it’s just you and him, it’s worth it.

  Behind the Book

  Prologue

  London

  NO MATTER HOW MANY SIGNINGS I go to I am always just as excited and nervous as I was for the first one. I always hope for a big crowd, to meet new readers, to see readers who already love my books and connect with other authors. There is no better feeling in the world then when a reader tells you that your book, your words, affected them. Whether it be that it helped them escape from reality for a while or that they’ve been through something similar or simply that they fell in love with the characters. It all means so much to me.

  I always marched to the beat of my own drum, always did things my way. Even back in high school when everyone was moaning about a writing assignment, I secretly was jumping up and down. I never understood what the big deal was, I loved writing. My mom used to try and push me out the door to go hang out with friends, but I wanted to stay home and write. No one understood it and I lost a lot of friends, but I didn’t care because if I wasn’t writing, I was reading and those characters were my friends. I could connect with a book and let it take me away or write characters that I wanted to be friends with.

  When I was in college I majored in journalism and I made some amazing real friends, some of who I am still very close with. I also met Axel my freshman year and by senior year we were engaged. I thought this was the beginning to my happily ever after. We had so much in common, we both wrote, had the same friends and supported each other completely. That is until we moved in together. Things started to change real quickly. He went from the sweetest, most understanding guy to a complete control freak. I wasn’t allowed to hang out with my friends anymore. He needed to know what I was writing and if he didn’t like it, he would delete everything. I started to actually fear him towards the end. He would get angry if I didn’t follow his rules and for a while I did, but when I found myself pretty much a prisoner in a sense, I knew I needed out. He went to work one day and I packed up everything and moved to California.

  No one believed me when I told them how he was. They all argued how sweet he was, how happy he made me and that crazy people didn’t have his clean cut look. They all thought I moved to California to pursue my career and that I used him as a scape goat. I didn’t give a shit what they thought, I finally felt safe and last I heard he was involved with another journalism friend.
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  When I moved here I had college loans, no job and about a hundred dollars to my name. I was able to find a restaurant looking for help that also happened to rent an apartment above it. I worked there for a few years while I wrote my ass off. I write under the pen name, London Tweed because I was scared that Axel would find me. I only go by that name now.

  Once I had the first three books of my series done, I got in touch with a few author friends I’d made and they helped me. They taught me how to self-publish, got me in touch with cover designers, formatters, editors and photographers. This was the start of the most exciting time of my life.

  When I published my first book I had no idea what to expect, I was nervous as hell putting myself out there but when readers not only started buying it but promoting it, it felt like a dream. Each book after has been even more successful and I still find it hard to believe I’ve been doing this for three years.

  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a house hold name, I haven’t quit my day job but I am making money, good money. I have a house now, I have a huge fan base and I thank God every day for all of it. It’s a lot of work, takes up an unbelievable amount of time and money but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I love what I do, I love creating stories with characters that readers love. I sometimes find myself ignoring my real friends for the ones I’ve made online, readers, authors and models. They get it, they understand what this world is about. How much of yourself you put into it. I love having that connection.

  When I decided to have Blake Foster on the cover of my latest book, I was beyond excited. He is extremely sexy with his tattoos, muscles and grin. As of right now I just work with whatever photographer is willing to do a shoot for me, but I’m on the hunt for one I can always use. Kallie Gregory is who I am really looking to get involved with and I’m beyond excited she will be at this signing today.

  When I got the photos back from Shannon, I was blown away with how incredible Blake looked. If I could have licked my computer, I would have. I knew exactly what photo I wanted of him and Ivy. It was sexy, romantic and panty dropping hot. This book has been my biggest seller and I have to give credit to Blake and Ivy for pulling the readers in.

  When I emailed Blake and asked if he wanted to come to New York with me, he was so gracious and overjoyed. I paid for his plane ticket, but he said he would take care of the hotel, which was a blessing because it gets so expensive paying to have my models with me. I need to cover the travel and hotel for them and myself. If it is a signing across the country like this, one model is all I ever bring. I can’t afford to bring any more than that.

  When I got to New York, my stomach was in knots. I’ve been here several times since I moved to California, but just being on the east coast freaks me out. I know Axel is in Florida, but even New York is too close for me. That’s why I usually only stay until the day after the signing and head back home. Not that I think he would even look for me at this point, it’s been five years, but I like being on the opposite side of the country.

  I got to the hotel late last night and I dragged my jet lagged ass up to my room, crashing before even taking my clothes off. When I woke up this morning I felt horrible for not getting in touch with Blake. I checked my phone and saw I had a few missed text messages from him. I dialed him right away and apologized for not talking with him. He was extremely understanding and we decided to have breakfast this morning so that we could finally meet up. It made me laugh that we only live a short distance from each other and the first time we meet is across the country.

  We had a great breakfast and laughed through most of it. He is such an easy guy to talk too and funny as hell. He said he was also there with Kallie and Jax. Those two made some of the biggest talk I’ve ever heard in this industry when it came out they were together. Fans were jealous as hell, photographers were nasty and catty, and lets admit it authors saw a story. When they both made those videos and posted them, I think every female’s ovaries exploded. It was the sweetest, most romantic thing I had ever seen. Since then, they have been the ‘it’ couple. Blake never talked about them like that though, and that made me like him even more. He didn’t get involved with the drama, at least he didn’t lead on to me that he did.

  After breakfast we parted ways to get ready and I told him I would meet him at my table. Once my long brown hair had curls in it, my makeup was perfect and I put on a cute dress with my boots, I was ready to rock. I went and set up my table, chatting with some of the authors I’ve become friends with and meeting new ones. We took several pictures before the models and readers got there. It was a really great start to a crazy day.

  “So I’m just supposed to sit here?” I look over at Blake and laugh. This is his first signing and I’m excited I get to pop his cherry.

  “You can get up. You don’t need to sit here. Bring the readers over with your sexiness.” He smirks at me and winks. Damn, I love my job.

  “You want the women over here, you got it.” I laugh and he gets up and pulls his fucking shirt off. Yep, that will bring them over. He looks down at me and smiles. “Give me five minutes.” He once again winks and heads off into the crowd. The amount of people is insane and I have no doubt that it is because of the models and honestly Kallie. I think most readers want to see the ‘it’ couple in the flesh. I’ve watched her and she is completely professional. She doesn’t let the fans interrupt her concentration and that right there is what makes me finally decide to talk to her about doing all of my future shoots.

  Blake comes back and holds his hand out to me to help me up. “You have plans?” He laughs and I place my hand in his and he helps me up.

  “I may have a small crowd coming over, who are very interested in your book.” When you have a model that is just as invested in your book as you are, well shit there is nothing better. When I stand up, son of a bitch, he wasn’t kidding. There is a group of giggling young girls heading our way. I look up at him, and laugh.

  “You are too much.” He smiles down at me and puts his arm around me.

  “Just trying to do my part.” That is exactly what he did. It was the most interactive signing I’ve been too. Blake made sure to keep the readers coming over and once they did I had so much fun talking about my books and taking pictures. He kept me laughing the entire day. He definitely isn’t just a sexy guy, he is fun as hell to hang out with. Which makes me even happier that Kallie invited me out with all of them tonight. I haven’t gone out and let my hair down in a long time. I’ve been so busy writing, so I think I deserve a night of fun.

  After the signing I went back to my room and changed into a pair of skinny jeans, a black and white tank and my black heels. I fixed my hair, throwing in a few more curls and applied more makeup, making it more dramatic for going out. I look at myself in the smile, I love getting myself done up like this. I need to do it more often. I go out back into the bedroom and get my debit card and stick it in my pocket. I hate bringing my purse when I got out, too much to worry about. I sit down on the bed and text Kallie asking her what time we are meeting up in the lobby. She gets right back telling me they are going to head down now. I smile, stand up and pick my phone in my pocket before going down to meet them.

  “Wow, you look amazing London.” I hug Kallie because I already feel like we are going to have this amazing friendship.

  “You look hot yourself.” Blake wraps his arm around me and I look up at him.

  “Hey, I’m your model. How do I look?” I laugh and tell him how sexy he looks. He winks at me and I say my hellos to Jax and Max. It is actually surreal to think I will be spending the night hanging out with all of these beautiful people.

  We hit several different clubs and I am having the best time. Kallie and I dance and I am getting more drunk with each stop. By the time we hit the last club, I am having a hard time walking. We go inside and I laugh when I see all the women. Every club we’ve been to, the woman have been all over Jax, Blake and Max. Kallie and I have started taking bets how long it will take before they not
ice them. Jax of course smiles and take photos but always comes right back to Kallie’s side. Blake and Max are really enjoying the women and I think it is fun seeing this personal side of them.

  “Hey what’s so funny?” I snap out of my thoughts and look up at Blake.

  “All the women. We won’t see you guys once we get a few more feet in.” I laugh again and he wraps his arm around me when I sway to one side.

  “Well how about I just hang out with you at this one?” I smile up at him and like the idea of him hanging out with just me.

  “Sure. Let’s go get a drink.” He leads me over to the bar and orders us each a shot and a beer. We get our shots and I hold mine up. “To the best cover model and guy I’ve been lucky enough to meet.” He winks and throw our shots back. We grab our beers and go in search of everyone else. They are already on the dance floor. Kallie and Jax are all over each other and I feel a bit of jealousy. I wish I had a guy who couldn’t keep his hands off of me. I just stand there watching, captivated by the love they have for each other.

  “London?” I look up at Blake and he grabs my hand pulling me close to him. “If we are going to hang out, you need to dance with me.” I’m so drunk, I laugh and try to put my arms around his neck. I end up spilling some on my beer and he laughs pulling it out of my hands. He places it on the table behind us and come back over pull my body flush against his. “This is better.” Holy fuck is it ever. We start moving and the more we move the more I feel myself getting turned on. That’s probably not a good thing, but shit what author isn’t attracted to her models. He spins me around and wraps his arms around my waist. I bend forward, allowing my ass to push up against his cock. He runs one of his hands down my back and around to the front of my upper thigh. My pussy clenches knowing his hand is that close.