Suddenly Starstruck (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective Book 4)

by Brooke St. James

  "No, because I knew you would do a good job, and I wanted you to make me look good for the cover." He paused and raised his eyebrows suggestively at me. "I didn't consider you being indebted to me. Do you feel indebted to me?" He said the words like he was making all sorts of diabolical plans with his newfound power, and I laughed at him and shook my head.

  "See? That's how good you are. A minute ago, I was trying to tell you I can't really be doing this, and we needed to go back out there, and now you have me feeling all weak in the knees and confused again."

  "I'm not going back out there until after I've kissed you, Macy, so if you're in a big hurry to go, then we should probably go ahead and get that out of the way."

  I felt a sharp, gut-clenching wave of desire at his words. My insides tingled, and I felt like the only thing that would satisfy me was to throw myself into his arms—to have my lips on his.

  "What makes you think I'm gonna let you kiss me?" I whispered, knowing I sounded breathless.

  Ethan gently touched his fingertips to my chest, which was moving rapidly, reflecting my short, shallow breaths. We took another second or two to just stare at each other.

  "What have you been doing?" I asked.

  "Working." He gave a little shrug. "Other stuff, too. I have the Rubik's cube down pretty good, and I can do almost twenty seconds standing on my hands," he said smiling. "My record's eighteen."

  I smiled. "I forgot you were gonna try to do handstands."

  "Did you forget?" he asked.

  "No," I said. "I was just trying to make you think I don't think about you."

  "Yeah, but I don't want to think that," he said.

  I stretched up and put a quick kiss on his cheek before pulling back to smile at him. "I'm sorry," I said. "I do remember you mentioning handstands, and I'm happy to hear about the eighteen seconds. Congrats. Is that propped up against a wall, or just out in the open?"

  "In the open," he said as if that was obvious. "I could do a long time propped up against a wall."

  "Really?" I asked, trying to think about it. "I don't know if I could even do a few seconds propped up against a wall. I'm gonna have to try it." I pinched his arm. "I think it's hot that you're learning new stuff," I said.

  He grinned. "I think it's hot that you think that's hot."

  Three swift knocks came on the door, and I jumped and tried not to gasp.

  "One minute!" Ethan yelled. He was standing so close that his deep voice shook the air between us, causing me to flinch again. I had jumped twice in a row, and Ethan used the excuse to reach out and hold me close. He pulled me in tight—the front of our bodies securely clasped together in a wonderful, much needed hug. He held in place with his hand on my back.

  "You scared me," I whispered.

  "Fifty-nine, fifty-eight," he whispered, counting down. "I told them one minute, so we better get on with it."

  I smiled, and he leaned in to kiss me. I saw his head moving toward me, and I stretched up to meet him, letting our lips touch in a sweet but chaste contact.

  "Nu-uh," he said, shaking his head as if that wasn't enough. "Fifty-seven more seconds."

  I leaned up and kissed him again, letting my lips fall onto his. I let them stay connected a little longer. I relaxed and let my mouth become pliable, which made it feel like his mouth was melting into mine. Ethan felt it happen, and he held me even closer. He pulled me in, and I easily gave into it, stretching up to kiss him more deeply. I loved the feel, smell, and taste of him, and before I knew what I was doing, I reached up with both hands and held the sides of his face. I ran my fingernails through his hair, and he kissed me deeply for several earth-shattering seconds before pulling back ever so slightly. He left his lips on mine as he gave me a lazy smile, saying he was enjoying himself. I kissed his smiling lips, and he pulled back and licked them before kissing me again. We did this about ten times—just smiling and kissing each other like we couldn’t quite stop and we both thought it was amusing.

  Three loud knocks came on the door. I flinched, but it was stifled on account of how tightly Ethan and I were holding each other.

  "I have to go out there," he whispered.

  "I'm the one who's been telling you that," I whispered. "Now it's gonna be awkward when we go out there."

  He grinned and kissed me again before breaking contact with me. He crossed to the dresser where he found a baseball cap that had obviously been set out for him. He put it on with a smile, and gestured for me to walk with him to the door.

  "Go ahead," I said, knowing everyone would be waiting for him to get out there. "I'll follow you."

  Ethan went back to work like nothing had happened. He sat in a chair, and the stylist went to work and straightening his clothing and tucking things in here and there. I kept walking past them to the area where Drake was still standing. Drake caught sight of me on my way over, and leveled me with a wide-eyed stare. I had no idea what he meant by it, but I assumed it had to do with how long I'd been in the dressing room with Ethan.

  "What happened?" he asked when I got close enough to make out what he was saying.

  I came to stand right next to him. "Nothing," I said absentmindedly.

  "Nothing?" he asked.

  "He was asking me about his jacket," I said, feeling dazed, and not quite sure how much I should stay. "I actually don't even know if he's expecting me to stay around right now or if that's all he wanted to say to me." I looked past Drake to the area where Ethan was getting fussed over by the stylist. "How long are you going to be working?"

  "Another hour or so," Drake said.

  "I'm gonna go grab a cup of coffee," I said. "Do you want anything?"

  "Are you coming back?" Drake asked.

  I shrugged. "I probably will. I didn't mention any of this to Ethan, so I'm not sure if he's expecting me to stick around or not. I kinda wanted to get out of your way till you finish. I think those women might want him to focus."

  "So, you're admitting that you make him lose focus even though you say nothing happened in there," Drake said.

  I let out a laugh. "I'm just admitting that they looked like they wanted to get back to work."

  "They're fine," Drake said. "We're scheduled till six, so we'll be done early."

  "Do you want some coffee?" I asked, seeing that Ethan and the others were making their way to where we were standing.

  "No thanks," Drake said.

  I thought about asking everyone else if they wanted coffee, but I got too nervous and ended up settling for a quick smile and wave aimed at Drake before returning to head for the door. I had been one big ball of nerves since I got the call saying Ethan wanted me to go there, and I still had problems shaking it.

  "Where you goin'?" Ethan called from across the room when he saw me heading for the door.

  I turned with a smile. "Coffee. Anyone want some?"

  Everyone declined my offer except for Melody who said she'd like a cappuccino if I didn't mind.

  "So, you're coming back?" Ethan asked.

  I nodded, and we shared a small smile before I turned to continue on my way. There was a bag sitting on the ground in a very tripping hazard sort of way, and I nearly fell over it as I turned. It was my fault because I had been moving toward the door without looking at where I was going. I did not fall to the ground, but I stepped over the offending bag in an extremely clumsy manner where my foot pounded onto the ground in a wretched misstep followed by a few recovery steps. As I said, I remained on my feet, but it was not my most graceful moment.

  "I'm okay!" I announced, waving at the whole group of people who had all witnessed my blunder. I smiled and continued to wave at them as I turned to walk away. I knew they were all looking at me, but I didn't give myself enough time to take in their expressions.

  I walked out of Drake's studio wondering where in the world God was on that one. I told him in my thoughts that I knew He knew that bag was there and that I had to assume He was okay with me being a big idiot right then. God didn’t respond to me when
I thought it, but I imagined Him telling me that He knew I was gonna do that, and that it had worked out just like He planned. I smiled at the memory of it and thought that God must have a pretty good sense of humor.

  I walked to the nearest coffee shop, thinking the whole time about the chain of events in the dressing room followed by my embarrassing exit. I could feel my face turn red every time I recalled the clumsy steps. I stomped for sure, and I think I even spun my arms around to regain my balance.

  Once again, I reminded myself that if God cared to keep count of my hairs, He could have easily reached down from heaven and plucked that bag from my path. As silly as it was, that gave me peace. Instead of obsessing about it, I was able to put it out of my head and enjoy my time at the coffee shop.

  I ordered a cappuccino for Melody and a cup of coffee for myself. I took my time doctoring it up with cream and sugar and taking in the sights and sounds of the coffee shop before making my way down the sidewalk toward Drake's.

  Chapter 16

  Drake was still working on Ethan's photo shoot when I got back to the studio with the coffee, so I gave Melody her cappuccino and excused myself again, saying I had another quick errand. I didn't have anywhere to go, but if I sat there and stared at Ethan posing and acting up with Drake, I'd just fall more in love than I already was.

  Drake and Ethan were busy working, but Melody told me that Drake had underestimated the time and it would be at least another hour before they wrapped up the shooting and sat at the computer to go through the photos. Ethan stopped what he was doing to yell at me again on my way out. He made sure I was coming back, and I promised I was.

  There was a small boutique on the corner, and I stayed gone for the better part of an hour, looking at their selection of clothes, trinkets, and jewelry.

  By the time I got back to Drake's, Melody and Karen were sitting at the computer, Drake was breaking down one of his strobes, and Ethan was nowhere to be found. I crossed the room, heading toward Drake who stopped what he was doing to talk to me. He looked around as if to take stock of what everyone was doing in the studio.

  "Ethan had to take a phone call," he said. "He's in the changing room, I think. They're looking at the pictures." He shifted his gaze to make sure no one could hear us and continued in a whispering tone. "And I heard them talking about your canvas. Karen said they should hire you again for other custom stuff."

  "I can't believe I fell in front of them," I said, since it was the most embarrassing moment of my day, thus the memory of it kept bubbling to the surface.

  "They liked that." Drake said. "Karen actually commented about how tired she was of everybody pretending to be so perfect all the time. She said she liked seeing someone be a klutz every once in a while."

  "Thanks," I said, sarcastically.

  "No, really. It broke the ice in here when you did that. It was cute. I got some of my best pictures after that. We even brought out the backdrop you painted and used it again with Ethan in the jacket and cap. I got a couple in that sequence that were amazing. The jacket goes so well with the cityscape. I won't be surprised if they end up using one of those for the cover. That's what made Karen say she wanted to use you again in the future." He paused and gave me a wink. "I think she wants to hire me again, too."

  "Oh, man, that's great," I whispered.

  For a few seconds, Drake and I stood there watching the women who were crowded around the monitor, but soon a movement in the hallway caught my eye, and I turned that way to find that it was Ethan. He had on the same jeans and T-shirt with a darker grey windbreaker instead of the letterman's jacket. He had taken off baseball cap, and his hair was tousled like he had shaken it out. He ran a hand through it as he walked toward me. He smiled like he was looking forward to standing next to me, and I smiled back.

  Karen saw Ethan come out of the hallway, and she looked over her shoulder and called him over to the monitor. Ethan looked at me, and I shook my head a little to let him know that I was content where I was and that he should take care of his work.

  Ethan walked up behind the women who were gathered at the monitor, and I watched as he remarked on a few photos that flashed across the screen. He pointed at the screen as he talked and laughed. He had all of them hanging on his every word. Heck, he had me hanging on his every word, and I couldn’t even make out what he was saying.

  "Do you need help?" I asked, hearing Drake begin to move again. Drake agreed that he could use some assistance, and for the next few minutes, I went to work helping him break down a couple of light stands.

  "I'm sorry for making you wait around," Ethan said from behind me. I had my back to him when he approached, but I could tell by his voice that he was close. He was standing a few feet away when I turned.

  "Hey," I said.

  Drake continued working, but I stopped and shifted to fully face Ethan.

  "You should take a look how those pictures came out," Ethan said. "Your painting made me look good."

  "You already looked good," I said.

  "It was the photographer who did it," Drake said, kidding around with us as he worked.

  "The photographer was excellent," Ethan agreed. "But he's not as pretty as the girl who did the painting."

  Drake laughed and walked away, and Ethan and I were left standing next to each other. I wanted to reach out and touch him in any capacity—just grab the sleeve of his jacket and hang onto it if he'd let me.

  "What are you doing right now?" he asked.

  "Waitin' for you," I said.

  He put his palms up and shrugged. "I'm done," he said.

  I glanced at the women and then back at Ethan who made a dismissive expression. "They'll finish without me," he said, waving a hand in their direction. "They don't need me for all that."

  He paused and I watched as the corners of his mouth gloriously lifted into a slow smile. "So, I was thinking we could do something," he said.

  "You were thinking that, huh?"

  He shrugged one shoulder. "I figured you were thinking that, too."

  I smiled at him and then let out a little sigh, glancing at the cluster of women who weren't paying attention to us. Drake had joined them, and I knew none of them could hear Ethan and me.

  "Here's the thing," I said with shaky reluctance. "I tried to tell you this earlier, but I didn't get it out right. I always seem to get distracted. See, I want to hang out and everything, believe me I do, but I just… It's just that the last couple of times… I, uh…"

  I stopped my mumbling at the sight of Ethan's smile.

  "What I'm trying to say is that I kind of got mixed signals when—"

  Ethan put up a hand to let me know he wanted to say something. "I know," he said. "I know what you're gonna say, and you don't have to. I want to spend time with you. Can we just do that?"

  I gave him a resigned nod because there was no way I was telling him 'no' when hanging out with him was precisely what I wanted to do.

  "I was thinking we could go get a few ponies," he said.

  "Ponies?"

  "For Isabel. Didn't she say she collects them or something?"

  "She does."

  "Why don't we go grab something to eat, and we'll go to a toy store and get her a few. I was looking for an excuse to go to a toy store, anyway. She'd be doing me a favor."

  "She'd be so excited," I said. "Tabitha, too, she's been stressed with work."

  "Are they at your place?" he asked.

  I nodded. "As far as I know. I haven't talked to her since I came over here, but I'm sure they're home."

  "Did they eat yet?" he asked, glancing at his watch. "We could pick up some food for everyone after we stop by the store."

  I studied his face for a second. "Let's do it," I said. "You wanna ride the subway with me?"

  He smiled. "I haven't ridden the subway in a long time."

  "Sometimes you gotta do it."

  The stylist gave Ethan a hat and glasses, which he wore when we set off on our subway journey. We stayed locked arm-in-a
rm and kept a conversation going the whole time.

  I heard one person mention Ethan's name and two people actually call him Morgan Craig, but each time it was done in a whisper, and no one ever approached us. It was a rush navigating the streets with him with people thinking they recognized him but being uncertain as we walked by.

  The toy store was having a buy-one-get-one-half-off sale on ponies. Ethan insisted that we get six of them, and I said the limit should be two, so we met in the middle and settled on four. He also bought her a new backpack for preschool, just because it was cool and bright and caught his eye.

  We picked up Chinese food on our way back to my place, and he insisted on paying for that as well. I sent Tabitha a text while we were out and told her that Ethan and I were bringing home dinner. She had the place spick and span when we got back, and I grinned at how clean and fresh everything smelled and looked. She and Isabel were both in the living room when we came in.

  "Hey!" Tab said from her spot next to Isabel on the couch. I figured they had been reading a story because Tabitha tossed a book onto the coffee table.

  "Hey," I said.

  Ethan closed the door behind us and followed me inside.

  "Ethan bought dinner, and he even has a prize for somebody."

  Tabitha gasped. "A prize?" she asked with wide eyes aimed at her little girl.

  Isabel giggled. "What is it?" she asked, looking straight at Ethan over the arm of the couch as she got to her knees, bouncing with excitement.

  Ethan smiled and held out the brightly colored bag. "They're not wrapped up or anything," he warned as Tabitha leaned in and reached out for the bag to help Isabel. My sister held the bag low enough where both she and Isabel could peer into it. Tabitha gasped excitedly again, and this made Isabel do the same thing. They both gasped and then looked at each other like it was the best thing that could have possibly be in the bag. Isabel was awestruck and slack-jawed, and Ethan gently pinched my arm at the sight of her excitement.

  "Is this weally for me?" she asked.

  Ethan nodded.

  "All of them awe?"