Exposed to Passion (Five Senses series Book 3)

by Gemma Brocato

  Adjusting the F-stop for the natural lighting, she clicked off several shots, changing the angle of the camera and her position in the room. Zooming in on his face, she fired the shutter three times before she realized his lips had curved up in a decadent smile.

  “I hear a camera whirring,” he said, his voice rough from sleep. Or the lack of it. They’d gotten very little last night, putting a big dent in the supply of condoms Rikki had picked up yesterday afternoon.

  The sheet fell partially away when he lowered his arm and shifted to his side, coming to rest on his hip. The fire in his eyes heated her where she stood at the foot of the bed. There were those dimples again, and the muscular cuts on his sides. She needed to research spontaneous combustion, because she was pretty sure that’s what was happening right now.

  “But I also smell coffee, which might make me forgive you for taking pictures while I was asleep.” Grabbing the sheet, he stared her down, as if daring her to snap more photos.

  Smiling impishly, she put the camera on the dresser and picked up the cups. Walking over to the bed, she said, “Sorry, the artist in me had to capture the perfection. Christ, Sam, even your butt cheeks have dimples.”

  He chuckled, scooting up in the bed until he reclined against the headboard, the sheet draped modestly across his lap. “There’s something you don’t hear in everyday conversation.” Accepting a cup from her, he grinned, humor and sunlight warming his eyes.

  Settling cross-legged on the bed next to him, Rikki sipped her coffee, savoring the strong, crisp taste, the delicious smell of roasted hazelnuts wafting in her face. She smiled at him over the rim. “Did you want to run this morning?”

  “What time is it?” He leaned forward to look at the old-style analog alarm clock on the nightstand. He scrubbed a hand over his mouth, stifling a yawn. “Is that thing right? Is it really eight already? I’m sorry, I can’t. I’m supposed to meet Avery in two hours to start work on the exhibit panels.”

  “Oh,” she said, unable to hide the disappointment in her tone.

  Setting his cup aside, he plucked hers out of her hand and put it down, too. He framed her face, then pressed a light, soft kiss on her lips. The simple gesture escalated until she was on his lap, wrapped in his arms, breathless and straining to get closer.

  Ending the kiss much too soon, Sam lowered his hands to her hips, smiling ruefully at her. “Why don’t we go out? I’m meeting my brother and his fiancée at Red’s for drinks tonight. Maybe my parents, too. If Mom can drag Dad out.”

  “I don’t want to intrude.”

  “Rikki, it would only be an intrusion if I didn’t invite you. But I did, so…” He lifted a hand, as if to say, you know you wanna.

  His eyes shone with hope, his grin charmingly lopsided. Her heart tilted in her chest. “Who could resist that look? If you want me to meet you there, you better give me details.”

  “How about if we make this a real date? Not a field trip or a business meeting. Just a man and his smoking hot girlfriend going out to meet some friends.”

  “Girlfriend?”

  “Smoking hot girlfriend.”

  Oh, jeez. A date—where his parents might show up. Good Lord! Was she ready for that? Maybe. “What time will you be here?”

  “Honestly, I’d rather not leave. But duty calls. Those panels aren’t going to build themselves. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

  Wriggling off his lap, making sure all her important parts rubbed intimately against his, she stood next to the bed. “You have a deal. Do you want breakfast?”

  “I have a regular date with my niece and nephew on Saturday mornings. I think I’ll run by Caro’s Taste before I head to the shop. I hope you don’t think I’m trying to make a quick get-away. Because I’m not. Believe me, I’d much rather stay here with you,” he said, glancing around the room as if looking for something. “Have you seen my jeans?”

  She moved toward the door as he pulled the sheet away from his hips and stood by the side of the bed, stretching his arms over his head. The glorious sight stole her power of speech.

  He was magnificent. Now there was a picture she’d love to take. She pulled the neck of her robe closer together, a little self-conscious, when what she really wanted to do was beg him to rip the silk garment from her body. Happy tingling rippled through her, settling between her legs.

  Dropping his arms, he bent to look under the bed, exposing his naked backside. The reverie she’d fallen into was broken by his sharp movement when he stood up again, a quizzical look on his face. “My jeans?”

  “I believe we left them in the living room last night. Along with your shirt, shoes, socks…you get the idea.”

  A sensual grin lit his face, as though remembering how she’d stripped each piece of clothing from his body. And what they’d done after she’d made her confession about her trip to the drug store. The glow his grin had created in her dimmed when reality settled in.

  She had to tell him who she really was. And soon. Before she got any more invested in this relationship. Before hiding her identity was more of a lie than an omission. If only she knew why Sam hated liars so much. It might make figuring out how to speak the truth easier. Oh, God, please don’t let him hate me for not telling him I’m Marguerite Sims.

  How in the world had she let it go this far?

  Drawing a deep, nervous breath she opened her mouth to confess. “Sam, I have to tell—”

  The heat in Sam’s eyes turned mischievous and she had scant warning before he lunged, grabbing her up in his arms and spinning her around in a circle. Throwing her head back, she laughed her surprise and delight. He traced the column of her exposed throat with his lips.

  Setting her down, Sam pressed a final kiss to her forehead and pulled away. Reluctance replaced mischief in his eyes. He backed away from her, moving toward the living room.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I have to get going.”

  Rikki followed him down the hall, knowing she should tell him the truth immediately. But the words froze in her throat at the sight of his butt as he bent to retrieve his clothes. She leaned in the doorway to watch him pull on his jeans and shirt. He sat on the leather sofa, slipped his feet into his sneakers, and tied them. He glanced up at her with a melt-worthy smile.

  “Do you play darts? We usually get a game going. Jem is a fierce competitor, with dead accurate aim. If you’re lucky, you’ll be on her team.”

  He stood and reached for his jacket, shoving his boxers into the deep side pocket and zipping it closed. Holy cow! She stilled the urge to fan herself—him in hip-hugging jeans and no underwear.

  “Be ready at seven, okay?” Sam wiggled his fingers at her and shut the front door behind him.

  Ready? For what? Oh yeah, he was picking her up to go to Red’s. Snap out of it, Rikki. You’re behaving like one of those teenage girls you chaperoned last night.

  She drew a mind-clearing breath and cinched the belt on her robe tighter, barely suppressing her anticipation of a date with Sam tonight.

  * * * *

  After a quick run on the trail in the seaside park, Rikki showered then planted her behind in the chair at her desk, determined to get some real work done on this fine Saturday. She refused to allow the heady scent of the flowering Japanese cherry trees pull her outside. She’d rather be under the fragrant branches than stuck inside near a window that had been painted shut years ago, a barrier to the smell of spring. She tossed a covetous glance at her camera, knowing the light conditions were perfect for close-ups of the soft pink blossoms.

  No! Time to focus. The only reason she would move from the chair was to get another Diet Coke.

  She paused long enough to call Katie to check on her. The girl’s mom answered, her tone suspicious. Rikki sympathized with the woman’s hesitancy to hand the phone to her daughter. After all, her child lived through bullying every day. God knew, Rikki’s mother had contended with the aftermath of the same behavior toward her own daughter.

  Unfortunately, by the time
Rikki had turned nineteen, her mother had been mostly absent from her life. When she was dealing with the fallout from the tabloid pictures of that jerk in Rome shoving his face into her cleavage, Mom had gotten on with her life and couldn’t be bothered to fly up from Sardinia to console Rikki. Or defend her against Silas.

  Rikki hoped that Katie’s mother would stand by her daughter and encourage the girl to take control of her life, to defend herself against hateful words and mean behavior. She heard Katie’s voice in the background, telling her mother that it was okay. Rikki was actually a friend, and her boss.

  A flicker of gratitude settled on Rikki’s shoulder. She’d earned the girl’s trust. Katie reassured her that she was none the worse for her misadventure, and that the police had already been by to speak to her about what had happened.

  Katie had asked about her camera, which Rikki remembered shoving in her bag last night after paramedics had secured Katie to a gurney and loaded the shrieking teen into the ambulance. Katie hadn’t wanted to be strapped down and had been dead-set against riding to the hospital facing backward. She’d been hell-bent on unbuckling the security restraints. The attendants had finally resorted to trapping her wrists in Velcro fastenings on the rails of the stretcher. Rikki winced at the memory of Katie’s whimper when the driver had swung the door shut with a clang.

  Now, the teen was concerned because she recalled dropping her camera when she’d fallen from her perch on the rock. Rikki promised to check it out and return it in exchange for the girl’s promise to be on time for work on Monday.

  After telling Katie to take it easy, Rikki hung up and grabbed her camera bag, pulling out the equipment in question. She inspected the small digital device for physical damage. Other than a tiny scratch on one side, it looked fine. Plugging a USB cable into the 35MM, she connected the camera to her computer then navigated through the files to open the SD card.

  Katie had never made it to the assignment portion of the evening. But she’d captured some lovely sunset pictures. Rikki was impressed with the girl’s creative composition in the pictures she’d taken. Katie had managed to frame the setting sun in the arch of the tree that had fallen into the water. Magnificent shards of light reflected off the water, rippling around partially submerged branches.

  Rikki enlarged the image to full screen on her monitor and studied it, her admiration for the teen swelling, the way a sponge did when dropped in water. Katie had a real gift—a true eye for finding the shot. This was the kind of talent the Sims Foundation looked for when awarding scholarships. Sure, the images could benefit from a little computer enhancement, but they were good enough to display in an exhibit.

  Shifting excitedly in her seat, Rikki scrolled through the rest of the images on Katie’s camera. There were several from around the campfire. Setting her shutter to remain open for longer than usual, one to two seconds at the most, Katie had frozen the trail of embers on their ascent from the crackling logs. She’d compensated for last night’s slight breeze so the embers appeared to shoot straight up, instead of following the diagonal trajectory Rikki had witnessed. In another frame, she’d gone for a short focus on the flames, but caught the kids sitting on the other side of the fire in a blur of motion. The image was stunning.

  So much of photography was about patience. Simply waiting and watching, praying to capture perfection in an instant. There were a thousand different ways to take a picture, and every one of them was right. Even with all the potential variations in film speed, shutter opening, noise reduction, and environmental conditions, true art relied on the eye behind the camera. The difference between a good picture and a great one came down to the know-how and the creativity of the photographer.

  Chills raced up Rikki’s spine, like a water-strider bug skimming the surface of a pond. Staring out the window at the cherry tree, a scheme filtered into her mind.

  “Good Lord, Rikki. That’s brilliant.” She was talking to herself again. Why not showcase local student talent as part of the exhibit? It made perfect sense. She’d expand community reach by adding this facet to the Sims exposition and introduce an exciting, budding talent at the same time.

  She jumped out of her seat, her chair scraping the hardwood floor as it scooted wildly backward. She had to move, to channel the enthusiastic energy flowing through her while she conceived, considered, cast off, and created a picture in her mind of how this idea could become an effective part of the show. This could work.

  Chances were good that Katie wasn’t the only talented kid in Sam’s photography club. In fact, given some of the other questions last night, she’d bet there were several who took pictures with the same artistic bent as Katie. But her intern’s photos would be central to the exhibit.

  Take that, you stupid bullies! Rising above the ugliness was the best revenge. And this display would be the first step.

  She picked up her phone and texted Sam, asking him to contact his students and have them email any photos they’d managed to capture directly to her personal email account. No sense running them through her Sims Foundation account and risk Silas seeing them until after she’d perfected her idea to present to him. And she wouldn’t kid herself—Silas had no qualms about invading her privacy that way. He had in the past, and she had no doubt he would again.

  Clapping her hands together delightedly, she happy-danced across the living room, reveling in the possibilities and mentally writing her proposal to Silas in her head. It had to be perfect—an idea he couldn’t possibly deny.

  Chapter 15

  Sam leaped out of his truck and bounded up the front steps to Rikki’s front door. He’d called her to let her know he was running fifteen minutes behind schedule. Energy and excitement were evident in her voice when she’d answered. Earlier, when she’d texted, he’d sensed her enthusiasm for whatever project she’d been working on that afternoon. He was almost as eager to hear more about the idea as he was to see her again.

  When he’d woken this morning, sated and happy in her bed, the level of his contentment shocked him. It had been a crying shame that he’d had to run out as quickly as he had. He truly would have loved to stay and keep a smile on her face for the entire day.

  God knew, it would have stayed on his.

  When she opened the door, oxygen evacuated his lungs. There was nothing special about her outfit, a black T-shirt under a magenta wrap-around sweater and jeans with knee-high black boots. Her outfit transformed her body into a long line of luscious. A natural stone necklace nestled in the vee of her cleavage. His fingers twitched with a desire to feel how her skin heated the stones. She’d wound her thick, dark hair into a messy French twist, allowing a few wayward wisps to fall around her face.

  Even better than her attire was the animated look she wore. Her alluring, dark eyes snapped and crackled, her enthusiasm and delight contagious. He smiled broadly. “You look amazing.” He pulled her into his arms and pressed an eager kiss against her lips.

  Opening her mouth, she returned the kiss and he could all but taste her exuberance. She pulled away, then grabbed him by the front of his jacket and jerked him through the door into the house, dancing a jig as she did. Laying her hands on his shoulders, she rose up on her toes and smacked her lips on his, then grinned and skipped toward the desk.

  “I had the best idea this morning,” she called over her shoulder. “I’ve been working on the details all afternoon. Thanks for getting your students to send me their pictures. I’ve picked out what I think are fifteen of the best shots. Here, take a look.”

  Swiping her forefinger across the mouse pad, she woke her laptop and opened her gallery browser. Sam stepped behind to look over her shoulder, laying his hand on her waist. Her body quivered with the emotion racing through her, and the warmth of her skin penetrated through her thin cotton sweater to heat his palm. He shook his head to clear the distractions of her warm flesh and the sexy curve of her neck, and forced himself to pay attention to what she explained. He leaned forward, resting one hand on the desk, surr
ounding her body with his. He inhaled her unique scent, then paid attention as she scrolled through the images.

  At the amazing pictures his students had taken last night.

  “Holy shit! My kids took those? They are incredible. Whoa! Look at that framing.” He whistled, a low appreciative sound as Rikki paused on one photo in particular. “The composition on that one is wicked good. Look how the reflection sparkles on the water. I was there and I never saw that picture. Who took it?”

  “Katie. She had a few good shots of the stars, but her best work was from sundown and around the campfire. Sam, you can’t teach this. The skills required to get that image are innate. Katie’s gift will get her out of Granite Pointe and away from the morons who’ve bullied her. It’s her ticket to achieve the kind of success most of those kids will only dream about.”

  Satisfaction flowed through him the way the water had rippled past the submerged tree branches in the photo. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “Katie is already winning, even without the talent. I stopped at her house on my way home. To check on her, you know.” He smiled at the memory of Katie chatting with the other students. “Stephanie, Alex, and a couple other kids who were there last night had dropped in, too. They were trying to convince her to go see a movie with them tonight.”

  “Oh! I’m glad the others can see her for the special kid she is. I’m just sorry it took them so long.”

  “The way she’s been bullied and picked on the past couple of years would take a toll on anyone. But she’s bright, funny.” Mesmerized, Sam reached out and traced the image on the computer screen. “And talented.”

  Rikki twisted around and laid her hands on his chest, an earnest look in her eyes. “All Katie needs is a boost in self-confidence, a chance to come out of her shell. I’m going to feature her pictures with the Sims exhibit. And the other kids’ work, as well. But Katie’s will be the centerpiece. I’ve decided to add this feature to each stop on the tour. It’s a perfect tie-in for the foundation’s scholarship program.”