Captured Secret (The Captured Series) (8 page)

Ms. Lingerie walks out of the bathroom without a robe and awaits Ty’s reaction. I am suddenly uncomfortable, yet Ty is very professional even with all her advances. I go about some back duties with Emily while he is clicking away. On her last change, she bypasses Emily and me as she exits the bathroom and asks Ty if she missed a hook and eye on her bra. What a surprise…she did. He assists her in fastening it as she shoots me an ‘I got this one in the bag’ look.
This is the type of girl I do not like
. I smile back pleasantly and feel a touch of jealousy that she is so close and aggressive. As much as this is the type I hate, I also wish that I had one fourth of her forwardness.

“Ty?” She asks in a baby voice. “I kinda wanted to, like, take off my bra and like hold my breasts for a hot and sexy look, you know? Like, the more I can show…you know…the better.”

“Yeah, I can do that. It will look great in a black and white.” He doesn’t seem overly excited that she wants out of her bra, but I bet he has seen a ton of breasts in his life, both personally and professionally. He takes several with the bra on. Then she has no problem taking it off. She declines the robe or towel that Emily offers her. Ty has to tell her to place a hand on her breast. When she is not in a pose, she is shooting fuck me eyes at him. Hell, more like grenade launching fuck me eyes at him.
Can you be more obvious?

The session is over and Emily sends her in to get dressed. She looks to Ty for his approval, but unfortunately for her, his back is turned and he’s looking at me. Emily goes to talk to him quietly. She’s such a mother hen. Some obligation has her in a hurry to leave as soon as possible. I assure them that I can finish up with her instructions. She hugs Ty goodbye and I overhear her saying she is not going to cry, considering this may be the last time that she works for him. We hug and she assures me she’s a phone call away. She leaves me to finish out the day.

Barbie Boobs comes out fully clothed again and practically throws herself on Ty. They stand in the sitting room and chat. I change the sheets and start running a duster on the floors. Glancing over, Ty seems so unaffected by this girl who has started to beg for his attention. She is using her baby voice again and I think I’m going to vomit. “I just wanted to see if we could like, hang out tonight? If you need some time to end your day…I can come back like, whenever.” I walk in the bathroom so I don’t have to hear his answer and run a disinfectant wipe all over. When I come back out into the studio, the lights have been turned down, and the cameras have been put away.

Ty is sitting at the big Apple and has pictures he took of the first couple up on the screen. I sit in the computer chair next to him and silently watch him make the photo come alive. He turns his head to look at me. The sight of him and being alone makes the butterflies in my belly wake up and start fluttering. I hold his gaze for a moment. I feel so nervous around him. I turn in my chair and log into his Facebook page. I reply to two inquiries. When I glance over to his monster sized monitor, I gasp. There is my face all zoomed in. It’s from earlier when he broke me down to give in for a couple pictures. I have a slight smile on my face and it looks like I’m looking Ty right in the eyes. I look very innocent, maybe even like I’m enticing the photographer.

“Ty, no! Please!” I squeal and grab his right arm that is working his super cool pad he uses for Photoshop.

“Relax, Stella…It’s not going to take much. A little healing brush and magic wand and you’re done,” He reassures me and places his left hand on the one I have on his arm. His hand is so large, yet gentle. He adjusts his hand tools and brush sizes several times. “This is light editing. I’m going to remove any veins in your eyes. Which you don’t have many visible and I’m brightening the green just a touch.” He talks to me about a clone stamp and starts in on my teeth. They are outlined and he just slightly makes them a touch whiter. Years of braces have made them straight, and considering I am a total teeth-whitening whore, they really don’t need to be much whiter. “You are not camera shy, Stella. Zoey and I looked through some pictures on her phone last night before you got home and I saw absolutely no shyness.”

“Oh, God, some of those pictures...” I turn beet red thinking of some of the stupid shit we did while taking selfies. “No, I’m not normally camera shy.” I breathe out and reluctantly remove my hand from his strong arm.

“So, it’s just with me?” He flashes that award-winning smile of his at me.

“Yes, I guess. You see perfection all the time as a photographer and I’m far from perfect.” I stare hard at the screen so I don’t have to look his way.

“You are beautiful, Stella.” His gaze lingers on my face for a moment. “This is routine clean up stuff every photographer does.”
He thinks I’m beautiful? Holy shit!

The printer starts to warm up and it spits out a very pretty picture of me. Ty grabs it hot off the press and hands it to me. “Hey, do you mind if I upload this to my website?”

Looking at the picture, he has made me beautiful. “Well, you made me look very pretty, so why not?”

He mutters, “I didn’t do anything, you do that all by yourself, Stella.” Ty stands and walks around the desk to the curtains. He pulls them back to expose his large flat apartment. “Do you want a beer?”

“Yeah, that would be great. But I don’t want to linger and hold up your night.”

“No, I want you to stay. You can open up the balcony doors. It’s great out there when the sun is setting,” he says over his shoulder walking to his kitchen.

I do just that as Ty comes outside with a metal bucket with about six Bud lights on ice. Twisting the top, he hands me one, then one for himself. The light in the fountain turns on and we lean on the railing. The sun is about to set and it’s giving off colors of orange, pink, red, and purple. It is picturesque.

“How do you feel today went?”

I say, “Good, Emily is awesome with her list. I think that I will be okay, but I am definitely going to need you to help me know what you will need for the shoot at the park tomorrow.”

“Of course, I’m easy going. If you have any questions, just ask. I think you will pick it up fast. You come across as a smart girl.” He pauses to take a drink. “Emily is awesome. She was a blessing to me, helped me in a lot of ways.”

I want to ask how, but he doesn’t embellish. “Tell me if I’m being too nosy, but you are very successful. Exactly how old are you, Ty?”

He lets out a little breath through his nose as if he is trying not to laugh at me. “I’m twenty-four. I have all this because my grandparents helped me a lot. They put me through college, and got me into this great set up.” He gestures to the studio. “They were the financial side, but I’ve worked really hard to get a large client base.”

“They must be really proud of you.”

“You would think. I’m not exactly the suit wearing business guy they wanted me to be.”

“I know I don’t know you very well, but I can’t imagine you in a suit and tie working in an office or cubicle.” He playfully opens his mouth like he can’t believe I said that. “They should be very proud of you, Ty. You have accomplished so much.”

“Thanks, it’s nice to hear someone thinks you’re doing well sometimes.” His expression changes from gratitude to serious. “My grandparents, they always wanted the best for me. They planned out what I was going to do from the moment Elizabeth left.” I give him a questioning look. He shifts his weight as if he’s a little uncomfortable. “Elizabeth is my mom. She didn’t turn out like they wanted, so they made sure I was the perfect child. I took art classes, had tutors, played sports. I always tried hard to please them. I got good grades, hung out with a crowd I knew they would approve of. Yet, sometimes, trouble found me. I think I was the typical fucked up kid doing some acting out.”

“Where is your mom now?” Our beers are gone and he opens us up another. I can tell this is a subject not touched much. “You don’t have to answer that. I think I’ve been nosy enough.”

“No, not at all, Stella. I’m sorry, you asked me my age and I’ve given you…what did you say earlier? TMI, right?” I laugh now that he is throwing my lines at me. “What to tell you about Elizabeth, I don’t know. She left when I was a baby. Found some guy to take care of her. She’s always blown in and out of my life and wanted to play mom when the time was convenient for her. Several marriages later, and now she’s a dependent mess.” I want to know so much more, but don’t push. Hell, I want to know everything about him. I wish he wanted to sit and play twenty questions all night. Okay, my turn.

“I’m all too familiar with that kind of mom. I have one of those, too. My dad raised my sister and me from about age eight. My dad never made enough money to make her happy, so she left and found someone that could give her the life she wanted.” I take in a big swallow of my beer. My stare is flat. “I can’t imagine making the decisions she did. I think you live and learn, and know that is not the type of parent you want to be. I know when I have my kids, they are going to know in their core that I love them with no doubts.”

“Damn, I’m sorry to hear that. I would think a girl needs her mom growing up. That had to be tough growing up without her.” He tucks my hair behind my ear and searches my face, maybe to see how this affects me?
My mom doesn’t affect me, Ty…your touch does.

“It was difficult. I always wonder if I’m girly enough, since I missed out on a woman’s touch, you know.”

“You’re doing just fine looking like a woman, Stella. You pull off the part perfectly.”

I blush and don’t know what to say to his compliments. “Well, you should know. You needed a mom too. Just because you were a boy didn’t mean you didn’t need her.” We stand there quietly for a couple minutes.

“It sounds like I don’t have enough beer if we are going to talk about family issues between the two of us.”

“No, I don’t think you do. So, tell me, were you a bad boy in high school? Did you play sports?”

He chuckles and bows his chest like Mr. Big man. “Of course, I played sports. Damn good at baseball and football.”

“You? Mr. Artistic, good-looking, with tattoos?” I over exaggerate my surprise.

“Being an athlete got me all the cheerleaders, Stella.” He makes the gesture like he licks his thumb to straighten both eyebrows.

Giggling as I speak, I say, “Oh, my God…you did not just do that. You will not get the chicks with that corny move.”

“Yeah, probably not, but now, I know you think I’m an artsy hottie with awesome muscles and tattoos.”

I laugh out loud. “I like the way you interpret what I say.” His smile is blinding. “Or, on second thought, I guess I need to closely watch what I say.” The beer hits me on my empty stomach, so here comes bold Stella. “Ty?”

“Yeah?” His face softens as he looks into my eyes. I love the way he stares at each feature. I pray he likes what he sees.

“Do the majority of your clients throw themselves at you like Barbie boobs did? I know it’s so none of my business, but I, well…I kinda just want to be prepared so I can stay out of the way.”

He thinks for a moment and stares at the fountain. Another beer down, he opens his third. “Yeah, some do. They usually want something casual. Sometimes, they think they want more. I know Jaxon made it sound like I do everything that walks in my studio, but that’s not the case. You’ll find most are here for the right reasons. But, well…I do have a lot of clients that are interested in more than my photography skills, just like Barbie boobs.” He looks down.
Is that shame on his face?

On that note, I start my third beer. “Well, if they were smart, they would see that they are getting the best of both worlds. You are extremely gifted on the photo side, and they should feel lucky to date a great guy who happens to be very attractive. What a bonus.” Now it’s my turn to dart my eyes away.
I can’t believe I just said that
.

“It’s always casual, Stel, nothing more.” We stay quiet. I break the silence by excusing myself to go the restroom. Three beers equal I have to pee…bad! When I come back, I ask how he found this place. “It was gutted and abandoned. I had met Jaxon through Pierce and he and his dad did the remodel.” He chuckles, “I was so damn nervous when my first client walked in. I kept turning the air down in the studio so I didn’t sweat all over the equipment.”

“I can’t imagine you nervous Ty. You must have done something right. Your schedule is crazy busy.”

“Yeah, I learned quickly to use “the pretty people” in pictures for my website. I think that anyone that comes in the studio believes I will make them look gorgeous. And honestly, Stella, I try to give them the best product I can give. I pride myself on happy clients.”

Ty doesn’t make me feel like I am intruding on his night, but I don’t want to overstay my welcome. “I’m gonna go, so I can get some sleep and meet you here in the morning.”

“Thank you for taking the job. I appreciate everything you did today.” He pulls me into a hug, and holy shit, I have to hide my gasp as my breast press against his chest. Those big, strong arms wrap around my back. He makes me feel so small. Thank God, for the slightly padded bra, because my nipples are rock hard and are begging for his attention. I pull away from the hug and breathe him in as we separate. He smells amazing.

“No, thank you. It’s going to be a nice change. I’m so used to plugging numbers in a computer. I can’t wait to see a location shoot tomorrow.”

“We’ll have a good day together, Stella.” And those eyes pierce into mine like he sees my inappropriate excitement brought on by his touch. I am very sure he has someone to spend tonight with. Sadly, it’s not me and I feel ridiculous at how much that bothers me.

Our condo is empty and there is no sign of Zoey or Pierce. Those beers were just enough to make me relax, so I just strip and jump in bed. The sheets feel good on my naked body. That’s when it hits me…I am very tired. Tired eyelids…sleep.