No Strings Attached (The Escort #1) (12 page)

Chapter Twenty-One

Jagger

My Life Without Photography Was A Black Hole
. Vapid and empty. I’d already become numb to the cycle: gym in the morning, clients at night. And absolutely nothing in between.

Ever since I’d picked up a camera, I took pictures every day. Even if I couldn’t do any exploration, all I had to do was walk down the beach and find plenty to photograph. Or look out the window and capture the sunset. Or the sunrise, if the night had gone well.

It had been over a week since I’d even touched it. Since I came back from Massachusetts I couldn’t bear to think about taking the card out and facing Leah, even if it was just on my computer screen.

Each day that passed without hearing from Leah got easier. Not really. The pain was replaced by numbness. I had no way to get in touch with her. Barry had set up the agency so all correspondence went through him. It was for our protection as well as our clients. As much as I fucking hated it right now, I understood. I should’ve paid more attention the night she brought me to her house because if I remembered her address I’d already be up there, knocking on her door.

She’d probably slam it in my face. I needed to move on.

Bringing the camera over to the computer, I pulled the card out and stared at it, still too chicken shit to plug it into my laptop. My stomach churned at the thought of looking at those photos. My worst fear was being able to see the reason she said no to me reflected in her eyes.

It was the only piece of her I had left. And if that’s what she left me with, judgment and disgust, it was time to be a man and deal with it. It was the first step in making myself worthy of a woman like her.

Leah had to be feeling as fucking wrecked as I was. There was no way she could just go back to her everyday life like nothing happened between us that weekend.

The computer whirred as it read the card. I squeezed my eyes closed, not ready to see her again. Not ready to say goodbye.

When I finally opened my eyes, there she was. God, she was even more gorgeous in the photos than she was in my memory. Her cheeks flushed by wine and desire, that dress hugging every lush curve on her body, red lips parted. Leah knew how to follow instructions to a tee. She looked down the barrel of the lens in every photo. Even on the computer screen, her eyes unlocked something in my soul that no one else had ever been able to reach.

I scrolled through the endless file; I’d taken close to a thousand pictures that night. The whole thing felt like it had lasted five minutes, but we must’ve been at it for over an hour.

Best. Foreplay. Ever.

Once I reached the end, I went back to the top and went through every individual picture. If I moved fast enough, I could make Leah dance on my screen, her hands caressing her bare skin, her lips curving up in a smile.

My body was dancing, too. My cock stirred, my head pounded, and my heart ached. But I couldn’t stop watching her. Zooming in on her face, I ran my finger down the length of her cheek. I grabbed a bottle of vodka from the freezer and sat back down at the computer, taking a swig straight from the bottle. I’d ripped a wound open and I was going to drink until the bleeding stopped.

I had to figure out a way to make these photos more than images on my computer screen. I started changing them over to black and white like I’d known I was going to do all along. This was by far my best work. Leah was a goddess, my muse, and she made me better.

And she was gone.

Fuck.

The vodka dulled my senses and I stopped trying to fix things. I’d just fuck them up now. I stopped on my favorite picture, a close-up of her face, her lips parted in a sigh, wild curls spiraling from her head, sheet snaked around her chest, and doe eyes trapping me in her sights.

My phone vibrated. Poetic fucking justice that Barry would call to talk about clients while I was lost in Leah. He might as well have taken a sledgehammer to the computer screen. It had the same effect.

It wasn’t Barry. I didn’t recognize this number.

“Hey.” But I recognized the voice. How much had I drank? My mind had to be fucking with me. “It’s Leah.”

No fucking way. I wasn’t convinced that I hadn’t drank myself stupid and I was imagining this whole thing. “Hi.”

“How was your Thanksgiving?” she asked.

“Good.”
I spent it with you, and you had no idea.

Leah took a deep breath, a thousand miles away from me. “I hope it’s okay I called you.” Her voice shook, and I knew she had a hand in her hair and was probably biting her lip. Leah dove into things head first and questioned herself later.

I moaned thinking about it. “That’s what I wanted.”

“It’s just that so many things happen every day that I want to tell you about. Nobody else. Because you’d get it.” Her words came fast like she was afraid I was going to hang up on her.

“Do you remember the first thing I said to you?”

“I think it was hello.”

I laughed. It was incredible to talk to her when I thought I never would again. “After that.”

“Not to apologize,” she said quietly.

“That’s right.” I wondered if she could hear my voice shaking. “The Leah I spent the weekend with didn’t apologize for what she wanted.”

“I miss that girl.” She chuckled softly. “She was a lot of fun.”

“I miss her, too.” I reached out and ran my finger down the length of her cheek on the computer screen. “I’m sure she still is.”

“So I was looking at your business card.” Her tone changed, and the Leah I spent the weekend with was back. My dick strained against my jeans in response. “And you use JM Holiday as your photographer name. Please tell me your middle name isn’t Mick.”

I laughed. “No. It’s Mitchell. My mother’s maiden name.”

Leah exhaled. “Thank God. I was concerned.” She paused. I wanted to see her so badly. “Holiday isn’t your real last name, is it?”

“No.” But it was who I was now. “I changed it when I started acting. I’d rather keep things simple.”

“I changed my last name back to my maiden name. It’s just a word, but it’s so important, you know?”

“I do.” I got up and put the vodka back in the freezer. I didn’t need it anymore. “Turn on Facetime.”

“Jagger, I’m a mess. I don’t have any makeup on,” she protested.

That wasn’t going to sway me. I liked her better that way. “Did you forget that I’ve seen you first thing in the morning after a night of getting fucked right off the bed? After that you still looked gorgeous.”

“Fine.” She sighed. “I disabled it because I kept hitting it with my cheek in the middle of my client calls. You may think I look okay in my pajamas, and you might change your mind after tonight, but those people need to think I live in a soap opera and wake up with a face full of makeup.”

“I sent you a request. Do you see it?”

“No. Hang on, I’ll ask Raven.” Leah sounded frustrated. “She thinks you’re cute, by the way.”

Didn’t expect that. “What did you tell her about us?”

“She had some questions after she saw you at the airport.” She paused. “Rich had told her about us at the reunion, and she wanted to know why I wasn’t going to see you again.”

“I like this kid. A lot.” This was light years away from the night I was at her house and she didn’t want Raven to know I existed.

“Because she’s awesome. Hang on.” I heard her knock on the door. “Hey Ray, can you help me with something?”

“What?” Her daughter’s voice was muffled, but she was giving Leah attitude. Brat.

“Show me how to turn on Facetime. I disabled it.”

Voices were muffled as Raven played with the phone. “That should do it,” Raven said, then looked down at me. Her shocked face came into view, framed by her purple hair. Leah obviously hadn’t told her who was on the other end. “Yeah. Um, hi.”

“Hi.”

“I’m just going to give this back to my mom.” The ceiling came into view and then finally, Leah.

A mess, my ass. No, she didn’t have any makeup on and she had the top of her hair pulled away from her face. Even in the low light she glowed. Her eyes sparkled and she bit her lip to keep her grin from splitting her face in two.

I knew just how she felt.

“Hi,” she said. “Hang on.” Shadows cast over Leah’s face as she moved to her bedroom. She turned on the light and settled on her bed, playing with her hair and adjusting so she approved of the angle. “Now we can talk.”

“Raven looked horrified when she saw me on the other end of the line.”

Leah laughed. “Get this. She’s doing the same thing we’re doing right now. There was a
boy
on her computer screen,” she whispered and wiggled her eyebrows.

“How do you feel about that, Mom?”

“Kind of the same way she does about us doing this.” The smile deflated, but then came back. “He could barely look at me. She’s been talking to this kid at least since we were in Massachusetts a couple weeks ago. He’s the reason she’s got that crazy hair.”

“I like her hair. I’m surprised you don’t.”

“You would.” She shook her head, still smiling. “Anyway, she turns bright red any time Jaden’s mentioned. That’s his name.”

“Sounds like the whole family had a good weekend.” I laughed.

Leah’s mouth formed an O. “No! They’re both so awkward I think they’d die of embarrassment if they actually touched each other.”

I wouldn’t be so sure. Raven looked like she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar when her face came up on the screen. That couldn’t have been all for me.

“I’m so glad you called, Leah.” I’d gone out on the deck, the cool night breeze giving me enough oxygen to breathe. I wanted this so bad it had caused me pain to wish for it. I didn’t think she’d ever get past what I did for work. I understood. Sometimes I couldn’t get past it, either.

She looked down, her lashes casting shadows on her cheekbones. “I hated the way I left you,” she said softly. “That was the best weekend I’ve ever had, and I ruined everything.”

“No, you didn’t. You were honest with me and as much as I didn’t want to hear it, I respect that.” Seeing her wasn’t enough. I wanted to touch her. All of her. “And it was one of the best weekends I’ve ever had, too.”

Leah’s lip curled up. “Really?”

“Yeah,” I laughed. “Why don’t you believe me?”

She ran her hand through her hair and tipped her head back. “Because I would think that you’d get to do all these glamorous things with your…clients all the time.” I nodded. “And I brought you to this lame reunion.”

“It didn’t matter where we were.” I raised an eyebrow. “I was with you, and that’s what mattered.”

“Maybe next time we can do something not so lame.” Leah offered a wobbly smile, expecting me to shoot her down.

Not a chance. “Whatever you want, name it.” I’d be there. Her face brightened. “But first I want to know what you wanted to tell me.”

Leah was so animated, I’d never get tired of looking at her. She raised her eyebrows, her open mouth spread in a smile. “The network greenlighted a thirteen episode rehab project series.”

“No way.” That was incredible. She nodded. “Congratulations!” But I wasn’t surprised. Leah came alive in front of the camera. All the shit she was hung up on peeled away and she let everyone see the real her.

“Thanks. I can’t believe it.” She took a deep, dreamy breath. “It’s going to be one of their affiliate networks, and the details are still being ironed out. But right now it looks like we’re going to launch it on the morning show, get the votes for the property, and I’m making sure we include the history of the place in the series. The network really likes the idea of giving back to the community, and the producers I’ve talked to so far are on board with making sure we do right by the building and the town.”

“That sounds incredible.” Even if I wasn’t completely smitten with the host I’d be really excited about this show. “I’m so proud of you. This calls for a celebration.”

Leah took a deep breath. “I was hoping you’d say that.” She looked down again, the shyness was back. “I’d really like to see you again, Jagger.”

“And I was hoping you’d say that.” My head fell back, and my eyes closed. I had plenty of experience with women, but actual relationships? That kid Raven was talking to probably had a better game than me. “Just tell me when.”

“I don’t know what your schedule looks like.” Leah bit her lip. She was still uncomfortable talking about my work, and I knew that wasn’t going away anytime soon. “But I can’t get away. Now I have preproduction for two series and I can’t leave Raven more than I already do. She stays with Kari when I go out of town for work, but with Christmas coming…”

“I can come up there.”

“You will?” Her face brightened again. It actually lit up when she was surprised or got what she wanted. It was so noticeable even on the small screen. “When do you think you can come?”

“I’ll look at my schedule.” I’d make it happen, no matter what. “What do you want to do?”

Leah reached forward and ran her finger down the screen, probably where my face was. At least it wasn’t just me. “I really want to cook you dinner.”