Free Picture Perfect by Kate Watterson Page A

lights.
    “You doing okay? Need to take a break? Want a drink? It’s warm in here.”
    “I’m not too warm,” she said dryly, with one hand indicating what she wore. “Where did you get this suit anyway? An adult store?”
    He pretended to look offended. “Hey, I paid a lot for it at one of your finer shops in Santa Fe. I think maybe I just underestimated the size of your…er…assets. Speaking as a healthy heterosexual adult male, take my word for it, you don’t show them off often enough.”
    She liked to think she was comfortable enough with her body to not have to flaunt what she had or didn’t have, so it was true. She dressed fairly conservatively. Maybe even ladylike.
    What she was doing now wasn’t ladylike
at all
.
    She gave Andy a quelling look. “I get one hint of a leer, I’m through with all this, get it?”
    This time the offended look was genuine. “I’m a professional, Tori. You’re just another model when I pick up my camera. Now, let’s make this the best damn shoot ever. Sit back a little and spread your legs. Make it sexy. You’re gorgeous. Show me.”
    It took a little mental pep talk to comply, but she managed to follow the instructions for the next half hour or so, pouting into the camera, lying back with her hand on her thigh and one knee bent, her hair spilling off the edge of the less than comfortable bale of straw.
    “What the hell is this?”
    The interruption was jarring, and she looked over her shoulder from a bent pose with her ass pointed at the camera to see a man in the doorway of the barn, wearing an amused expression. His tall, lean body was silhouetted by the outside sunshine, his shirt half-unbuttoned and damp with sweat, the sleeves rolled up to show off brawny forearms. He also had on jeans and dusty boots, and his dark hair was disheveled and waved back from a good-looking face that was all angles and chiseled lines.
    This was some crappy luck. She thought Wade Preston was supposed to be out most of the day. In fact, she could swear Ross had told her his younger brother was working on fences at the south end of the ranch, and to quote him, “The job was a long son-of-a-bitch.”
    She started to straighten, but Andy barked, “Don’t you dare move, Tori. This is a great shot.”
    “I have to agree it’s an interesting view, but mind telling me why you’re taking pictures of my brother’s girlfriend’s ass, Kendall?” The metal in the bridle in Wade’s hand clinked as he moved to casually hang the tack on a peg on the wall.
    Victoria was pretty sure she was past maidenly blushes at the age of twenty-four, but she was wrong. Wade always made her a little uncomfortable.
    She mumbled, “He’s putting together a portfolio for a job opportunity, and I agreed to help out. No one is going to see these pictures except his potential boss, who shoots naked women all the time. Now, do you mind leaving?”
    “This is half my barn,” Wade said, one dark brow going up in a slow, irritating lift.
    In the half a year she’d been dating his brother, she and Wade hadn’t really formed any kind of friendship and it bothered her. Victoria couldn’t tell if he didn’t like her, didn’t trust her, or if he was just standoffish by nature.
    Whatever it was, posing in a string bikini in front of Andy was bad enough. She felt naked—hell, she basically
was
naked—and though she wasn’t a prude, she wasn’t at ease, either.
    “Andy,” Tori said with a warning note in her voice. They’d been friends since kindergarten. He got it right away.
    “Mind helping me out by leaving, dude?” he asked Wade. “This job pays damn good. I need it if I’m going put that book together I told you about, and…hey, Jesus. Wait a minute.”
    Victoria refused to stand there with her ass in plain view any longer, especially since Andy wasn’t shooting pictures but looking at Wade instead. She straightened and turned, folding her arms over her chest in an ineffectual attempt to cover