Free Leveling The Field (Gamers #4) by Megan Erickson Page B

not Lissa. All the bravado Ethan had managed to cobble together fled like leaves scattered in the wind. He exhaled sharply. “Um, yes, I’m just wondering your hours.”
    There was a hesitation. “We’ll, we’re open until five, but we work by appointment only.” Of course, Jesus, this wasn’t Target. He floundered, but before he could speak again, the man on the other end of the line beat him to it. “Would you like to make an appointment? Are you interested in Lissa’s services?”
    Hell yeah, he was interested in Lissa’s services, but he didn’t think this man—probably her assistant—wanted to know exactly which services he wanted. Because they didn’t involve a camera.
    He cleared his throat. “Is Lissa available today?”
    “No, I’m sorry, she’s doing some family portraits over at Willow Park.”
    Ethan didn’t know what else to say. “Right, er, thank you. Let me check my schedule and call back.” He ended the call as the man was in mid-sentence.
    He let his head fall onto his fireplace mantel, where he banged it a couple of times, then he lifted it and rubbed the abused skin on his forehead.
    At this moment, he wished he had a dog. A dog that needed a walk. A dog that needed a walk at Willow Park and just happened to leap to the attention of a certain photographer with a great laugh and perfect ass.
    Ethan loved his imaginary dog already.
    He rubbed his chin. He didn’t have to have a dog to go to the park. He could just…go. And walk, or do whatever it was people did at parks. And if he happened to see Lissa, then that was just a bonus.
    He grabbed his jacket and was out the door before he lost this resurgence of courage.

Chapter Eight
    Lissa smiled at her client and ruffled the hair of the boy at her side. “You want to try one more shot? The little bridge over there makes a really cool photograph, especially with the colored leaves behind it.”
    Amanda, her client, perked up. “That would be great!” She looked down at her son. “Can we do one more, buddy?”
    The six-year-old had been a trooper and even though his shoulders sagged, he nodded. The park was nearly empty this afternoon, so Lissa had been able to work with Amanda and her son, with minimal distractions. Lissa enjoyed the work, and capturing this moment in time for families meant a lot to her. She wished she had more pictures of her and Rona.
    They’d been blessed with an overcast sky for most of the day, which was perfect for portraits, but by the time they made it over to the bridge, the sun had emerged, bringing its crappy light with it. Lissa grabbed her sun shade out of her bag and bit her lip as she thought about where to place it to best shield her clients. She preferred to control the light, and the sun didn’t work well with that plan. Also? There was no one to hold the shade. Usually that job was handled by Daniel, but he’d had another appointment back at the studio.
    She heard the beep of a car locking and turned around, spotting a black SUV but no person in sight. Something about the SUV was familiar, but she couldn’t place it.
    “Lissa?” Amanda asked. “Everything okay?”
    She focused back on her client. “Yeah, I’m going to need to shade you from the sun, but my assistant isn’t here to hold the shade.”
    Michael peered over her shoulder. “Can we ask that man?”
    Lissa turned around to see Ethan Talley leaning against his SUV, arms crossed, sunglasses hiding his eyes. What is he doing here? Her curiosity didn’t stop her from noting that he looked imposing. And fucking hot.
    Lissa turned back around, hoping her face wasn’t turning red. “Um…”
    “That man is dressed nicely,” Amanda said. “We probably shouldn’t bother him—”
    “Mister!” Michael called, waving his hands. “Could you help us?”
    Lissa closed her eyes briefly, muttering under her breath, hoping Ethan said he was busy, that he had to get back to work, but, try as she might, she couldn’t drown out the