Free His Kind of Wonderful (Sugar Bay #2) by Kinsley Gibb

eyes while she looked her fill.
    “Nevermind. Come on. Let’s just get this over with.”
    He put his hand on her back and guided her through the entry. The thin fabric of her shirt was no barrier. She tried to ignore the electric charge that zipped through her at first contact but must have jumped a little because he gave her a funny look. He didn’t pause long but kept moving her passed an open living space, a well-stocked kitchen to the spacious back balcony. The cottage wasn’t huge, but it was lovely—rustic with masculine touches sprinkled with the same blue that matched the gulf, along with shades of cream and brown.
    A small grey haired photographer dressed in black had set up a variety of equipment while a stylist arranged pillows and sheers on a swinging bed that had been installed from the rafters. The Gulf sparkled in the distance and was dotted with several boats—another beautiful day in Sugar Bay.
    Lisa stood with the photographer and they pointed to the laptop in front of them. Dani overheard words like, “mood”, “sexy”, and “increased exposure” but tuned them out when Joe grabbed her elbow and pulled her to the side.
    “Stay with me the entire time,” he said close to her ear.
    The photographer turned to them.
    “So you’re the girlfriend?” He looked her up and down with pursed lips. She wondered if he found her lacking and questioned what Joe saw in her.
    When she didn’t respond, Joe squeezed her hip. She nodded dumbly, still unaccustomed to their new status.
    “Maybe you can do something. Hunk, here, is not a natural in front of the camera. He’s stiff and uncooperative —“
    “I told you I wasn’t a model. We should scrap this whole thing and you can choose someone else.”
    “Absolutely not.” Lisa’s hands were on her hips. “The Ladies League were thrilled you agreed. They think you’ll pull in a good number of donations, Joe. Rumor has it, you know how to please a woman.”
    “What a load of crap,” the photographer muttered. “Rumor may have him as a bull, but these pictures show a constipated zombie.”
    Joe’s face paled then turned red. Dani smothered a giggle and got a glare in return.
    “I wasn’t feeling inspired.”
    “Well, get inspired then, I haven’t the whole day to waste.” The photographer pulled out a cooler. “Young lady, you need to take him in hand and relax him,” he gave her a pointed look, “if you know what I mean or I won’t get anything worth printing. I’ll be on my break until he’s feeling more ‘inspired’.”
    “Yes, well—“
    “Come on.” Joe tugged her from the room and shoved her into what looked to be his study. He locked the door behind them as if afraid they’d be disturbed. The walls were lined with shelves of books and a desk stood laden with drawings and more books. It seemed that Joe enjoyed reading. “This is a nightmare.”
    “What’s wrong? Feeling like a piece of meat? You know everyone who sees the pictures will be imagining you as their very own boy toy?”
    Joe shoved a hand through his hair in frustration. “You’re having fun with this, aren’t you?”
    “Maybe a little bit.” She walked further into the room and perused his book collection. He had an assortment of both fiction and non-fiction.
    He exhaled heavily. “If you’d just followed my lead, I could have written a check. But no —instead, you go off on a tangent and I’m stuck in this get up.”
    He motioned towards the low hung pajama pants and his lightly oiled chest.
    She grinned. “It’s just a few pictures.”
    “Pictures are all good and well but there’s something distinctly unappealing about being photographed while three strangers stare at you and coax you to ‘work’ it.”
    The frustration in his voice made her laugh. “Sorry, Joe.” She tried to put on her serious face. “I’m very sorry you’re having performance anxiety.“
    The look he sent her made Dani lose it completely and she hugged herself while