“And?”
He slanted a glance at Kelly. “And it was from a studio that specialized in a certain kind of art photography. Nudes,” he said finally, expecting shocked silence to descend over the table.
“Oh my God. No way. You’ll love my pictures then.” Alana let out a bawdy laugh.
“You took pictures of nude people?”
“No, nude household pets.” Spencer shook his head. “Yes, Kelly. People. Women.”
Amazing her eyes hadn’t boggled right out of her head. “You? Really?”
“Yes, really. Is it that shocking? You do remember where we hooked up, right?” He was so caught up in defending himself he belatedly realized what he’d said. Alana, he knew, hung out at Kink. But Carter—
“It’s okay. We met there too. Well, met again.” Carter grinned and poured more wine for him and Alana.
“Hold up.” Kelly rubbed her temple. “Way too much information at once, people. Nicky, you were at Kink? Why?”
“I could ask you the same question. Except I already know the answer.” He gestured at Alana. “This one’s always making you do crazy stuff.”
“Maybe so, but I’m not the one who keeps pulling her back there.” Alana wiggled her brows across the table at Spencer. “That would be the fault of the nude photographer over there.”
“I can’t believe you went to Kink,” Kelly muttered, still looking at Carter. “I thought you would be one of the last holdouts for normalcy.”
“I was working on a story.”
“And I was working on getting laid.” Alana laughed and sipped her wine. “Lucky for me, Ramon found someone else and I was lonely and needing a friend.” She hooked her free hand through Carter’s arm. “And obviously more.”
The look that passed between Carter and Alana was so heavily charged Spencer felt as if he was intruding by witnessing it. He picked up the dessert menu. He didn’t dare look at Kelly. What if she was making gaga eyes like that at him?
What if she wasn’t?
“Anyone else want to try the chocolate cake?”
“The cake can wait.” Kelly thumped his menu. “I’m still stuck on you taking titty shots of chicks.”
With a heavy sigh, he set the menu aside. “Leave it to you to bring something down to the most base level.”
“Oh I apologize. Nude photography is only art. You probably didn’t even notice they had nipples, right?”
A couple days ago he would’ve swiftly changed topics, especially in mixed company. But he’d been around Kelly just long enough he enjoyed teasing her back. “Oh I definitely noticed. You’d be surprised what you can learn about a woman from her nipples.”
“Listen up.” Alana elbowed Carter. “Really? Like what?”
“Do not encourage him,” Kelly muttered, lips twitching.
“Oh my photos! I almost forgot.” Alana dug through an enormous tote. A moment later she pushed her cell toward him. “Those are from the latest series of articles I’ve been working on.”
He picked up her pastel-pink phone, assuming the pictures would be human interest shots or maybe Roanoke landmarks. Instead the photos were of sex toys arranged in artful positions. His eyebrows lifted as he scrolled through the album. “Ah, well, these are nice.”
Kelly peered over his arm and huffed out a breath. “You fit right in with my friends, Spencer. Bunch of perverts, the lot of you.”
He turned his head and skimmed his lips over her temple. “Guess I shouldn’t bring up what we did last night then, hmm?”
Her cheeks suffused with color and he laughed. Again. Being around her had that effect on him.
“Good use of light,” he said, returning the phone to Alana. “They’re actually great compositions, whatever you think of the subject matter.”
“Thanks. I’m applying for a new job, see if I can expand my repertoire a bit.”