“You mentioned the other day that you were stuck. That you were trying to draw poses you couldn’t see clearly in your head. I’m going to help you picture them. Where to?”
She was doing just fine right now, visualizing him in a number of poses. Towering over her. Sliding up behind her. Pinning her arms back... That wasn’t what he was talking about. “Copperton.” She wanted to be irritated he’d sprung this on her, but at the same time, it warmed her that he remembered, and she’d already put off getting more reference photos for too long. “I don’t need my sketchbook for that.”
He glanced at her longer that time, something unreadable in his expression. “Really?”
“You know I always draw from photos.” Fortunately she could take those with her phone. “You can still model for me.”
“See?” He turned down a highway, taking them away from the rush hour traffic and heading toward the destination she’d given him. “So it’s not a bad idea.”
“Not even close.”
He tapped out a tuneless rhythm against the gearshift. “Once you have these, how long until you finish your portfolio to a point where you’re comfortable sharing?”
Her gut clenched at the question, chasing away some of her fantasies of the kinds of poses she wished she could put him in. It wasn’t the asking that bothered her; it was the actual doing. Submitting meant showing new people her work. What if she got her stuff out there and realized she was average at best? “I don’t know.”
“You havesomeidea.”
She trailed her thumb over her fingernails one at a time, and then repeated the gesture. “I have an entire graphic novel finished, except for some clean up. The reference shots are for Book Two.”
He nodded toward her sketches behind the bench seats. “It’s all in there?”
She tried to force away the nervousness the idea filled her with. “It is.”
“Do it.” There was a stern edge to his teasing.
She flushed, not sure which to focus on—the pleased feeling of the encouragement, or the terror of showing a stranger her artwork. “Soon.”
The conversation shifted and tripped from topic to topic as they navigated the back roads. When they reached Copperton, she gave him a series of twists and turns through the small town. She’d always loved it up here. There were trees everywhere, and the surrounding mountains drowned out the heavy noise of a growing city. Most of the roads were two-lane, and she didn’t know if there was a stoplight in the entire place.
Several years ago, she found a spot away from it all. A clearing with packed dirt, surrounded by trees, and devoid of anything but nature. She was surprised but pleased it had remained untouched after all that time. She directed him to park as close as he could without leaving the packed dirt path that led past it.
He stood at the back of his truck, hands shoved in his pockets. “Where do you want me, boss?”
Wherever you want to have me. She pushed the thought aside with a flush and pulled down the tailgate. “Sit.”
He flopped into the back of the truck, kicking his legs back and forth, resting his elbows on his upper thighs. “You have to be more specific.”
In the past, she’d always just asked him to send her photos. Then again, he hadn’t been right there to pose as she needed, and she did have a couple of specific angles she really wanted to get. “Pull your knee up.”
He pulled his knees to his chest, and rocked back and forth.
“Not like that.”
“Show me.”
She closed the distance between them and tugged one leg down, then pushed the other back up so his foot sat on the truck bed. He hissed when she ran her hand along his thigh. She was tempted to move higher rather than lower, but that wouldn’t accomplish what they were there for. Next, she trailed her fingers along his arm and draped it over the knee.
She forced herself to step back, rather than feel him up. She pulled her phone out and snapped photos from as many different angles as she could. Moving around him, studying the way the sun caught his form and cast shadow and light in all the right places, was enough to draw her into the moment.
That was the easy shot, though. The reason she liked the isolated clearing was the ground was almost always covered with leaves or pine needles, and though there were houses and streets just a few blocks away, they weren’t visible through the trees.
If she could capture the silence of the area on camera, she’d do that as well. There was the occasional roar of a distant engine, but for the most part, only the squawk of birds pierced the air.
“Over here next.” She spoke softly, not wanting to disrupt the ambiance. When Zane was within reach, she tugged him to stand next to her. His warm palm against hers was a pleasant contrast to the creeping chill as the sun drifted behind the mountains.
“Crouch down.” She nodded at a pile of pine needles nearby.
“Like this?” He crossed the short distance to the new spot and sat on his heels, arms on his knees.