I walk out and look around, taking in the view of not only the entirety of the college campus, but of the Philly skyline beyond that.
"What is… how did you…?"
"It's not hard to find places like this, you just have to want to explore a little," she says as she walks past me. It's not a “finished" roof, which means there's no railing, and that we're definitely not supposed to be up here. But there's enough of a lip that she can get settled right up against it and start adjusting the settings on her camera.
"Why do I get the feeling you've done a lot of exploring like this?" I ask in an amused drawl.
She shines a grin at me over her shoulder in answer. Then she lifts the camera to her eye and the click of the camera sounds as she starts to capture the breathtaking scenery stretching before us.
I stand back and let her work. I'm mesmerized by the Center City skyline even from where I'm standing, so it's easy to give her a few minutes for her art.
But when she calls to me with a quietcome look, it takes no effort to tear myself away from the incredible view and walk toward an even more incredible view.
She looks at me with a sparkle in her eyes that I can't help but admire. I've always felt like the most attractive thing about a person is the passion with which they do something they love, and this girl definitely loves what she's doing.
I step up beside her, staying slightly behind. "You get another National Geographic-worthy shot?"
"Something like that,” she says with an appreciative chuckle. Then she holds the camera out for me to see.
Sure enough, the picture on her screen is fucking stunning. It’s a little after 4:00, which means we’re just about in the golden hour and she has the perfect lighting for some stunning landscape photos. The remaining daylight is softer and redder than during the day, and is perfectly complimenting the fall colors all over the city.
"Beautiful," I murmur. Though I don't think that's entirely aimed at the picture on the camera.
I let my gaze trail over her hands, over the ink tattooed on her arm, and along the line of her neck. "What's your name?" I finally remember to ask her.
She turns fully to face me. "You first, pretty boy."
I extend my hand with my classic, dimpled grin. "I'm Aiden." She clasps her hand in mine and takes a step closer. "What about you, troublemaker? What should I call you?"
Her green eyes shine up at me as her close proximity sends a shock through my system, and it's all I can do to suck in a breath and wait for her answer.
"It's nice to meet you, Aiden," she practically purrs. "I'm Danielle."
I tilt my head, still holding on to her hand in mine. "You don't strike me as a Danielle. Sure you're not giving me a fake name?"
She grins, looking pleased with my catch. "And why would I want to give you a fake name? You planning on seeing me again?"
I let my thumb trace over her hand where I'm touching her. And then I flash her a grin of my own, saying, "I don't know about again, because the only thing I'm thinking of right now is how stunning you look with that camera in your hands, and how much I'm enjoying doing illegal shit with you."
She laughs and finally pulls away from me. But she doesn't go far, she just pulls the strap over her head and hands me the camera.
"Here, you try. The settings are already there, just point and shoot."
I lift the strap over my head to make myself feel slightly less stressed about dropping what is clearly a several-thousand-dollar camera. Then I raise it up and look through the lens at the city.
I snap a few pictures of the skyline in the distance. Then of the bell tower in the center of campus, and the courtyard where I first saw her.
As soon as I'm trained on a closer target, I start noticing people walking around below us. So I twist the lens to test how far I can zoom in—and it’s pretty damn far, because a couple holding hands immediately comes into focus.
I snap a picture at the moment the girl rips her hand out of the guy's grasp.
When I shift my focus elsewhere, I manage to snap a picture of a group of freshman girls giggling and whispering about the frat bros that are strutting around the courtyard. Then another of the resident stoners drooling over the food trucks, and another of the engineering majors curled around their many textbooks.
"People over landscapes? Interesting," I hear murmured in my ear.
I lower the camera and twist slightly to show her the last picture I took.
"You have a good eye," she says thoughtfully as she grips it with one hand and flips through the recent shots. She laughs when she sees the moment I captured the girl pulling away from her boyfriend. "Youdohave a good eye. You even managed to catch trouble in paradise."