Picture Perfect Temptation - Chapter 18
“I didn’t say he was my favorite anything,” Lina snapped, but when RJ raised his brow, she wisely remained silent. He looked just like his father, Ron Gold—who was her godfather—when he raised that one thick brow in a way that either dared you to tell him he was wrong or be quiet. She figured she’d chosen wisely.
“He’s from the same town you are, and when I called your mother under the pretense of asking if they were coming to the wedding, I just happened to mention him.”
“You didn’t.” Her gaze was narrowed at him now as she thought about her mother, whom she’d spoken to at least four times since Carver had left, and she hadn’t mentioned anything about RJ’s call. “Okay, you did,” she continued when he just smiled at her. “So what? We were very close a long time ago. He’s still a really good photographer, and you’d be lucky to get him signed on at this late stage of the game.”
“And you’d be happy to have him on that shoot because you’ll be there, too. Right?”
She could lie, but it’d be a waste of time. Seeing Carver again had been first and foremost on her mind when she’d thought of this assignment. Second had been giving him the opportunity to add to his already impressive portfolio with a couture fashion shoot in Prague. Views on his website would triple, and people would begin traveling to Temptation just to get a session with him. Lina wanted to see Carver flourish and find happiness, even if it couldn’t be with her.
“I’ll be happy to see him succeed.”
“Because you might be just a little bit in love with him?” RJ asked with a roll of his eyes. “Hey, don’t answer that. Like I said, I’m the last person to talk about love or anything that goes along with it. But I can see you’ve got that same starry-eyed look Riley gets whenever she’s near Chaz, or Nina gets whenever you mention Major’s name. So whatever your feelings for him are, he is a great photographer. If you want him for the job, go get him.”
Lina couldn’t help it—she beamed at him and just about jumped out of her chair. Hurrying around the desk, she wrapped her arms around RJ in a quick hug. “Thank you! You won’t regret it, I promise!”
“Go!” He chuckled and playfully pushed her away. “I hope you know what you’re doing, and not just with the photo shoot.”
“I think I do,” she said.
She grabbed her notepad and walked out of his office. She realized she not only wanted Carver to succeed, she also wanted Carver.