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“Of course you’ve already thought of that,” he said with a laugh. “I’m not even sure why you need an assistant.”

She didn’t.

Seeing Grant and the surfer walking toward them, she handed Scott her coffee. May as well put those assisting skills to use.

“Let’s see what you got,” she said to Grant, leaning over to view the slideshow of shots on the camera.

Scott’s breath on the back of her neck as he peered over her shoulder was irritating, and she moved away slightly. She purposely hadn’t invited him to this. She’d just barely been given the lead on this one, and she wanted to do it all herself.

She squinted to see the pictures and nodded. “Great. They are exactly what I was hoping for. Just a few shots of the cliffs, and I think that’s a day.” She reached into her purse and retrieved an envelope with the surfer’s payment and handed it to him. “Thank you.”

“Those waves were sick, man. Can’t believe I get paid for this shit,” the young guy said, unzipping his wet suit a tad too far. Whitney averted her eyes from the six-pack and everything below it as he continued to climb out of the suit. No shame.

“Okay, so I’ll… We’ll meet you at the south end of the beach?” she asked Grant.

“Be there in five. Just need a new memory card,” he said, jogging off toward his van.

“Wanna ride together?” Scott asked her as they walked across the sand to the parking lot.

Great. He was coming, too. She hesitated, but her vision was destroyed by the pounding in her head that had nothing to do with the time of day or lack of coffee. “Okay. You drive.”

As they headed toward his Escalade, he said, “So I was thinking, for the pitch, you might want to use your office instead of the boardroom.”

“All of the media equipment is in there,” she said as he opened the passenger side door for her. She shot him an odd look at the gesture.

“What? My mom raised me right,” he said.

He closed the door and crossed the front end, then got in behind the wheel. “I can set the equipment up in your office fairly easily. I just think your view of the bay is so much better than the view of Tommy’s Board Shop’s back alley from the boardroom window.”

Good point. Theyweretrying to convince these Hollywood executives that their town was spectacular. The graffiti in the back alley wasn’t the image she wanted to present. “Okay,” she said as he pulled out of the lot and they headed down the coast.

“Wait,” Scott said, sounding shocked. “Did I just get something right? Did I actually think of something you hadn’t?” He wasn’t gloating, he was teasing, but her migraine didn’t care—he was still irritating.

She ignored him, staring out the window at the movement of palm trees, other cars passing, and a cyclist on the side of the road—all a blur. At least the air-conditioning inside the Escalade gave a brief respite from the mugginess outside.

Scott pulled into the gravel lot of the viewing point at the cliff site, and they climbed out. Grant’s van pulled up next to them, and he got out as well. “I’m thinking several shots from here, then we’ll move closer.”

Whitney nodded, swallowing saliva that had formed in her mouth. Her stomach felt nauseous, and she was close to throwing up. It had to be this humidity and lack of food. Once she hit the bakery on the way back to the office, raise her blood sugar with a muffin, she’d be fine.

“You okay?” Scott asked as they approached the cliffs.

“Yes.” She forced a slow, steady breath as she focused on the photographer, pointing out various shots. She was a professional, and professionals didn’t have bad days.

Besides, they were almost done.

They moved a little closer, and another wave of dizziness made her blink. She swayed, and her arms reached out to grab hold of something, anything to stop her from falling backward over the side of the cliff, but there was nothing but air around her.

Her heart raced before the feel of Scott’s arm around her waist gave her a sense of relief. “Whoa…watch it,” he said, dragging her away from the side.

“Damn, we almost got an action shot right there,” Grant said with a laugh to ease the tense moment, but even he was eyeing her with concern.

Whitney stepped away from Scott, stumbling slightly on the gravel. “Yeah, I was trying to set one up for you, but Scott here ruined it,” she said, making light of the situation as the nausea passed. She fought to calm her thundering heart as she avoided Scott’s gaze. She could have fallen off the cliff to her death had he not just been there.

“Seriously, you okay? That was close,” Scott said, obviously not in the mood to joke about the near-fall.

She waved it off. She did not need Grant mentioning this in front of her mother at the next Rejuvenation family picnic. “Now you know why I need an assistant,” she said casually.

Scott annoyingly stayed close as Grant continued to snap the photos along the cliffs, and twenty minutes later, they were done. “Okay, I think we’re good for today,” Whitney said, handing Grant his payment envelope. “Thanks again.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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