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"They should create one for you."
"Don't hold your breath for that one." I raised my brows. "What did you call me this time?"
He went stone-still, his eyes unblinking. After a few seconds, when I was about to check for a pulse, he relaxed and smiled. "Never mind."
I let him get away with that only because of his pitiful condition. And because I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer. We had developed some kind of bond between us, but we hadn't talked about it. I had no idea if all his endearments were nothing but smooth talk he used with all the ladies.
No, I didn't believe that.
And I was pretty sure whatever he'd said included the word love.
By the time I finished covering him with calamine lotion from head to toe, Val was gazing at me with sleepy eyes.
"Ready for a nap?" I asked.
"Yes. The antihistamine helps, but it's making me too groggy to enjoy a striptease."
"We'll do that later."
He patted the mattress beside him. "Lie down with me. Please."
I dutifully crawled onto the bed and stretched out alongside his body.
Raising one arm, he invited me to cuddle up to him.
How could I resist? He'd become as pink as a baby pig thanks to the calamine lotion, but I'd risk getting the stuff all over myself for the chance to cuddle with him. Tucked under his arm, I nestled my head into the hollow of his shoulder.
Five seconds later, he was snoring.
We never did get around to the striptease.
One afternoon about a week later, following a series of portrait sessions with guests, Val repeated a request he'd made several times before.
I had just taken the memory card out of my camera and was plugging it into my laptop to download the images.
He came up beside me—nude of course—and said, "Pose for me, Eve. Please. Keep your clothes on if you like, though I love your naked body. You have nothing to be ashamed of."
"Not ashamed."
"Why won't you explain to me why you won't pose for pictures?" He leaned against the wall, beside where my computer table butted up against it. "I keep asking, and you keep sidestepping."
"I know, I'm sorry." I scrubbed hands over my face, groaning. "Explaining the reasons why I don't want to pose might offend you, and the last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable or unhappy."
When I glanced up at him, he was staring at me with a blank expression.
"See?" I said, dropping my forehead into my raised hand. "I've already hurt your feelings by saying I'm afraid I'll hurt your feelings."
"I'm not offended." He knelt beside my chair, peeling my hand away from my forehead. "I was surprised, that's all. But I love that you care about me, and I care about you the same way. You can tell me anything, Evie. Whether I like what you say or not, I will never lash out at you because of it."
"Yeah, I know that. I'm not good at sharing my feelings, though."
"Neither am I. We're learning together, aren't we?"
"Guess we are." I relaxed back into my chair. "I don't like pictures of myself. It's not that I'm ashamed of my body. You know I have zero problems with wearing short-shorts and tank tops and other skimpy stuff. I'm not comfortable in front of the camera, that's all."
"There's something else. I can tell."
I squirmed in my chair. "If I were to pose for you, what would you do with the pictures?"
