Picture Perfect Read Online Free Page A

cup. “Here’s to you. May today’s best moments be the worst compared to the rest of your life.”
    “With you around, how could that not come true?” She clinked cups and took a sip of her wine. A phone buzzed. His.
    “Do you mind? I canceled all my appointments today, but who knows, somebody may have forgotten and is looking for me.”
    “No problem, go right ahead.” She watched as his sensual eyes turned stormy.
    “Son of a bitch,” he muttered under his breath as he read the text message, and snapped his phone closed.
    “What’s the matter?”
    He took a deep breath . “ Better to get it out in the open right now. It’s frustrating and a hazard of my job, unfortunately. At times, I get a model working with me that gets a little….confused, and blurs the line between fantasy and reality.”
    “Uh huh.  Let me guess. She thinks that the relationship you’re presenting to the camera is real. I know all about that.” She shook her head. “Was that one of them?”
    “Yeah. We’ve worked so well together for a few years now. I’ve tried to be nice about it. She stormed out of a photo shoot yesterday because I wouldn’t….you know, have sex with her. The way she stormed off, I figured she’d finished with me and that would be the end of that.”
    “No such luck?”
    “Nope. She’s been calling and texting, wanting to ‘make up’ after our ‘lover’s quarrel’. She said she forgives me. Can you believe that? She forgives me . I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve told this girl that it’s just business, nothing more. We’ve never dated. I never spent the night with her. Nothing. She’s just…argh! Damn this business sometimes.” He shook his head and leaned back against the couch, scrubbing his face with his hands.
    Hope patted his thigh with her hand. “I’m so sorry you have to go through this. I had a guy once, an author, fall in love with the lady I chose for his cover. He wouldn’t stop calling and emailing me for her number or address or anything I could give him. He couldn’t understand that I found that picture out of thousands of stock photos. And with the manipulations I performed on the computer, she became a beautiful alien. I think, if he were to ever meet her for real, he’d believe she’d look just like she did on his cover. Some people are crazy, is all. Forget about her. She’ll go away eventually.”
    “Can I tell you how relieved I am right now?” He collected her in his arms and snuggled down into the enveloping cushions of the sofa.
    “Why? What do you mean?” She rested her head on his chest, intoxicated by his warmth, the feel of his power around her, and the gentleness that shrouded it all.
    “You get it. That’s all. You get it.” He kissed the top of her head and nuzzled her hair.
    “Yeah, I do, Jamie.” She made circles on his stomach with her fingers.
    “Tell me about your covers here.”
    “Well, that one is my first cover.” She pointed to the poster nearest the front door. “And they go in order around the room. My favorite is the one with the angel in it. It took me forever to find just the right wings. But I love the way the graphics blend to tell a story, right on the cover. That’s what I strive for in each cover I do. If the story is appealing on the cover, the reader will want to read what’s inside.”
    “Exactly! That’s what I try to do in my photo shoots. I think about generic storylines or scenarios and play them out in my head and on camera, start to finish. You mentioned earlier that you lost your job. How are you feeling about it? I think I’d be pissed.”
    “At first, yeah I was. Until I had a chance to think about it objectively today, that is. I realized that I’m free pickings for everyone now. Before, one publisher had the rights to my work, and one publisher only. At the time, I thought great because it gave me a steady paycheck. But after all these years and all these covers, I have a reputation. I