Page 48 of Ruined Promises

“And what makes you think you’re not looking at her?” His face is stone-cold. Oh my God, is this a scam, and we’re all about to get whacked.

“Are we being catfished?” I hear Brynn mumble softly beside me.

“I don’t know, but if he’s the photographer, I’m getting naked, too.”Seriously, Hadley?I roll my eyes at her before shooting her aknock it offlook, which she just shrugs it off.

“Oh my God, Dean, stop it. It’s a client,” a cheerful voice calls out from behind him. “Please ignore my husband.” A short and slender blonde comes into view, carrying a toddler. She matches the photos I’d seen online of Aubrey.Phew.My heart rate begins to slow.

The gentleman smirks as she approaches and places his arm around her shoulders, pulling her and the child into his side. It’s rather endearing, as if he always had to touch her in some way. He places a gentle kiss on her temple.

“Are you Lexi?” Aubrey glances back and forth between the girls and me.

“Yes, hi.” I extend my hand and shake hers.

“Please come on in. I’m sorry, I was just messing with you.” The man—who we now know to be her husband, and also an extremely intimidating guy—moves them to the side, allowing us to enter. When the little girl reaches for him, he scoops her up, and holy shit, I think I need a new pair of underwear because I’m pretty sure my lady bits just exploded. “Daddy’s here,” he coos, rubbing circles on her.

“I hope it’s okay that I brought my two best friends.” I nod toward Hadley and Brynn, who are both still staring at Dean dreamily.

“Absolutely. I want all my clients to feel comfortable when I’m taking their picture. Oh and don’t worry, Dean was just leaving. He just got off duty and came here to grab Savannah.” Her smile widens as she takes in the scene in front of her.

“Yep, we’re out of here.” He kisses the top of his daughter’s forehead as she rests against his shoulder.Will Ben look that sexy holding our child?

Woah, slow your roll, Lex. You guys haven’t even gone public with your relationship, and here you are thinking about kids?

“Say bye to Mommy. Bye, babe, I’ll see you at home.” He kisses Aubrey’s lips gently, before turning to us “You ladies have fun.” And with that, he is out the door, closing it gently behind him.

Aubrey claps her hands together. “Should we get started?”

Aubrey leads me over to the small area set up as the dressing room for me to change. Hadley sets her bag down there and does my hair in simple loose curls and light makeup.

I brought a few different outfit options, one being a dress shirt of Ben’s that I stole from his closet the other day that I’ll pair with a black-and-pink lace bra and matching cheeky lace panties. Hadley suggested a pose we found on Pinterest without the bra and the dress shirt covering my nipples but exposing the majority of my breasts. Another outfit is a purple-and-black lace satin slip dress with matching kimono, and last, at Hadley’s insistence, a sheer black mesh-and-lace baby doll with a red bow in the center, paired with my favorite heels that I was wearing the night of the Christmas party.

I stare at myself in the reflection of the small floor-length mirror in the dressing area, having picked the black-and-red baby doll first.

“Stop staring at yourself,” Hadley shouts, “and get your ass out here.” Her voice turns firm.

“You have a great mom voice,” Aubrey says, and Brynn lets out a loud laugh, the same time I snort.

“Thank you?” Hadley replies, unsure if that’s a good thing or not.

“Lex.” It’s Brynn this time who calls my name as I walk out of the dressing area.

“I’m here, okay? You guys can stop yelling.”

My eyes meet three sets staring directly back at me, and I start to feel self-conscious. I wrap my arms around the exposed waistline, second-guessing this whole experience.

“Oh no, you’re not going shy on me now.” Aubrey tugs on my hand as if she had known me for years. She leads me over to a bed in the center of the room. “Don’t worry, Dean and I haven’t had sex on this.” My eyes nearly bulge out of my head at her comment.

“Why not? If I were married to that, I’d be having sex with him all over the place.”

I whip my head around at Hadley’s comment. “Hadley Eloise Kincaid, you can’t say things like that to strangers,” I scold. I turn back to Aubrey, who is wiping tears of laughter away. “I am so sorry.”

She waves me off. “Oh no, it’s fine. I know he’s gorgeous, and so does he.”

“See?” Hadley exclaims before plopping down on the couch in front of us as if she owns the place.

“Okay, now let’s get you set up.” Aubrey adjusts me on the bed and takes a few test shots before finding the right lighting combination.

“Holy hell,” the girls both say at the same time, looking over Aubrey’s shoulder at the camera.

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