Page 28 of The Caretaker
“Wait here,” I said before darting into the house and returning with my camera. I let him flip through some of the digital images, feeling bolstered by his praise.
“Can I take one of you?” he asked.
“Ah, sure,” I said, self-consciously sifting my hands through my hair. I gave him a quick tutorial before relaxing in my chair and facing the lens.
He snapped a shot, then handed the camera back to me, smiling triumphantly.
“Where’s my head? My nose and chin?” I asked. He’d completely botched the shot.
“I left them out on purpose,” he replied smugly, taking a swig of his beer.
“You expect me to believe you meant to only capture my eyes?” My tone was more than a little skeptical.
“Yes, because it’s the truth,” he whispered. His jeweled gaze glowed in the firelight, intensifying the longer my stunned silence held. He removed the camera from my hands and began snapping away again.
“See?” He inched his chair closer to show me the photos. “Now we have your chin and nose.”
“Better,” I agreed. “Do it again. This time move a few paces away, lower to your haunches, and angle the lens upward. And here,” taking the camera I messed with the settings, “let’s add a UV filter to neutralize the colors, especially the setting sun behind me.” I took a test shot, pursing my lips as I examined it.
“What’s wrong?” He leaned over to see the camera screen. “It looks perfect.”
“I’m trying to decide if it’d be better to switch from a wide-angle lens to a telephoto one,” I mused, taking another photo of the woodland beyond.
“What’s the difference?”
“A wide-angle is better to capture scenery. The vastness of the orange sky and how far the tree tops stretch into the distance,” I explained, still flicking away. “A telephoto lens, on the other hand, would allow you to get a narrower view. It puts the subject at the forefront of the shot, so to speak.”
“Then definitely a telepathic scope,” he said, and I cursed my skin for heating when he gathered my hair to drape it over one shoulder, making it clear who the subject would be.
“It’s a telephoto lens,” I corrected, attempting to take the attention off me. I reached into the camera case to swap out the lenses.
“We’re losing sunlight fast.” I passed the camera off to him. “Make these shots count.”
Between the wine, the fire, and Noon’s sudden intensity, I’d grown too warm for my coat. I shrugged it off, careful to not screw up the way he’d positioned my hair.
Noon fully immersed himself in the task, taking his job as a pseudo-photographer seriously, and what was supposed to be a few photos before sunset turned into a full-blown photo shoot under the moonlight. He gave orders with confidence.
Moodier.
Less pensive.
Smile for the camera.
Pretend you’re walking away.
Now look back at me.
He’d even gotten down on the slushy lawn, willing to do anything for the shot.
“I need more, Solace,” he coaxed. “If you plan on making it in this industry, you’re going to have to give me more.”
“So demanding,” I tsked, chuckling when he lowered the camera to reveal his own amusement.
Noon stood, watching me from across the fire as he dusted his pants off as best he could. “This was fun,” he said. It was. For those couple of hours, I’d forgotten about everything that had hurt me, and I suspected that was the point. A piece of my heart not riddled with pain warmed for the man I observed through the fire pit’s flames, and if his grin was anything to go by, something in him warmed for me too.
It scared and confused me, but I told myself being scared and confused was way better than being scared and alone. Noon made it okay to be terrified as long as we were terrified together.
“Let’s see how you did.” I circled the fire for the camera, ignoring the electrical current that ran up my arm when ourhands briefly touched. “This isn’t bad,” I said, my voice huskier than usual.
