Page 15 of The Heart Shot
The click of the camera was white noise in the background as the softness of her skin brushed against my lips, and I inhaled the scent of jasmine in her hair.
Seconds ticked by and, inch by inch, she melted into me, her muscles relaxing beneath my touch. I wasn’t sure how long we stayed pressed together, but it wasn’t nearly long enough when the camera went silent.
“That was great! Y’all are so cute together,” Maya commented. Elsie’s cheeks reddened and she pulled out of my arms. She tucked her hair behind an ear, fixing her gaze on the ground.
My arms were slow to lower, my hands twitching to pull her back into my embrace, but I summoned the gentleman my mom had raised me to be and stepped back a respectful distance.
“Did you get what you need?” I asked Maya, trying to distract myself.
“And then some,” she said, winking. I swallowed the strange sting in my throat.
What did that mean?
Elsie wrung her hands in front of her and dragged the toe of her sneaker through the dirt. I didn’t know her well enough yet to know if she was embarrassed by how close we had been, or if she was fighting the same thoughts as me and equally confused by them.
A beeping filled the air, and Maya muttered something unintelligible. “Crap, my camera battery is almost dead. I left the spare in the car.” She glanced at the sky, where the sun was quickly dropping toward the horizon. “We still have a good amount of light left, so let me run and get it. I’ll be right back!”
Without waiting for a response, Maya took off through the sunflower field. An awkward silence descended between me and Elsie, and she kicked at the dirt again.
“How long have you known Maya?” I asked, shoving my hands in my pockets.
“Best friends since middle school,” she replied. “What about you?”
“Maya’s my cousin,” I responded, chuckling when her eyes widened. “Never mentioned me, huh?”
She bit her lip and shook her head. “Not by name. She’s mentioned her cousins once or twice before, but she never said you were…” Elsie trailed off, gesturing at me.
“I was what?”
Her cheeks flushed again. “Um, nothing. Forget I said that.”
“Hmm, I don’t know if I can forget that very vague statement.”
Elsie expertly switched topics, forcing me away from whatever she wasn’t saying. “I’m surprised I’ve never run into you before. It’s not like Meridel is a big town.”
The smirk slid off my face. “I live on the outskirts of town, and aside from work, I haven’t left my house much over the years.”
“Why’s that?”
The question was innocent, but I hated the memories it brought up. “I had a lot going on.” Two could play at the avoiding game.
Her caramel eyes studied me but she didn’t push. “So, is that how she got you to agree to this? She pulled the family card?”
“Worse. She got my mom involved.”
Elsie’s laugh shimmered in the air, giving me that feeling I had during the first snowfall of the season. It’s beauty made my breath catch in my throat.
Get a hold of yourself, Jameson. She’s just a girl. Maya’s best friend. Don’t make it weird.
“That makes sense,” she said after a moment. “Who in their right mind agrees to a couples photoshoot with someone they’ve never met?” She gestured around us before fidgeting with her hands. “She must’ve been desperate if she pulled your mom into her meddling.”
The way she said the words made it sound less likewho would’ve agreed to such a thingand more like she was asking who would agree to do such a thing withher.
The thought made me want to reassure her, even though I didn’t know anything about her. “It was no big deal,” I said, and her eyes met mine. “I had nothing to lose. Besides, you’re a natural on camera.”
My compliment made her pause, cocking her head. “What if I had turned out to be a freak?”
The corner of my mouth twitched. “I see no freaks here.”
