Page 107 of Whirlwind

“Hello.” My voice barely came out.

“Beck, fantastic to meet you.” He rose and shook Beck’s hand. “I’m a big fan.”

“Thanks, Alessio. Pleasure to meet you too. Tag told us how much he’s enjoyed working with you.”

“Yes, we’ve had a terrific time on this project.”

A young, gorgeous guy came over with a stone platter filled with silver jewelry. “Please, take a look,” said Alessio.

Each necklace was either on a silver chain or a leather cord. The silver charms were thick and smooth, rounded. Sculptural. There was an abstract fish form, a dolphin, one for the wind, another for sea waves.

“They’re beautiful,” murmured Beck. “Congratulations.”

“Gorgeous,” I said.

Beck sat back in his chair and the long strand of small beads he wore fell against his bare chest. His hand landed on my thigh and squeezed, and my privates filled with heat. Was I that drunk? No, but I was high on him. I’d always had a healthy sex drive, but this, this was crazy. Was it the fresh sea air maybe? The fact that I was all the way around the planet with absolutely no obligations or responsibilities? Yes, to all of it, but Beck, oh Beck was at the center of it all.

A hand grabbed my shoulder, and my head jerked up. Tag. “Violet, this is Lars, my photographer.”

“Oh!” I turned in my seat to face Lars. “Great to meet you.”

He leaned into me. “I hear you’d like to help out with filming.”

“Yes, I would. In any way I can help. It would be a huge honor to be a part of the team…um…if that’s a possibility, of course.”

“Are you a total newbie or—”

“Not completely. I’ve been taking pics of concerts and performances in my area for over five years now.” I wasn’t going to mention the friends’ and family’s weddings and christenings I’d shot. He’d probably roll his eyes and I would die. “Also I’ve done a lot of outdoor landscapes for property development purposes, so I have experience with the badly lit dynamic as well as static wild nature.”

“Badly lit dynamic.” He laughed, his big brown eyes crinkling for a moment. “Sounds right.”

I stood up and joined him so we could hear each other over the loud tribal type music playing in the restaurant and the din of our party.

“We’re pretty low-key.” Lars folded his arms. “We improvise a lot, but at this point we know what works for us. And Tag has a specific vision. You’re familiar with his work?”

“I am. Huge fan.”

“Good. And if you have that concert experience, then you know that anything can happen at any time—”

“And I need to be ready to catch it, but more importantly, look for it.”

He tilted his head on a grin. “Exactly. Mentoring is how I got my start, so you’re on. I’ll need you to listen, take direction, and be willing to go out on a limb. I assume you have your camera with you?”

“I do.”

“Good. Things change like the wind with us when we’re at it. The mood, the vibe. You got to be open to it and all up in it.”

“I look forward to it. I really appreciate this opportunity, Lars. Thank you so much.” I held out my hand and he shook it.

“Tomorrow morning you’ll jump into our frying pan.” His fingers brushed over his goatee. “We’ll meet up at Tag’s villa, where we’ll shoot with him and Kaspar and Gabriella and Irina in the pool.” He gestured at two young models who sat with Tag. Natural surf beauties. “Then we head over to Alessio’s yacht for the final shots for the jewelry promo video. I’m going to get some underwater shots, and I’d like you to handle some secondary shots on deck with the girls. That’ll free up Stone, my assistant, to work with me in the water.”

“Terrific.”

“Give me a variety to pick from. The girls know what to do. They’ve been at this with us for a while. They’re pros.”

“Right.”

“We’ll go over everything tomorrow. Pay attention and go for it.”

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