Part 15 (1/2)

”Ready?” Eden asked, a broad smile curving her pretty features.

”Yep. No workout today, huh?”

She grimaced. ”I try to do it every other day. I probably should do a daily regimen, and for a while I did when David and Micah took over my workouts. We worked out, ran and worked on self-defense. But after I got into better shape and more toned and lean, we cut back to three days a week. Sometimes more if I just need to work out my frustrations, but who wants to put themselves through that kind of torture every day?”

Swanny laughed. ”Hate to say this, honey, but you're talking to a man who has a very strict training and workout schedule. When I'm not on a mission, that is.”

”Of course,” Eden grumbled. ”People just aren't naturally blessed with the kind of body you have.”

G.o.d, but he loved the way she didn't even seem to notice the extreme scarring and seemed to really like his body. The entire package. No one had ever made him feel this comfortable. Even with the Kellys and their family he was still reserved, and most of the time he averted the scarred side of his face even though he knew his scars didn't matter to them.

”I could say the same for you, the world's most beautiful woman,” he said dryly. ”And you're all natural. No enhancements. Your kind of beauty just doesn't happen to most women.”

”No, I don't have enhancements, though I've had a few complaints that my b.r.e.a.s.t.s are too big,” she said in a shy voice.

”What the f.u.c.k?”

Swanny stared at her in utter bewilderment. Too big? They were f.u.c.king perfect. Plump, perfectly rounded with nipples that were a delectable shade of pink. And they filled the palms of his hands perfectly, as if she were made especially for him.

She flushed again. ”Most top models are tall, very slender with not much cleavage. I have the tall and slender part down, but it's not like I could do a lot about my breast size and I refused to have a reduction.”

Swanny looked at her in horror. ”Breast reduction?” he croaked. ”Who the h.e.l.l suggested that to you? That's the dumbest-a.s.s thing I've ever heard of. You're f.u.c.king perfect just the way you are.”

Her eyes glowed in response to his heartfelt explosion. ”Most of my gigs are cool with it. Occasionally when I'm doing a runway show they've sized a dress to fit the 'average' model and so they b.i.t.c.h about having to alter all the clothing I'm modeling. One guy was a raging a.s.shole and told me that not only were my b.r.e.a.s.t.s obscenely large but my a.s.s was also too big.”

”Jesus,” Swanny bit out. ”I'd love five minutes with the b.a.s.t.a.r.d. You can be d.a.m.n sure if I did, he'd never make the mistake of criticizing you again. I'd ask him how he felt about a d.i.c.k reduction.”

Eden burst into laughter, and she impulsively hugged Swanny to her. ”I'm so happy around you. You just make me happy. I feel like I can be myself with you and not hide behind a facade or some fake pose for one of my photo sessions. I can't tell you how freeing that is. Till now, I've only been able to say that about my father and brothers. They certainly keep me grounded, and if I ever did get too big for my britches they wouldn't hesitate to have a come-to-Jesus session with me.”

”You make me happy too, Eden,” he said in a serious tone. ”I know I sound like a broken record, but I have no idea why you chose me but I'm d.a.m.n sure glad you did. What we had was not s.e.x. We made love and until last night I really didn't know the difference between the two.”

With anyone else he wouldn't feel comfortable baring his soul. He was the quiet, reserved one on his team. Edge was too, but perhaps not to the degree Swanny was. Except for now. When it came to Eden. He wasn't afraid to speak up and be vocal about how things needed to be. His teammates were probably thinking he'd gone off the deep end and, well, they wouldn't really be wrong.

But with Eden, he felt completely at ease with sharing his thoughts, his emotions, and he was not abashed to put it out there how he felt about her. He wanted her to know that last night was every bit as special to him as it had been for her. He'd never imagined making love could be so all-consuming. A melding of souls, hearts and minds.

He felt as though he were as much a newbie at the act of making love as Eden had been herself. Two people finding each other together. Figuring out what pleased the other. He found it immensely satisfying that though Eden had been a virgin, she hadn't shown any inhibitions, even before they'd consummated their relations.h.i.+p.

She'd been up front and honest with him from the start. She'd left no question as to what she wanted and that he was who she wanted. It was like Christmas, Valentine's Day and his birthday all wrapped up together. h.e.l.l, he felt like a kid at Christmas, full of wonder and excitement over something fresh and new and so intimate.

He knew he needed to be as blunt and as straightforward as she'd been with him, and he also realized that he needed to ask her some very direct questions about what was between them and what she saw in the future and if he was going to play any part of that future.

But now wasn't the time. He wanted no distractions for her shoot today, and he didn't want her pondering his questions when she needed absolute focus for the day ahead.

Tonight. Tonight when they went to bed, he'd lay it out to her, provided he didn't chicken out between now and then. But as he'd already reminded himself, she'd been nothing but straightforward with him and he owed her the same.

So when they were alone again, he would tell her what was on his mind and in his heart and just hope and pray that she was on the same wavelength.

CHAPTER 21.

THE shoot was a lot more relaxed this morning. Either the director had taken his meds or perhaps he'd gotten laid the night before, but at any rate he wasn't the barking a.s.shole he'd been the day before. He was even complimentary to Eden, praising her poses, the sultry looks she turned on like a switch being flipped, but as time wore on Swanny realized that she was focusing on him.

That he was the recipient of those s.e.xy, seductive looks, and the director was eating them up with a spoon.

”Loving it, Eden!” the director called. ”And Aria is going to love it too. You're the perfect face for their new product. They're going to make millions.”

”She'll make millions as well,” her agent muttered. ”A model at Eden's level can afford to pick and choose her a.s.signments. She's in such demand that her schedule is insane. I keep telling her she needs to slow down, but she's determined to work as long as her stock is on the rise and in a way she's right. Strike while the iron is hot. There's always new compet.i.tion coming up the ranks, so it's smart of her to bank what she's making now so when she does retire she won't have to worry about money the rest of her life.”

”You think she's too old to be modeling?” Swanny asked in bewilderment. In his opinion she was the most f.u.c.king beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on, and she didn't look a day older than a woman in her younger twenties. And that was considered old?

Her agent shrugged. ”Models have short career spans. Not all, but most do. Some of the more popular supermodels continue to be famous and in demand well into their late twenties and even early thirties, but for the most part it's a younger woman's field, and Eden's b.r.e.a.s.t.s are larger than most, which is a strike against her. They like tall and lean. And, well, a year ago she gained a few pounds, so it became necessary for her to hire personal trainers to keep her fit. In her career, even one pound can make the difference in landing a contract or not.”

Swanny growled low in his throat and her agent took a hasty step backward.

”There is not a f.u.c.king thing wrong with any part of her,” he snapped. ”She was forced to hire personal trainers because G.o.d forbid she gained a few pounds? And her b.r.e.a.s.t.s are definitely not too big, and I can't believe some jerk once told her she should consider a reduction. If I'd been there I'd have ripped his G.o.dd.a.m.n nuts off and shoved them down his throat.”

”She told you about that?” her agent asked in surprise.

It didn't take much perception on Swanny's part to realize that Eden was apparently a very private person, especially given the fact that she was rarely in the news, so he'd likely just given away his relations.h.i.+p with Eden.

”Yeah, she did. I haven't gotten over that one yet, and then you hit me with forcing her into an exhausting workout regimen on top of an already grueling modeling schedule. Are you people even human? Because you sure as h.e.l.l don't treat her like a human. More like some trained animal forced to obey your every whim. I've sure as h.e.l.l been around her enough to know she's not some spoiled diva and doesn't expect everyone to obey her every desire. What gives you the right to do that to her? Do you forget that she's the boss and you work for her? That she signs your paycheck?”

Skylar, who'd walked to Swanny's side the moment it became obvious heated words were being exchanged, frowned, her lips tightening as her eyes narrowed. Then she scowled openly at Nigel.

”Seems to me that Eden does a h.e.l.l of a lot of the work without reaping many of the benefits. She's directly and indirectly the source of income for a h.e.l.l of a lot of people. You said yourself that she's your most important client. And if this Aria deal is so f.u.c.king important and they want Eden, then one would think they would have their noses up her a.s.s on a regular basis. Not allow her to be treated like some f.u.c.king lapdog to be patted on the head, say 'good girl' and then toss a treat her way.”

”I hardly think millions of dollars would be considered a mere dog treat,” Nigel snapped.

”You're her agent,” Swanny said in a p.i.s.sed-off tone. ”Isn't it your G.o.dd.a.m.n job to protect her from the kind of s.h.i.+t that went down yesterday?”

”I protect her best interests,” Nigel said icily. ”And this shoot definitely qualifies as being in her best interests even if it means dealing with a moody, temperamental director, who if you notice is a completely different person today.”

”And they accuse women of having PMS. Let me tell you what PMS really stands for,” she said with heavy sarcasm. ”Putting up with Men's s.h.i.+t. That's what PMS means. And while we women are afflicted once a month, guys have their own brand of PMS every f.u.c.king day. They're moody and difficult and act as though they're bipolar. One minute they're all smiles and the world is good. The next moment? They're p.i.s.sed at the world and start snapping at everyone around them.”

Swanny had to choke back his laughter, while Nigel didn't look at all pleased with Skylar's a.s.sessment. But he couldn't really argue with Skylar. He was honest enough and didn't have a big enough ego not to recognize the truth in her statement.

”I'd love to give him a permanent att.i.tude adjustment,” Skylar muttered.

”Who you threatening, Sky?” Edge rumbled out as he walked up to where Swanny and Skylar stood next to Nigel. Joe and Nathan were just behind him, bored expressions on their faces.

”Him,” Skylar said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the director.

Edge shrugged. ”Maybe he's back on his meds today.”