Picture Perfect (The Wilsons) Read Free

she hated being licked on her face, but Patches was just so adorable.
    And then something made her look to her left and she saw him.
    Her eyes narrowed. A horrible paparazzo man was standing in the distance with a telephoto lens, snapping away. Sure, he could be taking photos of the beach and the other people there, but her instinct told her that the lens was focused on her. Lea became sure of her hunch when the man moved his camera away from his face and looked at her directly.
    Scum . Why couldn't they just leave her alone?
    Lea let go of Patches and stood up slowly, smoothing down her dress. It hadn't ridden up, had it? She pulled the neckline higher, determined that there would be no revealing photos of her in tomorrow's tabloids, thankful that she'd bothered to cover up the bikini, and began to stride towards the photographer, her steps long and her feet sinking annoyingly into the sand.
    It had been six years since the night of her accident. Six. Years.
    As she took long, determined strides, Patches began to follow her. But the puppy sensed the change in her mood, saw her owner a few paces away, and happily ran a way from Lea, who continued to stomp towards the paparazzo.
    Since that night, Lea had changed. Her life had gotten better. But that didn't make the paps happy - they wanted her to slip up, to do something stupid again. There were always photos of her at the galas and charity events she still attended, and the occasional tabloid article about how "sad" her life was now.
    But the worst was when they snapped her on an off day - on the rare occasion when she went to a nightclub, or when she visited Vegas for a friend's bachelorette party. "Wild Times Start Again", the headlines would proclaim, and investors in her boutique fund would call up to check that she, and their funds, were doing ok. She didn't need that drama now, not when she'd just taken some time off.
    She'd almost reached the photographer by now. He didn't look worried that she'd seen him and come up to him - he hadn't attempted to run away, he didn't have that nervous look most of them got when she approached them, and strangely enough, he hadn't tried to take any more photos of her.
    His eyes crinkled at the corners and he smiled at her in an irritatingly friendly way.
    Lea wasn't about to waste time on pleasantries. "Give me your camera," she demanded coldly.
    He raised on eyebrow quizzically, the smile never leaving his face. Now that she was closer, Lea realized it was a rather nice smile - softly curving lips, and happily sparkling chocolate-brown eyes. The man had a strangely unkempt look about himself - his hair fell to his eyes in soft waves, and looked like it hadn't been cut in a while. Dark stubble covered his square jaw, and shadows under his eyes gave her the impression that he hadn't slept in a while. And there was something haunting behind his smile, too, something dark and curious…
    Stop it. She must've gone without men for a long time if she found this annoying camera-slinger attractive. She tried to ignore the fact that he was tall and lean, and his baby-blue t-shirt and cargo shorts hinted at well-defined muscles, and focused on his eyes. Why was he still smiling?
    "Excuse me?" His voice was dark and smooth like his hair.
    "You heard me. Your camera, now."
    She held out her hand and her scowl deepened.
    ***
    The woman was nuts. There was no other explanation for it.
    Why else would she, a perfect stranger, be demanding his camera? This was a puzzling wrinkle in what had been an otherwise nice morning.
    Adam had arrived late last night and had slept fitfully. This is a strange hotel , he kept thinking to himself. It had only a few dozen rooms, and was surprisingly luxurious, more like a resort than a typical hotel. Larry must've pulled some strings to get a room here for a month. Why did he have to keep insisting on this silly holiday? He didn't need a break from work - it might be stressful and unpleasant in some ways, but he knew