Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 115308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
The thought filled me with so much trepidation, I immediately chucked it away.
If only I’d prepared myself better … because I had no idea the campaign was about to throw us a devastating curveball.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
MAIA
“Don’t you swim three times a week?” Gail, the production crew assistant, gave me a narrow-eyed look. She wore a slight air of impatient annoyance.
I did swim three times a week, but there was hardly anyone in the pool and I wasn’t strutting out there in a bikini that left very little to the imagination.
Unpleasant butterflies roiled in my stomach as I opened the robe again to look at myself in the mirror. I’d provided Pennington’s with a bunch of swimwear options for both me and Bear for the fake honeymoon shoot, and the campaign management had chosen a fuchsia pink bikini set for me. It wasn’t that I didn’t like it or that I wouldn’t wear it under normal circumstances. It was the knowing that millions of people would see me in it that bothered me.
The bikini had a pink print inspired by Spanish tiles. The top was a halter neck with a deep V and padded cups that pushed my boobs up and together. The bottoms had a high cut with a peekaboo strip on the hips and showed a good deal of my arse cheeks.
“It’s just a lot of skin to bear to a lot of people,” I murmured.
Her expression softened. “You really are nervous, aren’t you?”
“I don’t particularly enjoy the idea that these images will be on the internet forever for anyone to look at any time they want.”
“Ugh, yeah, didn’t think about that.” She cocked her head. “If it makes you feel any better, any dirty bugger could take a photo of you on the beach and look at it anytime he wants.”
Oh my God. I whirled around, lips parted in horror.
Gail tried not to laugh at my expression and failed. “Sorry.”
“That is going to be embedded in my brain forever now.” I shuddered. “People are creepy.”
“Some really are, but we can’t stop living because of it.”
I blinked at her words because she was right. We couldn’t stop ourselves from doing things because of the actions of a few. Nodding in agreement, I shrugged out of the robe and strode across the dressing room. “Let’s do this.”
“You look gorgeous,” she assured me.
“Thank you.”
I tried not to meet anyone’s eyes as Gail walked me down the hallway and into the studio. There were cameras and crew and a green screen behind the pool. Outdoor furniture available to buy from Pennington’s had been set up around the pool—lounge chairs, bistro set, and inflatable armchairs, as well as smaller pieces of summer décor.
Baird stood in navy swim shorts that had a fuchsia stripe down the side to match my bikini. He was chatting with Bruno, and I immediately felt safer at the sight of him.
“Is it okay for me to tell you that your fiancé is smoking hot?” Gail murmured.
“You only speak the truth.”
As if he sensed me, Baird’s head whipped in my direction, and I tingled all over at the way his eyes moved down my body and back up again.
“Oh my God. How do you not combust at the way he looks at you?” Gail asked like a giddy schoolgirl.
“Maybe I do.” I was glad for the padded cups of my bikini because I was pretty sure my nipples were hard from that look alone.
Baird broke away from Bruno, striding toward me with that confident swagger. It was sexy that he knew he was good-looking but that he wasn’t a complete prick about it. His hair had grown out a bit, and he could tuck it behind his ears now. The manbun would be back before long.
He gave Gail a brief nod of acknowledgement before pulling me close. “You good?”
I’d told him I was nervous about this one, and he’d told me if I really wanted to, we could find a way out of it. However, I hadn’t wanted to cause a fuss. The truth was I wanted this campaign to be over so everyone would leave us in peace. “I’m good,” I promised.
“You look incredible.” His hands coasted down my back, one smoothing over my arse with a casual possessiveness. “Too good.” He waggled his brows at me suggestively.
I rolled my eyes. “You can keep it together for a couple of hours.”
“I can,” he agreed. “But I can’t promise that my monster cock can.”
My laugh was part groan as I rested my head on his chest, feeling it shake with his amusement. As promised, Baird hadn’t let me live that comment down.
A throat cleared and I realized Gail had overheard him. I playfully shoved him away. “Behave.”
Even though the pool was heated, I was pretty done with the shoot by hour two. I was weary of being directed to do things that felt unnatural, like posing midair in a jump into the pool and lying on a lounger like some kind of glamour model.