"Barb..."
"Oh, shush!Bryn, please!" Barbara lowered her voice. "Honey, everything has gone perfectly for Lee so far, everything that I've been in charge of. This is real important to me, honey: you know that. He's friends with all the top stars in the music world, and if he recommends me to others we could both live off the results for years!" Barbara looked anxiously over Bryn's shoulder. "It won't matter, Bryn. I'm sure of it.
He's coming now...."
Barbara shot a dazzling smile past Bryn, but Bryn didn't need to see the smile to be forewarned that Lee was near. She had acquired something like radar since she had met him. The same fever that quickly became chills whipped along her spine whenever he approached.
"I think we're ready here, Lee!" Barbara called out cheerfully.
Bryn spun around. Lee, hands on his hips, still exuding tension and energy, was staring at her with a golden glare that was totally enigmatic. No anger, no passion. They might have just met.
' 'Bryn, are you pleased with the location?'' "Yes, yesit's fine," she heard herself reply. Except now, she could see golfers in the distance. She hesitated,then added. "Close-ups will be perfect. When we do group shots, there might be a little interference in the background. See, there are a couple of men over there playing the fifteenth hole."
Lee waved a hand impatiently. "That's no problem. These don't need to look like we live alone in the world. Let's go, shall we? I have things to do later."
Bryn felt the coolness of his words like a slap in the face. She smiled sweetly.Things to do? His life couldn't compare with hers. And if he could be asemisadist with his dancers, she could damn well be the same with her "artistic subjects." "Ready when you are, Mr. Condor. Let's start on the lawn with the four of you grouped behind your instruments."
Perry, Andrew and Mick had come up behind Lee, and they cheerily nodded their assent. Sorry guys, Bryn thought with a tinge of guilt, but you're going to have to suffer a little along with your almighty leader....
But the group was positioned before she had even moved. Bryn bent to grab her camera bag and chased after them. Then she paused, turning to face Barbara.
"Hey, Barb. Come along and keep close tabs on the light meter for me, huh?''
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"Sure," Barbara agreed. "Just tell me what I'm keeping tabs on."
Bryn smiled sweetly. It was going to be one thing to attempt a little return torture, but in the process she wanted to make damn sure she took good shots.
"Great, guys!Great!" She applauded as she checked out their positions through her lens. "Perry, chin down a bit. Lee, head up. Andrew, move just a shade to the right. Oh, no, now, wait a minute. Perry, your collar is up in the back."
Bryn kept the others waiting as she meticulously fixed Perry's collar. They all looked nice--really nice--in red tailored shirts and black dress jeans.More than nice.Sexy. Especially Lee with his magnetic eyes and broad-shouldered, athletic build. And jet dark hair.And thoroughly irate expression.
"Great," Bryn said cheerfully again. She clicked five quick pictures. "All right, Lee, behind the drums.
Let's try Perry to the left, Mick in front stooped on one knee.And Andrew to the right. Mick, dangle your hand as if you're relaxed. A little bit of a smile, not too much.A little more teeth , Perry. I need a smile, please, Lee. Not a scowl. Oh, no, wait a minute. This isn't going to do. Andrew will be better in front, because Perry and Mick are the same height...."
She moved them and moved them, and adjusted them and adjusted them. She kept them in place when she disappeared to change her film--and leisurely enjoyed a cup of coffee. She took close-up shots, and another entire roll of long shots. In the background she caught the golf course, the street beyond, and the beauty of the snow-laden mountains. Then she shot the entire roll again, telling them that there had been just too manygoiters in the background.
And it wasn't a lie. At first there had been only one man, fooling around in some distant sand pit. He had probably been obscured by the drums. But he had barely been there a minute or two before a group of people had followed him, appearing at the top of the slope behind him like a horde of Mongols.
She was about to start on a fourth roll when Lee at last broke his impatient silence.' 'Might I suggest you hurry up here, Miss Keller? It's going to rain."
Bryn looked up at the sky. It didn't look like rain. She smiled at Lee. "I just have one more roll to do out here, Mr. Condor. I want to make sure I missed that neon sign for the Sweet Dreams motel over there.
Unless, of course, you want it in the pictures...."