“You’ve got that right.” Aaron runs his hands down my body and creeps his fingers beneath the hem of my dress. “I could do with another pair of hands to deal with you.”
I smile against his mouth and hear a cough from the doorway.
“Not to interrupt, but we’re ready to start.”
“Thank you, Joel.” Aaron smiles at him and winks at me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I reach up and wipe his lip again.
“Red isn’t your color.”
“Oh, it is. It’s my favorite color,” he says into my ear. “As long as it comes with you, that is.”
“Lips or underwear?”
“We’ll arrange both.”
I grin and ping my bra strap. “I already did.”
He drops his arm, bends back, and lifts my dress. I shriek and jump away, shoving my dress back down.
“So you did.” His eyes twinkle. “For what it’s worth, I definitely like you in red lace.”
“Well keep your like to private, please.” I swat his arm and realize this is the first time all day he hasn’t been touching me. I spin on the sand.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Being not touched.”
He grabs me and pulls me into him. “Now you’re being touched. Deal with it.”
“Be quiet. They’re trying to shoot.” I elbow him and spin so he’s holding me from behind.
Reah and Derrick look incredible together. Both of them are dark haired and toned, and they have a chemistry that’s palpable from fifty feet away. I can almost see it zinging between them, and I tilt my head to the side.
“Hey, are these guys an item?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Would it matter?”
“No. We have couples modeling for us all the time. It’s actually preferable because they’re already comfortable together.”
I nod. “I think they’re together.”
“Are you a matchmaker now?” Aaron teases.
“No.” I snort. “I just have a pair of eyes.”
“Smartass,” he mutters as Reah claps a hand to her mouth and runs up the beach to the house.
“Reah!” Joel yells. “Where are you going?”
Aaron releases me, and I follow him closer to Joel and Derrick. “What’s going on?”
“I know as much as you do, boss,” Joel replies.
We all look to Derrick and he shrugs. “No idea.”
“Do you want me to go after her?” I touch Aaron’s arm. “If she’s sick, I’ll probably be more useful than you all.”
He nods, and I turn to the house, jogging up the beach.
“Reah?” I call, walking through the luxurious building.
“Back here,” she groans, followed by the sound of retching.
I cringe and open doors until I find a bathroom. “Are you okay?” I wince at my own stupid question. She’s bent over a toilet, shaking. Of course she’s not f**king okay.
“I had seafood for dinner last night. It can’t have been cooked properly,” she answers in a hesitant voice.
“Seafood. Riiight.” My eyes find her hand clutched over her belly. “So when is this seafood due? I’d guess in about seven months.”
Her head snaps around so quickly it’d spin right round if it could. “What?” Wide brown eyes stare at me.
“Seafood. Everyone uses that as a morning sickness excuse. My friend used it on everyone until she used it on me twice in three days.” I wave my hand dismissively and perch on the bathtub. “So when are you due?”
“September,” she whispers. “I’m nine weeks.”
“Does anyone know?”
She shakes her head.
“It’s Derrick’s, isn’t it?”
“How do you…”
“Call it a hunch.” I shrug. “When are you planning on telling him?”
“I don’t know.” Reah flushes the toilet and hugs herself. “I have to go back out there.”
I grab her arm. “Honey, you have to go home and see your doctor, not go out on that beach to model in one-hundred-degree heat.”
“I need this job.” She closes her eyes.
“And I’ll make sure you still get paid for it.” I’m bluffing. I can’t make that happen. “But you need to be honest with Derrick, your agent, and Aaron. Okay?”
She nods.
“Wait here.” I sit her in the kitchen and give her a glass of water. Aaron looks up as I approach, questions in his eyes. “She’s not feeling great,” I explain, nodding toward the house for him to follow me.
“Give me a second,” he says to Derrick and Joel. “Reah. Are you okay?”
Her brown eyes flit to me and I jerk my head.
“Um. I have to see my doctor.” She looks away from him. “I can’t finish the shoot. I’m sorry.”
“Are you sick?”
Her hair flies as she shakes her head. “I’m pregnant.”
Aaron stops and looks at me. I suck on the inside of my lip and look away. “Congratulations. I’m assuming your agent doesn’t know or he would have informed us.”
“He doesn’t.”
“Jenny, call for a car for Reah and have someone make an appointment with her doctor.”
A blond girl pauses, looking between the three of us, and Reah smiles wanly. “I ate some bad seafood last night. I need to see him today.”
She scuttles off, a phone already attached to her ear.
Aaron turns back to Reah. “Next time the shoot requirements involve being directly in a heat wave, at least make us aware of the situation so we can cater for your needs. There should be a doctor here right now.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I just… I thought I’d be okay.”
Jenny enters the room and holds up five fingers.
“A car will be here in five minutes to take you to your doctor. Please take care of yourself.” He pats her hand and leads me back outside.
“Well? Where’s my model?” Joel asks.
“She has food poisoning.” The lie rolls smoothly from Aaron’s tongue. “She’s going home.”
“Great. That’s just f**kin’ great. How do I shoot a couple shoot with one half of it?”
“Can’t you call someone else in?” I ask.
“Not this late,” Aaron sighs, pacing. “It’s too short notice. If we don’t cancel, someone here will have to step in, and there’s no one who can do it.”