When Day Breaks

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 asshole 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 sexy, 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 assignments. 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 competition 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 fucking 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 breasts 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 fucking thing wrong with any part of her,” he snapped. “She was forced to hire personal trainers because God forbid she gained a few pounds? And her breasts 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 goddamn 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 relationship 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 hell don’t treat her like a human. More like some trained animal forced to obey your every whim. I’ve sure as hell 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 hell of a lot of the work without reaping many of the benefits. She’s directly and indirectly the source of income for a hell of a lot of people. You said yourself that she’s your most important client. And if this Aria deal is so fucking important and they want Eden, then one would think they would have their noses up her ass on a regular basis. Not allow her to be treated like some fucking 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 pissed-off tone. “Isn’t it your goddamn job to protect her from the kind of shit 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 Shit. That’s what PMS means. And while we women are afflicted once a month, guys have their own brand of PMS every fucking 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 pissed 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 assessment. 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 attitude 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.”

The rest of the team chuckled, and Nigel, either disgusted or scared shitless by being surrounded by the entirety of Eden’s security team, hurried away, quickly finding something to do that made him “look” busy. He pulled his phone to his ear, but Swanny could swear there was no active call taking place.

“This is boring,” Joe mumbled. “I never thought I’d say that about my job, but right now I feel like a glorified babysitting service.”

Skylar nudged Joe’s ribs hard with her elbow, but Swanny caught her swift effort to make Joe shut it down. Swanny glared at Joe in clear reprimand.

“I don’t consider the safety of a woman completely vulnerable to some asshole seeking revenge to be something as minor as a babysitting job,” he said in an icy tone.

“I don’t believe I said it wasn’t important,” Joe said mildly. “Just that it’s definitely a change of pace and well, boring. I’m more used to being able to blow up shit.”

Nathan chuckled.

Edge shrugged. “I’ve never been to Paris. Pretty cool to get to see the city, even as little as what we are seeing.”

“Isn’t Paris supposed to be the city of loooove?” Nathan asked innocently. “Because it appears to me that the bug has definitely bit one of us, and it ain’t me.”

Swanny shot Nathan a withering look.

“I think it would be amazing to fall in love in Paris,” Skylar said wistfully. “So romantic. Think of the stories you could tell your children and grandchildren about how you met.”

“Can someone explain to me why the fuck we’re talking about falling in love when we’re supposed to be focusing on a job here?” Swanny snapped.

“Chill man,” Nathan said. “It’s obvious there’s some serious chemistry between you and Eden. I’m happy for you. We’re just giving you shit. She’s a beautiful woman, not to mention being genuinely nice and not fake in the least.”

Swanny scowled. He didn’t want his relationship bandied in conversation with his teammates, especially when he himself hadn’t gotten to the heart of the matter with Eden. For all he knew there was nothing to talk about. They’d had sex. He was her first. Maybe that was all she wanted. His pessimism when it came to women reared its ugly head, and the insecurity that he loathed crowded into his chest.

“Okay, that’s a wrap!” the director called. “I’m granting a two-hour lunch break since we got so much done this morning. Well done, everyone. I’ll see you back here in two hours. Don’t be late.”

“That’s our cue,” Joe said. “Time to go shopping.”

The others snickered, and even Swanny couldn’t call back his groan. This was so not on his list of favorite things. But it got him two hours to spend with Eden, so he couldn’t complain.

Eden hurried over, her face alight with happiness directed at Swanny. His stomach did a quirky flip-flop number, because how could he not react to the warmth she spread no matter where she went?

“Ready to hit the stores with me?” she asked with a grin.

“Yep,” Skylar said with actual enthusiasm. “You know where we’re going?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. It’s not a long walk, but I don’t know how you all will feel about that. It might be rather conspicuous for us to take armored vehicles and try to find street parking outside the boutique,” Eden said with a chuckle.

The guys exchanged looks, questions in each of their eyes.

“I think as long as we flank Eden and make sure she’s covered and we have a very tight perimeter around her, walking would be okay,” Swanny said. “Just how far is this, Eden?”

“Three blocks,” she said cheerfully. “Not bad at all. And it’s such a lovely day. It would be great to get a breath of fresh air after being trapped in the studio and hotel for two days.”

Swanny lifted an eyebrow in Nathan’s and Joe’s direction. Joe just shook his head. “I don’t know why you’re looking to me now. It’s not like you’ve listened to a damn word from me on this job anyway. You clearly took the lead on this, so you make the decision and we’ll make sure she’s covered on all angles.”

Joe didn’t sound pissy that his authority had basically been subverted, and for that Swanny was grateful because he knew he wouldn’t back off even if he and Joe did get into a pissing match.

Swanny turned to Edge. “I think you and I should flank Eden. Since she’s tall she needs someone taller than her on either side. A sniper isn’t out of the question after what happened before. Nathan and Joe can position themselves in front of and behind Eden and Sky can place herself between Eden and whoever takes lead. That’s a lot of people to go through to get to her.”

Eden stood gawking at his team, her eyes wide as she took in everything they said. Maybe she wasn’t taking this seriously since in her mind the first incident had been random. He’d have a talk with her later about taking her safety very seriously, right before he delved into the discussion about their relationship or if they even had one.

“You ready, then?” Swanny asked Eden. “You’ll have to lead the way figuratively since Joe will be taking the lead, but you’ll have to direct us to where we’re going.”

Eden hoisted her designer purse over her shoulder and said, “When we leave the building, take a right. Go three blocks and it’s on the same side of the street as we’re currently on. I’ll tell you when we get there.”

“All right then, let’s saddle up and get the hell out of Dodge,” Nathan quipped.