of you, though. How can I do that right now? What do you need, except for being taken away from here?”
I pursed my lips in faux disappointment, but I’d known he couldn’t just carry me away on a white horse like a knight in shining armor. Running away wasn’t in me anyway. I would face this and make it out the other side. I just needed to know how to do it.
“Tell me what he wants from me,” I said simply. “That’s what I need. I need to know how to get through this so we can put it behind us.”
He dipped his head in a slight nod, the very picture of grace and support as he motioned one of the assistants closer. “Leah isn’t clear on what Alain has in mind for these pictures. Could you show her?”
The assistant looked at him with big eyes, seeming as unsure as I was for a moment before she started speaking. “You are very uptight, Ms. James. Through the lens, it seems like you have a stick up your—”
She cut herself off with another glance at Dane, but I laughed, appreciating her candor. “What do I do to change that?”
“You need to relax. Think of the camera as your friend,” she said. “Alain wants to capture the essence of what makes you you. This campaign is about a luxury product for everyone, correct?”
When I nodded, she smiled and looked me up and down. “Do you think anyone is going to buy a product from someone who looks like they’ve been shocked on the pictures marketing it?”
“No,” I said.
“Exactly.” She smiled again and backed away. “Alain hasn’t worked with you before. He does not know you, but he needs to get to know you through these pictures.”
“You know what your best angles are,” Dane said, still holding my hands. “Give him those. Have some fun with it. If Jefferson wanted a serious, scowling model, he’d have hired one of those. You look beautiful and fierce in that outfit, but it’s up to you to soften it to look like you’re having a great day out frolicking in the gardens while wearing your perfume.”
“You want me to be beautiful, fierce, and soft all at the same time?” I asked, doubt tugging my brows together. “I’m not sure that’s possible.”
“But it is, Leah,” he said, bending his head closer to mine. “It’s what you are every day of your life. What every woman is. That’s what makes you so much better than men. You can be fierce without being harsh about it.”
“So you admit we’re better then?” I teased, chuckling when he groaned and hung his head. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. I’ll never tell any of your fellow menfolk what you really think.”
He laughed, his lips so close to mine when he moved again that I could feel his breath against my mouth. “I don’t give a fuck if anyone knows what I really think. You can do this, babe. Just be yourself, but do it without speaking.”
Without warning, he closed the gap between us and gave me a sweet kiss even though there were so many people watching us. When we parted, he smiled and gave my hands a final squeeze.
“Now show them what you’ve got,” he said, and I felt confidence rising up in me.
If that was what Alain wanted, all he’d had to do was say so. Since I now knew, I was pretty sure I really could do this.
Have fun with it, huh? I was in a famous, European city for the first time ever, with a gorgeous, cocky and yet sweet man as my support system. I could definitely have fun with it.
Taking Dane and the assistant’s advice to heart, I forced myself to relax by focusing on my surroundings once more. An hour later, not even Alain was scowling as he threw his arms open and planted a fat kiss on each of my cheeks.
“Well done, ma chérie,” he said, the praise rolling off his tongue as he held the tops of my arms and grinned at me. “I think the proper expression of your people is to say you knocked it out of the park.”
I grinned right back at him. “Thank you, Alain. I can’t wait to see what my essence looks like captured on film.”
Strangely enough, it was true. It had been a rough start, but I really thought I might just have pulled it off.