Exposure - Kelly Moran Page 0,51

important.

And there it was. Raven looking up, her small hand covered in a blue glove holding the railing, the sapphire of her coat stark against the snow, and Aubrey looking down at her in a pale pink coat, a grin the size of the Pacific. Raven's dark to Aubrey's light. Color popping. Fucking perfect.

Jeff held out his hand. "Go stand over there. Let me get one of you guys together."

Reluctant, he passed the camera and climbed the steps. Standing between them on the small porch, he put his arm around both of them and smiled. Didn't matter if the picture was blurred to hell. That one was going above the mantle in the den.

"Raven, Noah. Come down here. I'll bet you don't have many pictures of you together. Noah's usually behind the camera."

Noah thought about the one in his living room, a selfie from his cell phone, and cringed. "He's right. Come take a picture with me."

Grabbing her hand, they walked down the steps, where he glanced around for a unique spot. A few feet away was a fallen birch. Straddling the trunk, he patted the spot in front of him. She mimicked his pose and sat between his legs.

"Stand on the trunk, Jeff, would you? Angle the camera down."

"You're so bossy," she whispered, craning her head to smile at him.

He dropped his forehead to hers, unable to hide his own grin. "You usually don't mind."

Staring down at her, he forgot Aubrey, Jeff, the camera, and his own name. The honey in her eyes was more prevalent in this dusky light, her impossibly long lashes framing them. Her cheeks were pink from the wind, her hair cascading over her shoulders and back. She stole his breath sometimes. His chest swelled, both painful and pleasant, as the sensation twisted.

"Got it," Jeff called.

Noah took the camera from him, no idea what kind of pictures were taken while he'd been lost. He'd upload them in his suite later.

Raven called Aubrey down from the tree house. "I don't know about you, but I'm freezing. You wouldn't happen to have hot chocolate up at your big, fancy house, would you?"

"Of course we do." Aubrey rolled her eyes, smiling as they walked ahead.

Raven bumped Aubrey's shoulder with hers. Aubrey bumped back.

Without even thinking, he brought the camera to his face and clicked the button several times. Lowering it, he paused to watch them. A lump formed in his throat, one he couldn't swallow past.

Jeff nodded and took off after them.

When Noah got back to the house, he went straight for his suite, leaving the others to their hot chocolate. Once in his office, he pulled the memory card and waited for the pictures to upload. Just as he suspected, the shot of Raven and Aubrey was spectacular. He printed two eight-by-tens, as well as the one of them coloring. Scrolling through, the three of them Jeff took wasn't half bad, so he set that one up to print as poster size to mat and frame for the mantle.

He paused, rubbing a hand over his jaw. Staring at him and Raven, that sensation from before crept back into his chest. Jeff had taken three pictures. One with Noah's chin on her shoulder from behind, her head down. Another with her face turned to look at him. And the last with their faces close. They both were grinning in all three, but something was different about his expression in the last shot--right when he experienced the pressure behind his ribs the first time.

He shook his head. Not the first time. He'd had the feeling before, or something similar. Except each time he felt the odd ache, it grew with each episode. He set the pictures to print and leaned back.

As a friend, he'd loved her for years. As a man, he'd desired her. Now that both worlds had collided, it was messing with his head. He'd always been able to separate friendship and desire before. There was a difference between loving someone and being in love. So why did the love he felt for her go deeper, shove stronger than two months prior? He wasn't capable of settling down or striving at forever. Neither was she.

Rising, he went to his drafting desk. Losing himself in measuring and cutting, he worked until he had mats for the new pictures. From there, he sifted through his endless collection of frames until he found the right ones. He decided on black for the shot of Raven and Aubrey, a red pine