In Bed With The Boss Page 0,5

began pacing the small space. “I know I’m boringly average in the looks department. I’ve always known that, but…” David stopped and turned to face Javier. “Just once I’d like a guy that I like to like me back, you know?” Javier sighed and nodded. “Like you have any problems in that department,” David said, and realized he was sounding whiny. Javier had dark skin, jet-black hair, and the deepest eyes on the planet. “If you wanted, I bet you could model for Christian.”

He’d take Javier in a heartbeat, that David knew for sure.

Javier was just Christian’s type.

Javier put up his hands. “No thanks. I have no intention of taking my clothes off for the likes of him or anyone else with a camera. I want to be a fashion model, not do porn, or even semi-porn.” Javier moved closer, and David saw him reach out. Closing his eyes, he felt Javier’s fingers on his temples making small, slow circles. “I’m sorry I was picking on you. I just don’t want you to get hurt.” Javier’s voice dropped and deepened, becoming a soothing balm that worked away some of the tension that fueled his headache.

“Are you feeling better?”

David nodded slowly. He’d gotten headaches like this for as long as he could remember. He’d had tons of tests done, but they could never find anything wrong. Lying down in a dark, quiet room helped. The only other thing that did was the way Javier seemed to be able to soothe away the pain. “We need some dinner,” David said without opening his eyes.

“I made macaroni and cheese from my mother’s recipe a while ago,” Javier told him, and David’s stomach rumbled his response.

Chapter Two

Christian waited until he heard the door close and then closed his eyes again, hoping sleep would come. Photo sessions took a lot out of him, they always had, but lately he’d had a hard time concentrating, and it was all because of his new assistant, David. His previous assistant had left three months ago, probably because Christian had driven the man crazy. He knew that. Christian had hired David because he seemed to have the ability to do the job, and if he was honest with himself, because of his plain looks. He’d hired good-looking assistants before, and all they seemed to want was their chance in front of the camera, figuring being his assistant was their foot in the door. Christian was many things, including a shameless cad who would do almost anything to get the perfect picture, but he did not, under any circumstances, get involved with the people who worked with him. That was his hard and fast rule and the only one he never broke.

The problem with that rule was that his current assistant fascinated him. They’d been working today getting the lights adjusted before the shoot. Christian knew he’d asked David to move the light to the left, and David had done just the opposite, which actually turned out just the way he’d wanted. That was a small example, but it fit the pattern Christian kept seeing. Christian was even willing to bet that if he were to go into the kitchen, David would have made a small dinner for him and placed it in the refrigerator, because he always did after a shoot. David worried about him, and no one had done that in a very long time.

Opening his eyes again, Christian looked around his large bedroom, its stark, white walls covered with some of his own pictures. These weren’t the ones from his studio, but pictures he’d taken when he went for his walks of random faces and views others rarely paid attention to. These photographs were personal and only for him. Getting up, he slipped into a pair of loafers and walked into the kitchen to heat up the dinner David had almost certainly left for him. He ate it sitting at the small kitchen table. Once he’d cleaned up, he opened the door to the studio, figuring he might as well get some work done. He knew he could work from his desk in the apartment, and before David he usually did, but now he preferred to work at the desk David used. Calling up the pictures from the day’s session, he cycled through them to see which ones really captured his attention.

Christian jumped when he heard a key slide into the studio door. He wasn’t expecting anyone. Then he saw David enter with another man behind him.