it?” He slid his hand down the mare’s neck. Somehow his fingers got tangled up in hers.
Her stomach jolted at his touch. Her chin lifted to see his hazel gaze go dark with some unreadable emotion. Liv could stand out here all morning and get lost in those eyes. And what was she thinking? She stepped back, trying to get a hold of herself. “I suppose you have a contract for me to sign?”
River stilled, then nodded. His voice turned formal. “Yes, let’s get that done.” He left the horse in the corral and she followed him into the pristine barn. “We’ll do a direct deposit.”
She noticed he’d drawn up the papers on a table in the side parlor ready for her to sign. She sat down on the hard paisley couch and went through it with a fine-toothed comb, making sure there was nothing in there about selling her soul. River sat to the side of her and found one of the Slade men’s acoustic guitars with a vintage cherry red finish. He plucked at the strings, playing a tune she didn’t recognize. Probably something he was working on. Her breath caught when she saw the promised amount on the work agreement in black and white—$30,000 now and $30,000 when she was done. Straightening, she quickly put in her bank information and signed the contract before River changed his mind.
He set the guitar down and followed that with his own firm signature and they were done. “Stay here while I give this info to my accountant,” he said.
Was that West? Thankfully, there was no sign of her ex yet. Instead, River picked up his phone and left for the other room, talking low.
This was really happening. That stricken look from her father’s face last night would be lifted. Liv hugged her stomach tightly, feeling like chaotically fluttering butterflies were trapped in a storm in there. She stared around her at the well-structured barn with its ten stalls and organized equipment as if seeing it for the first time. Hudson and his brothers took good care of the place. She briefly wondered what their reaction was when West came in last night with his country star. They’d be annoyed, she was sure. And if they saw her here alone with River? Well, she didn’t want to think about how protective they’d be. They’d always been good friends with Grey, and they’d promised her older brother they’d watch over her while he was gone. They took that vow seriously, especially since they were family. At least her boys were.
Her cheeks warmed when River strutted back into the parlor. She shot to her feet, trying to seem like she knew what she was doing. “All right, what did you have in mind today? Structured shots or more candid ones around the ranch?”
“Whatever you have in mind.” His devilish expression warmed on her. “I just need you to undo all the damage the last few years has done to my reputation.”
She laughed, but lightly, not sure how much he was teasing her. She tried to joke back, “Well, I’m not a miracle worker.”
“You’d better be. I’m paying you sixty thousand.” His smile softened his words, and he stepped closer, a breath away. “Tell me what you want to do with me. I’m all yours.”
“Yes, yes, of course.” She pushed her hair from her face, giving herself time to think. She’d outlined a few shots the night before, but it was hard to know what he wanted. “How about some shots with this guitar first?”
He gripped the neck of the guitar and sat down with it. His fingers danced across the frets like he was born with an instrument in his hands while he played with the melody he’d been working on earlier. She snapped a few shots, getting lost in the music as she slipped around him, going for more traditional angles, followed by more close-up shots.
His low gritty voice joined with the soothing sounds of his guitar that put her straight into the clouds of heaven. The song clearly wasn’t written yet because he experimented with different lyrics, first starting with the loss of his father, then with watching the rainbow of color dripping through his sister’s tears. He sang about living and trusting again, and finding the reason as he stared into a pair of soulful chocolate brown eyes.
Liv’s finger slipped on her camera when her name fell through his expressive lips. He couldn’t possibly be referring to her? He was