T H I G H H I G H S
Modelling lingerie for her arch-nemesis was not on Christina’s to-do list.
Then again, neither was he.
Aaron Penn might be the talk of the advertising school they both attend, but to Christina, he’s just an egomaniac with a cocky smirk to match. Fast forward to the end of term, when a class project gone wrong has her stripping down to a negligee and letting Aaron photograph her to advertise a line of women’s underwear.
She expects suggestive comments and smarmy-eyed stares, but when Aaron gets behind the camera, he treats her body like a work of art. Even though all she’s got on is a scrap of satin, the room suddenly feels way too hot.
As the tension between them builds to expensive-panty-melting-levels, Christina finds herself caught between falling for the complicated artist who knows just what poses to put her in and wondering why he acts like such an irritating hotshot around everyone else.
E X C E R P T
“So he’s, what?” Aaron prompts. “A lonely basement dweller with an obscene amount of back hair?”
“No,” I retort, “he’s a successful financial advisor with a promising career. He’s classy, has manners, makes jokes that are actually funny, and looks very good in a suit.”
“Ouch,” Aaron replies, clutching his chest. “That’s the opposite of me?”
“Yes. You are none of those things.”
I climb into the car, intending to leave, but Aaron clamps a hand down on the door before I can pull it shut.
“I’ll tell you one thing, Dominguez,” he says, leaning down so we’re face to face. “That guy you’re going out with, he’s not going to be fun. He might tick off all the other boxes on your list. He might be charming and smart and motivated and have a carahlo that will keep you up all night long—”
“Do you even know—” I start to interrupt, but Aaron cuts me off.
“Yes, I know what carahlo means. You call me that enough that I looked it up.” He gives me a smile that I don’t return. “All I’m saying is, ‘fun’ is not something you put on a list. Fun is something that takes you by surprise, that makes you forget the list ever even existed in the first place. If this guy hasn’t done that already, he never will.”
I blink at Aaron, his eyes fixed on mine as I try to keep myself from getting caught up in their beach water blue. That’s probably the only reason girls like him so much. He has the kind of eyes that make you feel like you’re the only person in the world when he’s staring at you.
“Uh, thanks, love guru,” I mutter, focusing on the windshield ahead of me. “But I don’t really need your relationship advice.”
He lets go of the car door and shrugs. “If you say so, niña.”
“That’s Spanish, not Portuguese,” I tell him, pulling the car door shut before he can get in another word.