Jane seemed to notice her look and picked the muffin back up for another bite, declaring that it was so delicious she had to restrain herself from eating too fast. It was obvious flattery, but Allie decided, taking one for herself, that Jane was probably just neurotic when it came to food. She reflected how great it felt to actually have guests, even if one had no intention of paying and she was planning on kicking the other out as soon as she could manage it.
“So what are you two going to do today?” she asked, giving Charlie a pointed look meant to remind him that he was not actually welcome to stay, even if she was feeding him muffins and coffee.
“We’re going to take a hike,” Jane began enthusiastically, “and look for nice spots to get some outdoor shots.”
Allie imagined her taking her clothes off and maybe letting Charlie tie her to a tree while a parade of scandalized locals scurried past, plotting how to shut them down since they obviously encouraged all kinds of deviant and perverted behavior.
“Umm—what kind of outdoor shots?” Allie was trying her best to be casual, but Charlie’s laughter told her he understood exactly how she’d taken Jane’s statement.
“Don’t worry, Allie Cat,” he told her, earning a startled look from Jane. “We’ll be discreet. Are there any places we shouldn’t go?”
Well, you definitely shouldn’t come back here when you’re done , Allie wanted to say, but instead she got up and found them a map of local hiking trails.
“We own forty acres here,” she told him then looked up at Jane. “Wait a minute. You know the property, don’t you?”
“Of course, sweetie,” Jane said, giving Charlie a wink. “Don’t worry, I know exactly where we can have all kinds of privacy. But before we go…” Her smile faded, and she looked earnestly at Allie. “I wanted to say that I think you’re absolutely right not to tell dear little Brad about your—past.”
Allie gasped, glaring at Charlie. “What did you tell her?”
Charlie spread his hands in a declaration of innocence. Jane laughed. “Don’t be silly. I was here when Charlie was taking lessons from your dad. He was really very proud of your work. I have to tell you, though, how disappointed he was when you gave it up.”
“He saw them?” Allie felt her face go bright red. She had known, of course, that there was a chance that Charlie would have shown them to her father. But she’d worked very hard at not thinking about that possibility.
“Of course.” Jane sounded impatient. “There was very little that went on in the field of erotic photography that he wasn’t aware of. But he didn’t look at them that way. He was completely professional about it. Still—” She glanced at the front door as if she thought Brad might charge through it. “I really don’t think your boyfriend would see it in quite the same way. Do you?”
“No,” Allie whispered, her eyes wide, her hands clenched into fists in her lap. She had no illusions about how Brad would react to the news that she’d been a nude model. He’d been brought up in a very straight-laced family, and he had no interest in pornography. He’d told her that a thousand times, and she knew he was telling the truth. He didn’t even glance at the bikini models on magazine covers, for God’s sake.
“I think you’re overreacting,” Charlie was saying to her. “He may be shocked, yes, but he will understand why you did it. Besides, it was art, not porn. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t tell him about it. That was years ago. And the money we can make by selling the rights to reprint them in this project—”
“I don’t want them to be reprinted!” Allie nearly screamed at him. The very thought sent shivers down her spine. She couldn’t think how she had ever brought herself to do it in the first place. She thought back to those sessions. The first one had been extremely scary, but she’d persuaded a female friend to come and
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