Skin by Dale Mayer

prepare for such a thing?
    He reached up and rubbed his face. The workout had done its job. He was exhausted. He was mentally and physically done; he was at the calm place where he was fine. Everything in his life was going to be okay. God, he loved this space.
    It felt like home.
    Centered. Balanced.
    Peaceful.
    Some people would say he was a gym junkie. That it was an addiction. If it was, he didn’t want to get over it. There were truly few places he could go to and get this feeling, and even fewer ways to get there.
    He needed this.
    And now he felt like he could handle the world again.
    Even Tinkerbelle.
    “Surely you have enough pictures by now?”
    She froze. “If you’re done, then I do.” She straightened and busied herself putting away her gear.
    “Well, I need a shower,” he joked. “So unless you’re planning to document that…”
    There was a tiny gasp. He spun around and realized she’d frozen in place, her eyes huge. But it was what churned in the back of those eyes that made him add, “Hey, I was just joking.”
    She blinked once again…and then she started babbling. “Sorry, I’m late. Need to go…back to my room. It’s almost dinnertime.” The whole time the words tumbled out of her mouth, she was backing up to the door, putting as much distance between them as she could.
    At the door, she opened it and turned around as if to say something. Her face worked while he stood there with his mouth open, then she closed her lips and bolted.
    The door slammed closed behind her.

Chapter 7

    P anic drove Tania to the stairwell. She sprinted up the first flight of stairs and turned the corner to the next. When she remembered she and Kane had rooms on the same floor and he could be coming behind her¸ she could hardly breathe.
    She hated being a fool, and after that crazed exit, how could he see her as anything but?
    Moving as fast as she could force her body, she raced up the stairs, desperately wanting to make the safety of her room before meeting him again.
    Two flights up, she barreled into the middle of a group of older people as they bunched up at a landing.
    “Sorry, excuse me.” She apologized and tried to get through them.
    They were laughing and trying to move but as one moved away to make space for her, another accidentally blocked her way. Finally, she stopped, blew her errant strand of hair out of her eyes, and waited until they’d all moved past her down the stairs. After a long moment, she resumed her upward climb at a slower, steady pace.
    The jolt of meeting those people somehow made her see her actions for what they were: silly fears. So what if she did see Kane on the way?
    If he thought she was panicked at the idea of her taking pictures of him in a shower, then fine. What did it matter to her? Besides, it was better than the truth.
    She opened the door on the third landing and walked calmly out to the hotel hallway. It was empty. She fished her key card out and unlocked her door.
    With a last glance around, she entered her room and locked it behind her. She sagged against her door and closed her eyes.
    “Christ,” she whispered. From the moment Kane had suggested she take pictures of him in the shower, she had been beset by images of him standing nude with water sluicing down over his magnificent body. Water droplets hitting, hanging suspended for a moment like a lover’s touch before sliding down over those curves and hard planes.
    After today, she knew him so much more than he’d understood. She’d seen him both physically and mentally through the lens of a camera and although most people wouldn’t understand, a camera never lied. It had the ability to capture moments of truth.
    One of those truths couldn’t be denied. He was a magnificent male in his prime. What he’d taken as fear in her eyes had actually been desire. A need to do just what he’d suggested. She’d give damn near everything she owned if she could, right at that moment, take a camera into his