A Soldier For Bella (Love Conquers Life #4) (6 page)

“What is the house for?”

“Soldiers who are being treated for both mental and physical conditions. It’s like a rehab. They go there in preparation for home.”

A look of frustration crosses her face. “We have to do something,” she says. “It’s a simple TV. They deserve at least that.” She looks sad for them.

Carter smiles at her lovingly. “We will, baby, but I love how much you care.”

“Do you guys have something in mind for a fundraiser?” Patty asks as she dives into her dinner. We all carry on with the fundraising conversation as we eat, though when we finish eating, we still haven’t come up with a good fundraising idea for these TVs. We all agree it is a high priority and we need to figure something out.

We all pitch in to help clean up from dinner and then sit down to a couple of games of cribbage. Patty and I play against the guys. We get lucky once in a while, but the guys beat us more often than not. After Patty and I finally manage to win a game, we call it a night.

Chapter 5

Bella

Today is a shoot day, and for the first time in a long time, I’m not looking forward to it. It’s going to be a long, tiring day. Patty will be meeting me here for my lunch break, which is pretty much the only thing I can look forward to. She’s promised to bring me my favorite Fuji apple chicken salad. It’s so yummy and just what I’ll need to get through my day.

As I pull up to the studio, I notice the place is packed today. I walk in with Jordan in tow, and there are a ton of people here. Kelly is feverishly taking shot after shot of some young kids, probably for the juniors section of a catalog. I shake my head, wondering how parents can be okay with letting their kids take a day off from school for a modeling gig. I’m sure the schools must not be happy about it. I sashay toward Sid’s room so he can get busy on my hair and makeup for my first picture.

“Hey, beautiful,” Sid says as I walk into the room. “I’ll be with you in a minute.”

He’s working on a male who will be doing this shoot for men’s clothing. Grabbing a bottle of water, I take a seat next to this girl named Missy. She’s pretty cool people, but we aren’t friends, more like acquaintances. She says hi to me, and I acknowledge her with a pleasant smile and a hello.

Sid certainly has his hands full today because it appears the studio on the other side of his space is being used as well. Missy never does a shoot with Kelly. They don’t get along too well. Missy is a bit of a flirt, and she likes a man behind her camera. I don’t care who shoots my photos as long as they have their shit together and they take good photos.

Sid calls me to his chair next. I look at Missy and she just shrugs. In this business, it’s not always first come first serve. You do as you’re told, so I get up and sit in his chair.

“How’s it going, love?” he asks.

“You know, another day another dollar. How’s it going with you?”

“I met someone last night,” he says as he goes to work on my makeup, giving me his usual instructions as he goes.

“So, who’s the stud you met last night?”

He smiles at me. “I thought you’d never ask. His name is Matthew, and he’s gorgeous. Very well-built with brown hair and deep green eyes.”

“Nice. What does he do for a living?”

“You’re not going to believe this, but he’s a model.”

“How did you guys meet?”

“I was working on him.”

“Seriously?” I ask with a smile.

“Yeah. We went for drinks after the shoot was over and we hit it off.”

“That’s awesome,” I say, genuinely excited for my friend.

“You get to meet him today. He’s your shoot partner for one of the dresses you’re wearing.”

“I didn’t even know I was posing with a man today. They don’t tell me anything. I just show up and do as they ask.”

“I only know because we were talking about his shoot for today. That’s one of the reasons they love you. You’re flexible and don’t complain.” He begins working with my hair. “Your changing room is all set with your clothes for today.”

“I’m sure it is. I have quite a few changes, from what I’ve heard.”

“Yeah, and after the first two, I have to fix your hair and makeup. The last three dresses are the ones you’re doing with Matthew.”

Missy is sitting in her seat, sighing as she awaits her turn. I can tell she’s getting impatient. She hates that Sid and I get along so well, but that never stops Sid from his gossip session with me. About twenty minutes goes by when he finally tells me to get out of his seat. I chuckle, jump down to give him a thank you hug, and then I saunter off to get into my dress. Jordan is stressing out with all the people here. The poor guy looks like he’s having a heart attack.

“You okay, Jordan?”

“Yes, but if you’re going to have this many people around you there should be two of us. I’ll be talking to your agent about this.”

I nod and step into the changing room to go about my business of getting changed. I step out a few minutes later wearing a pretty summer dress with sandals that cost about five hundred dollars. I’m glad it’s in my contract that I get to keep the clothes I model if I like them because this will be coming home with me today.

I walk to the shoot area with Jordan following close behind me. Kelly finishes snapping pictures of the guy that was sitting in the seat ahead of me. As he walks off the set, he says, “Hey, you’re Bella Campbell.”

“Yes, I am. Do I know you?”

“No, but I know you from Brock. He’s an ass for what he did. I’m sorry he treated you so poorly. He has ruined his career, and he’s a hot mess.” He walks away and shakes his head, denying me a chance to respond. Jordan gives me a questioning look.

“I have no idea who that is,” I tell him, taking a deep breath. I can’t think about Brock right now. I need to focus.

Kelly calls me over, and I step in front of the lights. Kelly starts snapping pictures as I show her my big smile and move my body into different signature poses. She says something that makes me laugh but never stops snapping pictures. Sometimes, I get a bit of control over my poses and she’ll just snap endless photos. I’ve been doing this so long it just comes to me. Kelly makes a few requests and adds a few props. She continues going about her shots, throwing directions at me. Twenty minutes later, she pauses to quickly look through the pictures and sends me off to change into my next dress.

I snag a bottle of water and hit my changing room. Jordan, of course, follows me and takes his place outside my door as I put on the next outfit. This one is a one-piece jumpsuit and it’s super cute. I may have to take this one home too. The material is very lightweight, and it’s accompanied by these really sexy pure white sandals that match it. When I get out of the changing room, Kelly is snapping more pictures of Mr. I Know Your Ex, so I stand by, enjoying a quick drink of water while I wait.

Jordan looks down at me. “I don’t know how you do this all the time. It looks completely exhausting.”

I smile at him. “It is. It’s a total challenge, and I love it.” He shakes his head. “Don’t get me wrong, by the time I get home tonight I’ll be totally spent and then I’ll spend the morning in the gym to prepare for the next one. I have to take on as many shoots as I can now because trust me when I say my career will not last forever. No one wants old models.” He just laughs at the face I make.

“So, what will you do when you retire?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead. I still have a few years left in me, but maybe I’ll become an agent and use my knowledge to make sure girls get the contract they want and deserve.”

Kelly calls me back over, ending our conversation. I take my place under the lights. This time, Kelly informs me she wants me to stand certain ways and asks me to do certain poses. While I do as she asks, she snaps pictures, checking her screen after each one to ensure she has something she’s happy with. We continue on for about thirty minutes when I finally walk off the set.

As I do, Patty is walking in with our lunch. This woman has impeccable timing.

“I just finished. You’re the best,” I say to her as I wrap her in a hug. “Let me just throw on my robe and I’ll be out so we can sit and eat.” I hurry into my changing room while she gets our food situated in the break area.

I walk into the break room and see two salads laid out with utensils and flavored water for us. “Thank you so much. I’m starving.”

“It’s my pleasure. I’ve missed you so much,” she says as I take a seat next to her. She’s so sweet. She even brought a sandwich for Jordan. As we sit to eat, I tell her about the guy who came up to me on the set today and told me he felt bad about the way Brock treated me.

“That’s kind of weird, no?”

“Thank you, because I thought it was weird too, but I wasn’t sure if it was just me.”

“No, I think it’s totally weird. How much longer do you have today?” she asks as she continues eating her salad. She knows I only have about twenty minutes and then I have to be ready to for more pictures.

“I still have three more changes, and Sid has to do my hair and makeup again.”

She wrinkles her nose. “That’s a long day.”

“Yeah, well, considering I’ve worn two outfits that both run at least five hundred each, it’ll be a good day for my bank account.”

“Nice. So, how are you and Derek getting along?”

“Pretty good. We talked the other night about what happened with my ex and why I’m so leery about moving in with him.”

“How’d that go?” she asks, looking concerned.

“Actually, it went really well. He told me he loved me, that he understood, and that he will be here for me when I’m ready.”

“It sounds like you have a pretty great guy.”

“Yeah. Now if I can just get over my fears, I’d be all set,” I tell her as I finish off my salad. She’s about to say something when Sid rounds the corner.

“Come on, love. I’m waiting for you.”

I look down at my watch. “Crap. Sorry Patty, but I have to get back.” I get up and give her a huge hug. “Thank you so much for lunch. Call me and we’ll do lunch on Thursday. We’ll have a new contract to celebrate.”

“Will do,” she says as I leave her at the table to throw out my salad container.

As Sid and I walk into the room, I see this tall guy standing off to the side with brown hair and bright green eyes. From the way Sid glows, I know right away that’s his Matthew. He walks me over and says, “Matthew, this is Bella. She’s the girl I was telling you about.”

He sticks his hand out to shake my hand. “It’s nice to meet you and quite an honor to be able to work a shoot with you. You’re kind of a big deal around here.” My brows shoot up and I look at Sid, who just shrugs his shoulders.

“Well, thank you. I didn’t realize I was a big deal.”

“Another reason why everyone loves you,” Sid says, smiling at me. I just shake my head because I truly don’t know what else to say. Sid takes that as his cue to get going on my makeup. Of course, he has to remove the old makeup first. An hour later, I’m ready for my next round of shots—three changes, all with Matthew.

After what seems like forever, we finally finish. I was a bit nervous at first. I’m not used to posing with another person. I usually work alone, but Matthew was a sweetheart to work with. He followed all of Kelly’s directions to a T, and between each change he grabbed us water.

I collapse on the chair, not bothering to change out of my last outfit, completely drained. Mr. I Know Your Ex comes up to me and says, “Tired?”

“Just a little,” I say in a bitchy voice, not even looking at him. My head is back and my eyes are closed. That is, until he scares the shit out of me. He lifts my foot and starts rubbing it. “What are you doing?”

“Rubbing your feet for you. You’ve been on them all day. They must ache.”

I pull my leg away. “I’m good, thank you.”

As I get up from the seat, Jordan gives him a warning glare that screams back off. I go to my changing room, anxious to get out of there. It’s late, I’m tired, and this guy is freaking me out.

***

I pull up to the house about an hour later to find Derek in the kitchen already hard at work making dinner. “Hey, babe. How was your day?” I ask as I approach him and wrap him in a hug.

“It was good. I had a meeting with Carter to get him caught up on what’s been going on around the office and to brainstorm ideas for the TV fundraiser. How was your day?” he asks, pulling away to look into my eyes.

“Completely exhausting and my feet are killing me.”

“Dinner is just about done. After we eat, I’ll run you a bath and we can relax together.”

I smile up at him. “Thank you.”

I take a seat at the snack bar, where we often eat when it’s just the two of us. He hands me a bottle of water prior to pulling a roasted spaghetti squash out of the oven. Taking a fork from the drawer, he gets to work on shredding the squash and adding it to a pan he has on the stove top.

When he’s finished, he hands me a plate of spaghetti squash mixed with diced tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, and chicken sausage. He truly is an amazing man.

“Derek, this is delicious.”

“Thank you. I knew you had a shoot today, and I assume after you sign the contract tomorrow you’ll have another, so I figured you’d want to eat healthy.”

“I do. I need to get my butt back in the gym too. My trainer sent me a text to ask me where the hell I’ve been.” I make a facial expression that makes me look scared, and Derek laughs. “My trainer is this beast girl who is sure to kick my ass the next time I go in.”

“Maybe you need a new trainer or a new form of exercise.” He wiggles his eyebrows. I shake my head, laughing. Then I get up to put my plate in the dishwasher.

“Are you bathing with me?” I ask, walking toward the stairs.

“Yes, I’ll be up in a minute. I’m going to clean up quickly. Why don’t you get it started?”