Carnal Vengeance (51 page)

Teri stepped closer and placed her hand on Selena's shoulder. "Look, I promise to keep your feelings in mind, but try to understand my side of it. I really want to do this new series with you. And to do it right, I think I need someone else to do the photographic part. But I promise, if he makes one wrong move around you, I'll fire him and look for a female."

Selena brightened immediately, but before she could say anything, there was a knock at the door.

Teri quickly opened the door but it took her a moment to get over the surprise of the man standing there. From a black cowboy hat to worn, gray snakeskin boots, he had the western look down pat. The thing was, it didn't look like a
look
. On him, it looked... sexy as hell. Noting the expensive camera around his neck and the leather photographer's case slung over his shoulder, Teri ended her nearly rude appraisal. "You must be Drew Marshall."

He touched the brim of his hat. "Ma'am."

"I'm Teri Carmichael. Come in, please." As soon as she introduced him to Selena, she noted the unsmiling glance Selena spared the photographer and prayed that she would not choose this session to start being uncooperative.

To Drew she said, "I understand you've never done this type of photo shoot before, so I hope you won't object to a few suggestions."

He smiled, a genuinely nice smile that revealed straight white teeth. "Not at all, ma'am. In fact, I was countin' on it."

His voice had a deep pitch and hint of a drawl that suggested his home state flag had a lone star on it. As Teri began explaining her concept and what she wanted him to do, he removed his hat and ran his fingers through his thick hair. The streaks of salt in the ground pepper color and the creases at the corners of his brown eyes gave evidence of a man who'd seen his fortieth birthday or had a rough time of what years he did have behind him.

A few of the male models Teri worked with, had such perfect features, they could be described as beautiful. They were always careful not to smile too broadly for fear of creating a wrinkle in their boyish complexions.

She found herself appraising Drew again as he walked around the room, checking the lighting from different angles. As attractive as she found him, he would never make it as a model—his features were a bit too harsh for the camera. But he had an interesting face, one she'd like to paint... or get to know. As if he sensed her thoughts, he glanced over at her and grinned.

"I've got to tell you, Miz Carmichael, I was fascinated with your exhibition."

Teri raised her eyebrows and ignored Selena's little snort. "Please call me Teri. You went by the gallery?"

His grin slanted a bit. "I thought it might help if I had an idea of your style. The article in
New York Weekly
called you one of the most talented artists of the century."

"She's also an excellent photographer," Selena added proudly, "Which is why she's never bothered to use
outsiders
before."

Drew appeared not to have noticed the contempt in Selena's voice and simply told Teri, "As I said before, I welcome any advice you might have. Ann told me you could teach me a few things."

"You must be better acquainted with her than she let on."

He gave a small shrug. "We're cousins. She also told me to be on my best behavior because you were a very nice lady."

Teri laughed and was very tempted to keep up the light banter. It felt so good to relax for a moment, but there was something about the way he was looking at her that set off a distant alarm in her mind. Instead of responding, she turned toward Selena. "I don't want you to pose. Just relax, sit, stand, walk around, examine things. Drew, since I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for until I see it, how about if you just snap anything your eye finds interesting today?"

Teri rolled her padded stool to a corner and sat down to watch the two of them. Ann had been right. Drew did impress her. He might not have done this sort of thing before, but his experience with a camera showed.

Selena had dressed as Teri requested—with minimal coverage. She didn't want clothing in any of the shots and, although she knew Selena had no problem walking around nude for her, she didn't think that was best for this first shoot with a male photographer. So she was wearing extremely small shorts and a fitted tank top that didn't quite reach her navel. Since they were both a pale shade of pink, she practically looked naked anyway.

She hadn't needed to be concerned about how the photographer would react to such a stunning and sexy beauty. The only time Drew looked at her was through his camera.

Every so often Teri thought she saw Selena flash him a dirty look, but she figured Selena would come around if he continued to be a gentleman and she encouraged her to give the man a break. No sooner did that thought occur than Drew upset the calm.

"
Freeze
," he ordered Selena abruptly. She was professional enough to obey. "I apologize, but right there, with the light coming through that window... Do you see it, Miz, uh, Teri?"

Teri stared at Selena but saw nothing unusual. "See what?"

"C'mere. Quick." Without removing the camera strap from his neck, he held it away from his chest for Teri to look into.

One moment she was concentrating on finding what he saw, and the next she was aware only of the man next to her. His hand rested lightly on her lower back and, as his head dipped to align his sight with hers, warm breath caressed her cheek. Swallowing hard, she forced herself not to jump away. It had been so long since any man, including Rico, had lit a spark within her. It had been even longer since a man looked at her the way Drew had when he was complimenting her work earlier. Curious. Interested.
Attracted.

And she had checked him out without realizing that was what she was doing. Good Lord. Another man was the last thing she needed. Allowing mindless hormones to screw up her life once was more than enough. She was thinking this would have to be a one-time hire when she saw what he had wanted to show her.

Teri stepped away as smoothly as she could. "It looked like a laser beam was coming out of her eye. That was an incredible catch."

His smile showed how much he appreciated her praise. "You could probably do something similar with computer graphics but—"

"Not me. The computer and I are
not
friends. I'm very old-fashioned about my art."

His smile went a little crooked as he met her gaze in a more personal way. "Aah, an old-fashioned girl, just—"

"
Ahem,
" Selena cut in loudly. "Can I move yet?"

"Oh, of course," Drew said quickly. "Sorry."

Teri returned to her post as they got back to the shoot. She felt anxious, in a teenage girl twittery sort of way. Her thoughts went back to replacing Drew after today, but if what she just saw in his camera's eye was a sample of the shots he was getting, she wouldn't find someone better. Surely there would be no harm in doing one more session together. In the meantime, she would be certain to mention her marital status and take care not to stare at him too openly.

At the end of the session, Teri maintained an aloof, professional manner as they made an appointment for him to bring prints for her to see on Wednesday. As soon as he left, Teri decided to have a talk with Selena right away. "Now, was that so bad?"

Selena shrugged. "No, I guess not, but probably because you were here."

"I really don't think he's the type that would suggest you have sex with his camera." Teri smiled, but it was obvious Selena wasn't convinced. "Look, he's definitely got talent. I think he's going to get the pictures I need to move forward with the new project."

Selena exhaled heavily. "Fine. Did you like him?"

Teri felt her cheeks warm and turned away under the pretext of getting two cups from the cupboard. "I liked the way he worked. How about a cup of tea?"

"Sure. He liked you. I could tell. And I don't mean professionally. I wasn't so sure about you."

Teri would have let it go if she hadn't caught the hint of a whine. Selena seemed to be asking for another kind of reassurance... but about what?

She was aware of a childlike dependency Selena occasionally demonstrated toward her, and she understood the cause. At twenty-one, Selena had already suffered the death of her father, her stepfather and her mother. Teri's parents had also passed away, but she was much older than Selena had been when she lost them. Under the circumstances, she had no objection to being Selena's surrogate mother figure.

Teri carried the two cups to the small dinette set and motioned for Selena to sit down with her. "If you're asking if I found him attractive, I did, but not to the point I would do anything about it. Believe me, I've got my hands full with Rico."

That was all Selena needed to hear to shift her concern away from Drew Marshall. "I knew something happened before. Tell me. Talking it out might help."

Sighing deeply, Teri let her shoulders sag a bit. Maybe Selena was right. As young as Selena acted some of the time, she could also be very level-headed and she
was
discreet. A few of her and Rico's arguments had been within Selena's hearing, and no one else ever found out about them. "Rico and I have had our problems in the past, but I kept hoping... Anyway I can't take any more."

"I thought you said he was being all romantic and thoughtful?"

"An act. All of it's been an act. I have been such a fool. Over and over." She felt tears well up and fought them back. "Ah, damn. It probably would do me some good to talk about it. And as long as you're willing to listen, I may as well get it out of my system."

Teri had been keeping her problems to herself for so long, it took her a moment to decide where to start. "About a year ago, I asked Rico for a deposit slip for our joint savings account and his reaction was so defensive I just knew something was wrong. I tried checking the account on line—you know I avoid the computer if at all possible—but I couldn't access it. My password was invalid.

"Rather than ask him about it, I went by the bank and had them reset my password for me. While I was there, I asked for a current statement. I was positive they'd made a mistake when it showed a balance almost thirty thousand dollars less than I thought we had."

Teri's lashes lowered with remembered embarrassment. "I had them print out a copy of all the transactions for the previous two years. It was unbelievable. Money had been going in and out of that account as if it were an active business. Unfortunately, the balance column showed that whatever the business was, it was a losing one.

"All that time I would give Rico a check and he would take care of depositing it because it was on his route. He always brought me back a deposit slip. I just didn't know about the withdrawals he made in between. He always said he liked taking care of the
family
bookkeeping and I was glad not to have to deal with it. Stupid, I know." She paused to take a sip of tea in an attempt to ward off the sudden chill she felt.

"When I questioned Rico, he confessed—a real heart-wrenching, Academy Award confession. As he put it, my success made him feel unmanly. Since I wouldn't quit, he wanted to bring more money into the house. He thought gambling was the answer. He never meant to let it get out of control, but he kept thinking he could make it all back on the next race or the next number or whatever. He promised he was done with it as soon as he paid off the last losses."

Selena leaned forward and covered Teri's hand. "I've heard gambling can be as bad of an addiction as drugs and alcohol. There's even a Gamblers' Anonymous."

"Yes I know, but the addict has to want to help himself. I thought I was helping by putting my earnings in a separate account he couldn't access."

"What did he do when he found out?"

Teri sighed. "He went berserk. Mind you, he never laid a hand on me, but he smashed every piece of our good china before he calmed down. Afterward he was all apologies and promises again. That lasted about a month. Then he didn't deposit his check into our house account on payday."

"So you had it out again."

"You got it," Teri confirmed, making a disgusted face. "That time he threw a lamp through a window. He promised to get help, if I would just bail him out once more to the tune of twenty-five hundred dollars. I gave it to him, but with the warning that it was the last time. I thought he was doing okay, until three weeks ago." She shook her head still having trouble believing how easily he had fooled her. "I found out he had stolen a check from my business account and forged my signature."

Selena's mouth dropped open. "This sounds more like a nightmare than a marriage. Can't you have him arrested for that?"

"I don't know. After everything he's put me through, I don't love him anymore, but I don't have it in me to put him behind bars for something he obviously can't help. That night I asked for a divorce. He pulled out all the stops. The macho-man cried like a baby. He reminded me that our religion prohibited divorce, not that we've been especially devout Catholics all these years. He swore he loved me too much to ever let me go, and starting from that minute, he was going to prove it by being the best husband a wife ever had. But first, he needed a little financial assistance." Recalling how shocked she had been at his incredible nerve, she rolled her eyes and gave a dry laugh.

"I agreed to give our marriage one last chance but I refused to give him any more money. He told me he had gotten in over his head with some very nasty people. I saw real fear in his eyes, but I still said no. I was through bailing him out.