The Other Brother Read Online Free PDF Page A

seemed to have disappeared. “If you say so.”
    “I do. Now hand me my camera bag and put your bag somewhere. Get rid of your jacket, first.”
    He did as she asked—though not particularly quickly. She checked to see she had the right lens on her camera, and all the settings were correct for the current conditions.
    “Are you almost ready?” Patrick stood next to the tree she’d chosen, a frown marking his handsome features. “I feel stupid standing here.” He shot an exasperated glance at a couple walking past, staring at him with open curiosity.
    “Yeah, yeah,” Melodie replied, pulling the camera strap over her head. She grabbed the half-empty camera bag and moved off the path in his direction. “You’re going to feel even sillier soon.”
    “How is that even possible?”
    She pointed the camera at him. “Strike a pose, please.”
    “A pose? What? How?”
    “Why don’t you start with something that isn’t you standing there appearing extremely uncomfortable.” Now she knew why she’d never done this kind of shoot before—if the models all complained that much, it would be hellish.
    “That’s a challenge in itself.” He fell silent, a ponderous expression on his face. Then he leaned against the tree, his arms folded.
    She snapped dozens of pictures, crouching, bending, anything to get different perspectives—the perfect perspective—from one pose. A stream of words flowed. “Okay…great start…hold that…move your head this way…for goodness’ sake, smile!”
    Continuing to bark directions at him, she watched him slowly get into it, grow bolder, more confident. She fired off more shots, despite the fact most of them wouldn’t be used. She knew exactly what kind of photo she wanted, and didn’t have it yet.
    Waiting a little longer, and with a confidence she didn’t feel, she said, “Okay, great. Now take off your shirt.”
    “What? Oh, balls. I’d forgotten about that.”
    More like you were hoping I’d forgotten .
    “Come on, off with it. You’re in shape, aren’t you? Then you’ve got nothing to be shy about.”
    Muttering under his breath, he pushed away from the tree and curled his fingers around the hem of his T-shirt. Gave her a pleading glance. Melodie raised one expectant eyebrow. Heaving a heavy sigh, he began to pull up the shirt, taking his sweet time, almost like a strip tease.
    She bit her lip to prevent a smirk. As he revealed more and more skin, however, the temptation to smirk morphed into a temptation to groan. And drool. The man was ripped . It had been a while since she’d seen a bare-chested male that close—not including the runners in the park on hot days—and she’d forgotten how sexy they could be. Damn . How had he been hiding such a smokin’ hot body under his clothes? Her gaze roamed the delicious sight, and she only just managed to tear it away before the offending garment dropped to the ground and he caught her staring.
    “See?” Her voice sounded much brighter than she felt. “That wasn’t so bad, was it? You look great. You’ll definitely give those professional male models a run for their money.”
    With a sour expression, he said, “So, what should I do now? Let’s get this over and done with.”
    “Oh, for heaven’s sake, stop being so pissy. Have you forgotten why we’re doing this? It’s not a fashion shoot, remember.”
    Having the good grace to look chagrined, he gave her a small smile. “Sorry. I guess I’m not cut out for this kind of thing. Tell me what to do and I’ll do it—or do the very best I can, anyway.”
    Her smile dwarfed his. “That’s more like it. Now, why don’t you try going back into the pose against the tree? But check that there aren’t any insects lurking or anything, first. I don’t want my model getting covered in bites! Not sexy!”
    “Okay.” Turning to examine the tree, he gave a serious nod. “Seems all right.” He leaned against it, looking more uncomfortable than he had earlier, and