front door. Foliage covered many areas of the cabin, and ivy climbed up along the walls and circled the windows.
Jazzy stepped out from the car and took a deep breath, ready to stride to the entrance and knock.
Just before she could, however, someone rounded a parked pickup from the corner of her eye. She turned to look. A man with a young, wiry frame had stepped around the truck. He was a few inches taller than Jazzy and well-dressed, with a mop of blond hair and kind blue eyes. Jazzy's heart fluttered a little, and she felt a tad excited. Was this who would be working with her? He was very attractive.
The man offered a hand to shake, smiling to her brightly. "I'm Victor. You must be Jasmine Solberg."
Jazzy accepted his gesture. "Yes. It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise," said Victor with another charming grin. "Mack is around back. Walk with me?"
Jazzy followed him with an enthusiastic hop to her step. Not only had she finally been accepted to do a modeling shoot, but she got to work with a very good-looking twenty-something as well.
"What exactly will we be doing?" she had to ask. She'd never had a chance for real photo shoot. She'd practiced, of course, but mostly it had been interviews and nothing else. No one had cared to actually take any real pictures of her.
"Mack and I are wildlife supporters. We take photos of models surrounded by nature to capture the essence of natural beauty," Victor explained.
That was very admirable to Jazzy. She smiled a little. "That sounds nice. Do you usually shoot plus size models?"
As they stepped around the back of the cabin, a small incline made up the back yard, leading down toward the lake. Another man stood a number of yards away checking on camera gear. There were two women just a few feet away from him with kits, mirrors, and a stool.
"Oh, we take models of every body shape," Victor answered. "Men and women."
The other man down by the cameras straightened and glanced behind him to see the other two. As Jazzy met his gaze, her legs slowed to a stop, and she froze in place. He was a tad rugged in appearance, with visible stubble across his jaw. His hair was darker than Victor's, and he was much more built throughout his body. But those eyes... There was something electric about the amber in them that just made Jazzy's heart wish to leap out of her chest.
The surreal pull had her feeling like she'd just stepped into a fairytale. This man spoke of authority, determination, and a wild abandon that domestic life had never been able to tame.
Victor stopped walking, looking back to Jazzy. "Is everything alright?"
Jazzy didn't wish to break the connection she had with this other man's gaze. There was just so much fire... So much mystery.
"Ms. Solberg?"
Jazzy finally snapped her eyes to Victor, and the connection broke. That bizarre pull was lost in the light breeze that floated through the trees, and the heavy thudding of her heart finally tamed its tempo.
"Mack, this is Ms. Jasmine Solberg," said Victor, turning to look at the man walking up to meet them. "Our new model. Ms. Solberg, this is Mack Nordskov."
He shook Jazzy's hand, and she found herself locked in another trance with those amber irises. "It's nice to meet you," he breathed. His voice was low and powerful. It was the voice of a kindhearted warrior.
"Y-You too," Jazzy heard herself utter.
"I'll have you resting along those rocks," he said with a point of his finger at the lake bank. There were several large stones arranged in a manner in which someone could lay on. "Why don't you go ahead and meet with the costume and makeup crew, and we'll get going before we lose too much of the afternoon light?"
Jazzy let go of his hand in a slight daze, realizing she still held onto it. "Right, yes."
As Mack turned from her to go back to his gear, Victor led Jazzy down the hill to the two women. "Is everything alright, Ms.