Lovell, Cooper - Tessa's Highlander (Siren Publishing Classic) by Cooper Lovell Page A

outside, given the unseasonable warmth of the day. The crew is ’round back, setting up in your yard. He has several scenarios in mind and now each one has to be reworked a bit to accommodate shooting al fresco .”
    “Oh,” said Tessa, already feeling overwhelmed. She turned to Gavan and said, “I guess if we’re outside that means you have free rein in here.”
    He bent and kissed her lips. “Aye. That’s good. Guess I’ll get tae work. Have fun, lass,” he said and disappeared out the door to get his equipment from his truck.
    Grabbing Tessa by both arms, Marlena spun her around and demanded, “Who on earth is that? He is just sex on a stick !” After giving Tessa an “I want details when we have time” look, she changed gears and said, “Come, we have to get you ready.”

    * * * *

    In her room, Tessa was joined by Henri’s makeup artist, hairstylist, and costume designer. They primped, poked, painted, and pinned until they all stood back to look at Tessa with scrutinous eyes. When she saw her image in the mirror, she was more than a little concerned.
    “Um…are we sure about this? I mean, this is really extreme. Marlena !”

    * * * *

    Upon hearing her name bellowed, she excused herself from the conversation she was having with a couple of the male models. “Time for me to smooth my client’s feathers.”

    * * * *

    “Hon, we discussed this,” Marlena said soothingly as she patted Tessa’s shoulder. “This is a men’s magazine. A men’s magazine that keeps its circulation by giving men what they want. The men told the magazine that they want you as their fantasy, and now the magazine is delivering. You are hugely popular in this demo, but this shoot could push you into one or two other demos. For instance, women in the eighteen-to-thirty-five demo who want to spice things up for their men. They see you in total fantasy mode, getting their guys all hot and bothered, and they’ll want to get to know who you are so they can do the same.”
    Tessa groaned and shifted on her feet.
    “Listen, hon. I know this isn’t exactly your comfort zone and you really don’t place much value in image, but the cold hard facts are that your publisher does. Not many authors have an image like yours to promote, so when one comes along they’re going to work it all they can. Try to relax today and have fun. I’m right here with you, and if this guy wants you to do anything more than some mildly sexy pictures, I’ll be all over him. I won’t even let shots like that exist. Okay?”
    With a loud sigh, Tessa relented. “Okay, I’ll be a good girl and play dress up.”

    * * * *

    The steady parade of technicians, assistants, artists, and male models had him more than distracted, and he gave up trying to get any work done. How many men did it take to get a decent picture of a beautiful woman? When the animal handler showed up with an immense, full-blooded black wolf, he found an out-of-the-way vantage point to take in the activities.
    He watched the backyard as a team constructed three different sets. One that looked like a dungeon, one that looked like a cemetery, and one that looked like a forest. That made him chuckle to himself. They were building a fake forest when there was a real forest only a few paces away. He could watch this all day and not understand it.
    The brouhaha surrounding him had become quite entertaining when from the corner of his vision he noticed a group descending the stairs, his Tessa firmly ensconced in the middle. He turned, intending to cross the room to greet her, but was stopped in his tracks. He felt his eyes widen and his breath caught in his lungs.
    The first thing he saw was that she had on that fucking button-down shirt again. Damn. Why would she keep wearing someone else’s shirt after last night? He’d have to take a pair of scissors to that rag later.
    The thought of shredding the hated shirt having lifted his spirits, he looked up at her again. He knew she had been