Read Online Extreme Close-Up (Perspectives Book 1) by Julie Jaret - Free Book Online Page A

firm to drop off the portrait proofs, she didn’t try to avoid Natalie’s intuitive grilling. She needed it, knowing her friend wouldn’t judge her for being such a huge freaking idiot. But Mr. Simmons was dangling the partnership carrot again, so Nat hardly looked up from her work when Lisa came by. She’d hoped to see Thomas while she was there -- since she looked like shit and felt even worse, it would’ve been easy to make an excuse to cancel their date the following night. Unfortunately, he wasn’t around.
    Checking email before bed that night, she broke into hysterical laughter when her catalogue client officially cut her fees again. It was just the cherry on top of her crappy life.
    When Thomas called Saturday afternoon to confirm their date, Lisa couldn’t bring herself to cancel. There were worse ways to spend a few hours than having a nice dinner in the company of an attractive, intelligent man, so she dragged herself out of bed and into the shower.
    She owned a few cocktail dresses, but it had been years since she’d had occasion to wear them. The little black dress she had worn to Vance’s company’s holiday gala; the sleek red dress she had worn to Vance’s fortieth birthday party; and the blush-colored knit she had worn to Braden’s sister’s wedding. Despite a lengthy battle with various undergarments of torture, the blush was the only dress that fit well enough to wear in public.
    It wasn’t her first choice for tonight, but it was a pretty dress. The rich, nude color complemented her skin tone. The deep square neckline showed more cleavage than she was usually comfortable with, but the knee-skimming skirt flared just enough to hide the round hips and ass she had inherited from her grandmother. With high-heeled black pumps, the ensemble accentuated the positive and eliminated the negative as well as she could hope.
    After styling her hair to fall in soft golden waves around her shoulders, she applied minimal makeup. Luckily, she had also inherited her grandmother’s skin, so she only needed a little powder foundation, although she added a sweep of blush because she looked sallow. Her dark-chocolate eyes (her best feature, if she had to choose something) needed no more enhancement than a few strokes of mascara. She slicked on sheer berry lipstick and stepped through a cloud of jasmine perfume, right as the doorbell rang at ten minutes to seven.
    Pasting on a smile, she opened the door. “Hi, you’re early--” Her arm itched with the urge to slam the door when she saw Braden on the other side.
    He looked her up and down with appreciation. “Looks to me like I’m right on time.”
    “Sorry. Didn’t realize it was you.” She couldn’t look him in the eye, so she stepped outside and made a production of locking the door and putting her keys in her bag.
    “Yeah, I got that.”
    “I was on my way out.”
    “Got that, too.” He moved aside to let her pass and followed her down the steps to the driveway. “Nice dress.”
    “It’s old,” she shrugged. “I wore it to Stephanie’s wedding.”
    “I remember. It still looks amazing on you.”
    She knew she was being a bitch and he didn’t deserve that. “Thanks.” She risked a glance at his face. There was hurt in his eyes and anger tightened his jaw.
    “So you hate me now.” It was a statement of fact.
    “I don’t hate you,” she said to her shoes.
    “So much for not bullshitting each other. I knew you weren’t editing all week.”
    “Actually, I was.”
    He toyed with a lock of her hair, fingers brushing her bare shoulder. “Then why won’t you look at me?”
    “Because I’ve seen too much of you already.” She stepped out of reach. “That shouldn’t have happened.”
    “Why the hell not?” Before Lisa could answer, one of the sleek European sports cars from the law firm parking lot pulled up. As Thomas emerged from the expensive convertible, Braden chuckled without humor and muttered, “Fucking classic.”
    Thomas