When Day Breaks

Swanny laughed. “Hate to say this, honey, but you’re talking to a man who has a very strict training and workout schedule. When I’m not on a mission, that is.”

“Of course,” Eden grumbled. “People just aren’t naturally blessed with the kind of body you have.”

God, but he loved the way she didn’t even seem to notice the extreme scarring and seemed to really like his body. The entire package. No one had ever made him feel this comfortable. Even with the Kellys and their family he was still reserved, and most of the time he averted the scarred side of his face even though he knew his scars didn’t matter to them.

“I could say the same for you, the world’s most beautiful woman,” he said dryly. “And you’re all natural. No enhancements. Your kind of beauty just doesn’t happen to most women.”

“No, I don’t have enhancements, though I’ve had a few complaints that my br**sts are too big,” she said in a shy voice.

“What the f**k?”

Swanny stared at her in utter bewilderment. Too big? They were f**king perfect. Plump, perfectly rounded with ni**les that were a delectable shade of pink. And they filled the palms of his hands perfectly, as if she were made especially for him.

She flushed again. “Most top models are tall, very slender with not much cle**age. I have the tall and slender part down, but it’s not like I could do a lot about my breast size and I refused to have a reduction.”

Swanny looked at her in horror. “Breast reduction?” he croaked. “Who the hell suggested that to you? That’s the dumbest-ass thing I’ve ever heard of. You’re f**king perfect just the way you are.”

Her eyes glowed in response to his heartfelt explosion. “Most of my gigs are cool with it. Occasionally when I’m doing a runway show they’ve sized a dress to fit the ‘average’ model and so they bitch about having to alter all the clothing I’m modeling. One guy was a raging ass**le and told me that not only were my br**sts obscenely large but my ass was also too big.”

“Jesus,” Swanny bit out. “I’d love five minutes with the bastard. You can be damn sure if I did, he’d never make the mistake of criticizing you again. I’d ask him how he felt about a dick reduction.”

Eden burst into laughter, and she impulsively hugged Swanny to her. “I’m so happy around you. You just make me happy. I feel like I can be myself with you and not hide behind a facade or some fake pose for one of my photo sessions. I can’t tell you how freeing that is. Till now, I’ve only been able to say that about my father and brothers. They certainly keep me grounded, and if I ever did get too big for my britches they wouldn’t hesitate to have a come-to-Jesus session with me.”

“You make me happy too, Eden,” he said in a serious tone. “I know I sound like a broken record, but I have no idea why you chose me but I’m damn sure glad you did. What we had was not sex. We made love and until last night I really didn’t know the difference between the two.”

With anyone else he wouldn’t feel comfortable baring his soul. He was the quiet, reserved one on his team. Edge was too, but perhaps not to the degree Swanny was. Except for now. When it came to Eden. He wasn’t afraid to speak up and be vocal about how things needed to be. His teammates were probably thinking he’d gone off the deep end and, well, they wouldn’t really be wrong.

But with Eden, he felt completely at ease with sharing his thoughts, his emotions, and he was not abashed to put it out there how he felt about her. He wanted her to know that last night was every bit as special to him as it had been for her. He’d never imagined making love could be so all-consuming. A melding of souls, hearts and minds.

He felt as though he were as much a newbie at the act of making love as Eden had been herself. Two people finding each other together. Figuring out what pleased the other. He found it immensely satisfying that though Eden had been a virgin, she hadn’t shown any inhibitions, even before they’d consummated their relationship.

She’d been up front and honest with him from the start. She’d left no question as to what she wanted and that he was who she wanted. It was like Christmas, Valentine’s Day and his birthday all wrapped up together. Hell, he felt like a kid at Christmas, full of wonder and excitement over something fresh and new and so intimate.

He knew he needed to be as blunt and as straightforward as she’d been with him, and he also realized that he needed to ask her some very direct questions about what was between them and what she saw in the future and if he was going to play any part of that future.

But now wasn’t the time. He wanted no distractions for her shoot today, and he didn’t want her pondering his questions when she needed absolute focus for the day ahead.

Tonight. Tonight when they went to bed, he’d lay it out to her, provided he didn’t chicken out between now and then. But as he’d already reminded himself, she’d been nothing but straightforward with him and he owed her the same.

So when they were alone again, he would tell her what was on his mind and in his heart and just hope and pray that she was on the same wavelength.

CHAPTER 21

THE shoot was a lot more relaxed this morning. Either the director had taken his meds or perhaps he’d gotten laid the night before, but at any rate he wasn’t the barking ass**le he’d been the day before. He was even complimentary to Eden, praising her poses, the sultry looks she turned on like a switch being flipped, but as time wore on Swanny realized that she was focusing on him.