'Mere?'

'Mm?'

'I love you, but please stop.'

'What?'

Esposito propped himself on his elbow. 'Drumming your fingers. I had a very long day and my head is killing me.'

'Sorry, babe.' Meredeth dropped her hand from his headboard to her eyes, wondering if it would somehow trick her body into sleeping. 'I'm so nervous for tomorrow.'

'Why? You're hot you'll look great. Besides, I thought the hard part was the interview, and you did that last Friday.'

'Right.'

Dragging a hand over his face, Esposito tried very hard to not be irritated. The only thing he wanted was a little sleep after closing the Simone Greer case; dealing with his girlfriend all of a sudden becoming a bundle of nervous insecurity was a plot twist he didn't appreciate. 'Again, I love you but please stop.'

'You're still coming with me, right?'

'Yes, I am. Now try to sleep.'

The following morning Meredeth showered and dressed casually, barely speaking to Esposito which was fine by him, as he knew she was in such a mood that anything out of his mouth would be grounds for girl-freak-out and he hadn't banked the snooze-time to handle it just now. They made it to the studio over an hour before she had to be there, owing to Meredeth' unwavering belief that being less than fifteen minutes early to an appointment was just old-fashioned bad manners. It made him wonder how the hell she put up with the fact he'd often had to switch plans with her or been over forty-five minutes late for a night out because of his job. The fact she did made him love her all the more; coming with her on his only day off in a hellaciously busy week to help ease her anxiety was the least he could do.

When they stepped off the elevator into the studio, a silver-maned whip-thin man dressed in a black oxford and jeans approached her with a smile and outstretched arms.

'Hello, Miss Meredeth, my dear.'

'Good to see you again, Avery.'

'Punctual as always, trying to make the rest of us look bad,' he told her, kissing her cheeks in that European style before turning powdery-blue eyes avid with interest to Esposito. 'And you must be Detective Javier Esposito. She mentioned you'd be coming today. A lot of our models bring their partners with them to help relax. Meredeth Fatima is here already, why don't you go meet with her before Steph arrives?'

'Steph G or Steph A?'

'G, naturally. I refuse to bring Steph A back after what she did the last time we photographed you.'

Meredeth gave Esposito a quick kiss, bounded off to a side room, leaving him to follow the photographer over to the simple-white backdrop set. 'What happened the last time you photographed her?' he asked, as Avery checked his equipment.

'It was a disaster. You know the author's portrait on her third book?'

'The one on the leather sofa, in her jeans and bare feet.' Esposito knew the photo well, it was the on the book Lanie had shown him in the morgue when he'd been forced to cut his first date with Meredeth short. She looked intelligent yet sexy as hell, the kind of girl who would play chess against a man in La Perla lingerie. 'What about it?'

'Stephanie Abeille, one of the wardrobe co-ordinators I used on a regular basis for photographing authors, was fitting her for some clothes and told her to suck in her gut, no one likes a fattie in a photo. When she came out of the dressing room, I could see she was distressed, so we tried a couple of sitting shots, and Stephanie pipes up, thank god for Photo-shop, we'll be able to airbrush out all those rolls she's got.'

'That's disgusting. My Meredeth is gorgeous,' Esposito spat. 'I hope you canned her.'

'I did. Steph didn't seem to understand that her salary was coming from the people paying to be photographed, and that treating them with anything but respect might put her out of a job.'

'So what happened?'

'Well, needless to say, Meredeth's confidence went south, and she nearly called it a day there and I couldn't blame her in the slightest. She had booked me because she knows I have a good reputation with all models, not just the size zeroes and twos. We had a chat in my office, and agreed to use Steph A's assistant. Steph G made her look amazing and Steph A was never welcomed back here.'

'Good, because...' He trailed off as he saw the door Meredeth left through open again and she came into the room. His pulse pounded an extra hard three beats when he saw the dark jeans she wore along with the low-cut black top, showing off her beautiful breasts. She came up to him and the three inch stiletto boots she wore put her an inch taller than him. 'Holy shit.'

'Just thought I'd come out here, see what you think.'

'I seem to be lacking that skill right now.'

'Definitely a good sign. Oh, Avery, I have a mix of music in my bag, I'll bring it out for you when we're ready for the test shots.'

'Excellent.'

Fifteen minutes later, Meredeth was back from hair and makeup, and Esposito thought he might pass out. They'd left her face its natural rosy colour but darkened her lips to a bold crimson so her blue eyes popped against the richness; her eyes themselves were lined with silver instead of black so they looked even bluer under the frame of her long black lashes. Before Avery could start his work, Esposito took Meredeth's hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. 'Kill it, baby.'

Meredeth bit her lip as she winked at him as he stepped back out of camera range, then gave her attention to Avery. 'I'm ready.'

Avery used a remote to fire up his stereo and the razor-edged guitars of 'Black Betty' poured from the hidden speakers. From behind Avery, Esposito watched with fascination as Meredeth focused on his face as if she were posing in her bedroom just for him instead of a SoHo studio. He was glad he'd come, that his being there put her at ease with showing off what she often thought was an imperfect body. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he actually crossed his fingers and prayed that seeing the photos would remind her no matter how often she call her curves 'the flub', she was a knockout.

When Avery stopped the music, nodded at Meredeth, she crossed to Esposito and gave him a kiss on the lips. 'How'd I look?' she asked, looping her arm through his so he walked with her towards a desk upon which sat a nifty iMac while Avery popped the card out of his camera.

'I think I'll have to beat off the guys who are going to be hitting on you when that magazine hits the press.'

Meredeth drank deeply from a bottle of water Avery passed her as he sat down and loaded the pictures onto the computer. A few key strokes later and she let out a gasp. 'Oh my god. That's me? I look so hot!'

'I told you,' Esposito said, giving her knee a quick, supportive squeeze as he watched her marvel at the photos.

'I've had a thought,' Avery said in a contemplative voice. 'Javier, would you like to be in a few of these pictures with her?'

'What?'

Avery pulled up photos from another shoot. 'This was a Valentine's Day gift this couple gave each other last year. I think you two would look absolutely stunning in a shoot of this style. Cream and caramel, as it were.''

Esposito looked at the photo. The couple were both topless and wearing jeans, with the man's arms around the woman so her breasts were covered but the curve and cleavage of them was still visible while her hands rested against the tops of his thighs. It was a beautiful show of unity and intimacy.

'What do you think babe?' Meredeth turned to her boyfriend, and saw that sparkle in his eye, the kind he got when he saw her pour coconut bubble-bath into the tub. 'You want to?'

'Why not? If they turn out well, you'll be every guy's fantasy girl. If not, we'll just put them in the toy box,' he concluded with a wiggle of eyebrows, making Meredeth laugh.

'Excellent.' Avery closed the file, rose from his chair. 'Javier, we'll send you into make-up, and I'd like to put you in black jeans so you'll match Meredeth. Steph G will get you set up.'

Twenty minutes later, Esposito came out of the dressing room wearing a light robe over the pants Steph G had selected for him. His ego had fluttered happily when the young wardrobe director got a glazed look in her eyes as he'd taken off his shirt, followed by an 'easy, girl' from Meredeth who laughed at Steph's lack of subtly. Now, he could see Meredeth in black jeans and a strapless bra waiting by the set, and he crossed to her, gave her a hug from behind.

'You know how much flak I'm going to take at work if this is in the magazine?'

'No worse than the guys at the station, would give you if it was just me.' Meredeth linked her fingers through his hand, then turned to face him. 'You know that I will be partly showing off the twins when we have to change poses, right?'

'No, showing off the twins would be doing a topless cha-cha shimmy at Avery and saying, these are real, see for yourself.'

'Meredeth, Javier, we're all set here.'

'Time to get somewhat naked,' she laughed; it turned into a little wolf whistle of appreciation when he tossed the robe aside and his solid body was hers for the oggling. He was so golden, so warm, like cinammon - sweet and warm and yet spicy and fiery at the same time. Reaching behind her back, she flipped open the hook-and-eyes, held her forearm across her breasts as much to keep them from bouncing around as for modesty as they walked in front of the marbled grey backdrop. Ever the professional, Avery looked at Meredeth's face and not her boobs when he helped pose the two of them, nodding his approval and smiling warmly when he began snapping the frames.

'Okay, I want to try another one.' Avery left his camera on a nearby table, walked over to them. 'Meredeth, you stay there, and then Javier, you come over here, face to face, and hold her hands,' he explained, putting a soft R&B song on his stereo to help his spontaneous model relax a little more.

Meredeth squeezed his hands tightly, whispered to him, 'Pretend we're in my living room, drinking wine, contemplating moving into the bedroom.'

Esposito forgot the photographer's directions, and taking Meredeth's hands, pulled her into his arms. Without realizing it, he began to sway a little in time with the music as her palms rested on his shoulder blades. Because she was in her flat feet, he could bump his forehead against hers, breathe deeply and take her in. When he felt her hand on his cheek he opened his eyes to see her looking at him, and putting the tip of his index finger under her chin, tilt her face up so her lips were a whisper from his.

This was his magic, ahe thought, this ability he had to put her so at ease when she was so far out of her comfort zone. The tender support from the simple feel of his body against hers, the look on his face as she stared into his eyes was more empowering than any words he could have said to her. For a brief moment, she wondered what it'd be like to dance with him like this on their wedding night, minus the photographer being paid to shoot them.

As the song ended, Avery took his last shot, and cleared his throat. He felt strangely intrusive, hating to break up such a tender moment. Discreetly he left his camera on the tripod to busy himself at his computer but saw out of the corner of his eye the loving, intimate kiss they shared before heading to the dressing rooms. When they came out some ten minutes later, he smiled at the couple as they pulled up chairs beside him. 'Well, what do you think, Meredeth?' he asked, taking the memory chip out of his camera and returning to his computer with the couple following him. 'Ready to give up breaking stories and break hearts instead?'

'Not on your life. But that...' Meredeth trailed off as she looked at the photos now on-screen, zeroed in on the one before . 'That's so beautiful.'

Esposito could only nod in agreement; he was floored by how they looked together. There was heat, certainly, in the way they locked their gaze with each other, but there was tenderness and intimacy. A brush of a hand, a tilt of the head was all it took to see how much he loved her, and how she loved him back. It would be a great contrast to the sex-bomb look she'd photographed in the first two rounds.

The whirring of a printer brought him out of his zone, saw that Avery was printing several of the shots and passed them to him. 'Take these with you, use them to make your friends jealous. You could put one on your desk, even.'

'Good idea but working in a police station, you don't exactly get a lot of privacy in your office. Speaking of which, why weren't there any entertainment types with their vid-cams here?'

'I have a very strict closed-set policy. We don't even have Internet here, so no risk of hacking in to steal or leak photos.' Avery glanced at his watch. 'And if you'll excuse me, I must tear down your set before my two o'clock arrives.'

'I'll be sure to buy every last copy when this comes out.' Meredeth shook his hand. 'Thanks again, Avery.'

'Anytime, Miss Meredeth.'

Once back on the elevator and heading for the garage, Meredeth turned to Esposito. 'Thanks again for coming with.' She leaned in for a kiss, gave him a questioning look when he cocked his eyebrow at her. 'I know that look. You're scheming.'

'I'm thinking...we should have our own little photo shoot when we get back to my place.'

R&R&Enjoy!