Chapter 9 #2
“I see that you’re interested in applying for the photographer opening?”
“Yes,” I said, proud of my voice not wavering.
“Great. The company has decided to open it up to new applicants. Along with the application and resume, we’ll need eight to ten nature photographs taken by you and printed to an 11x14 size.
The pictures should be in our office by August 10th, so be sure to get them to the post office with enough time.
Our team will then review the images, and if we find a photographer we’re interested in, we’ll call them back for an interview. ”
Even though I was convinced I might never be ready for a photography position at this level, I now had almost two months to practice and hone my skills. That had to count for something.
“Is this something you’d be interested in?” Heather asked after a moment.
“Yes,” I said, finding my voice. “Absolutely. I’d love to apply.”
“Great. Do you have any questions?”
“Are there any restrictions on the types of photographs you’re looking for?”
“Animals and landscapes are what we’re looking for.
You can have people in some of the images, but make sure they’re not the main focus.
We want images that tell a story. We also want them only lightly edited.
I’m talking just enhancing the colors with the slightest hand.
We want them to look as natural and stunning on their own as possible.
And if you don’t get this position, we are still happy to have you work as our office manager. How does all of this sound?”
After giving Heather another resounding yes, I hung up the phone. She’d be sending me the official email later this morning with more detailed instructions on where to print and mail the pictures and how to apply.
“Who was that?” Jake asked as he blew bubbles for Sophie.
After I filled Jake in, he gave me a high five.
“When did you get into photography?”
“A few years ago. I found an old camera of my mom’s in the basement. I love it, but I’ve been doing portrait photography for a few years, and I’m worried I might be terrible at landscape.” I proceeded to tell him about my excursion earlier that morning.
He shrugged. “You know how to practice. I’m guessing most photographers don’t nail every shot on the first try.”
“No. But there was a moose and a baby, and the fact that I messed up those pictures might haunt my dreams.”
“You’ll get it next time,” Jake said as he tickled Sophie before picking her up, squealing, over his shoulder. “I’ve got to get this little runt over to Kelsey’s. See you for fishing!”
I watched him go.
Even though I had given Jake grief about our practice last night, he was right.
Nobody knew better than I did about what practice could do for a person.
Of course, my style of practice before now had been of the basketball-court variety and less of the shirtless-men type.
Jake had sprung a lot of things on me in a short span of time, but I woke up with a feeling that if he tried it again tonight, I’d be more ready for him.
Between flirting practice and photography practice, the next month might be pretty busy. But who knew? By the end of summer, there was an exciting possibility that I could soon be a photographer at a respected national magazine and perhaps become someone…dateable.
Watch out, Boise.
The fresh, mountain air filled my soul as well as my lungs as I stood on a ledge next to the Salmon River, camera in my hands, later that day.
I snapped a few pictures, sans people, of the river carving its way down the mountain.
Pine and deciduous trees lined the banks, and a busy otter showed off his diving skills across the river.
I adjusted my stance and brought the camera once more to my eye, this time zooming in on the delightful scene of three female cousins, ages ranging from eighteen to twenty-two and each of them ogling every part of Cowboy Jake while he casually and charmingly taught them the ropes of fly fishing.
The tallest brunette, who looked to be maybe twenty and completely out of place wearing waders and knee-high rubber boots on a river, sidled up beside Jake, throwing a confused expression on her face until Jake stood behind her and showed her the correct snap of her wrist needed to throw her line.
The obvious ploy, combined with Jake’s oblivious attitude, had me choking back a laugh.
For all Jake thought he knew about dating and flirting, he seemed pretty clueless about the scene playing out right in front of him.
Jake caught my attention and waved me over.
I snapped a few more pictures of the crew before stepping off my perch to join them once more.
I hadn’t been planning to fish when we set out on this afternoon’s excursion, but Jake had insisted I throw on a pair of waders and rubber boots over the top of my chino shorts and t-shirt.
And I was already glad he had. My feet remained dry as I maneuvered through the water toward Jake.
By the time I reached him, Jake had set the three women up with their own poles and spaced them all farther down the river.
Away from him.
He had a desperate warning look in his eye as I approached. “Hey, Safety Net. You are not allowed to leave me alone with a group full of women anymore. We have a deal.”
Ah, shoot. Of course Jake Evans was more aware of what was going on around him than I gave him credit for.
“Did we shake on anything? I don’t remember writing any addendums to the contract,” I teased, enjoying the annoyed look crossing Jake’s face.
“You want to call it all off?” he asked me, eyebrows raised as he cornered me.
“No,” I said.
“Then you are now officially on duty.”
“To be honest, I still have no idea what being a safety net even means.”
“It means protecting me from things like that.” He motioned toward the girls.
“If it helps, I think she almost got the hang of it by the fourth time you snuggled her from behind.”
He stopped adjusting the string on his pole and studied me. “Jealous, Tuck?”
“I’m jealous it comes so easily to her. Maybe I should ask her for lessons.”
“Great.” Jake flicked his head behind him toward the girl, who wasn’t even trying to hide her appreciation for his broad shoulders and the way he filled out his jeans. “Why don’t you teach her to fish while you’re at it?”
“So if they paid good money to be taught fishing by the best in the business…and you want me to teach them…are you saying I’m the best?” I brought my hand to my chest in delight.
“Absolutely not.”
I cocked my head to the side. “I’ll bet I can catch more fish than you.”
He shook his head. “You’re dreaming, girl.”
I edged closer. “I haven’t fly fished for probably five years, but I’m feeling pretty good today.”
He thought for a second before he looked up at me and smiled. “Fine. We fish for the next thirty minutes. When I win, you have to give me a kiss on the cheek and slap my butt so those girls think I’m taken.”
My eyes flicked toward the women, who had abandoned Jake’s idea of space and now stood only feet apart, chatting and glancing toward him every so often.
“What are you so scared of? They all look legal.”
Jake glowered at me but said nothing as he fumbled more with the pole.
I couldn’t help poking him. He was such a subdued version of the guy I remembered that getting sparks of the old Jake felt like accomplishing a Herculean feat. “Are you scared one of them might be the love of your life, and you’ll have to live happily ever after somewhere?”
“One of them asked me if I knew where the nearest gluten-free bakery was. And I don’t think it’s because they have any sort of allergy.”
I grinned. “What did you tell her?”
“I told her it was about 250 miles that way.” He pointed his hand to the west.
“I think they have some options in Salmon.”
“Didn’t seem like that was her kind of town. Are we doing this? What’s on the table for you? You know mine. A cheek kiss would be another good lesson for you—if you can handle it.”
A challenge between us lit the air at his words, sending a bolt of nerves hammering in my chest for some odd reason. And it wasn’t that I couldn’t touch him. I could. I’d sort of proved that last night. But…it was the strange sense of playing with fire that kept coming back to me.
All that talk about being his safety net was one thing…actually doing it seemed like something else entirely.
But I couldn’t show fear. He’d sniff it out in a second and make things much more complicated.
“You could have at least shaved.”
He grinned. “Look at you, already planning on losing. Should we just skip the actual bet and get right down to it?” His words caused the slightest roll in my stomach, just a little dip, before I shook it off like a champ.
He was so good at flirting that it was sometimes hard to remember that it was second nature to him.
He was in no condition to want any of this touching to actually happen.
I folded my arms, making sure to look him directly in the eyes. “Alright, when I win, you have to yank off your shirt and go back over to those girls and help them again. And the shirt stays off until we get back to the ranch.”
A ruddiness appeared on his cheeks that delighted me. “No.”
“Yes.”
“Why are you so obsessed with me?”
A laugh bubbled at his obvious distress. “That’s what I want.”
“Pick something else. They’ll eat me alive.” Both of our eyes flicked in their direction, only to see the three of them startle and turn away.
“I think I’d like to see this play out,” I said, grinning.
“You’re the worst safety net I’ve ever had.”
“You seem nervous. Already getting your pole ready?”
His fingers stopped moving. “Actually, this is your pole.” He flung his head down toward the bank. “That’s mine.”
“Thanks.” I gave him an endearing smile. “Thirty minutes?”
“Yup. Spit on it?” he asked.
“No thanks.”
We shook on it—sans spit. His warm hand engulfed mine, and a familiar competitive edge settled between us as he held my hand a little longer than necessary.
“I call this spot!” he said, suddenly breaking away before thrusting the pole into my hands. He jumped down onto a rock below and plunged into the water.
“Thanks for scaring all the fish my way!” I yelled as I ran down the riverbank until I found an area I liked, entering the water in a much gentler manner. I attempted to fling my line into the river when I noticed the massive knot at the end of my line.
Untying it took five minutes, but I wasted no time yelling after Jake, beyond sending a large rock flying his way to land in the water beside him, splashing up on his leg perfectly. His sly grin, while ignoring me, did nothing but make me fish faster, if that were possible.