Picture-Perfect Christmas by Charlotte Greene

Author:Charlotte Greene [Greene, Charlotte]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2022-12-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen: Quinn

Their photo shoot at the resort that afternoon had taken far longer than Quinn expected. They’d driven more or less directly to Sunlight Mountain Resort from the trail with the elk, but even with the cameras already in the car, the trip, loading and unloading, and the work itself had eaten up the rest of the day.

Nicole was the consummate professional all afternoon, as always. She was nice, too, not bossing Quinn around like she’d expected earlier in the month, but once again asking for and often deferring to her suggestions. Before this project together, she’d never have expected Nicole to be like this—an expert, but not conceited or vain. Now that they’d worked together several times, Quinn realized that she needed to accept that her preconceived notions had been entirely wrong.

What was worse, and what she’d known for a long time, was that Nicole had never been vain or full of herself. Even when they were teenagers, and Nicole was winning award after award for her work, she’d been humble. And the whole situation with the scholarship had been Quinn’s fault, not hers. She’d known that even then. She’d been afraid to compete with Nicole, and that was her problem, not Nicole’s. The imaginary tyrannical, stuck-up Nicole that Quinn had envisioned all these years was simply a projection, a way to cope with and justify what she’d done when they were kids. Over the years, she found it easier to imagine leaving Nicole alone in a hotel room if she pretended Nicole was a terrible person, but this fantasy was much harder to maintain now that she knew her.

During their photo shoot at the resort, they took pictures of the outside of the lodge and the ski slopes from several angles. The holiday decorations had been up for a few weeks now, but today, dusted with new snow, they looked sharp, renewed, and appropriately seasonable. With the approaching holiday, a great bustle of people streamed in and out of the resort, checking in or on their way to the slopes. They also took photos inside, which was similarly decked out in Christmas splendor.

When they finally walked back to Nicole’s car, the sun was starting to set. Quinn could hardly believe it was almost five.

“Man, I’m beat,” Nicole said, opening the trunk of her car. She put her cameras and lights inside and helped Quinn do the same. They paused there, Nicole’s droopy posture mirroring her own. Quinn rubbed her shoulder absently, aching from the strain of the camera bags she’d lugged around all day.

She hesitated before replying. They’d agreed to have dinner, but that had been hours ago. Maybe Nicole wanted to go home and to bed. She should give her an out. She glanced around, glad to find that they were entirely alone. She stepped closer and touched Nicole’s arm.

“Um, if you want to pick up again tomorrow, you could just drop me off—”

Nicole stepped forward and pulled her into a searing kiss. It had more fire and passion than any of their earlier kisses and shook her very soul.

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