I was starting to see the reason his previous photographer had spanked him.
Not that I was willing to indulge the brat.
“So, no comments about how they’re not that good, or that he’s terrible to work with?” Devin’s laughter was beginning to get annoying.
Setting my cup by the edge of the sink, I headed to the bedroom. The living room was almost empty, the only thing in it a lone couch that was so uncomfortable I never used it. After only living in the place twenty-four hours, I’d moved the TV back into the bedroom and basically lived out of there. The bed wasn’t much more comfortable, but at least I could stretch out.
“I’m professional.” Sometimes.
As long as I’d had a reasonable break from Eli.
“Bullshit.” Devin finally got his laughter under control. “The last time I called, you were threatening to murder him.”
That had been the shoot the photos he loved were from.
It’d been…difficult. “I’ve calmed down.”
And the fact that I hadn’t worked with him in a week might have been part of the reason. Eli made me want to pull my hair out. The only time I’d gotten a break from him was when he’d gone out of town for a few days.
Otherwise, no matter who I was shooting, he was always right there. Unfortunately, he was back, and one of the companies they worked with had sent some samples of a new line they were thinking about producing. So my sanity was going to be tested again that afternoon.
“Haven’t been to work lately?” Devin guessed, teasingly.
“I was on a shoot just yesterday. It went very smoothly.”
Devin tried to contain his smirk, but it didn’t work. “Then it wasn’t with Eli.”
“How do you know them so well?”
I could almost hear the shrug in Devin’s voice. “I told you, they do stuff for the center sometimes. They stand out. Especially Eli.”
Devin had sent me the notice about the photography job that’d opened up. It had landed on my desk at the perfect time. I’d been packed up and had sold nearly everything I owned to afford the move, and I’d just needed to figure out where to go.
With Devin offering the use of his couch and the potential for a job, it had seemed like a good fit. I was starting to wish I’d thought things through a bit more. But with the rent on my old place coming due and no way to pay it, there hadn’t been much of a choice.
Browsing through the small closet, I started picking out something to wear. At home all morning working on ways to restart my business, I hadn’t bothered with getting ready, but now that I was on the countdown to deal with Eli, it couldn’t be put off any longer.
“How’s the center doing?” Asking Devin about his work was the only guaranteed way of getting him off my back.
Devin ran an LGBT youth center that focused on helping kids in transition. They did a little bit of everything, but it was his passion and took up most of his time, much to his mother’s frustration. “Mom called and wanted to know why you haven’t found a nice guy yet.”
Devin moaned. “Don’t get me started on that gaggle.”
He’d started calling my mother and her sisters “a gaggle of nosy geese” when he was in high school. It was a good fit for them. Devin and I had about the same level of patience for it, which was how he’d ended up so far from the rest of them. It was working out in my favor.
“The center is going great, but I refuse to give them any more gossip. You wouldn’t believe the shit I had to hear about Aunt Deedee’s oldest. Somebody needs to call her and warn her. She’s going to hit the roof when she finds out what her mother is saying.” I could almost hear Devin rolling his eyes.
“I’m not getting involved. I’m finally off the hot seat, so I have no desire to rock the boat.” My phone had rung off the hook for weeks after all the drama had finally exploded. From my mother worrying about “where she’d gone wrong” to her sisters calling for good bits of gossip under the guise of helping, I’d had about all the family bonding I could handle for a while.
Devin laughed. “They’ll come back to you eventually. You have a job now, but once they find out you’re not working for a clothing company, they’re going to lose their shit.”
“Iamworking for a clothing company.” Fuck, that was all I needed. “You tell any of them, and I’ll tell your mother you want kids.” Tossing some clothes on the bed, I started gathering up everything else I wanted to bring with me.
He sucked in a breath. “That’s low.”
“Two words…biological clock.” They’d be so focused on him, I’d never hear from any of them. “I’ll tell them you were drunk and crying that you didn’t have a family and kids. You were so upset about not being married that you were hiding it from everyone.”
“Ass.” Then Devin chuckled. “We’ve still got Stevie to throw under the bus. His mother still doesn’t know about the tattoo or those two girls he’s living with.”
