Midlife Valentine: A Later in Life Single Mom Romance

My words didn’t seem to put them at ease and I felt my shoulders go a little tense as I led them into the studio. “I thought we’d start on the sofa, get you two comfortable in front of the camera.”

Trey scoffed. “They don’t need to get comfortable, look at them, all relaxed and leaning into each other.”

Trey was right and I stuffed down the urge to tell him to stay quiet. “You guys are doing great,” I told them with a smile, but they were back to being stiff. Again.

“Shay, why did you say yes to Jason?”

Taken off guard, she blinked and smiled up at her fiancé and I quickly captured the image. “Honestly? He’s so funny. Whenever we’re watching a show or movie he makes these little comments that always make the experience more enjoyable. And he loves to tell jokes, and it doesn’t matter if they’re dark or cheesy, they always make me laugh.”

“You still think my atom joke is cheesy?”

Shay’s head fell onto his shoulder and she laughed. Her whole face was lit with love and laughter and I snapped tons of photos, knowing in my heart these would be the best engagement photos I’d ever taken. “I do. Cheesy, but also funny.” The happy couple glowed, so beautiful and young and in love that it almost hurt to look at them.

“All right, I think we’re good. I should have some proofs for you in a day or two, and you can let me know then if you want to try some outdoor shots.”

Shay blinked first and then Jason, almost as if they’d forgotten they weren’t at home, alone together. “That’s it? That was great, Valona! Thanks.”

Jason stood and turned to Trey. “Yeah man, thanks. That was way better than I’d been dreading for the past week.”

Trey smiled. “Nothing difficult at all about smiling at the woman you love?”

Jason turned to Shay with a smitten grin. “Not even a little bit,” he answered, but his gaze never left his bride-to-be. “Let me buy you a stack of pancakes?”

Shay took his hand and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. “I’ll even share my bacon with you.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too. Now feed me, please.” They breezed out of the studio on cloud nine and I couldn’t help but smile, even if that shoot had shown me two things. I’m not a photographer, just a picture taker. And I might not have what it takes to move to the next level.

“That was great,” Trey enthused.

“Yeah, that’s because you did everything,” I complained. Okay, it was more like a whine, but women my age didn’t whine. We complained.

“Me? I just stood here like a bump on a log moving the lights to and fro.”

“To and fro?” I shook my head. “You didn’t even need me to give you direction on the lighting, and you know what? It was wonderful. Exactly what I wanted.”

Trey sighed and I watched as his long legs eat up the space between us. His big hands landed on my shoulders, lightly massaging until I started to relax, at least on the surface. Below the surface my skin burned where he touched and my heart raced at his proximity, his utterly masculine scent.

“Valona, you didn’t bother yourself with the lights because you were so focused on capturing what I’m guessing are some pretty amazing engagement photos. Right?”

I shrugged off his question.

“You’re so worried about getting everything just right that you forget to focus on the photos. Today you did that. Did you get good photos?”

I folded my arms and felt my lips push out into a pout. “You tell me,” I shot back and shoved the memory card into the reader and took a step back, motioning towards the screen.

Trey was so close his broad shoulder brushed against my side as he leaned over, one hand maneuvering the mouse while the other held his weight on the table, blue eyes fixed on the photos of the happy couple. He was too close. So close I couldn’t think straight. So close that his scent short-circuited my brain and I couldn’t think of anything, not even why I was so upset in the first place.

“Well?”

“Well,” he repeated and turned to me. “You have eyes, look how great they are. Especially the black and white series, look at them. It was the perfect choice, because the couple shines, their love and happiness is on full display. That’s a wedding I’d want to attend.” He pointed at the screen and waited for me to lean in closer to see what he saw in my pictures.

I looked at the photo on the screen, Jason nibbling on Shay’s jaw with his oh so in love gazed fixed on her laughing face. Even in the still photograph you can tell she was genuinely laughing.