“Act like your photography is less than it is. Act like you are less than you are.” I met his gaze. “You are so very talented, Flynn Kelly, don’t you forget it.”
“Okay, Miss.” He smiled. A smile that was accompanied by a slight relaxing of his shoulders. His guard was coming down with me. That was good.
“Flynn. Would you take some more photos of me? Like for myself? I think it would be good for my confidence and I could send one to my parents. Let them see how settled I’m becoming here.”
“Sure. Like around the Bu?”
“Yeah, eventually, but maybe first I could come around yours and just get a studio shot? Just until I learn to be a little more relaxed around a camera. Only I usually look like this…” I pulled a wide smiled grimace. “You have no idea the times my mom has sighed over my school photographs and don’t get me started on my yearbook and prom photos.”
Flynn laughed. “I’m sure they weren’t that bad.”
“Whatever you’re thinking they were ten times worse I assure you.”
He smiled again. “Well, I’d be happy to take your photo. Just tell me when.”
“Tomorrow night?”
Flynn looked shocked.
“If I don’t do it now, I’ll chicken out of it.”
“Okay, tomorrow night it is then.” He said.
I put my photo down and picked up a couple of other shots. “Right, let me see. This is a fantastic shot of the spa. I think this one is a definite winner…”
I laid back on my bed. It had been a busy day, and I was beat. Jayden had texted an hour ago, and we were meeting Wednesday evening for dinner. So that was Flynn tomorrow, Jayden on Wednesday and Carter on Thursday. That just left Smith. He was proving more difficult to get through to than the others. I needed to think of a way to grab his attention, but the only thing that seemed to do that was sex. He appeared totally ruled by his cock.
It was time to do some further digging on Smith Henderson. I pulled up my file on my laptop.
Hmmmm.
It wasn’t a huge surprise to me that he could be so guarded. His mother had been a surrogate. There was no information on her whatsoever, just that his father had announced Smith’s birth and brought him back to Carbon Beach where a team of nannies, cooks, and housekeepers, had backed him as he raised his son. Bill had documented the first five years of Smith’s life online, but had then stopped it, saying that a kidnap attempt had been foiled and so there would be no more sharing of their personal life. Smith had been a gorgeous little boy with those pale blue eyes and that platinum blond hair. He looked like a little angel. I wondered who his mother could have been.
I’d get a list drawn up of all the staff who worked with Bill around that time. Look into any other relationships. I might as well see if I could solve that mystery while I was at it. Make my expose even better.
I phoned the New York office and got the team on it. Then I decided to spend the evening looking at all of the four of the
m as children, to look into their backgrounds more. It couldn’t hurt to learn more about them and I had nothing better to do with my time.
I smiled looking at Carter’s parents. Theirs was one of the most enduring showbiz marriages and even my jaded, cynical heart, rejoiced over the fact that their marriage was one to hold in high esteem.
Clicking onto the pictures of Carter with his parents, I ahhed at what a cutie he was. His sandy-blond hair was just like his fathers. His mother was a brunette. Her hair long and dark brown. I clicked onto her profile. She was a great actress, I wondered when she started acting?
A photo came up of a fresh-faced toddler and I gasped. Linda Cannon was not a natural brunette. Her hair on these photos was platinum blond. It had to be a coincidence surely? Despite it being a long shot, I carried on researching. Carter was 26 and Smith 24, so what were Linda's movements 2 years following Carter’s birth? I clicked along onto many more pages, getting frustrated that I couldn’t find anything of interest. There had been no break in the seasons of 'Couples', so it looked like it really was nothing more than a coincidence.
I typed in Linda Cannon, hospitals, surgery—anything I could think of and eventually struck gold.
A fan had sat in on filming and recorded his observations.
I don’t know how they do it. Filming several episodes all at once, switching from one episode to another, so they might film three kitchen scenes at a time, saving on costume changes. By filming this way they’d be able to spend other months of the year on vacation. I understand that they have several holiday homes away from the public eye which they must need after months of the year filming Couples, as well as being pursued by fans and paparazzi, especially with a young son (on set today as their toddler son on screen too).
So she could have done it. She could have given birth to Smith Henderson out of the glare of the public eye. Fuck, was this actually possible? That one of the most rock solid couples in the US had actually been rocked by an affair where Linda had gotten pregnant by Bill Henderson?
My expose here just seemed to be building to be better and better. Holy hot fuck. How was I going to investigate this? To test my theory and attempt to get proof?
I didn’t yet know and I also needed to wait for the office to send me their findings. One thing I did know was there was no way I would sleep tonight. I was far too buzzed about the whole thing. Which gave me an idea. It was eleven pm, and I felt like hitting some bars. I didn’t know which around here were the best, but I knew a man who did.
I found his cell number.