She bobbed her head, her stare fixated on his collar. “I feel so silly. There aren’t even any props or the backdrops he’s talking about. Like the trees? How can I look at a tree when there isn’t one? I’m just pantomiming, and I have no idea what I’m doing.”
Maddox’s jaw clenched for a moment. He hadn’t thought she’d need training, but he should have clued her in a little more about what would be expected. That was clear now. He’d wanted to speed through the process and get things rolling as quickly as possible, but maybe he’d rushed into this. Maybe they should postpone the shoot, give Adelie some time to better prepare herself.
“Break’s over,” Ritchie called, reentering the room. His tone sounded infinitely more chipper than it had when he’d stormed out.
Adelie’s eyes squeezed shut.
“You ready to try again?” Maddox asked.
Her expression pleaded with him, but words fled. Instead, she gave him a shrug and shuffled toward the studio.
Maddox wanted to swoop in, tell Ritchie he’d made a mistake, and rescue her. He couldn’t embarrass her like that. She was trying her best. Ritchie was already here, all set up. They might as well start again.
Arms folded, hand on his chin, Ritchie called without turning. “Hatter? Get over here.”
Confused, but willing to do what he could, Maddox strode to the photographer’s side. “You need me?”
“Yeah.” Though Ritchie addressed Maddox, his attention was on Adelie. Head bowed, she lifted her lashes in Maddox’s direction. Soft pink climbed in her cheeks.
“There it is again,” Ritchie said, softer this time. He faced Maddox. “Stay here by my side and keep her looking at you.”
“At me?” Maddox said in surprise. “Why?”
Ritchie smiled through his goatee. “You bring out the blush in her.”
Adelie must have heard him. Once again, her cheeks went bright pink. She shifted her posture.
“There! Like that, it’s perfect. Don’t move.” Ritchie worked around her, snapping photo after photo. “Good, now reach upward to the tree.”
“But there is no tree,” she said, confused.
“Don’t worry, there will be.”
Maddox crossed his arms over his chest, hoping she was thinking of the same thing he was. Of the way he’d jokingly mimed lifting his arms and posing during their tour of the park. He winked at her, and she gave him that coy, reserved smile and turned as though reaching for an invisible apple.
Though there was no background, he pictured it exactly as he’d done the first time he’d seen her sitting at the table outside the March Hare’s house. The magic of the moment swirled through his mind, bringing an imaginary scene to life. She was stardust and enchantment, and he was captivated. There it was. There was the magic he knew was in her.
The camera made click after click sounds, and the more the shoot went on, the more relaxed Adelie seemed to become. It ended with her walking toward Ritchie, her attention focused at something invisible to her side while fans blew air to lift her hair away from her face.
Ritchie’s camera made a final clicking noise before he lowered it. “That’s it,” he said with a pronounced exhale. “That was amazing.” He turned to Maddox. “Boss?”
Clearly asking for approval, Maddox gave it. He’d been spellbound by her the entire time.
“Enchanting,” Maddox agreed, shaking hands with Ritchie.
Ritchie signaled his crew, and the gathered men and women began packing up lights and the set in such an orderly fashion it was clear they’d done it a thousand times before. Adelie meandered to the window and glanced out, and Maddox dodged between a pair of men carrying black cases toward her.
“You did it,” he said.
Adelie peered at him over her shoulder. “Yeah,” she said.
He waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t continue.
He hurried to fill the awkward silence. Part of him ached to know what she thought of the shoot after it was all said and done. “If you’d like to go change, I can meet you out in the foyer when you’re done,” he offered.
Tension seeped from her. She faced him, directing the full force of her blue eyes on him, before she inclined her head and made her way out of the room.
***
Adelie changed into her regular clothes, but as she looked in the mirror, it wasn’t only the makeup and highlights that made her feel like a new person. She was taller somehow. She’d done something difficult, something that scared her. It hadn’t been like the spook alley, where she was more terrified when it was over than she’d been at the start. No, this time, she was soaring inside.
She’d never been one to bask under the weight of attention, but Maddox’s was riveting. From the minute they’d met, his gaze spoke volumes. Every glance glimmered with interest and admiration. She’d tried playing it off as something else, but what else could it be? It was curiosity and adventure, as though he had plans to rove and explore new territory, and he wanted to bring her along.
Throughout the entire photo shoot, any time nerves had plucked her or attempted to sever her concentration, all she had to do was look at him. To see the glimmer of wonder and weakness in his gaze, it’d been enough to melt the most solid unease inside her.
She’d felt courageous, spontaneous, and stouthearted with him. Adelie had never been strong or resolute in her life, but he gave her the impression that maybe, just maybe, she could be.
She wasn’t sure what to do now that the shoot was over. Maddox had said to meet him in the foyer, so she folded the dress, apron, and the tulle underskirt as nicely as she could, left them on the chair in the room she’d changed in, and headed that direction.
Settling on the foyer’s lavish bench, she watched Ritchie and his crew haul case after case out
