Chapter 30
Alice
"D ress looks nice.” My dad nods at me. He’s having a good day today.
“Thanks.” I fidget with the bangle bracelet on my wrist and straighten my skirt.
From far away, the pattern on this maxi dress looks floral, but when you get up close you realize the pictures are tiny dinosaurs with different kinds of plants in their mouths. I have no clue where we’re going, but this is the kind of fun summer dress that seems like it could work for lots of occasions.
Jake wants to take me out to celebrate my birthday, which is coming up at the end of this month, and to thank me for helping with his art classes. I told him creating the art for my book was more than enough, but he waved that idea away. He’s kept our destination a surprise so far, but I’ll find out soon enough because he’s due to pick me up any minute.
My chest feels tight when I hear the knock on our front door, but as soon as I open it, some of the tightness melts away. He’s wearing a white linen button-down and navy pants. When my gaze finally travels up to his smile, I realize I’ve been staring for longer than necessary.
“Hi.”
“Hey.”
“Do you think this outfit will work?” I motion to my dress. “I figured it should be good as long as we aren’t planning to go hiking in the woods or something. Right?”
“You look great, Alice,” he reassures me, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
My dad comes to the door to say hi and shake Jake’s hand.
“Good to see you, sir,” Jake tells him. Then he turns to me. “I’m excited for you to see what we’re doing. I hope you like it.”
“Can I have a hint? The suspense is making me nervous.”
“Sure,” he leads me down to his car and opens the door for me to get inside. Once he buckles himself into the driver’s seat, he turns to face me before starting the engine. “I want to be clear, you can always say no. But have you ever heard of boudoir photos?”
The tightness returns. “First, that’s not how hints work. Second, we’ve been dating for less than three weeks, and you made an appointment for a stranger to take pictures of me in my underwear?” I’m not even wearing a bra with this dress.
“Technically, I made an appointment for a stranger to take pictures of us . I booked a couple’s shoot because I didn’t want you to feel like you had to do it alone. Which, now that I’m saying it out loud, I realize may have been a step too far. If you think you’d rather do it by yourself, that’s cool, too. Or you don’t have to do it at all. No pressure. This is supposed to be about you.”
I feel my forehead crease as I scrunch my face at him.
He lowers his eyes for a second before they meet mine again. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I hate that you have any bad memories associated with pictures of your body.” He takes my hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. “I want you to be able to see yourself the same way I see you. I thought maybe we could replace some of those old memories with new ones and show you exactly how beautiful you are.” His voice is tender. He moves his seatbelt out of the way and leans over to kiss my cheek. It’s sweet, and gentle, and over way too soon.
“I’m still not sure I’m dressed for this.” I shift my own seatbelt back into place, the tightness in my chest easing again.
“Don’t worry. I’m told there are a lot of wardrobe options. Let’s go and see how you feel. If you decide you’re uncomfortable, we leave immediately. No questions asked. I won’t fight you. You’re in charge today. Deal?” He glances over at me, looking tentative.
I nod. “Okay.” I can see why he didn’t tell me about this. I definitely would’ve freaked out for days and ultimately chickened out. But I can already picture a series of black-and-white photos of a shirtless Jake wearing ripped jeans and staring pensively out a window. I don’t have any idea what kind of magic tricks a photographer would have to do to make me look as good next to him, but I’m intrigued enough to at least scope it out.
We drive through North Bay, out into Marnock, and a little beyond until we reach a warehouse with only one other car parked outside.
“You’re sure you spoke with a real photographer, right? Because this is sketchy as hell.”
Jake laughs. “Yes. It’s legit, I promise.” He parks the car and turns to face me fully, then his voice is serious as he assures me again, “I have no expectations here. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. I really do just want you to be able to see yourself the way you deserve to be seen.”
I sigh. “This is actually really thoughtful, and I think I want to do it, assuming we don’t get murdered in the next ten minutes. But I am nervous. What if these pictures look like trash? I’m sure you paid a lot of money for this. I’m not a model.”
“Listen. I’m taking off my friend and business partner hat and putting on my boyfriend hat, so don’t hold any of what I’m about to say against me in the studio.”
My heart dances. “Boyfriend, huh?” I beam at him.
He smiles back. “You heard me. And as your boyfriend, I’m telling you you’re gorgeous and sexy and feminine, and right now my biggest concern is not if these pictures will turn out well. I know they’ll be hot no matter what, because you’re in them. But I am a little worried because I don’t know how I’m supposed to contain my excitement the entire time.” He looks down at his lap.
I roll my eyes. “Must be nice to live a life where your biggest concern about entering an abandoned warehouse is how much attention will be focused on your pants.” I smirk and pat his cheek. “I’m sure they’ll give you a pillow to hold or something. You got us into this, and you’re not getting out of it.”
He turns his face to plant a kiss on my palm.
When we step into the warehouse a woman wearing dark wash jeans and a linen shirt greets us. Her long curls hang down over her shoulders.
“Hi, I’m Elliotte Shawn. You must be Alice. Welcome to the studio. I’m excited to do your shoot today, if you decide you’re ready. I don’t want you to feel any pressure. When I spoke to your partner, I told him I don’t typically recommend surprising someone with this experience.”
“He warned me before we got here. It was a little bit of a shock, but I actually think I might be excited. But fair warning, I’ve never done this before. I don’t know what I’m doing, and I think I wore the wrong underwear.”
She has a friendly laugh. “That’s okay. I have an entire wardrobe selection. We can do anything from full coverage in the clothes you’re wearing to the lingerie we provide. Or fully nude. Anything you choose from our costume department is professionally cleaned after every client. It’s entirely up to you and your comfort level. And if at any point you change your mind about a decision, just let me know. We can stop and regroup.”
“Can you walk me through the process a little bit? I’m sort of nervous,” I admit.
“Nerves are totally normal. It’s my job to help you feel as beautiful and comfortable as possible. Today is all about celebrating your body. We start with hair and makeup, then pick out what you’d like to wear. After that, we’ll spend some time taking pictures in different poses with some of the various props around the studio.”
Jake hangs back to give us some privacy while Elliotte walks me through the warehouse and shows me where sections are curtained off and staged to look like rooms. There’s a four-poster bed behind the first curtain, a wooden swing behind the second, and finally, a large tufted ottoman behind the third. A separate area is more industrial, with a brick wall and concrete floor.
“All of these options for the background and props are available to you. I keep a closed set. When it’s time to take the photos, we send hair and makeup home and it will only be you, your partner, me, and my assistant. Her job is to be here as another advocate for your safety and comfort as well as to help me set up the equipment and demonstrate the poses.”
Next, we go to another area sectioned off by a wall of velvet curtains, and Elliotte explains that we’ll look through some of the outfit choices and decide what best fits my style. That way the hair and makeup team will know which direction to go.
“So, the vibe I’m getting from your dino dress and the way you styled your hair today is fun and playful. I love the lavender.” She points to the top of my head. “We can definitely lean into that, or there are a few other ways we could take it.”
“What about an Old Hollywood theme?” I suggest. “With lots of black and white and, like, timeless fabrics.”
“Love it. That’s one of our most popular choices, actually. I have some sample shots I can show you. Velvet and lace can lend a classic, sensual feeling to your shoot.”
“Perfect.”
As Elliotte walks away to grab the examples, Jake comes up to me. His expression is neutral.
“Was this too much, too soon?” he asks. “I’m realizing I sort of assumed you’d be down for this, and I didn’t mean to steamroll you into it.”
“You didn’t. Elliotte seems great. I think we even landed on a theme. How do you feel about putting on a tux?”
He laughs. “That sounds like a lot more clothing than I expected to be wearing. But like I told you, I’m fine with whatever you want to do while we’re here.” He moves to stand behind me and puts his arms around my waist.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure the tux will be coming off soon enough.” I press my body into his and move my hips in a slow circle. “I’m already picturing photos of you taking off your tie and walking toward me while I pose on that big old bed for you.”
He drops his voice and brushes his nose over my earlobe as he asks, “Yeah? And what will you be wearing?”
“You’ll see soon enough,” I tell him as the hair and makeup team arrives.
An hour and a half later, my short locks are framing my face in pin curls, and my lips are painted a deep, glossy red. My eyes are highlighted with dark colors and long false lashes. The team did a few touch-ups on Jake, too, so he won’t be shiny in the photos. Elliotte dismisses the hair and makeup duo and introduces us to her assistant, Tasha, who is setting up the cameras around the tufted ottoman and draping sheer white fabric over the furniture.
“You look…wow.” Jake shakes his head as if he’s almost speechless when he sees me in the floor-length silk robe that offers full coverage but still makes me feel incredibly sexy. Underneath, I’m wearing a strappy blue lingerie set I love so much that I might have to order one for myself when we leave.
“I could say the same to you.”
He looks practically edible in that tux with the tie hanging undone and the top two buttons on his shirt open.
“Here we go.” He squeezes my hand and leads me onto the set.
“So, Alice will be here.” Elliotte points to the ottoman and demonstrates how she wants me positioned. “And Jake, you’ll stand behind her like this and slowly start to pull the robe off her shoulder. When he does that, Alice, I want you to look up at him and arch your back. I know these positions don’t feel natural, but remember, the stranger it feels, the better it will look on camera.”
“Okay. I think I’ve got this,” Jake says.
I nod. “Let’s try it.”
As we pose and slowly run our hands along each other’s shoulders, Elliotte and Tasha chirp encouragement. I feel his arms flex under my touch.
“You okay?” he asks, adjusting the robe so it covers more of my lower half.
I nod. “I really am.”
“You’re both doing great!” Elliotte beams. “Now, Jake, let’s do pants but no shirt on you for the next shot. Go ahead and kneel on the floor in front of Alice. I want you to look up like you’re worshiping her. Alice, spread your legs nice and wide so he can get as close to you as possible. Let the robe fall open. His head will block your chest from the camera for now.”
Jake follows her instructions to the letter, but midway through shooting the pose, his hands slip into my robe to tickle me. I yelp and accidentally knee him in the chest, which sends him flying back onto the floor. Thankfully, he isn’t hurt, and we both start laughing. Tasha and Elliotte think it’s as funny as we do.
We’re having so much fun it’s hard to hold the poses because we all keep cracking up.
We manage to get through two more positions with the robe, then it’s time to spotlight the strappy two-piece when we move over to the swing.
It’s harder than I would have expected to reach up and grab the ropes on each side while I arch my back and cross my legs at the ankle. I’m earning a new respect for the models who pose like this every day. The muscles in my arms are straining while Jake stands aside for a few shots. Judging from the smoldering heat behind his eyes as he watches me, I’m starting to believe I might look as sexy as I feel.