35
K nox pulled up to the address for the photoshoot. Ezra had volunteered to pick him up, but he hadn’t thought it was necessary and told the other man he’d meet him there. It had been a couple of years since he’d contracted with a company. Not since his last endorsement contracts expired two years ago, and he decided not to renew them. Knox hadn’t expected to step back into this side of his life, but he’d allowed Ezra to talk him into it. And since it was only a photoshoot for billboards and spreads and not a long-term obligation, he didn’t see the harm.
He exited his vehicle and entered the reception area of the building. A young man in his early twenties approached him, holding his hand out.
“Mr. Chandler. I’m Calvin Hughes. I’m Lily’s assistant. It’s so nice to meet you.”
Knox shook his hand. “You also, and please, Knox is fine.”
“Of course. Your agent is already inside. I’ll show you up to the penthouse.”
They stepped onto the elevator and rode it to the top floor. When they stepped into the penthouse, Knox’s eyes swept over everyone scurrying around to get everything set up. Movement came to a brief halt as almost everyone inside turned in their direction.
“Enough gawking people. Back to work. We’re on a schedule here,” Lily, the creative director, stated. Knox had met her once when she’d flown out to meet him, and they’d ended up signing the contract. “Knox, so good to see you again. We’ve got multiple different looks and set-ups to go through, but we’ll move through them one after another and have you out of here by lunch. If all goes according to plan, no later than one. If you need anything, let Calvin or myself know.”
“Thanks,” Knox responded as he allowed the information to sink in.
“Calvin will take you over to prep, and we’ll be ready for you soon.”
“Sounds good,” Knox responded, to have something to say, because saying nothing would have been rude.
“She’s straight to the point, isn’t she?” Ezra asked once Lily was gone, and Knox hadn’t noticed the other man had joined them.
“She is, but I’ve always enjoyed that more than those who drag these things out,” Knox responded as he and Ezra followed Calvin into one of the bedrooms.
Inside were racks of pajama sets, lounge pants, and boxers, along with a person who Calvin introduced as Chloe, who would do his hair and makeup. Knox sat in the tall chair, while Ezra leaned against the wall beside the door, and Calvin looked through the racks.
Knox had always had a rule about being left alone with a stylist while doing photoshoots if the area was private. Not that he thought all people were inherently bad and would start random untrue rumors. It was that he knew it could happen, and he’d rather have himself covered. Especially when he’d been at the height of his career.
There was a steady stream of conversation that Knox mainly listened to. It consisted primarily of Calvin asking Ezra about several of his clients. The younger man seemed excited. It was nice to have a career you genuinely enjoyed, and Calvin seemed like he did.
“The looks are numbered,” Calvin informed Knox when Chloe finished. “We’ll give you some privacy to change. When you’re ready, come out and we can get started.”
Knox thanked him as the three left him alone. He went to the rack and pulled out the first item. A pair of slate gray boxers. They were soft, something he could see himself wearing in his everyday life.
When he changed, he exited the room and was immediately ushered into the master bedroom. Knox wasn’t surprised. It was sleepwear, so of course one setting would be a bedroom. The photographer introduced themselves and then instructed Knox on how he wanted him. They took several photos in and around the bed before he was sent off to change.
He exited the bedroom for the second time in a pair of black lounge pants and was ushered over to the kitchen. The table was made up for breakfast, with a newspaper beside a plate. Knox didn’t know too many people who still read a physical newspaper aside from his parents, but he supposed it would give the effect they were going for.
Knox followed the photographer’s instructions as they took the photos, more than half of them with him holding the newspaper before he was sent off to get into look number three. This one was a deep green set, and while he rarely wore sets to bed, he knew there were people who did.
When he came out, they directed him to the wall of windows that overlooked the city. Calvin handed him a coffee cup, and Knox glanced down at it.
“It’s tea. Ezra said you didn’t drink coffee,” Calvin informed.
“I don’t, and thank you,” Knox responded.
After pictures at the window with his tea, which tasted pretty good, they moved to another pair of lounge pants with the backdrop of the master bathroom.
The rest of the shoot went in the same fashion, and Lily had not been kidding when she said they would do one look after another. There were only brief pauses for Chloe to do minor things to his hair now and then, before spraying it and his chest for the last round of pictures in a pair of boxers and a robe.
W hen they wrapped, it was a few minutes before one, and Knox went to change. Emerging from the bedroom, dressed in his own clothes, Ezra signaled him over to where he and the photographer were going through the pictures. Knox joined them.
“I’ll have some of these sent to me so we can start dropping breadcrumbs and build buzz. I’ll send them to you so you know which ones I chose,” Ezra told him.
Knox wasn’t worried about it. Ezra had always chosen the pictures or behind the scene footage because Knox had never really wanted to be bothered with it. However, he could send them to Aiva once his friend sent them to him, so he nodded in agreement before thanking everyone, signing a few autographs and taking a couple of pictures, accepting the bags of sleepwear he’d modeled, and leaving.
He stopped to grab lunch before heading home, and he wasn’t sure what he’d expected to find when he entered his condo, but Yasmine shrieking in laughter as Molly tickled her was not it. They were on the rug, his daughter trying to pry Molly’s fingers from her sides.
Molly looked over as the door closed. She gave Yasmine a few more tickles before helping her up. His daughter’s cheeks were flush from laughing as she skipped to him.
“We had a tickle war,” Yasmine announced. “I lost,” she finished with a smile, and Knox got the feeling losing was her objective.
“I am the reigning tickle champion,” Molly announced, sweeping Yasmine up and spinning her around, which set off another bout of laughter.
“Well, reigning tickle champion and tickle competitor. I brought lunch,” Knox announced, taking the food to the table.
“Daddy, am I still going over for my sleepover at Ms. Aiva’s with Kaley tomorrow?” Yasmine asked as they ate.
“You sure are.”
“Awesome! Can I call Mommy afterward and tell her about it?”
“If you want to,” Knox responded, though he knew it would likely have Mia calling to gripe at him about it. However, Knox had decided to let Yasmine go, and when he’d tried to call Mia to talk to her about it, she hadn’t answered the phone. Even though he didn’t need her permission, he thought it was at least the right thing to let her know. If he didn’t trust Aiva with Yasmine, then he wouldn’t have his daughter around her. Hell, Knox wouldn’t be with her.
“Are you excited about your sleepover?” Molly asked Yasmine, dragging Knox back from his thoughts.
For the next half hour, he listened to the two talk before he paid Molly and she left. The sitter was barely out of the door before Yasmine pulled him down the hall to help her pack for the following day.
“ A iva, when is Yasmine going to get here?”
Aiva looked over at her little sister, who was between the curtains of the window instead of opening them as she stared out at the street. She couldn’t help but smile fondly at the little girl’s antics before glancing at the time on her phone.
“They’ll be here in a few minutes,” Aiva responded. Kandice had dropped Kaley off an hour earlier to save Aiva a trip since she was running errands. “Now, get out of the curtains before someone driving by sees you and thinks you’re a ghost,” Aiva teased.
“Ghosts don’t come out during the day,” Kaley responded, removing herself from the curtains.
“How do you know that? Have you ever met one?” Aiva asked.
“No, have you?”
Aiva knew where this was going, but would allow it to play out. “No, I haven’t.”
“Then how do you know they do come out during the day? Ghosts are supposed to be scary, and scary things happen at night.”
“Scary things can happen during the day,” Aiva replied.
“I mean big scary things. Not little scary things like being made to eat snow peas,” Kaley countered, giving a little shiver at the thought of the vegetable.
Aiva pressed her lips together to keep from laughing and was saved by the knock at the door. She looked through the peephole before opening the door and stepping aside to allow Yasmine and Knox inside. Her little sister said a quick hello to Knox. Aiva received one just as quick from Yasmine, before her little sister had taken her bag from Knox and was leading Yasmine down the hall.
“They’re excited,” Knox chuckled.
“Very,” Aiva agreed. “How was the shoot yesterday?”
“It went well. They were efficient, so I wasn’t there all day. I may or may not have pictures for you,” he responded with a smirk.
Aiva laughed. “Well then, I can’t wait to see them.”
Knox leaned down and whispered in her ear, “You’ve seen me naked. I’m sure that’s better.”
She took his face in her hands and gave him a soft kiss. “It might be. I won’t know until I see the pictures,” she teased, releasing him.
“Considering they gave me everything I modeled, you can see it in person.”
“I’m going to take you up on that. On another note, you’re okay with me painting her nails?”
“Yes. She enjoys having her nails painted.”
“And she doesn’t have allergies. Just a monumental distaste for mushrooms.”
“That’s correct.”
Aiva nodded. “I know bedtime is at nine, but Kaley’s is nine-thirty. Are you okay with her staying up those thirty minutes?” Aiva asked.
“That’s fine, baby. I don’t mind if she stays up a little longer.”
“Daddy, you’re still here?” Yas asked as she and Kaley returned to the living room. “I’m okay. You can go now.”
Knox made a faux offended sound. “Are you kicking me out?”
“Yes,” Yasmine responded, and Aiva had to cover her laugh by clearing her throat. “It’s a girl’s sleepover. You can’t stay.”
“Fine,” Knox agreed. “Come give me a hug.” Yasmine did as requested, and he kissed her forehead. “Be good, okay?”
“Okay,” the five-year-old agreed.
“I’ll bring her home tomorrow after lunch,” Aiva informed.
“I’ll see you then,” he responded, giving her a kiss. “Bye, Kaley. You two have fun.”
“Bye Mr. Knox. We will.”
Once it was just the three of them, Aiva gave them a rundown of what they were going to do for the rest of the day, receiving excited noises from both children. They started with lunch. Aiva allowed them both to make their own personal pizzas and top them how they wanted to before she popped all three into the oven.
While they waited on the pizza to bake, they made homemade lemonade, Aiva watching them closely to ensure they didn’t accidentally squeeze juice into their eyes. She helped them wash their hands when they were done and the two caught up on what they’d done since they last saw one another. The conversation continued through lunch.
When they finished, Aiva rinsed the dishes and loaded them into the dishwasher before the three headed outside. The girls made a beeline straight for their garden, and Aiva was not surprised. It had only been a week since they planted it, and none of the seeds they’d planted were sprouting yet, but the flowers were still pretty. Aiva had watered the plants in the middle of the week, and since it hadn’t rained, she was sure it was fine for the girls to do so again.
After they watered and talked to the plants, because according to Yasmine, it helped them grow nice and big; they skipped over to the outdoor activities Aiva had set out before Kaley was dropped off. They opted on the chalk first and began a drawing together of a princess slaying a dragon. As they drew, the two took turns making up the story and telling it to Aiva.
Once their drawing was complete, and the story they were telling ended with the princess and the dragon becoming best friends instead, Kaley asked Aiva to draw hopscotch squares. They played for a bit before moving on to blowing bubbles. She’d collected all shapes of bubble wands over the years since it was something her little sister always enjoyed doing, and the girls had fun using each one, seeing which ones would float longer.
Bubble wands were forgotten when Aiva began to chase them around the backyard with a bubble gun, both girls laughing as they tried to evade the floating spheres.
“Can I have a turn to do it?” Yasmine asked after a few minutes.
“Of course, sweetie.”
Aiva refilled the dispenser and handed the gun to Yasmine. As soon as she had it, she took off after Aiva and Kaley until the bubble liquid was gone. Aiva refilled it again, this time giving it to Kaley. As her sister was chasing Yasmine, she pulled her phone out and recorded them before taking a few pictures, as she’d been doing throughout each activity so far. This time, when the gun was empty, the two sat on the patio, catching their breath, and Aiva dipped into the house quickly to grab popsicles.
“After we finish these, can we play with the silly string?” Kaley asked.
“You can,” Aiva replied, taking another picture. “Then we’ll go inside and do a puzzle.” By that time, they would have been outside for a little over two hours.
S illy string playtime ended more chaotic than Aiva thought it would. Kaley couldn’t get hers to spray at some point and instead of asking her for help, her little sister had tried to fix it on her own and sprayed herself in the face. Yasmine had accidentally dropped hers. The nozzle came off and some of it got into both girls’ hair. Luckily, it was easy enough to get out, but after that, they were ready to head into the house and do something else.
They were currently finishing up a puzzle of puppies in a basket. Aiva had taken pictures at different stages in the puzzle, and now that they were putting the last few pieces together, she took another one. When it was finished, she had them get close together to take a photo of them and their finished product.
“I’ll be right back,” she told them, heading towards her room.
She grabbed the frame she’d picked up a few days ago and a sharpie and returned to the living room. Aiva removed the insert in the frame and wrote the girls’ name on it and the date with First sleepover under it. Placing the insert on the back of the frame, she carefully slid the puzzle onto it before placing the frame on top and allowing the girls to lock it into place.
“Now we have an extra memento of the day,” Aiva told them. She placed the frame on the accent table behind the couch where a few other framed puzzles she and Kaley had done together were.
“Can we hook up the karaoke machine now?” Kaley asked, and Aiva agreed. She allowed her sister to set it up while she turned on the television. By this point, she could probably do it quicker than Aiva.
The girls chose a song from Moana, and as they put on their cute little concert over the next hour, Aiva recorded them when she wasn’t singing along with them.
Once they finally tired of singing, which was after doing what Aiva was sure was the entire soundtracks to several Disney movies, she pulled out her bracelet making kit. It was something both Kaley and Tara enjoyed doing when they stayed with her. She’d lost count of how many bracelets they’d made.
Kaley and Yasmine opted to make matching bracelets, and Aiva gave them free rein. Only stepping in when they asked her for help.
After they finished their bracelets, she let them choose a movie to watch before she started making dinner for them. For which they requested chicken sliders and homemade fries.
I t was nine-forty when Aiva tucked the girls into bed in the matching pajamas and bonnets she’d bought for them. After dinner, she’d run them both a bath. One in the hall bathroom, the other in her en suite, then put face masks on them before painting their nails and toes.
“Goodnight,” Aiva said, as she turned on the nightlight.
“Night,” they responded in unison, and Aiva exited the room, turning the light off.
She turned off the lights in the living room and checked the front door, then the back before going into her en suite and starting the shower. She always enjoyed sleepovers with her little sister, but they never failed to wear her out. Aiva was sure she was just as drained from the day of fun as they were.
After her shower, she got dressed, twisted her hair, put on her bonnet, and sent a goodnight text to Knox with some pictures she’d taken throughout the day. As she settled in bed, she decided she would let the girls help her make chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast in the morning.