14. Vincent
VINCENT
My day was back-to-back meetings, but I still found a reason—no, an excuse—to go down to the photography studio to check on Piper’s progress with our latest shoot.
I wasn’t required to be there; I just liked watching her work.
Honestly, I liked watching her do anything, but Piper in boss-mode was a sight.
Even though she’d accomplished what I’d hired her to do by helping me secure the heliotrope, I’d promised her six months of work, and it was paying off for us to have her on staff.
But it wasn’t just Summit benefiting—she’d admitted that working with us would bolster her résumé and portfolio.
It was a win-win.
I eased into the room quietly and hugged the wall because my presence tended to put people on edge. Luckily, there was enough activity on set that I was as good as invisible.
The shoot was for our new “glowtion” body lotion that left a sparkly shimmer on the skin once it was absorbed.
Even though I’d promoted her to creative director, Piper still preferred to be hands-on when it came to certain projects.
She wasn’t willing to completely give up being behind the camera sometimes, and on this shoot, she’d tasked herself with the basic product shots for our web site as well as creating some behind-the-scenes content for social media.
Based on the way she kept adjusting the lighting until it was perfect, I could tell she was still working on the product shots.
Damn it, she was perfection. Piper was dressed for utility in black cargo pants and a white ribbed tank top that clung to her body, and as an added bonus, she was wearing her black strap invention that made her look like a dominatrix.
I’d understood the basic concept when she’d explained it, but now that I was seeing it in action, I could tell why it was such a great idea.
Not only was it a cool design, it also really worked; she could switch between her three cameras quickly, going from macro images to standard in seconds.
The rest of the staff was having as much fun as Piper, a welcome change from Eileen’s reign of terror. The woman had the magic touch.
I felt lucky to be a beneficiary.
“Vincent, hello!”
I snapped out of my reverie to realize that I’d been spotted. I mentally scrolled through my employee names, trying to place the earnest young man. I was still trying to be more approachable.
Piper could teach me a thing or two.
“Bradley,” I finally said. “How are things going?”
“Amazing, actually. We’re just about done with the product shots, then on to the social media stuff. Piper is super efficient.”
The rest of my staff sensed that the air in the room had shifted and turned to me.
“Hiya, bossman!” Piper called out as she waved at me.
I chuckled. “Don’t let me interrupt.”
“No, come here, I want you to see what we’ve done so far!”
I noticed she said “we,” not “I.” I joined Piper at the oversized desktop to examine the images.
She scrolled through them, looking at her work with a critical eye. “Not too much editing required. We nailed the lighting setup.”
The images were gorgeous. The three bottles were nestled together on a white backdrop in various formations, then shot alone.
I tried to focus on the photos and not the fact that I was standing close enough to pick up Piper’s fragrance.
Thankfully, she’d moved on from her cheap old perfume and had started wearing one of our legacy scents called Coral, which was a sunshine mix of coconut, orange blossom, and jasmine.
I’d always liked the fragrance, but I appreciated it far more these days.
It reminded me of our time in Hawaii.
“You don’t like them?” Piper asked.
I’d been focusing more on her than her work.
“Of course I do, they’re perfect.”
She beamed at me. “Yay! Now on to the fun stuff. I just need to refine my vision for our social media accounts. I don’t like planning it—I like capturing moments.”
I glanced at the lotions set up on the backdrop and realized we’d done a great job showing the product but not the result. I looked over at Piper, and inspiration struck.
“Hey, team,” I said as I glanced around the room. “You can wrap up in here, Piper and I need to discuss some strategy.”
A few people glanced at each other, a little uncertain since it was an unorthodox request, but they weren’t going to argue with the boss. Soon, they gathered their things and left, leaving me alone with Piper.
“Are you firing me or something?” she squinted at me. “This is weird.”
“No, it’s brilliant. Now give me one of your cameras.” I held out my hand.
“Excuse me?” Piper took an exaggerated step away and hugged the camera hanging on her chest.
“Trust me,” I sighed. “I promise not to break it. Just show me how to work it. I’m not a total novice, I took a photography class in college, I just want to do it right.”
“But this camera is special,” she said. “It was my first. It’s like an extension of my hand. I’ve been using it since I started, back in high school.”
“Then I promise to be extra gentle,” I said.
“What are you shooting?” she asked, still skeptical.
“Our social media stuff, now give it.”
She was acting like I’d asked her to hand over her firstborn child, but she finally selected one of the three cameras hanging from her strap, unfastened it, then handed it to me. She walked me through the basics, dubious the entire time.
“Okay, now take your strap off,” I ordered. I was excited to get started.
“Why?”
“Because I’m going to photograph you, obviously.”
“Vincent, no!” Piper looked positively horrified. “I look like garbage! What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that we’ve done a great job showing how amazing our glowtion looks in the bottle, but not on skin. So, I’m nominating you to do it.”
“Absolutely not! We have a team that needs to approve concepts, and we haven’t discussed this. We agreed to some shots showing the setup, and us working on the shoot, but just hands and backs, no faces.”
“You don’t need team approval when you’ve got the CEO right here. I have final say,” I replied smugly. “And I want to see that lotion shimmering on your shoulders and arms. You even wore the perfect top for it.”
Piper looked down at her arms like it was the first time she was seeing them. “But…me?”
“You. That’s a direct order from your boss.”
She opened her mouth to speak but thought better of it. She unbuckled her straps and stared at me.
“I don’t like this one bit.”
Her glum expression made me laugh out loud. God, she was cute when she got defensive. “Piper, come on, have some fun!”
“This isn’t fun for me,” she insisted. “I’m a behind-the-lens kind of person.”
How could she not understand that she was just as stunning as the models in our campaign? Piper was humble to a fault, but I was set on the idea of making her see what the rest of the world already knew.
“And as of today, that’s changing.” I placed her camera on the table and turned to the bottles. “Now, which one works best with your skin tone? Come here, please.”
She joined me next to the display of six bottles. “I think passionfruit, but they’re all amazing.”
“Okay, we’ll do passionfruit on one arm, and opal on the other,” I said as I picked up the bottle of pale sparkly white lotion and flipped open the lid. “Skin, please.”
“Hold on, you’re going to get it on my camera!”
“Piper,” I sighed. “Did you not read the marketing copy? Glowtion is transfer-proof. Once it dries, it doesn’t budge. Strip club patrons are going to be very happy. Arm,” I said in a stronger voice.
She frowned at me and thrust out her left arm.
I squeezed the bottle and let the shimmer trail down from her shoulder. The visual was stunning, but it was the anticipation of her soft skin beneath my hands that really got to me.
“Allow me,” I said, my voice dropping lower as I gently massaged the lotion along her arm. Her skin was already satin-soft, and the lotion only enhanced the effect.
“Okay,” Piper said in a soft voice as I rubbed. “Maybe this isn’t so bad.”
I pressed my thumb in slow circles along her arms, moving from her wrist and up toward her shoulder. The intimacy of the moment was hard to ignore. I wasn’t just touching her, I was savoring every second of it.
Piper’s eyes closed, and when I stopped to move to the other arm, she made an adorable, disappointed noise.
“Feels good?” I asked as I grabbed the other bottle.
She nodded. “I didn’t realize how much tension I have in my forearms.”
She wasn’t the only one enjoying it. I bit my tongue to keep from asking if there were any other parts of her body that felt tense, like her inner thighs, or…
I massaged the lotion onto her skin, trying to crush the growing tension between my legs by thinking of how my chemists still hadn’t quite perfected the heliotrope extraction. I was doing okay until Piper let out a little moan.
“Sorry,” she said, giving me a little grin.
I took a step back to examine my work. “Incredible. This line is going to sell out in a heartbeat.”
“I’ve never been much of a sparkle girl, but I sort of love it,” Piper said as she shifted her arms to catch the reflections. I loved it too, but for entirely different reasons.
“Let’s get started, shall we?”
Piper trudged out to the backdrop. “Now what?”
I walked closer and held the camera to my eye to frame the shot. “Move toward the light a bit.”
Piper calculated her distance from the box lights and moved to the perfect spot, so the shadows were behind her and the light illuminated her skin.
“Perfect!” I said as I started snapping photos. “I’m focused on your torso, so don’t feel self-conscious. The only person who’ll know it’s you in these photos is me. Our little secret.”
We both went quiet, and I noticed that the music had switched from some upbeat pop song to Sade.
Sultry, mood-making Sade.