Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
SIENNA
August was the first thing I saw when I walked into the shoot.
Due to the time constraints, we were stuck in a studio on a set rather than on location.
I would have preferred to be in some hotel, or wherever they would have chosen if we’d had the time, at least there would have been distractions rather than this large room where we’d be under the spotlight. Literally.
The smile on August’s face seemed to ask me a question, one I didn’t have the answer to, so I looked away, trying to find Louise.
I was spotted quickly by one of the shoot managers — a title I only knew because it was emblazoned on his black tee in large block letters —and he ushered me over to a seat in the small adjacent dressing room in front of a mirror.
A matching mirror, already pre-lit, sat next to mine as well as another chair.
A fat lot of good avoidance had done me. August met my eyes in the mirror as he walked past and was offered the other seat in the dressing room. Even in the bright light, helpful for styling, he was ridiculously good looking.
The assistant turned on the lights around the mirror facing me and I looked washed out, the circles under my eyes from a sleepless night spent thinking about the football player to my left stood out sharply.
“Sleep well?” August said, almost like he’d heard the thought, and the shoot manager came back over with another man in tow. His tee proclaimed him to be our stylist, one of them anyway, I was sure the magazine had a team of them ready to transform us into a camera-ready product.
“Great,” I chirped, trying to appear perky despite my bedraggled state. But it wasn’t worth getting dressed up just to come to a shoot and have to take all my make-up off again.
“I figured, given that you didn’t reply to my message. Fell asleep straight away, huh?” There was a shadow in his eyes that mirrored the humor in his voice as I straightened up, crossing my legs gracefully.
“That’s right. I didn’t have any trouble sleeping whatsoever. Like a log.”
Louise’s familiar form appeared in the mirror as she made her way over to us and I breathed a quick sigh of relief. Until she held out her hand. “Here you go, it was the biggest size they had.”
I smiled tightly as I took my coffee, thanking her with gritted teeth as I glared at August and the smug smile on his face.
“Did I miss something?” Louise murmured and I waved her off.
“I’ll tell you later.” I inhaled deeply, took a gulp of my coffee, and then smiled at the woman approaching who also had stylist written on her tee. “Morning.”
The stylist smiled and I heard the other one murmuring to August in a low baritone as he messed with his hair, floofing it and tugging it to demonstrate whatever he was telling August.
“Morning, I’m Kaci. Are you ready to make a start?”
I nodded. “What, ah, brief are you working to?”
“The issue is beat of the moment, so we want to showcase you both in some current trends, style wise, then we want some in glitz for you and football get-up for August. It’s to showcase your connection despite your different backgrounds, the way you were able to find each other in this digital age. ”
My mouth opened and closed as I stared at Kaci in the reflection. “Wow.”
“Quite the story,” Louise said, and I could practically see the gears in her brain spinning as she worked out how to add all this into my social content strategy.
“That’s what the stylist’s real job is,” Kaci said, the words a little clipped. “We don’t just make you pretty, we’re telling a story that has to be reflected in everything you wear, the colors we choose, all of it.”
I smiled but stayed silent as she handed me a primer to apply. Honestly, I would have worn whatever she’d given me — this was Studio 9. I didn’t think we could go wrong.
While Kaci and the other stylist worked, Louise leaned against the wall near the entrance. She’d already been scolded for being in Kaci’s light and so had opted to be as far away as possible.
It took about an hour for my make-up and hair to be finished.
Kaci added the final touches of gloss to my lips as a woman in a gorgeous black suit, tailored to her form perfectly, arrived on set.
There was a palpable change in the energy on set with her presence and when she came closer I knew why.
Sasha Penberg — otherwise known as the editor in chief for Studio 9 — and that was me she was smiling at.
Kaci spun my chair around and I offered my hand to Sasha with a smile. “So excited to meet you! I’ve been a fan of Studio 9 since I was a girl.”
Sasha’s answering smile was bright. The mauve pink of her lipstick matched her patent heels and manicured nails, and the color only made the deep, warm brown of her skin look richer.
“The pleasure’s all mine. We’re so glad we could have you with us for this issue.
You know, your father was our cover star for one of our issues about ten years ago. ”
I laughed. “Know about it? He kept it framed on the wall of his condo in LA.” I didn’t mention the slightly less fun side of that story, that I’d grown to hate the sight of it whenever we spent time in California.
Most parents would have a picture of their kid on the wall, maybe more than one.
But my dad had framed a photo of himself.
Luckily, I didn’t bear a grudge towards the magazine. Though, I couldn’t say I’d be hanging my dad’s cover up again any time soon. Maybe my cover would have been the photo he’d hang up. If he’d been here to see it, that is.
But there’s no planning for heart attacks.
“Let’s get you into your outfits then,” Sasha said, glancing over her shoulder. “I think Anton is getting antsy to begin.”
We followed Kaci over to the clothes racks and I let her hold garments up against me, testing what looked good with my skin tone, until she’d settled on the first outfit they wanted me in.
August had been led to a similar clothing rack on the other side of the room and Sasha gestured for everyone to leave besides me and him so we could change. In the same room. Because why wouldn’t they think that was okay? We were a couple.
I turned away without looking at him and dropped my silky robe to the floor, reaching instead for the black mom jeans and vest top Kaci had selected. My back warmed and I wondered if August was watching me, my skin tingling at the thought.
This top worked better without a bra, so I left it off and hoped he wouldn’t notice my hard nipples poking up at him—definitely a product of the chill in the studio and not his presence.
Kaci had also set out about six necklaces and other jewellery for me to put on in a layering effect that looked elegantly grunge.
“Ready?” August’s voice was a rumble that made my stomach drop as I fixed in the small silver hoops I’d been given.
I nodded. “Ready.”
He pulled open the curtain and I turned, following him out of the small dressing room.
Anton, a man I vaguely recognised and could only assume I’d met in passing, clapped his hands together once when he saw us. “Perfect! Let’s get going, people. And Kaci, let’s lose that chain belt on Sienna, it’s too much.”
Kaci nodded, removing the belt from my waist without a word. The tips of my fingers brushed August’s arm at my side, and I guided him to the red backing that was laid out on the floor and draped up to the ceiling.
“Do you need tips?” I whispered without looking at him and felt his chuckle against my body as he moved closer.
“You do realize this isn’t my first photo shoot, don’t you?” His breath tickled the tip of my ear as he leaned in. “You might be the pop princess, but there are plenty of people who do want to see football players shirtless, you know.”
I was so surprised by his words that I lost my battle to not look at him and spun so we were face-to-face.
My eyes dropped down from his eyes to his mouth, then further.
His chest looked impossibly broad in the white henley he’d been given to wear, and his shoulders were defined by the brown suede jacket and borg collar.
He looked like an autumnal wet dream, and that was before I even looked below the waist to the washed denim Wranglers he wore like they were made for him.
“What?” I wondered if I looked as dazed as I felt, all intelligent thoughts fleeing with the image of August’s built thighs in those jeans.
“Nevermind,” he muttered and I blinked, trying to regain my senses. Had he been referring to the photo he’d sent me last night? Surely not. “No,” he continued, seeming to shake himself as he smirked. “I don’t need tips, princess.”
Our eyes locked and I licked my lips, unsure what to say to him.
Thankfully, Anton interrupted with a few test shots to check the lighting.
August took a step back from me and the extra space felt bigger than it was, like I’d created an emotional gap between us that he’d decided to enact physically.
It should have been a relief, knowing my walls were reinforced, my heart safe. Instead I just felt… cold.
“Okay, I think we’re good to start shooting. Let’s start with some close-ups of the happy couple.” Anton smiled and two of his assistants jumped in, pushing me and August closer together and arranging our hands and heads at the angles they liked.
The snapping of the camera lens felt far away, echoing in the hollowed out studio, but all I could do was stare into August’s eyes.
His eyelashes were short and golden, curling perfectly around his brown eyes.
I didn’t mean to melt against him but suddenly I was putty in his hands, sinking closer.
Our hips met, my breasts brushed his chest, and I felt his ragged intake of breath as if it were my own.
My chin lifted higher, lips nearly touching the skin of his jaw.
All it would take was a jerk of his head downward and our lips would touch.
It scared me how badly I wanted him to move, to close that final distance.