Chapter 31
Jake
"A re we ready to move on to the next look?” Elliotte asks. Tasha adjusts a ring light and gives her a thumbs-up. “Jake, let’s keep the trousers but no shirt for now, and you lie down on the bed. Alice, are you ready to remove the top?” When Alice nods at her, she continues. “Awesome. You’re going to sit with your knees on either side of him. I’ll drape the blankets strategically. You look down at Jake while he looks up at you.” Elliotte repositions the sheets while she directs us. “This part might sound weird, but I need you looking at each other’s chins, okay? It reads better in the final photos that way.”
The camera clicks, and we try to hold still. This is somehow both the most erotic and most awkward hour of my life. Alice straddles me, topless, wearing only thin bikini bottoms, with two other women in the room. It sounds hot, and it definitely is, but mostly I’m trying to keep up with all the choreography they’re throwing at me. Elliotte and Tasha are on the bed next to us, fully clothed while they demonstrate our next pose.
“So, Jake, if you’re comfortable we’ll go with just boxer briefs on you for the next few shots. You sit up against the headboard, and Alice will turn her back to you. Alice, you sit over him, like this.” Tasha places her knees on either side of Elliotte and arches her body, reaching behind her to cup the back of her boss’s neck. Elliotte reaches across Tasha and shows me how one of my arms will be wrapped around Alice’s chest to cover her, while my opposite hand will be splayed over her collarbone. My head should go into her neck.
I lose the pants and Alice climbs into her position. Tasha arranges the sheet, and the camera starts clicking once again.
My mouth is next to Alice’s ear, so I take the opportunity to check in again. “How are you doing?” Her skin is warm and soft, and there is a thin layer of sweat beading between us under the heat of the lights. This has officially gone way beyond the realm of what could be considered normal for a brand-new relationship.
“I’m good, I promise,” she assures me.
Elliotte suggests Alice turn to face me for the next pose, so we take a few shots with her riding my lap, holding tight to the headboard behind me. Then it’s time for some additional shots of Alice by herself. For the final images, Tasha dusts Alice with some shimmering gold dust, and I swear she looks like an actual goddess, confident and strong and so goddamn beautiful I’m almost afraid to blink because how can this woman be real?
“Great job. I think that’s a wrap,” Elliotte says. “You can both get dressed and meet me over in my office. I’ll show you a few of the raw shots before you leave. It will take me a few weeks to complete the final edits.”
Alice hurries to put on her dress while I slip back into my own clothes. Once we’re both presentable again, she finds me outside the dressing rooms.
“That was so much more fun than I thought it would be.” She’s glowing from more than just the gold dust. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen her this happy.
“Yeah?” I smile at her. “So, you’re not traumatized?” Honestly, it could’ve gone either way. It was a big risk, and I’m thrilled it paid off. She looks great, but more importantly, she seems proud of herself.
“It was a little weird at first, but you were right. Everyone was super kind and professional. I didn’t feel cheap or sleazy at all.”
I wince. I hate the implication those old pictures she took for Owen could have made her feel that way, but I fix my face quickly. “I’m sorry, can you repeat that? It sounded like you said ‘Jake, you were right.’”
She laughs. “Well, that couldn’t possibly be true now, could it?”
“Nah.” I wink. Her cheeks look a bit flushed, but it could just be the makeup.
“All ready over here.” Elliotte waves us over to her open office area and motions for us to sit in the chairs opposite the long metal table she uses as a desk. She clicks a few buttons on her laptop and turns the extra monitor to face us.
Alice gasps and her hand flies to her chest. I sit, blinking. I don’t remember how to talk. There are no words for the image in front of us. I stare at our bodies, entwined and draped in fabric. The lighting is perfect, and the photo looks like it should be in a gallery. As she clicks through more of the images, Elliotte lands on one of Alice alone in the swing. It’s a black-and-white picture that looks like it could be an album cover. Her head is back, and her arms are stretched high, gripping the ropes on either side. Her legs are crossed, and she’s suspended in mid-air.
I need to swallow before I can speak. “These are great.”
“Thank you. And you’re happy, Alice?” Elliotte asks.
Beside me, Alice sits, staring. She seems transfixed by the screen. “So happy. I can’t believe you made me look like this.”
Elliotte laughs and taps the glass with a fingernail. “Unedited images, remember? This is all you. I’m glad you like them. It was a beautiful shoot.”
No kidding. I may need to find a way to break the laws of physics on the way home, because there’s no way I can get Alice home fast enough. I need to feel her gorgeous body on mine again.