“Oh, I’m afraid those days are long gone, sweetie,” said Zane with a smile.
“Nice. Very nice.” I mock frowned. “You people are supposed to be my friends.”
“Please. Fashion means never having friends. Now stand there and look pretty.”
Lizzo played loud and proud over the stereo, setting the mood. I could only make out the shadow of Ziggy’s face due to all the lighting and him standing near the back of the room. But then he stepped forward far enough for me to see him and holy shit. The look in his dark eyes made me catch my breath.
And I definitely wasn’t imagining the I want to eat you from top to toe looks. Not even a little.
Though, now that I thought about it, he’d liked the look of me all made up for the party last night. With Abigael the wonder make-up artist having worked me over and the addition of some amazing scanty lingerie, odds were, a heterosexual male (of which I was pretty certain he was one) in this particular situation would like me even more. That’s all it was. Probably. Anyway, points to me for cracking his professional façade.
“Whatever you’re thinking about, please keep thinking about it.” Lena busily worked her camera, clicking off shot after shot. “The lusty dreamy look on your face is freaking perfect.”
“Agreed,” said Zane.
Suddenly, I felt exposed in a way that had nothing to do with standing there in my underwear. But what could I do? Fuck hiding. I wasn’t going to try and make myself small for anyone. I was Mae Cooper, goddammit. And if I was into a dude, then so be it, that dude was one damn lucky man. Though it might have been simpler had he not been standing right there staring at me while I worked. Oh well. Such is life. Lena gave me more instructions and I did my job.
The next piece was a risqué though slightly less revealing lace trim chemise in fire engine red. Abigael put my hair back into a messy ponytail for the piece. Same as before, Ziggy neither stepped back into the shadows nor took his gaze off me. I felt very protected. And ever so slightly turned on. A sensation I didn’t tend to experience at shoots generally speaking. You might flirt and play a little, but it never went beyond that. For me at least. However, Ziggy and his heated looks were driving me straight over the edge. A problem since damp panties in the current situation would be not only wrong but distressingly obvious.
Unfortunately, after the chemise came a beautiful black semi-sheer plunging demi-bralette with a lace thong. My breasts were barely contained, let alone my behind. One deep breath and there’d be flesh in everyone’s faces. With the thong also came a super embarrassing though not uncommon in this industry moment. Having a zit on your butt covered with concealer in front of a bunch of people wasn’t so great. But these things tended to happen with skimpy swimwear or ladies’ intimate apparel. Such was life. I tried to stay professional about it and crack my usual jokes. Emphasis on tried. At least there was a bathroom/changing room for the actual switching of outfits. Ziggy was probably seeing enough of my tits and ass for one day. More might get seriously awkward.
“We have a rather pointed and prominent nipple situation,” announced Zane at around this point. And here came more awkward. “Very pretty, Mae. But for this shoot we need to keep the focus on the fashion. Abi, you got the stickers?”
My day was just going from strength to strength. “Tell the truth, Zane. You’re just jealous you don’t get to shove your nipples in people’s faces on a regular basis.”
“Actually, you have a point.” He grinned. “I bet I’d be amazing at it. Give you a run for your money.”
I laughed.
Next came the white balconette bodysuit with embroidery on the cups I’d affectionately named “bang the bride.” My hair had been styled into a fancy windblown up-do. We liked to mix up the looks, keep things interesting. Subtly change the story being told in each picture. Ziggy’s expression this time around was especially gratifying. His cheekbones stood out in stark relief, his jaw fixed. The man just stared. And he made it next to impossible to keep my eyes off of him, let alone to not think about hot sex. With him, explicitly.
For certain, he had to be reacting to the ultra-glamorous model Mae Cooper. Not the boring old clumsy forgetful real me who wanted to be loved. Didn’t need the attention, but I sure did want it. I had to keep reminding myself of this oh so salient fact when it came to Ziggy’s attentions. Protecting my heart in this situation was the wise thing to do.
You’d think a model would have better self-esteem, but my current hang-ups came from an unfortunate reality. The ex hadn’t even liked me taking off my makeup. Said it made me look so much prettier. I know, I know. I should have shot him in the crotch rather than deal with his bullshit. Changing my Netflix account password after we broke up was a pretty glorious feeling, I’ll tell you. I timed it for the day the new season of his favorite show came out. With a bit of luck he was two episodes in when the universe came crashing down around him. Serves him right. He’d always been cheap with the exception of the stupendously stupid flowers he’d so recently sent. Just because he earned millions didn’t make him any less of an ass.
But back to the topic at hand, the last thing I needed would be to accidentally deliberately fall straight back into bed with someone who got real me and fake me mixed up. Then there was the part where Ziggy currently worked for me and all. I was sort of his boss. It wouldn’t be right for all sorts of responsible adult reasons for me to take him up on the surprisingly heated looks he was throwing my way today.
Stupid hormones and thoughts and feelings.
Why did we even need them? All they ever did was cause trouble. Me and my vibrator definitely had a hot date lined up for tonight. First, however, maybe I should give Sam a call and suggest Ziggy needed a day off. I know I did. A little distance right now might be wise. Get his hotness out of my face for a while.
Lena finally lowered her camera. “You were on fire today.”
“Thanks.” This made sense what with the excessive heat happening in my panties and all.
“We are going to sell some lingerie, I tell you!”
“Good to hear.” I smiled, taking my robe back from Zane.
It’d been a long and confusing day. Though the mental aerobics pondering Ziggy and his behavior sure did wonders for taking my mind off the horrible deliveries and evil stalker person. That mess had hardly crossed my mind at all.
I got dressed back into my black tank top, skinny jeans, strappy sandals, and big sunglasses. With the fancy hair and full make-up, if the paparazzi were still hanging around, which they inevitably would be given my luck, they’d have pretty glam shots without the need for me dressing up. Not that this was the kind of publicity I needed nor required, but I suppose it would make a change from them snapping me with my baggy eyes and shoddy clothes over the last week. That was something, at least.
There were hugs and air kisses aplenty as we finished up. Lena’s studio was in a gated area so the paparazzi were sort of milling around out beyond the gates. You’d want to be patient. Sometimes I really felt for them. It must be such a boring job, standing around for long stretches of time. Of course, you’d also want to be a bit of an invasive jerk who didn’t particularly care about people’s privacy during their times of trouble.
The sun sat low in the sky and the fresh air outside was a welcome change after all the hours of being cooped up inside. It would be nice not to be touched for a while too. Most everyone on the many shoots I’d been on had been professional and matter of fact, but getting your personal space back at the end of a shoot was a nice sensation.
It wasn’t far to the Rover. Ziggy strode slightly to the side and slightly in front of me. Guess the position kept me in the edge of his field of vision. We still weren’t really talking much today, though the mood felt thick for want of a better word. Or off, maybe?