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“Where’s everybody at? Didn’t the itinerary say to be here at twelve-thirty sharp?”
I nodded.
“Yeah, it did. Maybe they’re in the back?”
We crossed the tiny reception area and rounded a corner, placing us in a long, narrow hallway. I heard muffled voices coming from somewhere in the building. We continued down the hall and the sounds grew louder. There was a small kitchen, and inside sat Leonard and two women I didn’t recognize.
“Hey!” Leonard said enthusiastically. He gestured at the women sitting at the table with small plates of food in front of them. “Have you all met before?”
One of them, a redhead with a short pixie cut, spoke up.
“No, but we’ve heard such good things about both of you.” She stood and stretched out her hand. “I’m Laine.”
The other woman, an older blonde, stood up as well. “And I’m Lois. We’re the author duo Laine Lois, writers of steamy, interracial historical romance.”
“I just love historical fiction,” Kelly gushed, stepping forward and shaking each of their hands. I followed suit.
“Well,” Leonard said, pushing away from the table and climbing to his feet. “I’m going to go get the lighting set up in studio 16, where we’ll be shooting. See you guys in a bit.” He rushed out of the kitchen.
The blonde, Lois, gestured at the pink bakery box at the center of the table. “I brought bagels, donuts, juice and coffee. Feel free to help yourself.”
My eyes lit up and I quickly picked up the chocolate glazed donut I’d been eyeing. Kelly sat down but politely declined eating. I took the chair next to her.
“So, what’s the theme for today’s shoot?” she asked the writers. “I know it’s a period theme, but which period, exactly?”
Laine launched into a detailed account of the kind of books she and her co-author wrote, then finally got around to the kind of story they were writing for the boxed set.
“Our story for this project is set in the sixteenth century. You, Jase, will be portraying a workman and Kelly will be portraying a Queen. In our story, the Queen is engaged to another from her ‘social class,’ but falls for the worker boy. They engage in a sexy affair that threatens everything in the Queen’s world as well as worker boy’s life.”
Lois leaned forward with excitement. “We’re going to put you in a regal gown with a sexy shortline overbust corset, pin your hair up and curl it and…it’ll be perfect.” Excitement radiated off her in waves. Kelly looked just as excited and I couldn’t lie, I was, too. Playing her glorified boy toy would give me plenty opportunity to put some moves on her.
“We want—and need—sexy shots. So, please don’t hold back,” Laine added.
“Oh, we won’t,” I answered with a wink.
We left the kitchen to find our individual dressing rooms. Kelly was busy texting Lani to see how behind she was running, so I didn’t get a chance to talk to her before she disappeared into her room.
An hour and a half later, I was standing behind the camera, which was propped up on a tall easel, staring at stills from our previous shoots.
“You really do have a great eye, Leonard. These look fantastic.” And they did. Even untouched, the pictures were top notch.
“Well, I try. I’m not getting paid a ton of money for this, but my name will still be listed in the set as the photographer, so I want it to look good.”
I got that. For me, this job was about exposure and potentially opening up another subcategory of modeling.
Lois and Laine had gone to chat with Kelly while she got her hair and makeup done, and then they were going to hang around and watch a few minutes of the shoot before heading out. So it was just me and Leonard in the shooting room for now.
The set was comprised of a bright red backdrop and a bulky, high-backed gold throne. I couldn’t wait to see Kelly sitting in it, looking every bit like the African queen she was.
“How about some music to set the tone?” Leonard said. “There’s a radio over there.” He nodded toward the back of the room. “Just press play and the soundtrack I put together will play through.”
I jogged over and hit the button, adjusting the volume until it was loud enough to be heard in the front of the room, but not so loud that we wouldn’t be able to hear each other talking. When I came back to the front, Lane, Lois, and Kelly were just stepping onto the set.
As was becoming custom, I was wowed by Kelly’s outfit. The neutral green dress she wore was long-sleeved and floor-length. Good thing the air conditioning was on blast because it looked like it was made of a heavy, wool material. The corset she had on over the dress was a leathery brown and accentuated her already curvy figure. Her perfect breasts were sitting so high that if she dipped her chin even an inch, they were going to collide. Lani had added long, waist-length extensions to her hair and styled it so that the top was curled and pinned up and the back was down. A dainty crown was perched atop her head. Combined with the ornate embroidered green and gold cape she wore, she looked every bit the queen. Her makeup today was light, mostly just blush and shiny lip gloss, but she still looked stunning. She always did. And here I was, in a fitted white tunic and riding pants. The tunic had been ripped to show off my oiled-up chest. The leather belt around my waist matched the calf-length boots.
“Well, look at you. From Channing Tatum to a would-be prince,” Kelly teased with a playful smile.
I smirked and pretended to bow.
