A spark came to Gina’s eyes. “That’s a great idea! I might be able to finish the last cover, at least do the trailer. I should be cured by then.”
“Cool.”
“But let me call Sherri to give her a heads up. You need to get going. Here’s the address.” Gina reached in her purse and handed her a card. “That’s where it’s taking place.”
Tina took the card and read the information. “Oh la la. The Waldorf.”
“Hurry up. You know how late you can be.”
“Okay, I’m as good as there.”
****
Of course Tina had to stop at her favorite coffee shop and get a fluffy, vanilla, fat-free, soy ice coffee. One of Tina’s favorite splurges. The barista took forever and a day, but always worth the wait.
Drink in hand, she trotted down the street to the hotel. She found the room and knocked. The door flew open, almost startling her. A tall, thin blonde woman greeted her. “Thank God!” Before Tina could formally introduce herself, a tinier man took over. He took her free hand and rushed her through the main sitting room into another room. The suite was huge with multiple rooms done in beautiful shades of green and beige with furniture you didn’t want to sit on for fear you might break something. She barely registered the stage with a shower and bathroom set up.
“Hi, I’m—”
“Yeah, we know,” he said hurriedly. “Look, we’ve assigned this first bedroom as a dressing room for you. The lighting in here is good for you to put on your makeup. There’s a bathroom right across the hall if you need it. Take off your clothes, put on the robe behind the door, and come back out to the main room. Your partner is waiting there. We’re all set to go. Come on hurry up!” The gnome gave her a little shove into the dressing room.
Tina turned to frown back at him. Boy, this must be a big deal shoot or something, or the people forgot to take their meds.
The room was larger than she needed. There was a beautiful mirrored vanity against the wall with a padded bench. She placed her makeup bag on the bench, quickly finished her drink, and began undressing, looking around for her costume as she did. Then she saw a white silk robe behind the door. The guy did say robe. Maybe this is the costume for the shoot. She frowned. This flimsy thing couldn’t be it.
Still in her underwear, she peaked her head out the door, holding the robe in her hand. “Excuse me, somebody.”
The gnome appeared. “What is it?” he asked in an annoyed tone. She had the sudden urge to step on him.
“Where’s my costume?”
He peeked his head in the room, which proved very unnerving, considering her state of undress; his head just came up to her crotch. “There it is,” he huffed as he pointed to the robe. “Now hurry and take everything off. TJ and Heather are waiting.”
She took the robe and looked at it like some foreign object. Maybe they had something else for her to wear on the set. Taking off her underwear and putting the robe on, Tina wrapped it tightly around her, making sure it covered the interesting parts and it didn’t open as she moved.
The nearer she got to the set, the more nervous she became. She had a bad feeling about this.
“Well, it’s about time. I hope we didn’t inconvenience you.”
Tina froze as the deep sexy voice snaked through her soul. She pivoted slowly on the balls of her feet and almost passed out. Were there any other words to describe handsome, gorgeous, beautiful, or just damn fine! She’d modeled with some of the most attractive men in the world, but she’d never seen anyone like him.
He wore a matching robe, except his wasn’t as see-through. At six-three to her six feet even, his robe reached above his knees. He feathered a hand through dark wavy hair, hanging just past his shoulders. Steel gray hypnotic eyes penetrated through her calm veneer. He wasn’t clean-shaven, but the five o’clock shadow couldn’t hide an amazingly chiseled face. And that mouth! Drawn to it, for a split second she found herself leaning forward and...
“Can’t speak?” he asked before he took a gulp of bottled water.
“I...I...I’m Tina.” Great introduction, she thought wearily, but that’s all her brain cells could come up with.
“Yeah, they told me. Give Gina my best. I’m very sorry for her incident.”
“Uh-huh.” She gathered the material of her robe even tighter. The look he gave her bordered on perverted. If anyone could conceive by a look, she would be having triplets.
“False modesty?” he asked raising one dark eyebrow.
His question irritated her and she immediately released her grip on the robe, regaining normalcy. “Excuse me?”
“Aren’t you used to having very little on?”
The jerk had the nerve to smirk.
“Come people,” the tall woman said, “Places, let’s get going. We’re already an hour behind schedule.”
Before she could respond to his remark, she found herself gently pushed toward the glass shower set. They’d created a shower made of all glass, running almost to the top of the eight-foot ceiling, in the middle of the room. A hose attached to the showerhead so it would run water. These people were really hands-on.
“Ladies first. By the way, my name is Tim Jaxon. My friends call me TJ.”
“Oh, I see. Nice meeting you—Tim.” She raised her eyebrow at him.
Without blinking, he waved his hand again to the open shower. “Our audience awaits.”
Someone must have done something because all of a sudden water began to gush from the showerhead. Alarm bells began to go off. She froze.
“Um, what kind of cover are we shooting?” she asked nervously. He stood at her back, his cologne and pure maleness wreaking havoc with her hormones.
“Didn’t they tell you?”
“Tell me what?” Tina really went into panic mode. “Oh God, is this a porno shoot?”
He laughed in her ear. “I guess they didn’t. These covers are for Miss Heather Bare’s trilogy.”
She spun around. “Hea...Heather Bare. The Heather Bare? Her books are the most provocative stuff out there. You could say her stuff is...” Oh my God! She’d been so focused on TJ she’d forgotten this was the shoot Gina had been so excited about. The one for her favorite author, and the models on the covers were usually naked! She’d have to pose with him naked!
A woman came out of the kitchen area, a woman whose face had graced the back of said covers. Oh my God!
“Okay, drop the robes!” yelled the Napoleon clone.
Tina turned to say something, but instead stared into the gray smoldering eyes of her modeling partner. The flutter of his robe pooling around his feet drew her gaze downward. A big mistake.
My goodness!
“Cat got your tongue,” TJ all but purred.
“I...uh...look, I can’t do this.” Tina turned away from the shower and ran back to the dressing room area. She heard someone call for her, but didn’t turn around to acknowledge them.
She slammed the door and sat on the bench. Tina didn’t know which made her more nervous. Posing nude in front of a bunch of strangers, or the fact her modeling partner looked like he descended from the heavens.
The sound of a sharp rap on the door had her jumping and instinctively tightening the belt around her robe. “Yes.”
“Come out here,” TJ said softly, coaxing her out with his voice.
“I...I’ve changed my mind. I’ll make sure Gina shows up—”
“I don’t want Gina. I want you.”
Tina stared at the door. The way he said it suggested more than simply wanting her to model with him. She slowly rose, opened the door, and held her head high in a real effort to look him straight in the eyes. TJ had his robe back on. That made her happy—well, somewhat happy.
“Okay, I’m out.” She still fidgeted a bit, but remained halfway in the dressing room.
“I thought you were pulling my leg back there, acting shy and modest.” TJ looked her up and down. The intensity of his stare let her know he undressed her with his eyes. Not hard
to do considering what she had on. She felt naked anyway in spite of the robe she kept a death grip on.
His words made no sense. “What do you mean, you thought I was pulling your leg?” She almost put her hands on her hips, but remembered she was holding the robe together.
“Well, you being a supermodel, I know you’ve seen and been with your share of naked men.” He shrugged. “And maybe some women.”
Before she could form a coherent thought, instinct took over. Tina slapped him across his face. The sheer force made his head snap to the side. “Jerk!”
She slammed the door in his face, then sat and put her head in her hands, hoping she wouldn’t regret what she had just done. How dare he assume something like that? Pompous ass! What kind of person did he take her for?
Tina straightened, crossing her legs and arms in righteous indignation. She didn’t care what went down. No one insulted her like that and got away with it. Not even someone as fine and delicious looking as TJ.
****
TJ flexed his jaw, making sure it wasn’t dislocated. Man, she had a great right slap.
He shook his head and raised his hand to knock on the door again. Why, he didn’t know. He wasn’t a masochist. Just then Heather Bare came over to him.
“Is there something wrong?” TJ heard nothing but concern in her voice. She should have been pissed, having a model walk off the set, but he’d heard she was a really nice, reasonable person.
“No, no. I just think she’s not feeling well. I, uh, think she didn’t have anything to eat before the shoot.”
“Oh dear. I don’t know why these models starve themselves so. It’s not worth it.” She shook her head. “Tell you what, we’ll take a break and you take her to breakfast. The shoot can be delayed a bit. Trust me. I’ll tell everyone.” She patted his arm reassuringly and turned away.
TJ let out a sigh of relief. Now he had to regroup mentally before he approached the skittish virgin. He smiled to himself. Her act of modesty rang true. This really must have been her first time posing nude, which meant he’d mistakenly lumped her in with the party crowd. He’d been wrong before. Okay, he screwed up royally. He needed to apologize and make amends.
Besides, he looked forward to getting to know Tina better and making her feel more comfortable. Usually before he worked with a model for the first time, he spent a little time talking to her by phone or meeting for coffee so they could become comfortable around each other.
In this case he wanted to make Tina feel real comfortable around him naked, because that’s the only state he wanted to be in around her, and he hoped the feeling would be mutual.
He’d seen a flash of interest along with the shock.
TJ knew her sister Gina real well. They’d worked together a few times, although not in the nude like this, but he knew there’d be nothing awkward with her. They were both professionals.
Gina possessed the same kind of beauty, but Tina had something different. Both were tall, alluring, and had a confidence that knocked you over, yet Gina had never stirred in him a desire to be anything other than friends. Even though some people would find the twins identical, he could see the slight differences. Differences that had her sister Tina, stirring up a lot of things.
Tina couldn’t be called the typical runway supermodel. She didn’t give the image of a walking hanger that clothes just hung off of as she sashayed down the runway. Tall, curvy, and with an expressive face, unlike some of the drones he saw walking the runways, she was simply stunning.
A hint of innocence surrounded her—how refreshing. Aside from the face slapping, she seemed like a sweet girl. Something he noticed almost non-existent in this industry. Still, he thought that bitch Kelley had been different too and that hadn’t turned out so well.
However, commitment was the furthest thing from his mind. Tina sparked other interesting prospects, her seeming difference from the others a powerful attraction. Enough for him to make an exception and sleep with her. Oh yeah.
TJ straightened his robe and made sure the attention-grabbing parts were covered before he knocked on the door again. “Tina, please come out. I’m sorry, really. I honestly didn’t realize...”
The door slowly opened. “I’m sorry I slapped you, but you assumed—”
“I was an idiot and a jerk as you so colorfully pointed out.” Rubbing his chin, he noticed her blush. That natural response made her so much more attractive to him. Tina’s face appeared a bit slenderer than her twin’s and her lips a lot more succulent. Her cheek bones a bit higher and deeper, and those eyes...
The eyes of an innocent doe.
TJ got hard again. He wanted her. Damn! Now was not the time. He shifted his stance to try to ease the pressure in his groin.
“Um, Miss Bare said it would be all right if we took a break. I told her you hadn’t eaten this morning and wasn’t feeling well.”
“Oh. Thank you, but...”
“Please, I’m sorry. May I take you to breakfast? I hear the crow omelet is pretty good. Thought I’d try it.” He tried to kick up the sincerity volume in his smile.
She giggled and it gave him a warm feeling inside. “Okay, I accept your apology. Let me get dressed. I need to call Gina anyway, so she can fin...”
“No please. I want you...as the model. Something tells me you’ll be fabulous on the covers.” And probably fabulous in bed, too, given the chance.
“But I’ve never done anything like this before. I mean, where I’m naked and you’ll be naked, too, and pressed against me and—”
“Shhh!” He placed his fingers against her lips. One, to stop her from babbling and two, to stop her from describing a scenario he didn’t need to hear. Tina treaded on dangerous territory and didn’t know it. “Get dressed. I’ll do the same and meet you back here.”
“Okay.”
TJ went back to his room to put on his clothes. He glanced in the direction of the bathroom, remembering the shower in there. He wondered if he could use it to take a quick cold one. He opened his robe and looked down. A quick one wouldn’t to do it.
Chapter Three
Ten minutes later, Tina still stood in the now empty studio. Everyone had cleared out five minutes ago as she continued to wait on TJ.
He wasn’t at all what she’d expected. Then again, she wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. Tall? Yes. Handsome? Most definitely. Built? Yes and in all the right places to take a roller coaster ride while you touched and licked said places. His was the kind of handsome that made her want to forget the mattress. She’d take the hard floor. Who knew the man existed that would make her think that way. Hell, dirt floor, cement wall, wooden table. Didn’t matter the where, only the who—TJ.
When he dropped the robe she damned near dropped to the floor. He was semi-hard and still damned impressive. She heard a sound and spun around to the hallway leading to the changing rooms. TJ, now covered in street clothes, was striking. Black stonewashed jeans practically painted on him and a gray long-sleeved t-shirt to match those eyes. Damn, even dressed he looked good, but naked was still better.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. I decided to take a shower.”
Take a shower? What Tina would give to see that. His hair slicked back, his muscles wet and ...she shook he head. She needed to stop and concentrate on this assignment. “No problem. Shall we go? Everyone’s already left.”
He glanced around. “So I see. You know, I just had a thought. Usually I have a chance to get to know the models I work with a little before we do a session. We didn’t have that chance, but since you also have never done a cover shoot and in the nude of all things, maybe it would be better if we stayed here and talked a little. I can order breakfast from the restaurant downstairs and we can practice some poses in the shower without an audience first.”
“With our clothes on?” Tina got that nervous feeling again, but this was ridiculous. She was a grown woman. She’d seen men naked, including her boyfriends, but they never looked like this. Mercy!
“For star
ters. But eventually you know they’ll come off.”
“I know. I just don’t...”
“Would it help if you understood you won’t actually appear naked on the cover itself?”
She frowned trying to remember some of the covers she’d seen for the author. He was right. Even though the women were naked, an arm, leg, or other props always conveniently covered certain parts. It just gave the illusion of nudity. But she would still be naked and touching his naked body during the whole shoot.
“I remember once seeing a paranormal cover where the couple was in the moonlight and the shadows covered the really interesting parts,” she said.
“Yes. This cover will also be something like that. The photographer will use steam in the shower to create a similar effect.”
“But I still have to get naked.” She wanted to at least voice her concerns.
“Come on, don’t tell me you’ve never had to get naked in a room full of people? Cause I know during fashion shows models have to change fast to get back out on the runway and sometimes they have to strip right in the hallway. Don’t matter who’s standing around.”
He had a point and he knew it. “Fair enough,” she said.
“Let’s order food and practice first. I promise I won’t bite.”
She stared at him, knowing damn well he would if she wanted him to. She took a deep breath. “I’ll take a bowl of grits with Gouda cheese and a cup of green tea.” She’d need the tea to help calm her nerves. She couldn’t believe she was actually going to pose naked with this man who already had her feeling a little flushed. What would happen when he actually touched her? And wait! They were alone now. Her body temperature climbed.
TJ ordered the same thing she did, saying it sounded rib-sticking good. After he placed the order, they sat at the small table in the room. They talked about trivial things. Interesting places they’d both been to for shoots. Ridiculous costumes they’d had to wear. They found out they’d even been in Italy at the same time once, staying just a block away from each other. By the time the food came, Tina felt more comfortable around him.
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