A Photo Is Worth A Thousand Blushes

3a - Cowboys

I was woken too early in the morning and rushed out the door. When my consciousness finally caught up to me, I found myself in the front seat of Silas's car, him driving and Nathan in the back.   One of my usual iced coffees was already in my hand.

"You awake yet, Aggele Mou?" Silas asked me.

I nodded slowly as I tried to get my fingers to work well enough to twist the cap off my drink. "Where are we going again?"

                                                                              

Nathan leaned forward and took the coffee away from me to pop it open and take a swig. "You're going to be a cowgirl today, Peanut." He was kind enough to return the coffee to me.

Oh. That's right. Today and tomorrow, I will be a photography model alongside my favorite guys. They were gorgeous, and I was going to be the Plain Jane beside them. I had no idea on what to say, or do, or even how to hold myself. What if I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of it all? Would I wind up blinking through every shot and ruining the whole day? "I honestly have no idea what to do."

Silas rumbled with a laugh and put his hand in my thigh. "Don't worry your pretty head.  We will all help you. Every one of us have done this before."

I blinked. They have? What about Dr. Green and Mr. Blackbourne? I was fearing I had to scour the romance section of the bookstore and inspect every single book cover to see if I recognized any faces. If I did, I was buying the book no matter the content of the words inside.

Silas seemed to sense where my thoughts had gone and laughed some more. "Not all modeling gigs are for books or magazines. I have been photographed before for some marketing images to put on a website. I wore a hard hat and safety glasses."

I couldn't stop the giggle. I could picture that perfectly.

"I was on an ad to promote some new athletics center," Nathan added. "I was making a slam dunk." He extended his arm up and circled it at the wrist to demonstrate. The ceiling of Silas's car made it awkward. Nathan and I smiled at each other.

We did not drive long before parking in a driveway of a house in the middle of a suburb. The house was a standard ranch with a two story double garage at the end of the driveway. Victor's BMW was already here with both Victor and Gabriel leaning against it, waiting.

Victor came over to open my door and took my hand to help me out. "Good morning, Princess." He hugged me tight and swayed back and forth, like we were dancing to some unheard tune.

"Hey!" Gabriel nearly shouted. "She's my girlfriend today. Paws off." He whapped lightly at Victor's shoulder.

Victor snuck a kiss to my cheek before surrendering me to Gabriel's arms. "Meanie," I chastised. "Be nice."

Gabriel squeezed and spun me in a circle. "I'm too busy to be nice. I'm too busy to spend time with you. I have to be mean anyways, or you can't call me Meanie."