Big Shots

Chapter Three

Recap: Ross is about to take nude photos of Selena.

Selena could feel the photographer's intense gaze on her body. Suddenly she felt bare and exposed, almost regretting her decision to take off her bra. She felt insecure for the first time in her twenty-three years of life, being stared at by the man standing right in front of her. Thoughts about what Ross would think about her erupted in her mind, causing her stomach to do somersaults.

Was it his first time seeing a woman half-naked? He was staring at her breasts with so much wonder, his grey eyes filled with hunger and fervour... he looked like he was about to eat her up any time soon. Selena's cheeks coloured. She didn't know whether she should be honoured that Ross Vasiliev was openly checking her boobs out, or afraid that he would do something bad to her.

"Let's hurry then? Before the sunrise disappears?" She had to say something to break the tension. Her voice was trembling even though she tried to control her hammering heart.

Finally, Ross seemed to be brought back to reality. He cleared his throat and agreed with her, but his darkened eyes were trained on her bosoms.

Selena tilted her head to look upwards. The sky was fortunately clear today, with little clouds floating around. A perfect gradient of baby blue, bright yellow and peach stretched across the horizon; the sun had yet to be up. It was the best moment to capture on camera.

She reminded herself she wasn't here for vacation but to earn money. She didn't wait for further instructions since Ross was clearly distracted; she strolled to the spot she'd liked which was nearby, making sure nobody was watching. As expected, his gaze followed her and he readied his camera, aiming it at her.

Selena finally felt like the woman she was at work. She naturally posed for the camera, momentarily forgetting her attraction towards the photographer. It was easy to immerse into the professional mode and within minutes, snapshots of her posing in front of the decorative sunrise were taken by Ross.

Of course, Selena was mindful about the way she had posed. She had already expected these photos to be posted somewhere since Ross Vasiliev did mention he'd pay her for these, so she didn't want to be fully naked for the whole world to see. Instead, her skinny arms shielded her hardened nipples such that only her cleavage and the discreet curves of her breasts could be seen. This made her look sultry yet not over the top in all the pictures taken of her.

Once Ross had signalled to her that the photoshoot had ended, she grabbed her bra and clothes and put them on, still cautious around the alluring man. However, she had expected the photoshoot to be extended, or at least not last this short.

The flush on his face provided some explanation for her though— she concluded he was very much embarrassed about this whole photo taking thing, which confused her because he was kind of the one who'd suggested this idea in the first place. Unless his definition of 'nude photos' was different from hers... which ended up confusing her even more, so she eventually gave up reading the photographer's mind. At the end of the day, Ross Vasiliev was still a mysterious and incomprehensible man, and she could never understand his thoughts.

Selena allowed him time to review his photos, playing with her fingers uneasily. Once again, wild thoughts bombarded her brain and she wanted so much to see how the pictures had turned out. More importantly, she wanted to see how Ross felt about her and her body. Her blue eyes stole a glance at him.

Ross was way too focused on the camera to have noticed her. Rather, his grey eyes moved left and right repeatedly while his fingers pressed on the many tiny buttons of the DSLR. Selena didn't know how the camera worked or how the photographs should be taken, but she did know that this profile of Ross was the best sight ever. One moment he was frowning and deep in thought, the other he was blushing and fumbling over the camera. Still, the way his jaw clenched in seriousness and the way he'd habitually bite his bottom lip while studying the pictures deeply enthralled her. She could stare at him all day and never get sick of him.

However, his soft words awoke her senses. She didn't know if she'd heard it right. She was always delusional around this man. Plus, it was nearly impossible for such a handsome guy like him to sing such praises of her.

"You're beautiful," He said.

His voice was faint and barely a whisper. Selena immediately looked towards him but Ross' face remained impassive.

It must've been my hallucination, she thought, a little disappointed. Ross didn't seem like he wanted to repeat himself either, so she chose to ignore it anyway.

"We're about done for today." Ross cleared his throat, his eyes seemingly avoiding her gaze. He shut down his DSLR and was ready to keep the other things.

"That's fast," Selena didn't bother hiding her amusement. It was probably one of the quickest shoot she'd ever done.

Ross nodded in hesitation. After a few minutes, he scratched the back of his neck, "Honestly, I have no idea what and how I wanna do this photo shoot. I'd initially thought these pictures of you would suffice."

Selena didn't know what that meant. She took a step towards him and decided to pry. "And why're they not sufficient?"

She didn't mean for her voice to sound this husky. Nor did she mean for her to be standing this close to Ross. She did them all naturally, but now she was enjoying their proximity. She could hear him taking deeper breaths and smell his familiar, captivating scent. She looked up towards him. Although he was a head taller than her, she could still manage to admire some features of his.

Ross closed his eyes for a moment before speaking, his voice lower by an octave all of a sudden. "I think... I need more photos of you."