Page 25 of Better Left Unsaid

The man hemmed and hawed way too much between talking points. I just wished I could pull the words out of him because who knew when he’d spit them out. I exhaled. “Out with it, Jeff.”

He pushed off his desk and walked to his floor-to-ceiling window with the best view in the city. Finally, he announced, “It’s a nude shoot. Something about the only thing you’ll be wearing is their cologne. It’s genius if you ask me, but they have their heart set on a modeling couple because of how intimate they want it to be.”

I considered his words while he reached for his drink and took yet another sip.

“Your member will be covered up by the woman, so no worries there.”

Yeah, the nudity wasn’t the part I was hung up on, but okay.

“What’s the brand?” Not that it’d matter. I really didn’t have any moves here. Technically, I wasn’t with Maria, and even if I was, she would never go for it. I could call on any random woman I knew or had slept with, but that felt like a bad idea for far too many reasons.

He named the brand, and I let out a low whistle. “Shit.” This wastheluxury Italian fragrance company. Being part of this campaign would be a game changer for me. “And they wantme?”

“If you have a woman you can bring in. It’s going to be all about chemistry and authenticity, and they don’t seem willing to budge on that.”

I uncrossed my leg and sat manspread, my elbows on my knees as I leaned forward. “So, I’ll be naked, but will she?”

He arched a brow. “That would look a little weird, don’t you think? Yeah, she’ll be naked. You’ll both be naked.” He grinned. “Basically, you’re one lucky bastard because this will catapult you and could lead to some very nice sex post-photoshoot. So, you got a woman?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “How in the hell are they okay with this idea if she isn’t a model? Or do they just assume models date models?”

He shrugged, clearing his throat. “Doesn’t matter. They’re looking for authentic, raw sexual chemistry. What aren’t you understanding here?”

Authentic, raw sexual chemistry.Yeah, I’d say Maria and I had that in spades. But there was no way she’d go for it. I knew Maria, and she’d refuse. Flat-out refuse. Naked? I mean, there was no way. Besides the fact that she wasn’t comfortable being in front of the camera on a good day, she’d be in her head the entire time. Then again, I wasn’t interested in doing it with anyone but Maria. It seemed wrong any other way.

“So what do you say?” Jeff probed when I didn’t answer. “You must have a slew of women you can call on, if not one. Even a purely sexual relationship will do. Don’t disappoint me now. This could be huge.”

I got up and pushed the chair in, nodding as I made my way to the door. “Thanks for letting me know, Jeff.” That was about all he was getting from me right now because I needed to think.

Maybe talk to Maria. Feel her out.

“Wait,” he called, clearly confused by my brazen disregard for his question. I still wasn’t answering it, by the way. “Don’t leave me in suspense.”

I cracked my knuckles and opened the door, throwing over my shoulder, “I’ll get back to you.”

“You’re a pain in my a—” I shut the door behind me, cutting off his words.

* * *

Maria

I leaned against the side of my desk and studied the mock-up layout for the center spread of the next issue. We were doing a spread on fashion through the ages, interviewing several designers about how fashion had evolved and where they thought it was going next. It had been my idea, and my dad had approved it almost immediately, saying it added a layer that he thought our readers would take interest in.

The only thing was that I felt like it was missing something. I placed my finger on my lip and swayed my head back and forth. What was it?

The layout was beautiful, don’t get me wrong. But it was like there was nothing to back it up. “That’s it!” I exclaimed to myself in my office, loving the breakthrough I’d just had.

I walked to my door, opened it, and tried to get my assistant’s attention. “Daphne!” I called.

Her head popped up, and she turned to me. “What can I do for you, Maria?”

“I need you to get in touch with all of the designers whose designs are featured on the fashion through the decades spread and see if they’d be interested in taking these looks or similar looks out of archives.”

“What for?”

“I’m hoping I can convince Perla to do a last-minute photoshoot. I think that will make all the difference, and we can reference the pages from the photoshoot layout that highlight the look on the center spread. It was missing something and that’s what it is.”

Nodding, Daphne turned around again and picked up her phone. “I’m on it,” she shouted, already dialing.

---