Page 53 of Touch in the Dark

“Better than being boring.”

“You got me there. Do the others know about this side gig of yours?”

“Nope. Adam is incommunicado with Jenna in Hawaii and Jordan would just try and muscle his way in, so I kept it to myself.”

“Nothing to do with being embarrassed?”

“Embarrassed about what? You saw my body, it’s a temple and I look amazing in this outfit.”

“Jesus Christ. I leave you alone for five days and this happens. Jenna is gonna lose her mind when she finds out.”

“I know, I’m looking forward to telling her all about it.”

“Ah, we’re being given the go ahead. I should land about five-ish, think you’ll be finished prancing around in your undies by then?”

“Probably not at this rate. We were supposed to start shooting at seven. I’ll keep you posted.”

“I want to catch up on the road trip. I got the stuff you sent. It looks cool. I wouldn’t have thought of doing something like that, but I’m stoked about it.”

“Good, it should be fun.”

There is a knock at the door, and I glance over to see Louis. “Success, we have a model, or a stand in model. She’s just getting ready. Be out in five.”

I nod. “That’s my queue to go too. I’ll see you at home later.”

“I might be in bed, but the Red Bulls have a match tonight, I’m gonna grab a few beers and a pizza if you’re interested.”

“Sounds good. I’ll catch you later. Safe flight.”

“Thanks, sweetheart.”

“Fuck off.”

I hang up on him but I’m smiling. I tuck my phone away and head back out towards the set. There is a woman standing with Louis, she’s wearing a robe that falls to her ankles, but she is tall, her blonde hair is pulled up in a messy bun, her long neck on show. The three guys are all staring at her, clearly happy with the replacement. I head over and step onto the rug.

“Oh good, Nick, I want you to meet Elsa, she’s kindly stepped up to help.”

My lips drop open, and my eyes widen when she turns around. Elsa freezes as she stares at me.

“Nick,” she squeaks.

“Hey,” I say, shaking off the shock of seeing her. “What are you? Uh,” I must look like a fucking idiot, but this is not what I was expecting. “You’re replacing the other model? On this shoot? I didn’t know you did that.”

“Yeah, er,” she looks a little pale. “I was hired on to do the make-up, but Louis needed help and asked me… I didn’t know you were here.”

“No one mentioned me?” She shakes her head as her eyes stay fixed on me. “Surprise.”

“Yeah,” she widens her eyes, looks at Louis. “Understatement.”

I hear her murmur that last part under her breath and hide a smile. I’m still trying to wrap my head around this. Elsa? She is about to take part in this sexy shoot with me. My head turns to see the three models I’ve been chatting with, and my jaw tightens. None of them are at all concerned about this change of plans or who the model is. But I am. I’m not about to let them be all over Elsa, in front of me. Fuck. That.

“Louis, can I have a minute?” I head over to her. “Excuse me a second,” I tell Elsa, she is staring at me, trying to figure out whether to be annoyed or not. She’s likely wondering if I’m about to have her kicked off the shoot. I’m not. But I am going to change how this goes.

I just need to convince Louis of that.

Chapter Thirteen

I can’t believe this. Firstly, that Louis even asked, secondly that I agreed, even after she told me the shoot would be wearing underwear and posing provocatively with a number of male models. The money they’re offering is amazing and I got a thrill at the thought of doing it. I’ve spent the last day convincing myself to take risks, to be a little wilder, to stop over thinking everything. Sounds about right the day I do it, is the day I’m going to be hanging out less than half dressed.

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