Chapter 1
Roman
Starting over sucked. Starting over because of a man was even worse. Moving clear across country to get away from the rumors and financial ruin made it almost unbearable. Having to hide the anger and the frustration was the hardest part. And I wasn’t even sure I was doing a very good job of it.
Otherwise,I would have had the damned job by that point.
“I think it’s going to be interesting.” That translated to boring and monotonous in my head. I was hoping the owner of Leashes and Lace didn’t hear it, though. Catalog photos, fuck. It wouldn’t matter if they were guys in lingerie. It was still boring.
Preston was nodding, but the way he was analyzing me put me on edge. I needed the damned job, but he wasn’t giving me enough to work with to know if I was saying the right shit or not. Any monkey could have taken the photos.
Why it was such a process to get hired, I wasn’t sure. My résuméshould have spoken for itself without the need for all the hoops. Phone conversations, in-person interviews, and a portfolio review were ridiculous. It was twinks in panties, not priceless artwork. “It’s unique, and the way you do things will be a bit of a challenge. I’m looking forward to it.”
That sounded sincere, right?
Preston finally started speaking again. “I know we do things a little differently, but we’ve found that giving our customers a variety of shots and experiences with the lingerie helps it sell better. They can put themselves in the situations and pieces easier.”
I got another one of his long, studious stares before he continued. “Each of our models prefers different setups and styles, so we have several photographers on retainer who come in at various times.”
Then he shrugged as if he realized they did thingsverydifferently, but it looked like he didn’t really care that he was making things harder than they had to be. “We post everything from more typical photos that you’re probably thinking of, to actual bathroom mirror selfies. Some of our models prefer to do most of their work on video blogs where they show off the clothing and chat with the customers. It’s not conventional, but our brand has been built around taking tradition and turning it on its head.”
Thatwas the one part I could agree with—and the only reason I’d applied for the position at all.
When my ex had blasted our personal life, and his own brand of crazy, all over the internet, getting work had become almost impossible. I’d built a business around society events, as well as the portrait and still-life work that I preferred.
A bowl of fruit didn’t argue or tell you that it wasn’t her good side.
It hadn’t been glamorous or flashy, but I’d made a pretty good living at it. I hadn’t been required to work with high-maintenance models or other drama queens to make ends meet, and I’d been content. I was a damned good photographer.
But my ex had fucked that all up when, in a slightly drunken drama queen moment, he’d decided to put our entire life out there in a rambling video that had put our sex life front and center on the more outrageous news outlets. I’d gone from being booked months in advance to nothing in just over twenty-four hours.
When I’d gotten angry, he’d lost it and cleared out our savings account before disappearing. I’d come to find out that he’d thought it would be a great way to get into acting. Take a bit of internet fame, mix with someone hot and dramatic, and he should have found instant success.
Instead, he’d just come off as unstable and creepy, and no one legitimate besides a random mention on TMZ touched it. It seemed like no one could decide if it was a weird BDSM relationship, or if he was some kind of battered boyfriend, and they weren’t willing to put their reputations on the line to find out.
Well, he was crazy, and we had been in a weird BDSM relationship, but he wasn’t battered. He was just a brat who liked drama and spankings. I was the idiot who hadn’t been able to see past the sexy exterior to understand that there wasn’t anything besides drama underneath it.
No more brats.
No more drama queens looking for attention and spankings.
No more giving anyone else access to my money.
“Sometimes changing up what’s expected can be a good business plan. People see things very differently, so giving them more opportunities to see the same piece is probably helpful.” What else? What else? “And when they get to know the models and their temperaments, it makes the buying experience more personal.”
Preston finally seemed to thaw because he cracked a smile. “And we have a variety of temperaments. But our customers love them. We’re actually getting ready to expand our IT department because the site has been so busy lately.”
“Capturing who the models really are should be an interesting challenge.” God save me, I was going to be working with more crazy drama queens.
Preston actually laughed. “Some are more vibrant than others, but they all bring something unique to the company. Most of them have been with us since the very beginning in one role or another. A few started behind the scenes before moving in front of the camera, and others are more comfortable in the privacy of their own home and hardly ever do the more professional-style shoots.”
So he had everything from attention whores to shut-ins who were afraid of what they wanted?
Great.
“It won’t be as bad as you're imagining.” His smile widened. “Most of our photographers come back later and say they were expecting to deal with absolute insanity but have found the guys to be great.”
Some people just had higher tolerances for crazy.
