The second voice sighed. “There is no wayit will stay a secret. I have no idea what I’m going to tell the guy if hestarts asking questions. She’s already confused about how I can support myselfwriting blogs.”
The first voice chuckled low. “What did youtell her?”
“I just started talking about ad revenuesand then the different types of income streams you can make from YouTube videos,things like that. After a few minutes, she tuned out and didn’t realize thatmost of it didn’t make sense. But what was I supposed to do? It’s not like shewould understand the truth.” I couldn’t tell if he regretted not being able totell her or not.
The first voice made an understandingnoise. “No, I get it. I’m still dealing with the fallout of my mother findingout I’m gay. She doesn’t need to know that I model lingerie for a living.”
“Yeah, I can’t see my mom appreciating thefact that I look great in a tiny pair of panties. It wasn’t exactly the careershe envisioned for me when I was growing up.”
All of a sudden, I knew exactly who wasbehind me. Well, I knew what company they worked for, just not which guys theywere. When renovations had started on the building, everyone in the area hadbeen glad. It’d sat empty for far too long, but when we realized what was goingin there, everyone had been curious.
I wasn’t sure what we’d been picturing, butthe attractive, laughing guys who basically kept to themselves wasn’t it. Eventhough we’d been half a block apart for ages, I couldn’t remember beingintroduced to anyone besides the owner.
Faces flashed through my mind, but I wasn’tsure which men matched the voices. As an artist, I was very visual. I couldhave probably drawn most of the men who worked there, but now it just seemedridiculous that I’d never said hello to any of them.
The second voice gave another sigh. “Nomatter what he reads, tattoo guy would probably have a heart attack too.”
“Yeah, the reading is cute and sexy in away, but the chances of him being nice, having a good job, gay, and open to theidea that his boyfriend wears panties is astronomical. If it worked out, I’dhave to give you ten bucks and send you to buy lottery tickets.”
I wasn’t sure why the reading was cute, butI’d have to admit that I got more than a few phone numbers while I was readingtheHarry Potterseries. I had an ex-girlfriend who’d always said thecombination of brains and tattoos was hot, but I kind of thought that was justfor women.
Evidently not.
“Drink faster, we’ve got to be back forthat shoot in just a few minutes, or Roman will have me bent over his lapagain.”
The second voice giggled. “You’d like that.You egged him on the other day just to make him crazy enough to spank you.”
“That’s not the point. This stuff has analmost virginal feel to it, and I don’t need a red ass to go with it. I thinksomething like that would be better for his website, though, now that I thinkabout it.” His voice drifted off a little, and in my mind, I could almost hearhim thinking. “Yeah, that would be great. He could do a whole series from sweetand virginal to well-fucked and exhausted. The pictures would look fabulous.”
Roman was evidently a photographer, but Ihad a feeling they were more than just colleagues. Especially with the desirethat was radiating from his voice. Evidently, he was envisioning a veryhands-onphotography session.
My fingers inched to pick up my phone, butI had a feeling their site wouldn’t be safe for browsing in public. No matterwhich site I managed to find. Not that I should be looking, especially since Ipassed them on the street several times a week. There had to be a rule aboutseeing someone naked one day and then at the coffee shop the next.
Especially if you weren’t dating.
The first voice started speaking again.“Okay, we’ve got to run. When we get back, I want you to try on that nightiefirst. I know we talked about you in the corset, but I think I want to see howthat sheer little number looks.”
Images flashed through my mind thatshould’ve been crazy, but somehow weren’t.
“Sure, I like that one. And I know you saidthe nightgown with the spaghetti straps was too long for my frame, but I thinkit would look interesting if I was kneeling with all the fabric pooled aroundme.”
Approving sounds came from the first voice.“Yeah, I like that idea. It would have that combination of submission andinnocent sexuality that would look fabulous. I really think you should do someprivate shoots with Roman. I think the photos would look great.”
There was some embarrassment in the second’svoice when he responded, but not enough to make me think he hated the idea. “Idon’t know.”
The first voice must’ve heard the samehesitation that I had, because he immediately pushed back. “He’s not as intenseas he was before, especially now that we’re not trying to kill one another.”
The second voice laughed. “Or trying tohide the fact that you wanted to rip each other’s clothes off.”
“Yeah, that too. Okay, I’ll talk to Roman andsee what he thinks.” The first voice said it like everything was a done deal,even though the second guy was unsure. “He’s been building up a biggerportfolio, but sometimes it’s hard to find open-minded models for the type ofpictures he’s envisioning.”
I couldn’t tell if the photographer didactual artistic photos or if it was some kind of porn site. I wasn’t sure Iwanted the second voice to do something in that kind of industry. He’d geteaten alive. I’d met enough people in college who were working their waythrough school by doing slightly shady things that I had a good idea of whathappened in that industry.
And I was going to completely ignore thefact that I was worried about a stranger.
“Okay, I’m done. Let’s go.” The second guydidn’t seem excited to leave. It was strange to think that he’d gone to theshop just to see me.
“So you’ve gotten your sexy fix and yourcaffeine fix?” The first guy giggled as he teased the second.
