Eli huffed, but instead of trying to hurryRoman, he focused his attention on Lane. We watched as Eli made little last-minutetweaks to how the fabric draped across Lane’s body, even reaching under thenightie to adjust his panties.
It was…interesting.
Sexy but not exactly sexual; I wasn’t surehow to categorize it in my head. Eli was a natural flirt who seemed to need todrive everyone around him crazy for some reason, so the nakedness and brazenbehavior was par for the course with him. It was what made ignoring hisbehavior so easy. But watching him touch Lane was different.
“It’ll take some getting used to.” Roman’slow words pushed through to catch my attention.
“That’s what I’m thinking.”
“Eli describes the company as one bigincestuous family. Most of them never do anything with each other, but theydon’t have the same boundaries that other friends or coworkers do. Some, likeLane, are more cautious and reserved, but Eli has a tendency to keep poking atany preconceived boundaries until they’re gone.” Roman’s gaze volleyed betweenthe two beautiful men and my—hopefully—calm expression.
“Lane told me how much everyone means tohim and how this isn’t just a job for him. I’m starting to see what he meant.”I couldn’t see myself in that position, but I wasn’t completely oblivious abouthow he felt.
I’d never worked anywhere like Leashes andLace. In my life, a job had always been very separate from family. For Lane andEli, and I had to assume the rest of the people working there, work and familywere all tied together so closely it was impossible to see where one ended andthe other began.
Shapes and images began to form in my head.I could see how they were tied together like a drawing with no ending and nobeginning. “Do you have any paper?”
I had to get it down while it was swirlingaround. “You’re just going to be shooting for a while, right?”
Roman laughed and gave me a knowing look.“Yeah, the rest of the guys will start arriving in a few minutes, but if youcan ignore the chaos, they’ll leave you alone.”
That wasn’t what I’d pictured when I’dthought about visiting Lane at work, but I knew he’d understand. “I just need afew minutes to get something down on paper.”
“Sure. Just a second.” Roman wandered overto a desk I hadn’t noticed in the corner and started pulling out paper andpencils.
Lane’s laughter at something Eli saidpulled my attention back to him. Happiness radiated from him as the fabricswirled around him with each subtle movement. When I finally noticed Romanstanding beside me again, he was just shaking his head. “I’m starting tounderstand why we drive everyone nuts.”
“Huh?” Not eloquent, but in my defense, mybrain was otherwise occupied.
“Never mind.” Roman handed me an oversized clipboardand a stack of papers and pencils that were almost what I had at home. He musthave seen my confusion because he shrugged. “The marketing guys use it sometimeswhen they need more space, and they’re really artistic in that draw-it-out kindof way.”
“Thanks.” As I took the supplies fromRoman, he pointed to an overstuffed armchair in the corner.
“That’s probably the most comfortable spot,and you’ll have a good view.” With a nod, he started over to Eli and Lane,barking orders that didn’t make much sense but seemed to have something to dowith the lighting because Eli immediately started arguing with him about them.
Lane was my focus, and everything elsewould just fall away into the background.
As I walked over to the chair, thedirections started making more sense. Roman had them moving around as headjusted the lighting and camera. By the time I was settled, he had theplatform draped in fabric and Lane kneeling on it almost innocently with Elistanding by him seductively.
Mumbling to myself, I frantically startedtrying to catch Lane before he moved. It would have to start out rough, but Iknew I could fill in the details over time. I just needed to get the feelingdown before I lost it.
Sometimes, I planned out drawings, andsometimes, they seemed to just take shape without me. Lane’s shy but eroticallydraped form was in the center of the drawing, but I knew he needed something toanchor him. Glancing between the page and back up at Lane as he worked, I knewwhat it would be.
****
Time faded awayas the picture slowly took shape. Eventually, the bark of Roman’s orders weremuted by the sounds of the other models and the rest of their work family thatdidn’t seem to have a purpose other than support and excitement.
Part of me felt guilty for not introducingmyself, but they came and went, watching the piece as it formed and then goingback to the work that they were supposed to be doing. Roman was a taxing masterand reminded me of an angry conductor who pushed his musicians to be theirbest.
As each new layer of their family emerged,it took shape on the paper as well. Time seemed to go too fast. Before it wasanywhere near complete, they were starting to put the clothes away and dressand I could hear them making plans for later.
Watching them work had been eye-opening.Some could turn the flirting on and off at the will of the lens but others onlyprojected exactly who they were. Shy. Outgoing flirts. The boy next door whojust wanted to be accepted in his panties and bra. They were what family wasmeant to be but never actually was. A mix of everything, that when combined,was perfection.
Lane started out nervous and unsure of howI would feel about this part of his life, but the man who curled up in my lapas the room started to empty was anything but unsure. Lane smiled as I set theclipboard down and wrapped my arms around him.
The lace shirt was molded to his body andthe underwear the site described as boy-shorts didn’t hide anything, but hedidn’t even seem to notice. “You look like you found something to occupy yourtime. Do I get to see?”
“Of course.” Pulling him close, I took hismouth in a slow kiss. When I finally pulled away, I smiled. “You were my focus,though. You were amazing to watch. I never realized how many pictures you haveto take to get the right one for the site.”
