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Editing more photos, I finish up the three clients I had left from last week and shoot the galleries over through email, including Mak’s. “Just sent you your pics.”
She’s at my chair so fast, I didn’t hear her approach. “Ohhh! They’re done? Let me see!”
I pull her onto my lap. “Here you go.”
I sit back and hold her hips, rubbing my thumbs on her lower back while she clicks on her gallery. “Oh wow, Carson.” She clicks some more. “Holy crap.” She clicks some more. “I look so hot.”
“You are so hot.”
“No. I look like a goblin most of the time. But these…” She shakes her head and clicks back to one of her with a book between her legs, her fingers spreading the pages as if they’re something else between her thighs she’s fingering. “I could cry.”
It’s not uncommon for a client to see themselves one way and then I take their photos and capture them in a different view. It’s rewarding for me, and a confidence boost for them.
Ironic, right, considering I have the worst body dysmorphia ever.
But that’s why I got into this business. I don’t want anyone to feel the way I do about myself. If I can show them a new perspective, then they’ll know how truly gorgeous they are.
Mak’s a natural born man killer. And when she turns around and kisses me, that’s natural too. “Mak, I want to ask you something, and you can totally say no.”
“I’ll say yes.”
“Hear me out first.”
“Yes.”
Growling, I narrow my gaze and try to act mad even though I’m fighting to not laugh. “What do you say to modeling in the tub for me?”
She stiffens in my lap. “Like nudes for your portfolio?”
“Uh no.” I cringe. “For a book cover.”
Her eyes grow to the size of dinner plates. “Are you serious, Carson?”
“Yeah. I need a model and the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced you would be perfect. It’s a high fantasy thing with nature and water.”
“This is the Florence and the Machine inspired thingy Trey talked about the other night?”
“Yeah.” I can’t believe she remembers that. “You want to give it a shot?”
“Hells YES!” Mak hops off my lap. “This is wild!” She practically skips over to the tub and claps her hands, jumping up and down. “I don’t even care if the author ends up changing their mind. Just doing this is so cool. I can’t believe I’m about to be a book cover model.”
Her excitement makes my cheeks hurt from the smile I’m rocking. “Grab all the flowers you can find.”
If the plastic ones don’t work, I’ll go down the street and buy a bunch of fresh ones from the florist, but I suspect what I already have will be perfect.
The whole setup takes me over an hour to arrange. “I think we’re ready.” I hunt down my camera and pause as Mak strips out of her clothes. The studio doors are locked, so we’re not in jeopardy of anyone crashing the shoot. She’s safe here with me.
Hozier starts singing over the speakers. That artist is a whole ass mood and I’m here for it with Mak and me doing this photoshoot. I should put on Florence and the Machine, but I’m not walking away from Mak now that she’s naked in front of me.
“Ohhhh, it’s nice and warm,” she says, stepping into the tub with my help.
“Did you think I’d make it cold?”
“I’m still blown away that there’s running water in this place. I thought this was just a prop, not an actual working tub. The water temp didn’t register until I put my foot in.”
I straddle the rim of the bathtub to take photo after photo of my gorgeous girl. There’s a chain above me I can hold on to, so I don’t accidentally fall in and crush her to death, but I’m poised like a panther and don’t have trouble with my balance.
Mak’s hair spreads in the water, filling in the spots the flowers don’t. She’s wearing bare minimum makeup on her lips and eyes, courtesy of Chloe’s insanely huge stash of makeup. We reshoot over and over, adding and taking away different details. We switch out the flowers. I color the water. We add fog from a machine I have. Bubbles. Candles. Reflections. By the end of it, I have more photos for Trey to pull from than all my book cover sessions combined. It’s overkill, I know, but I can’t stop clicking shot after shot. Mak’s loving this as much as I am and my heart swells seeing her this happy.