Liar (Madison Kate #2)(80)
I gave him a sly smile and winked. "Oh yeah? We probably don't need clothes for that."
Steele laughed. "Funny girl, but you're not getting out of this so easily. We all agree you need to know how to fight—how to defend yourself in case anyone catches you off guard again." He paused, looking thoughtful. "Although I could probably be persuaded to go easy on you."
Grinning, I picked up my pace and tossed my borrowed hoodie off before my bedroom door was even fully open. If any persuading was going down, I was willing to bet it wouldn't need clothes.
Sadly, Steele's idea of "going easy" on me in the gym still left me bruised and grumpy as shit, but even I had to admit that I needed to learn these things. Some small tricks up my sleeve or correct techniques could mean the difference between life and death if my attackers stepped up their efforts again.
The next day we drove out to a warehouse studio in Rainybanks for the photo shoot, and I quickly worked out why it was a closed shoot.
"You guys are doing a nude photo shoot?" I gaped as I looked around the set and then at the robes the photographer’s assistant had handed to them. A short laugh escaped me as Archer glared, but Kody and Steele just grinned.
"Good morning, boys!" Jase the ass-face called out, entering the studio with a blast of ice-cold wind. He quickly closed the heavy, sliding door behind him. "Ready for a good shoot?"
I rolled my eyes at his false cheer, but said nothing. I'd given myself a small talking-to before leaving my room this morning about how to ignore him completely. I didn't need to go causing drama in the guys’ careers just because I disliked their manager.
Kody wasn't letting it go so easily, though.
"Jase, you got anything to say to MK?" His pointed glare and folded arms said there was only one correct response to his question.
His manager knew it, too. "I'm sorry for my rude comments yesterday, Madison Kate. I was out of line, and I apologize." His smile was like broken glass, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from telling him where to shove his insincere bullshit. Instead, I just gave him a tight smile and a nod back.
I'd leave it at that.
The boys all ducked behind a curtain set up on the side of the studio to strip down, and Jase took two steps closer to me.
"You know they're just going to use you up and throw you aside when they're bored? I've seen them do it hundreds of times, and trust me, sweetheart, you're no different from all those other used-up sluts they've left in their dust." He spoke softly in a harsh whisper, and his words cut me deeper than I was comfortable with.
Still, I just gave him a pitying look and shrugged. "Careful, Jase, you're starting to sound jealous. Maybe that's a bit of sexual frustration talking? A word of advice, for you... they'd be way out of your league, even if they did swing that way."
Jase's eyes tightened with fury, but the way his eyes darted across the room to Archer emerging from the changing curtain said it all. Nailed it.
"Let's get on with this," Archer snapped, narrowing his eyes at me, then giving Jase a small frown of warning before crossing over to where the photographer and her assistant were checking lighting and adjusting props. Kody and Steele joined him a moment later, all standing around in their white robes and bare feet while they waited on directions.
I used Jase's distraction to move away from him, wandering over to sit on the vacant chair beside the photographer's assistant, an artsy-looking red-haired girl called Luna with glasses and a trendy oversized sweater. She'd been welcoming when we arrived, introducing me to her boss—Nicky—and telling me where to find the bathroom and kitchenette.
"Alright, let's get started," Nicky announced, holding her heavy black camera in one hand and indicating to the white, fur-draped chaise lounge. "Steele, sweets, you're up first. Over there, hun."
She was familiar with the boys but not in a sleazy sort of way, and I kinda appreciated that. Not that I had a say, but it made me a hell of a lot more comfortable with the prospect of the guys lying around and posing naked when the photographer wasn't leering.
Steele flashed me a cocky grin before tossing his robe aside—aw damn, not totally nude but close enough—and heading over to the chaise.
"Whoa, what the fuck?" Jase shouted, drawing every eye in the room as he stared at Steele. "What happened to your arm?"
Steele just shrugged, taking up a reclining pose on the lounge and looking totally at ease with his near nudity. All he wore was a pair of white Calvin Klein underwear. "Don't get pissy at me, dude; Arch was the one driving like an idiot."
Jase turned his outrage on Archer, who just shrugged. "Shit happens."
"Okay, enough," Nicky interrupted, bringing her camera to her face and clicking a few test shots. "Steele already called me yesterday to let me know. It's nothing a bit of retouching can't fix."
For the next while the camera was on Steele, so Kody hung out with me and Luna, watching as the shots appeared on the computer screen and commenting on any particularly awesome frames.
When Nicky called a break, she came over to the monitor and clicked through the images quickly, searching for the one she was looking for, then expanding it for us to see.
"That's easily my favorite image I've ever taken of this boy," she remarked quietly, shaking her head with a pleased grin. I could tell she was appreciating her own artwork, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from Steele's face in the picture.