I was woken too early in the morning and rushed out the door. When my consciousness finally caught up to me, I found myself in the front seat of Silas's car, him driving and Nathan in the back. One of my usual iced coffees was already in my hand.

"You awake yet, Aggele Mou?" Silas asked me.

I nodded slowly as I tried to get my fingers to work well enough to twist the cap off my drink. "Where are we going again?"

Nathan leaned forward and took the coffee away from me to pop it open and take a swig. "You're going to be a cowgirl today, Peanut." He was kind enough to return the coffee to me.

Oh. That's right. Today and tomorrow, I will be a photography model alongside my favorite guys. They were gorgeous, and I was going to be the Plain Jane beside them. I had no idea on what to say, or do, or even how to hold myself. What if I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of it all? Would I wind up blinking through every shot and ruining the whole day? "I honestly have no idea what to do."

Silas rumbled with a laugh and put his hand in my thigh. "Don't worry your pretty head. We will all help you. Every one of us have done this before."

I blinked. They have? What about Dr. Green and Mr. Blackbourne? I was fearing I had to scour the romance section of the bookstore and inspect every single book cover to see if I recognized any faces. If I did, I was buying the book no matter the content of the words inside.

Silas seemed to sense where my thoughts had gone and laughed some more. "Not all modeling gigs are for books or magazines. I have been photographed before for some marketing images to put on a website. I wore a hard hat and safety glasses."

I couldn't stop the giggle. I could picture that perfectly.

"I was on an ad to promote some new athletics center," Nathan added. "I was making a slam dunk." He extended his arm up and circled it at the wrist to demonstrate. The ceiling of Silas's car made it awkward. Nathan and I smiled at each other.

We did not drive long before parking in a driveway of a house in the middle of a suburb. The house was a standard ranch with a two story double garage at the end of the driveway. Victor's BMW was already here with both Victor and Gabriel leaning against it, waiting.

Victor came over to open my door and took my hand to help me out. "Good morning, Princess." He hugged me tight and swayed back and forth, like we were dancing to some unheard tune.

"Hey!" Gabriel nearly shouted. "She's my girlfriend today. Paws off." He whapped lightly at Victor's shoulder.

Victor snuck a kiss to my cheek before surrendering me to Gabriel's arms. "Meanie," I chastised. "Be nice."

Gabriel squeezed and spun me in a circle. "I'm too busy to be nice. I'm too busy to spend time with you. I have to be mean anyways, or you can't call me Meanie."

He took me by the hand and led me to the side door of the two story garage. The others followed close behind.

Inside did not look like a garage. Everything was cast in dark shadows. Silver umbrellas on tall stands semi-circled around a white wall on one end of the large space. The wall curved seamlessly to continue as the floor for a bit. I imagined that's where the photographs were to be taken. Inside was also a woman only slightly taller than me with wispy and mousey brown hair. Her most noticeable feature was her rear; it bubbled behind her like God wanted her to have an extra shelf.

The moment she turned around and saw us entering, she looked up from a half-sized black and white composition book in her hands, then pointed to the stairs leading to the second story. "Silas. Nathan." She double checked her book. "And Sang. Get your robes on, then meet back down here. Then I can make my proper hello to you." She smiled, giving her orders authority, but not as harshly as it usually comes from Kota or Mr. Blackbourne. Her tone suggested she knew what had to be done, and for everyone's sakes, do it before we all get behind schedule.

Gabriel did not let his hand leave mine as we climbed the stairs and into the room above. This one was better lit and contained racks and racks of clothing. A dressing table stood against a wall with lightbulbs rimming the mirror. Gabriel practically shoved me behind a folding privacy screen as Silas and Nathan thundered in.

"Okay, Trouble. Strip to the nude, then put this on." He draped a white bundle of satin over the top of the screen. "Don't come out until we tell you it's okay, unless you want to see some naked manly butts."

Gabriel disappeared and started hollering at Nathan. "Tell me you brought a fucking razor!"

"Chill out, dude. Of course I did," Nathan replied, much calmer than his friend. "I didn't want to shave at home because I'd already have a shadow by the time we got started here."

I was frozen on the spot, hiding behind the screen. They didn't tell me this was going to be a naked photo shoot. I didn't think I could survive that. Naked? Nude? In the buff? In front of the boys and a stranger? To be photographed for my body to be ogled at by millions of other strangers I would probably never meet? I could feel the blush overtake my whole body, all the way from my scalp to my toes. Not only was I going to be forever photographed as naked, but my naked body was going to be red as a strawberry.

"Nathan?" I barely managed to squeak.

I heard footsteps getting closer to me.

"Oy! Don't you motherfucking dare go behind that screen!" Gabriel was nearly screeching.

"I wasn't!" Nathan called from the other side of the screen. "You okay, Peanut?" he asked in a soothing tone to me.

I shook my head no, which was silly, because he couldn't see it. My tongue was glued to the top of my mouth, so I could not get myself to speak properly.

He seemed to understand the silence. "Hey, I know this is different for you, and it's awkward as hell. To be honest, I'm feeling weird myself." He was? Knowing I wasn't alone in my apprehension provided some comfort. I wasn't alone in this. "Trust us, Sang. We know what we're doing, and we would never let anything happen to hurt you or put you at risk. We aren't taking naked photos, so stop worrying your pretty head over that, okay?" We weren't? But then why... "Look, there's a reason why we're getting into the robes. I just can't explain it right." I could hear the beginning tones of frustration in his voice. He wanted to ease my fears, and I desperately wanted to let him.

A canvas bag flew over the screen and landed on my head. It was pink. "Here," Nathan said. "Put your clothes in this so they don't get lost." He paused a moment and said really quietly, "You okay?"

I felt better. His pep talk was doing well for me. My boys were here, and I could trust them with my life. They were standing beside me through it all. I nodded to answer him, then realized he couldn't see it. So I pried my lips apart and whispered back. "Yes. Thank you, Honey."

I quickly peeled my clothes off my body and quickly folded them up to put in the bag. I made sure to put my panties and bra on the bottom so my shorts and shirt could hide them from view. My sandals went on top to anchor everything down.

I was slipping my arms through the robe when Gabriel's cursing made me startle. "Jesus Christ, Silas. You're too fucking big. None of these robes will fit you, you bastard!"

I could hear Silas chuckle. "I can't help that."

"It's still your god damned fault." Gabriel sounded like he was talking around something in his mouth. "Hold your arms out. We're making a fucking toga out of this sheet."

Both Silas and Nathan roared in laughter. I was giggling too as I tied the sash tightly around my waist to secure my robe around myself. I didn't want it to accidentally fly open and expose myself.

"Alright, Trouble! Come on out!" Gabriel called, his mouth now sounded free from obstruction.

I tip toed my way around the privacy screen with the pink bag clutched in my hands. Nathan was in a similar white satin robe to mine. He had his phone out and was taking pictures of Silas wrapped in a white sheet held together with a couple clothes pins. Silas was going through poses like an Olympian or Greek God. His eyebrows waggled at me when he caught me staring. I wondered if I could those pictures Nathan was taking forwarded to me.

I noticed two bags similar to the one I was holding up against the wall. One was dark blue, and the other was red. I placed the pink one next to them.

Gabriel shoved Nathan toward the stairs. "Get your asses down there! We haven't even started yet!"

Silas took my hand. He bent his head toward me to talk softly as we descended the stairs. "We're naked under these robes because we don't want lines from our clothing imprinted on our skin when we start taking the photos."

Oh. I never would have thought of that. I smiled at him to express my thanks for clearing up some of my confusion.

Silas released my hand before we got all the way down. I assumed it was so the photographer wouldn't see it. I was here as Gabriel's girlfriend, after all. I still missed the contact from his rough hands the moment it left mine.

The lady raised an eyebrow as she saw Silas draped in the sheet. "Issues with the robe?" she asked.

Silas blushed and sheepishly smiled at her. "A little."

Victor, who was left downstairs the whole time, snickered.

"Alrighty!" The photographer clapped to focus the attention to herself. She made eye contact with me. "I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. I wanted y'all in the robes as soon as humanly possible. I'm Christine." She held her hand out, and I took it limply. She firmly pumped our hands up and down with enough confidence for the both of us. "I'll be your photographer for today, Sang."

I still couldn't get my tongue to work properly, so I nodded my head to indicate the proper hello and nice to meet you.

"And I must say you turned out to be even better than the other girl I had lined up for this. The order from the client is for a blonde, and I was going to have the other girl wear a wig. Wigs are a pain in the butt."

"Tell me about it," Gabriel muttered from behind my shoulder.

Ms. Christine stepped back to address us all. "I'm going to give everyone the standard lecture before we start so this whole process can be streamlined and there are no misunderstandings." It sounded like she had this rehearsed and made this speech a lot. "The nature of this shoot is meant to be risqué, but we are all professionals here. I will act like it. I imagine y'all will too. I will not do anything to compromise anyone's safety or integrity. I am going to make some odd demands from everyone this weekend, but I'm sure you're all well use to that, being part of a modeling agency."

I wasn't a professional. I was new to this whole thing, but I was determined to step up and do what I needed to do. I could only hope she did not notice my insides were quaking in nerves and fear I would screw everything up. Her disclaimer about professionalism eased some of my worries brewing in the back of my thoughts. I had to wonder about the claim about us being from a modeling agency. Was that their cover story? Academy business was odd.

"This whole process will be uncomfortable," Ms. Christine continued, "but if anyone feels like you are going to be violated in any fashion, speak up before it happens so no one gets sued. There will be no nudie shots. However, it will get close at times, so be prepared for any freak nip slips or accidental moons." The blush came over me again, making my ears burn red. Looking over my shoulder to the guys, I could see their cheeks tinged red too as they actively tried to avoid eye contact with me.

Nathan had to clear his throat. "I've got willy socks upstairs if you guys want to use them."

Willy socks? I looked to Victor with my silent question. He shook his head with more silent communication as his own blush deepened. I'm not explaining here. Not now.

Ms. Christine transitioned to the plan of action. "This morning will be devoted to what I'm calling the Cowboys set. After lunch, we'll do the Historical with Victor. Whoever isn't active at the time will be assisting me. Mr. Blackbourne assured me y'all could step up to that role, so I didn't need to hire my usual assistant." I wondered what assistance a photographer could need. I guess I would learn before the day was through. "We will start each set with the least amount of clothing and gradually put more on as we progress. I also want to start with solo shots, then move onto duos. We'll wrap up the set with the three of you together. The order wasn't specific as to what they wanted, so I'm providing a variety. The client can argue with the graphic designer whether they pick just one shot or composite a few together."

I felt lost. The information was still trying to soak in when Ms. Christine clapped again. "Get back upstairs with Gabriel so he can work his magic. Silas is up first. It's go time, people!"