AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He looked awkward for a moment, then turned away from me to strip. His back rippled with bronze muscle, with nearly as much definition as Jack’s, although Mateo wasn’t as bulky. He turned around, revealing a six-pack.
No, I thought while changing lenses. An eight-pack. There’s two little abs there, next to the lines of his pelvis.
“Did you bring the sunscreen like I said?” I asked.
He pointed at his shoes behind me. “I did.”
I grabbed the bottle and tossed it to him. “Go ahead and slather some of that on your upper body. It’ll make your muscles really pop out.”
I reviewed the photos I had already taken while he wiped himself down. It wouldn’t be polite to stare while he did it, especially since he seemed somewhat shy. Although I couldn’t imagine why he was shy with a body like that.
“Good, good,” I said. “We’re going to do all the same ones we did before. Hold your board up first. There we go.”
I gave him instructions as I snapped photos. He faced me directly, then turned to the side. I had him hold the board in front of him, covering his midsection—which made him look nude.
“Come on, give me a smile. Pretend a pretty girl just offered to sleep with you. Or better yet, two pretty girls.”
Mateo’s face split with a wide, bright smile. His white teeth contrasted nicely with his bronze skin. Yeah, he was going to have an easy time on Tinder after this.
“Okay, now turn and face the water.” I raised my camera to my eyes, then lowered it again. “Hold on. I can see where you haven’t put any sunscreen on.”
Moving with the muscle memory of a thousand photos shoots, I let my camera dangle around my neck and picked up the sunscreen. I squirted some in my palm and began wiping it across his back. Mateo tensed at my touch.
I did it without thinking. I was used to ordering people around and making them look their best, especially when we were constrained by time. But now that I was touching him, rubbing the lotion into his skin, skin that was a thin layer above rock-hard muscle, I realized what I was doing.
It’s no big deal, I told myself. Brandi’s not here to tease me about it. He’s just another client.
“That’s better,” I said, wiping my hand on the nearby towel and stepping back. “Good, just like that. Perfect.”
The camera clicked with photo after photo.
“Okay,” I said. “That’s enough surfing photos. What do you want next?”
Mateo blinked at me. “There is more?”
“Sure. Your Tinder profile will look good if you have a variety, and I don’t have anywhere to be today.” That wasn’t exactly true: I had all of the invoices at our mother’s shop to go through. But I was eager for an excuse to put that off.
“I… I do not know,” Mateo said. “What do you suggest?”
“Let’s see. You’re a fireman, so we definitely need to get some action shots of that. Some photos of you mixing drinks behind the bar would be good. Do you have any other hobbies you want to showcase?”
“I like rock climbing,” he replied. “I have not gone in several months…”
“Perfect. That’s a good hobby to balance out your two jobs.”
“What clothes should I wear?” he asked. “I usually wear a green tank top when I climb, but Liam says it makes me look like Kermit.”
I laughed. “You said you live a few blocks from here? I’ll come with you and help pick out your clothes. Then I can catch a ride with you. It’ll help me save on gas.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Mateo washed the sand off his legs at the edge of the beach, then put on his shoes and led me up the road. There were several blocks of apartment buildings, with a residential neighborhood beyond.
“So, how did you get stuck working for your uncle’s restaurant?” I asked.
“Accidentally,” he replied. “My uncle had two bartenders, but he always filled in for shifts when neither of them could work. Until he got into a car accident.”
“Oh no!”
