When she reached him, he extended his hand dramatically. “My lady, shall we begin this?”
“For 200k,” she muttered under her breath, sliding her hand into his.
“For a better rep.”
“Is it actually working for you?” Her brows rose, curious, like it had only just occurred to her.
“Tremendously.”
And it was true. TerraVive was thrilled, not because he’d won a USL event, but because every time he and Sofia appeared wearing their gear, sales spiked. Sponsorship offers were flowing again. He wasn’t bleeding money anymore.
“Good,” she said with a smile. And god, did he love that smile.
Verena began guiding them through the first batch of photos. As long as the surfboards were between them, hand-holding came easy. No problem. But once the boards were dropped into the sand, things got... closer.
“Okay, I want you two to hug and look at each other. Big smiles,” Verena called, circling them like a shark with a camera.
Sofia looped her arms around his neck, fingers threading into his hair.
“You didn’t tell me you were cutting it,” she whispered.
A slow smirk tugged at his mouth as his hands found her waist, thumbs brushing just under the curve of her swimsuit. “I didn’t know I needed your permission.”
She flushed. He loved it.
“No, you didn’t.”
“Keep smiling!” Verena called.
“I like your curls,” she murmured, cheeks turning redder as she leaned in, their foreheads touching.
“I know.”
“How?”
“Drunk Sofia told me.”
“Santo cielo.What else did she tell you?”
“Oh, I figure Sober Sofia will fill in the blanks. Eventually.” His grin widened.
“Oh, that’s how we’re playing?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Maybe.”
She closed the space between them, their lips hovering so close he could feel the heat of her breath. Her fingers tightened slightly in his hair, pulling him closer.
“Sober Sofia will find out,” she whispered, “don’t worry,cariño.”
He nearly groaned.
Then Verena shouted, “Next location!”
The entire shoot was an exercise in restraint. Every time Sofia pressed against him, every time she leaned in, whispered something, smiled like she had a secret, he got hard. And he had to hide it while pretending to be casual. This wasn’t a photoshoot anymore. This was slow, beautiful torture.
“Okay, why don’t you two take one board and paddle out together?”
Verena, now geared up with waterproof equipment, gestured toward the water. They chose one of the boards, and Sofia climbed on it with practiced ease, belly down, her perfect, majestic ass right in his face.
