Page 124 of High Reward

She nods. “Yeah. I always find a small gift. Something he’d never buy for himself. Sometimes it’s just food. One year I got him butterfly cufflinks because of his nickname for me. Another year, it was a signed copy of a book he loves. Nothing flashy. Just something to let him know that even if he doesn’t think so, his birthday is important to me.” She glances around. “If you make it a show, he gets a little pissy.”

“Have you figured out his gift for this year?” I ask.

Grace shakes her head. “Not yet. Things have been so chaotic that I haven’t had a chance to figure it out.”

“What if I said I have an idea for what we can get him?”

Grace pushes the laptop closed and turns to face me. “I’m all ears. Considering how well you did suggesting a date for Victor to take me on, I can see you being good at gifts.”

I nod toward the laptop. “You ready to take a break from the book, pretty girl?”

She smiles and nods. “I’m at a good stopping place.”

I pick up her hand. “Good. Come with me.”

She follows after me, never letting go of my hand as I tug her along. “Where are we going?”

“To talk to Zara.”

Grace frowns as we stop in front of Luke’s door.

“I think he had to go to his office at the transport company.”

I knock anyway, and Zara opens the door a minute later. Her eyes widen in surprise, but the expression quickly morphs into a smile.

“Are you looking for me or Luke?”

“You,” I say confidently. “We have an idea we want to run past you.”

Zara’s smile turns conspiratorial, and she motions us inside. “Let’s hear it.”

“Victor’s birthday is coming up, and I think it would be fun for Grace and me to give him some boudoir photos.”

Grace

ZaraclapswhenLilitells her she wants to do a sexy boudoir shoot with me for Victor’s birthday.

I, on the other hand, just stare blankly.

“You want to what?”

“Come on. It will be fun. And no one but Victor has to see the photos.”

Zara reaches over and pats my leg where I’m sitting on the sofa. “We can make it really tasteful. That’s what I like about boudoir. It’s not the same as the porn or the kind of adult content I make for my customers. It can be as revealing or as teasing as you would like it to be. And you’re comfortable with me. I promise you’ll have fun, Grace.”

I chew my bottom lip as I think about what it would be like to pose for the camera, knowing Victor will see these photos.

“Where would we get the lingerie? I have some things, but most of them are in my apartment.”

Zara grins. “I have an entire closet full of costume pieces in all different sizes at the studio. It’s one of the perks of shooting with me.”

Lili grabs my hand. “Please, Grace? I don’t want to do this without you.”

Her pleading makes me smile, and I slowly nod. “OK. Let’s do it.”

Zara claps her hands together again. “Excellent. When would you like to do this?”

“His birthday is next weekend. How much time do you need to edit once we do the shoot?”