by Olivia Jake
Alex brought a small crew. It was just her, Jesús and one other assistant, Luis. On a location shoot like this, she never brought a lot of equipment. She needed to be nimble so that they could move quickly from one part of the house to another. Plus, not knowing what type of rooms and exteriors they’d be dealing with, she knew that at most, they’d have room for basic lighting, and in some cases, just use natural light. That said, this was for the cover of Vanity Fair, so whatever the shot, it had to be spectacular.
When they pulled up, before they got out of the car, they were greeted by a shirtless and sweaty Marco, followed by three large Rottweilers. Alex smiled liking everything she was seeing. Marco’s body was spectacular. Broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long, lean muscles. His skin was caramel color, and he had obviously been working out as there was a light sheen over his entire body. Alex couldn’t help but stare at him, but was soon brought back to reality as Luis said, “Shit, those dogs are going to kill us.”
Alex laughed. Having two pit bulls herself, she knew how scared people could be of certain types of breeds. But it was clear that Marco was the pack leader as all three dogs followed him and sat immediately by his side when he stopped. Alex hopped out of the car and smiled broadly at Marco who was grinning at her as he started walking towards her. She knew enough about dogs, and especially these types of breeds, to know not to make eye contact with them until he told her they were ok. Marco reached out and grabbed her shoulders, kissing her on the cheek, “Alexandra, welcome.” Just this brief touch sent shivers all throughout her body. She knew she was blushing, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it at this point.
“Thank you, Marco. I’m sorry we’re so early, did we interrupt your workout?” No duh he had been working out, sweaty and shirtless, but that was about all Alex could manage. She was surprised she got that much out. She was also surprised she was reacting this way. She had been around plenty of gorgeous actors and never got like this. She’d get over it. She’d have to.
“Oh, dios mio, lo siento, I probably got you all wet.” Alex raised her eyebrows, wow, he’s cocky. Accurate, but cocky. Then he chuckled, “Ay, I meant when I kissed you, I’m all sweaty. I didn’t mean to get my sweat on you, Alexandra.” She laughed and rolled her eyes. Then he asked, “Are your guys going to get out of the car?” Alex realized they were still sitting in the Range Rover, paralyzed with fear.
Alex laughed, “I think they’re afraid your dogs are going to have them for breakfast.”
“But you’re not afraid.” It was a statement, not a question.
“No, the minute I saw you walk out the door, it was clear that they’re very well behaved and that they respect you. You’re clearly the alpha dog.” She smiled at him and he seemed to appreciate the compliment, but she wasn’t blowing smoke up his ass, so she added, “You’ve done a very good job training them.”
“Gracias. You have dogs?” Alex nodded.
“Two pits, three and a half cats.”
“A half?”
“Long story. I’ll tell you later. Anyway, I’m going to tell Jesús and Luis that it’s safe for them to come out, ok?”
“Well, I’d prefer it be just you and me, Alexandra, but if you must.” He winked at her and damnit if she didn’t feel herself blush again. She turned around to walk back to the car, so maybe he didn’t see… When she got to the passenger side, Jesús had the window already rolled down.
“Are you guys going to join us or stay in the car all day?”
“Is it safe, Alex?” Jesús asked
“Well, they haven’t eaten me yet, so I think you two chickens can come out and test the water.” Jesús shot Luis a look and they both rolled their eyes and slowly got out of the car, but didn’t make a move forward. Alex laughed. “Come on, I’ll protect you.” Alex said as the three of them walked back to Marco. Alex protecting Jesús and Luis seemed to humor Marco as he asked them in Spanish,
“You guys need a woman to protect you?” Uh oh. Alex could feel the testosterone start to flow as both Jesús and Luis suddenly puffed up. Jesús especially. At which point two of the dogs emitted a low growl. Marco snapped his fingers and the dogs stopped. But Alex could see that with three macho Latin men and three Rottweilers, she was going to end up being part photographer, part referee. She said a silent prayer that Marco didn’t continue flexing his muscles, literally and figuratively, especially not with Jesús. Long ago, Jesús appointed himself Alex’s protector. This was not the issue on which to challenge him.
But Alex also didn’t appreciate the implication. Of course, she wasn’t about to let Marco know that. She needed him happy and cooperative if she were going to make this a good shoot. But this little exchange helped her get a little clarity about Sr. Flores. As hot as he was, and he was hot, this Latino machismo bullshit helped clarify for her that he was just another cocky Hollywood actor. Hopefully that was all she needed to stop her from blushing every time he opened that beautiful mouth of his.
Alex was going to have to be the adult here, so she turned to Marco, and, all business, said, “Marco, if you don’t mind, could you show us around, maybe show us your favorite spots in the house so that I can get a sense of where we might want to shoot, and then we can get set up while you finish your workout and get dressed, ok?”
Marco looked at her, then at Jesús and Luis, then back at Alex, “Si, Alexandra, por supesto. Venga.” His tone was cool, strong and commanding. He was making it clear that he was the alpha dog, they were on his territory after all. He held out his arm in a motion that made it clear for Alex to put her arm through his at the elbow. Once she did, he started leading the way, the dogs behind them, and then Jesús and Luis picking up the rear. Yep, Marco made the hierarchy very clear.
It was the ultimate Hollywood actor bachelor pad, furnished in a way that it felt at once both comfortable and sophisticated. There were three levels with the bottom level featuring a living room that opened out onto a large deck with a good-sized swimming pool. Since the whole house was built into the hillside, each level had a view overlooking the city. They started their tour on the bottom level. As Alex looked out she said, “Wow, the view’s amazing. I’ll bet it’s beautiful at night with all the city lights.” The minute she said it, she knew what that sounded like. Ugh.
“You should see it at night, Alexandra.” And as he said that, he gave her arm a little squeeze. Alex bit her lip hoping that Jesús somehow had missed that little exchange. And damn her if she wasn’t feeling her body respond to that squeeze. She swallowed and reminded herself, cocky macho actor. She almost nodded but realized she was talking to herself, which made her chuckle. Of course, Marco thought she was chuckling at his suggestion, “I wasn’t joking, Alexandra.” His tone suddenly stern.
“Oh, I wasn’t laughing at you! I was laughing at myself. Honest!”
“Bueno.” Was all he said. Alex was starting to think that the fun, easy going actor she had met the other day was either a lot more arrogant or a lot more complicated than she first thought. She was looking forward to reading the article when it came out to see if there was more to him than just a pretty face and washboard abs.
They walked through the living room with its overstuffed sofas and chairs up to the next floor where the kitchen, dining room and guest bedrooms were, then finally up to the top floor which was one big massive master bedroom with a giant master bath. The layout was such that even in the bathtub, one could see the amazing view. It was amplified by the fact that the walls surrounding the tub were all mirrors, reflecting the city outside.
“Do you own a tux, Marco?” Alex asked as they were looking at the bathroom. It was really just the two of them in the bathroom, the dogs were in bedroom and Jesús and Luis were standing in the bedroom doorway. Marco furrowed his brow, thought for a second and then nodded, “Sí, porque?”
“I’d like to end here, in the tub with you in a tux, the city at sunset in the reflection.” Alex said as she looked around, looking for just the right angle.
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A mischievous smile crept onto his lips as he leaned in so that Jesús and Luis wouldn’t hear him say, “I’d like to end here, in the tub with you too. But definitely, not in a tux.” With all the mirrors Alex could see just how bright red she turned. And that wasn’t the worst of it. She could see her nipples harden through her white ribbed tank top. So too did Marco as he looked down with appreciation and then back up to her and asked, “Bueno, so we know where we’re going to finish. Where, Corazon, are we going to begin?”
CHAPTER 4
As it turned out, they started at the bottom and moved up as the day progressed. And Alex was not going to let Marco get the best of her. Number one, it was unprofessional. Number two, this was just part one of the shoot. And Number three, she didn’t want to dignify his sense of machismo and arrogance that women were there to be seduced by him. She was there in a professional capacity and his good looks and charm weren’t going to work on her. Now, if she could just tell her body to stop responding, that would help.
The first setup was in the pool with Marco leaning back against the wall, his arms up on the top concrete so that you could see him to just below his nipples, the rest of his body was submerged. Alex lay down on her stomach on the opposite side of the pool so that the shot was at eye level. He definitely knew how to work the camera. His looks ran the gamut from smoldering to head back and laughing. The last shot she asked, “Hey Marco, do you by any chance have any rubber duckies?” It turned out he did, so the last shot in the pool was Marco leaning back looking serious as a trail of three yellow rubber duckies floated by in front of him. It was sexy and playful all at the same time.
Alex asked him to get out of the pool as she snapped candid shots of him lifting himself, his shorts sticking to his ass, him turning around winking at her and then a shot of him sticking his tongue out at her as she clicked away, then finally, he put his hands on the waistband of his shorts like he was going to pull them down. He slowly started inching them down so that Alex could see just a little bit of hair that she hadn’t seen before when Jesús yelled, “Hey, man, it’s not that kind of shoot.” Marco shot a look over at Jesús then at Alex.
Alex quickly scrambled to her feet since which took a second, since she couldn’t just push herself up as she was holding onto her camera. She needed to diffuse this situation before it became one so she said, “I think we’re good here. Marco, why don’t you go get changed for our next setup and we’ll meet you inside on the couch.”
Alex couldn’t quite understand why all the guys were suddenly staring at her. Obviously, she was talking, but the looks on their faces, something was off, but she thought maybe it was just all the tension so she continued rambling, “We’ll need a few minutes to get the lights set up and that’ll work while you get dressed…” she was walking around the pool until she was now a few feet from all of them. Suddenly, Jesús moved so that he was standing in front of her and then turned around, giving her his back. Marco burst out laughing. Alex tried to walk around Jesús but he moved with her. “Jesús, what the hell?”
Jesús wouldn’t turn around but he said as he looked straight at Marco, “Alex, the concrete you were on, by the pool, it was, um, it was wet.”
Alex was pissed and didn’t know what he was saying. Why the hell was he talking about the concrete and why the hell wasn’t he turning around to look at her when he talked… Oh shit. She looked down and saw what everyone else just saw. It looked like she had been in a wet t-shirt contest. It never even dawned on her when she laid down that the concrete was wet, she was so focused on getting the shot. Now everyone had seen her, for all intents and purposes, topless. Great.
“Shit.” Was all she could muster.
“Alexandra, you just shot me topless. I think it’s only fair, no?” Marco teased. That was the last straw for Jesús he started to take one step towards him and Alex had to put her arm around him, not that she could really hold him back. But it was enough of a reminder that she was his boss, and if she said no, he listened. Which unfortunately, only added fuel to Marco’s macho fire.
“No te preocupes, Jesús.” He said cavalierly as he turned to go into the house. He won this round. He didn’t need to fight Jesús to prove it. He turned back over his shoulder and said, “Alexandra, I’ll grab you a T-shirt you can change into.” And then, like he couldn’t help it, “But I don’t have a dry bra, so you might just need to go without.” He winked and grinned as Alex held onto Jesús even tighter as he flinched again about to lunge at Marco.
“Jesús, let it go. He’s just fucking with you. It’s not a big deal that everyone saw my um, you know, anyway, let’s just pretend this didn’t happen.” She said to his back. He still couldn’t turn around to look at her.
“I don’t like this guy, Alex. I don’t like the way he talks to you. And I don’t like the way he looks at you.” One of the things Alex loved about Jesús was that there was no filter, no nuance. He said what he felt.
“I know, Jesús, I know you don’t like him. But this is work, and we’re going to be travelling with him and spending the better part of a week with him. And the madder you get, the more he enjoys teasing you, or me just to get to you. So, you have to be the bigger person, Jesús. Understand me?” it was difficult having this type of conversation with Jesús at all, but talking to his back, it was ridiculous. She saw him nod. “Good. Now, please give me your shirt so that we can work until he gets back here with my change of clothes.” Jesús took off his Tshirt and handed it backwards to Alex. She quickly slipped it on over her, and noticed his muscled and almost completely tat-free back. There was only one tattoo, right at the top in between his shoulder blades. It was of an angel with two little initials in script under it, A.M. Alex stared. She had never seen this tattoo. Why would she, she had never seen Jesús without a shirt. She knew she wasn’t supposed to see it either. So she mumbled a thank you and started directing them to pick up the lights and move into the living room.
As Jesús and Luis lifted the lights and equipment inside, Alex tried not to stare at Jesús’s bare chest, but it was hard not to. He was strong and wirey. Whereas Marco was broad and muscular from working out, Jesús’ lean muscles were clearly from the hard life that he lived. She knew he lifted weights and kept himself in shape, she just had no idea how well in shape he was. When Marco came downstairs finally, he suddenly seemed a little jealous of Jesús. Marco looked at Jesús and then at Alex, handing her a clean tank top of his and then pointed, “There’s a bathroom over there.” Alex mumbled a thanks and went to quickly change.
Back with everyone clothed, Alex wanted the next shot to be with Marco and his dogs. She directed him that she wanted two flanking him on the couch and the third on the floor between his legs. He suggested a few tricks for her to get their attention so that she got some shots where all four of them were all looking straight to camera. Then she got some dog cookies and asked Marco if he’d be comfortable putting one in his mouth and holding it out to “Oso” who was on his right. Sam caught the shot of Oso biting one end of the cookie, Marco biting the other and the other two dogs looking longingly at the cookie that they weren’t getting. After that shot, everyone got a treat. She did a few more shots with the dogs, one where Marco was lifting up the top lip of two of their mouths showing their fangs. He growled too and gave a command so that the third dog, Lobo, who’s lips he couldn’t pull up, also growled. Alex loved it. Jesús and Luis, not so much.
Marco’s cell had rung, or buzzed, at least a dozen times by then. Respectfully, he would always look at it, then silence it sending the calls to voicemail. After the setup on the couch, where it buzzed three times, Alex suggested that now might be a good time to break for lunch so he could answer his calls, and they could all eat before going on to the next setup.
Alex, Jesús and Luis all ate together. The food had already been prepared and dropped off by the caterer. Usually, at shoots the lunch conversation between Alex and the crew was light and breezy, but Jesús couldn’t even look Al
ex in the eye. And Alex wasn’t about to have a serious conversation with him with Luis there. So they ate in silence which gave them time to listen to Marco’s voice raise and yell at whoever was on the other end of the phone. They couldn’t hear what he was saying, but it wasn’t a pleasant conversation, that much was clear.
After that call, it was a good thing that Alex wanted Marco serious in the next shot. They were in the dining room with Marco leaning against the glass sliding door as he looked out over the city. Alex was behind and to the side of him so the shot captured his profile, but also got the city out in the distance. He looked pensive and serious. Whether or not his emotion was genuine, it sure came across that way. Alex had always prided herself on being a good read of people, and as good-natured and flirty as Marco could be, there seemed to be a depth to him too. She couldn’t believe he was that good of an actor or model to look as sincere as he did if he weren’t truly feeling something.
Regardless of what had happened so far in the shoot, Alex knew she was getting a great range of shots: sexy, playful, sweet, serious…
It was late in the afternoon when they were finally ready for the bathtub shot. Marco changed into his tux while they set up. The lighting was beautiful and Alex knew this could be a great shot with the sun starting to reflect off the building tops. Marco came walking in and Alex had to stifle a moan. The man was gorgeous, but in a tux, oh my, he was beyond words. Alex couldn’t help but say, “Marco, you look, um, you clean up well.” She said almost shyly. He smiled sweetly, taking her free hand and lifted it to his lips and kissed it as he said, “Gracias, Corazon.” Once again, he had her blushing, which she could see in all the bathroom mirrors.