Page 14 of Unscripted Love

“What?” I asked. “I thought I was posing with puppies and kitties from the shelter,” I told him.

“You are, but sex sells and you…” he waved his hand up and down my body, “have that in spades. You’re the kind of guy that both men and women like.”

“Katie!” I yelled. “No one said anything about partially nude photos.”

Katie scurried over to me. “It wasn’t my idea, Dr. Vaughn. I swear it.” She wrung her hands nervously and said, “Scotty does make a good point though.”

“I don’t know, Katie.” I shook my head. “This feels weird to me. I’m not that guy who struts around with his shirt off all the time so people can admire his muscles.”

“You should,” Scotty said, earning an irritated glance from me.

“I won’t ask you to do anything that doesn’t feel right to you,” Katie said. “I’m sure we’d sell just as many calendars if you keep your shirt on. Those dimples alone are worth the cost of the calendar.”

“Can I have a minute to think about it?”

“Sure, honey. Take your time. You’re the one doing me a favor.” She patted my arm affectionately and walked back over to her van that she transported her pets to the shoot location.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed the first person who came to mind. “I need your help,” I said when Chaz answered the phone.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I know this is last minute and you probably have something better to do…”

“Kyle, just tell me what you need.”

“It’s this damn calendar shoot. I feel fucking ridiculous. Can you meet me at Griffin State Park?” I asked.

“Give me twenty minutes,” Chaz replied. “Where in the park are you?”

“North entrance of the lake,” I told him. “I’ll hold Scotty with the grabby hands at bay until you get here.”

“Scotty Erikson?” Chaz asked.

“I don’t know his last name. He works at the shelter and is an amateur photographer,” I told Chaz.

“Well, he can be a little overbearing, but he takes amazing photos,” Chaz said.

“He wants me to start taking my clothes off.”

“I’ll be right there.”

I smiled because I wasn’t sure if he wanted to be there when I took my clothes off or if he just didn’t want Scotty to get his grabby hands on me. I was fine with whatever reason got him to the park so I could spend time with him. We’d talked on the phone several nights, but hadn’t spent any alone time together since the night I showed up on his doorstep.

Chaz showed up in twelve minutes, not twenty. He looked a bit harried, and I wondered what he’d been doing when I called him. “I’m here to save your virtue,” he declared humorously.

“You’re just in time to rub oil all over my chest,” I said jokingly.

Chaz shook his head. “You’ll have pet fur stuck all over you.”

“I’m pretty hairy as it is,” I told him.

“Yeah?” he asked curiously.

I remembered his remark about liking a guy who kept things tidy below the belt and I didn’t want to scare him off. “Some places anyway,” I replied coyly. I wanted him to be curious and want to explore my body for himself rather than bluntly tell him. From the look on his face, Chaz was mentally peeling my clothes off right there in the parking lot. Fuck, if I didn’t want to encourage him to do just that. My body started responding to the idea and I had to pull my mind out of the gutter before we gave Scotty a totally different idea for his calendar photoshoot.

“Are you really going to take your clothes off for the calendar?” Chaz asked me.

“Would you think less of me if I did?” I asked. “I don’t want people looking at me and picturing me without my clothes.”