The studio was quiet as I clicked through that afternoon’s images. It was getting late, but I didn’t mind as the studio was technically attached to my house. It wasn’t at all uncommon for me to spend almost whole days here before retiring to bed. I loved my studio, anyway. Over the years I had been able to build up an impressive space from what was originally a guest house. As my business grew and grew, and my reputation spread, this space had become the go-to destination for aspiring and experienced models in my area.

Today’s shoot was no model, however. A bored housewife booked a boudoir shoot as a birthday gift to her husband. I loved these. Models were great and It’s wonderful to work with a pro. However it was mostly business-like and could get formulaic. They know what they want, they know how to work with light and its open and shut. Sometimes I needed something to spice things up. Boudoir shoots were almost exclusively partners who had never been in front of a camera like this before, and certainly not nude or near-nude. Taking a bundle of nerves afraid to show a little shoulder and turning them into someone who would spread eagle in front a lens was a rush.

Today’s model was no exception. Trish was a 40-year-old stay at home mom who was hoping to put a little kick back into the bedroom with her workaholic husband. Although shy, she had no reason to be. All those hours to herself left her dedicated to the gym. Her body was tight and toned, with sexy arms and muscled abs when she was angled right. Despite the obvious pride in her body, she was really timid. She had never been nude in front of the camera, and even admitted to avoiding the shower at the gym for fear of being seen. She had helped herself to the bottle of wine I always have to the side in case anyone needs “liquid courage,” and within an hour she was suggesting new ways to shoot her ass to capture her pretty little slit between the cheeks. She went from shy girl to booking a follow-up session for a chance to “get more hardcore.” I am not sure what she had in mind, but it either means bringing in a partner or getting into some kinky stuff. I really, really love my job.

I was startled when my phone started buzzing on the desk. I looked over to the clock on the wall and was surprised to find that I got lost in the work and it was really late. Who would be calling me at 1AM on a Thursday? Caller ID showed it was my buddy Steve. He was the kind of friend that you knew forever, and maybe were extremely close with for a time, but drifted apart and only saw each other a couple of times a year. Steve starting his family was what put the breaks on our friendship, and things only got some complicated when his wife left him to run away to Mexico with someone she barely knew.

“Steve? What’s up?”

He sounded apologetic, but still a little urgent. “Hey Jeff, sorry for the late hour. Did I wake you?”

“No, I was up working, actually. You did me a favor. I didn’t even realize how late it was and would have stayed in my studio for hours more if it wasn’t for your call.”

Steve let out a forced laugh, like he was just getting through this part of the conversation until he could say why he actually called. “Good, good. Hey man, I need a favor. I know, I know it’s real shitty to call up and ask for favors, but I’m in a bind.”

He was right about the shitty part. If he and I hadn’t had a history where I knew he was a good guy, I’d think he was an asshole. This wasn’t the first favor I’d done for him, albeit the last time it wasn’t so urgent. It was also a hazard of my job. Everyone wanted a free photo session at one point or another. They don’t realize that it’s an enormous amount of work they are asking for. From lighting, to shooting, to working with models, to editing.

I sighed internally. “No, man. I get it. What’s up?”

“Remember Emily?”

“Yea, of course. Your daughter.” That was his last favor. Emily was his kid and several years ago he asked if I would shoot her headshots for modeling and acting. Adorable kid and honestly perfect for it. Bright red hair, expressive eyes, freckle face. She stood out in a way that media generally loves. “How’s she doing?”

“Uh, great. Yea, great. She actually booked a few gigs with those pictures you took and she always remembered having a great time in your studio. You gave her a big leg-up when she was little. You can’t buy the confidence she got from working with you.”

‘I mean, you could buy it ... you just didn’t have to because you asked for it for free,’ I thought to myself.

“Oh, I’m so glad she had a good time and that it worked out for her.”

“Yea, yea. Thanks again. But ... and I hate to do this...”

Here it comes.

“Would you mind letting us use your studio again and shooting her?”

“Steve, uh. I don’t know. Let me check my schedule and see if there’s like a slow period of something I can squeeze you in, but it might be a while.” While I did do discounted or free shoots when I wasn’t crazily booked, I tried to have it be a one time thing for people just getting started or struggling in some way.

Steve’s tone got serious for a bit. “Jeff, I really don’t mean to be that guy, but we kind of need to do this tomorrow. Or at least have a finished product by the middle of next week.”

“Tomorrow! Finished next week?! Steve, what the hell?”

“I know, I know it’s a lot. But it’s an important shoot for a client that’s offering a lot of money and Emily only trusts you with it.”

I was touched that she had such a good experience with me, and remembered me after all these years. She was 18 now so it means it had been about 8 years since I helped them out. Part of me thought Steve was bullshitting though just to get the favor.

“Alright, fine,” I said, the resignation clear in my voice. I moved straight into the logistics. “But it has to be tomorrow, early. I don’t know how long we will need and obviously I need time for editing. You’ll have to handle your own makeup and dress as the girl I normally use would kill me if I called her to come on a weekend.”

“Absolutely. Thanks so much. You’re a lifesaver. We’ll be there first thing in the morning. And, I know last time you did it for free, which I really appreciated. I promise you’ll get paid this time. It’s a big contract.”

I rolled my eyes, but he obviously couldn’t see that. “OK, that’d be great. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, about to hang up.

“Wait, wait,” Steve blurted out. “I forgot to mention, we need a video set up too. The client wants behind the scenes stuff.”

This fucking guy. I just hung up the phone.

That night I spent about an hour or so preparing the studio for the next morning. After only a few hours of sleep, I finished up the prep in the morning and reviewed our last photoshoot. It was buried on a now ancient hard drive. I couldn’t help but smile looking over the photos. Emily was an adorable kid and it didn’t surprise me they were able to get some work from our shoot. She beamed brightly at the camera and was easy to direct. Hopefully she’ll be just as easy to manage this time. When Steve and I would grab a drink he would just briefly tell me about her and share a picture or two, so I didn’t really get a sense of what she was like now. 8 years is a long time for a kid.

I took a long sip of my steaming coffee while I looked over the set-up. Years of practice made me an expert at adjusting lights and setting out equipment to be ready at a moments notice. Soon enough, there was a knock at the studio door. I had told Steve he could just come right back to the studio, instead of through the main house.

I opened the door and was surprised to see only one person there. Piercing blue eyes surrounded by porcelain white, lightly freckled skin stared up at me. Her angelic face was framed by wavy red hair. Her lips were in a big gorgeous smile that showed off porcelain teeth.

“Hi Jeff!,” she said excitedly.

“Emily?”

“Yea, of course,” she laughed. “Who else would it be? I’m so excited to see you!”

I was taken aback. Emily had turned into one of the most stunning girls I’d ever seen. Maybe I was too used to bored, older housewives and not nubile young adults. This wasn’t true though, I knew. I had plenty of young models come through here. She was just that good looking.

“Hi! It’s great to see you too. You’d dad mentioned you’ve been doing really well with the modeling jobs,” I offered back, moving to the side to let her in.

She blushed a bit, “Yea. I had some success with commercial jobs as a young kid. And now my more serious modeling has started to take off too. All thanks to you.” She was walking in and looking at the space as she said it.

“Oh, I don’t need any credit,” I said. I looked back outside. “Where’s your dad?” I was a bit annoyed to not see him as I was going to rely on him to fetch me this or that during the shoot. Things my sometimes assistant would take care of usually.

“Oh, he sent me in first. He forgot something at home, but figured I could get settled with you before he gets back.”

“Well make yourself at home,” I said amiably. No need to punish the poor girl for having a fuck-up for a dad. “Want anything? Coffee ... Juice?”

She shot me a look. “Juice? Jeff you are not going to be treating me like a little kid all day, are you? I’m 18 now- not that little kid you shot before.”

I laughed. And she was right. She was far from that little kid doing silly poses and jumping around my studio. While she walked to put her stuff down, I couldn’t help but check her out a little. She was wearing some short jean shorts that showed off her long, smooth legs and hugged her shapely ass. She wasn’t very tall, but proportioned in a way that made her legs look longer than they actually were. Her top was an oversized shirt, cut to the waist, and sleeves cut-off to make an oversized sleeve hole - almost like a lost tank top. When she moved you caught sight of a lacy bra underneath and what looked like good-sized tits. Maybe a C-cup. Doing this work for as long as I have makes you really good at sizing people up and making out their best and worst features. So far, I couldn’t detect even the slightest flaw.

Emily made a little tour of the studio and found the door in the back.

She opened the door and shot me a questioning look.

“What’s this?”

I closed the distance between us, and chuckled a bit. In the room was a four-poster bed and other furnishings that made it look dreamy and inviting.

“Well, I’ve been known for the past few years for doing boudoir shoots. And those sometimes require a bed.”

She looked at me a little funny.

“I swear! It’s purely professional.”

She smiled a bit and walked in. “Oooh, what are these,” she said walking over to a clothing rack and fingering through the lingerie.

“Well, this helps anyone feel comfortable with options. Sometimes what they bring in from home doesn’t make them feel sexy enough.” Was it weird to be talking to her like this? Where was Steve?

Emily’s smile broadened. “These are so nice. They must feel great.” And without another word she lifted her shirt up over her head. She was turned away from me, so I got a good view of her slender back as she unhooked her bra.

“Umm ... well, I don’t know if that’s the kind of shoot we are doing today,” I started to protest.

“Oh, my dad knows the details. This is just for fun,” Emily said as she stripped off her shorts and panties. Confirming my earlier suspicious, her ass was delicious. Nice and round, but not huge. She was no PAWG model. As she moved, I could see glimpses of her breasts dancing. I wished I had a camera to capture this right now. It would have made such a good spread.

I am not a stranger to nudity, obviously. But there was something so hot about her just jumping in. Still, I had to keep professional. This was my friend’s daughter after all. I could have left, but ... I didn’t. Part of me justified it as perks of the job.

“Well, OK. But when your dad gets here, you’ll have to explain why you are wearing sexy lingerie in what looks like a real bedroom.”

Emily turned and was stunning in the sheer, lace frilled number she had picked out. Her nipples were hard and visible against the fabric. “What do you think?”

“What’s going on?” I heard a voice behind me say.

I turned to see Steve’s shadow framed in the doorway, duffle bag draped over his shoulder. “Jeff, are you trying to take advantage of my daughter?”

I stammered. “No, Steve. It’s not like that. She was just looking around. I didn’t...”

Jeff stepped toward me menacingly, getting far too close to my face. He hadn’t changed much over the years. He was a handsome guy, but a little rough. His skin was red as if from too much time in the sun, and he had a subtle beard. His shoulders told me he had been keeping up his regular exercise routine. Shit. Was I about to get my ass kicked? I should never have agreed to this favor.

Steve suddenly smile and slapped my shoulder in greeting. “Just fucking with you man.” He nodded toward his daughter behind me now. “She turned out to be a real hot piece of ass, didn’t she?” he said, with a air of fatherly approval.

“Daddy!” Emily cried out behind me. “That’s no way to talk about me.” After a pause however, she smiled. “But thank you.”

Before I could say anything, Steve walked past me to Emily. “I’m sorry I forgot the bag at home, sweetie. I brought the camera, and some ‘extras’ for you in case you need a pick me up.”

Emily leaned over and gave her dad a peck on the cheek. “Thank you, daddy.”

They both simultaneously turned to me, expectant looks on their faces. They were an odd site - This older man standing with his nearly nude daughter. “Well?” Steve finally said.

I could only stammer back. “Well what?”

Steve looked bothered. “Can we get started? You were the one stressing me about the time constraints after all.” He gave Emily a look that said, ‘Can you believe this asshole?’

I fumbled a bit, but then responded, “Yea, of course. Let’s head back to the studio and talk about the idea you want to get across with this shoot. You still haven’t given me any details.”

“I think we are actually good right here. Right honey?” Steve said.

“Yea, this is perfect,” Emily replied looking over at the bed.

“Yea, and maybe we even start with that little sheer number you have on already. Is that OK, Jeff? I assume the lingerie is for the models to play with?”

“You guys want me to shoot Emily wearing that on the bed?” I asked.

“Yea, of course. It’s perfect.” He turned to Emily. “Hop on the babe, baby. Let’s show him the kind of script you worked out last night.”

Emily dutifully got onto the bed and stretched herself out on her side. “Can we do this outfit later? I want to make sure we get it first in the outfit I brought before we branch out.”

She began to mime posing this way and that, including bending over and sticking her ass out at the camera. She was clearly having fun playing around. I was caught between my professional brain judging the angles and my dick’s brain that told me to get onto the bed with her and bury my face in her ass.

“I can start in the middle and do some posing, but eventually I’ll crawl over to the edge of the bed where you are shooting. And daddy will be covering all the angles with the video camera.” She crawled on all fours to the edge of the bed. “And I’ll start to unbuckle your belt while you shoot away with your camera. It’ll be so hot.”

“Wait, what?! Unbuckle my pants? What are you talking about?”

Emily smiled at me sweetly. “Well I can’t suck your dick through your jeans, can I? And dad told me you’ve got a pretty nice sized hog in there,” she joked, pointing at my crotch.

I looked over at Steve astonished.

He shrugged. “Sorry man. I didn’t think you’d mind me telling her that. I just remembered from that night in Austin a few years back that your dick was cut, straight and thick. Perfect for her little hands.”

Through my confusion a memory of Steve and I on a guys trip to Austin several years ago surfaced. Emily must have been with her mom and he and I got to chatting up some young girl at the bar. She ended up bringing us back to her dorm room where we fucked the loving shit out of her. This was probably in fact one of the other reasons Steve and I remained friends after all these years. He was a fantastic wingman. I knew anytime we went out, I was guaranteed to get laid.