JC stepped out of the hotel elevator in black joggers and a plain white undershirt. The photoshoot was at the hotel, so he knew he could be comfortable, especially since he’d be changing anyway. The photographer had been setting up since noon, but the photos did not begin until 2 and JC’s time slot was at 4. 

“Ah, Mr. Chasez,” the artistic director and lead photographer Arthur greeted JC as the artist-producer walked into the cavernous ballroom set up with designated areas for wardrobe, hair and makeup and, of course, photos. They looked like little towns throughout the space.

He directed JC to wardrobe where the assistant was handing Carrie Underwood the gold sequin pantsuit she would be wearing.

“Hey, JC!” Carrie said cheerfully. “I had so much fun in the studio this week. Thanks for making all this happen.”

“Of course! This has been a great experience, and y’all are a dream group,” he smiled back.

“Well, I’ll let you get ready. See you in a little bit for the group shot.”

JC smiled back and nodded as he directed his attention to Yvonne, the petite woman with a pixie cut who was thumbing through the clothing rack.

“Here ya go, honey,” she said with a mousy voice. She handed him a pair of dark wash jeans and a hot pink button-down shirt with a blazer. The shirt had detailed stitching along either side of the buttons.

“Looks good. That’s definitely pink,” he said with a laugh. “Now, where do I need to go next?” He looked around the room for his next stop.

“They have a changing area right over there,” she said, pointing to a few popup teepee-like structures behind him.

Nodding, JC headed to the area he’d been directed and began changing in his assigned tent. Pulling his shirt off, he took a second to look at himself in the full-length mirror, acknowledging the payoff of his hard work in the gym over the last couple weeks. His abs, while not a defined six-pack like they once were, were tight and strong, and his arms were certainly more toned.

He looked at the completed outfit in the mirror before walking out, making sure everything was straight. He was told the look was “smart casual,” so he left the shirt untucked and left the top three or so buttons of the shirt undone.

As he approached the next person, he noticed her eyes get big, but wasn’t sure if it was good or bad.

“Wow,” Erin, the stylist on site gesturing with her hands at the vision of the man standing in front of her. “I’ve got nothing to fix.”

JC smiled shyly back to her. She was cute, about 5’8” with shoulder length dark brown hair and piercing green eyes. He let out a shallow laugh, looking down at himself a little embarrassed. “Wow, OK then. I guess I haven’t completely forgotten how to clean up for a photo.” He adjusted his jacket and smiled again.

The last stop before the camera was hair and makeup.

“Don’t worry, I’m only putting some foundation on that will mimic your natural skin tone, but make you look less shiny under all those lights,” the makeup artist Lydia said.

“Alright,” he said a little hesitantly as he sat down in the director-style chair she gestured to. “I trust you. It can’t be worse than being painted gold head to toe.”

She laughed as she spritzed his face with moisturizing spray. It didn’t take but 10 minutes for her to apply the loose powder and put some mousse in his hair.

JC waited for Ne-Yo to finish his individual shot and then stepped onto the fabric as the lights switched off and on again to reset.

“I’m going to have you sit in this chair,” Arthur said as a couple assistants were moving an ornate, weathered cream-colored chair in front of the dark watercolor backdrop.

JC nodded. “How do you want me to sit? Just regular? Or, well, you tell me what to do.”

“Sit on the edge and lean forward toward me with your elbows resting on your knees.” … “Perfect. Now let your hands hang there.” … “Yes, just like that. Hold that.”

After a few flashes in that position, Arthur gave JC more direction. “Now, lean back in the chair like it’s a lounger almost.” … “OK angle yourself a little more. … Good. Now, I want you to put your left arm on this arm of the chair and rest that hand against your cheek.” … “Just like that, yes. And let your other arm stretch out over the other arm of the chair.” … “That’s it. Perfect. OK, don’t move; I’m going to get up a little higher.” Shuffling over a stool, Arthur stepped up to where he was a few feet above JC’s head and angled his camera down as JC stared directly into the lens as Arthur’s camera fired away.

“Got it. Let’s see. I think that might be the one.”

JC got up and looked at the raw photos popping up on Arthur’s computer. “I love it, man,” shaking his hand.

The last photo of the day was a group shot with all eight artists. The reason they chose the hotel for the photoshoot was because all the artists were already there, so it did not matter how long the shoot ran or anyone being spotted.

The entire time JC was being positioned for the photo, he felt like he was being watched. Looking around, he noticed Erin staring at him.

Shit, her eyes are mesmerizing, he thought to himself, shaking the thought to keep himself in check.

After about 20 minutes, they finished all the photos for the day, and JC went back through the steps, changing back into his joggers and T-shirt.

Erin took JC’s clothes from him. “Check your back pocket,” she whispered so only he could hear her.

A confused and nervous look spread across his face.

“Just look,” she replied with a smirk.

Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a card. “Erin Stark, hair and makeup” it read with her business address and phone number. “Call me” was written next to the cell phone number she had scribbled onto the card.

While JC was studying the card, Erin had turned around to collect Beyoncé’s outfit. Erin turned her head slightly and gave JC a soft smile as he nodded back.

JC and a few other artists grabbed dinner together in the hotel before they all retired to their rooms. JC spent his time finishing packing up his suitcase. With nothing else to distract him, he sat on the edge of the hotel bed, reading the card over and over as if it had an unbroken code on it. Did he call her? Should he call her? They had finished with all the photos for the project, so professionalism didn’t come into play. He looked at the clock. It was almost 9:30. He needed to decide.

Oh, what the hell, he thought. It had been a couple months since he was last intimate with a woman, and he missed that womanly touch. It wasn’t his intention, just the side effect of a busy schedule, but he had recently done the math.

“Hello?” Erin answered on the third ring.

“Hey,” JC said, immediately regretting but not changing his decision. “What are you up to?”

“Was just sitting here, hoping you’d call.”

“Well, here I am.”

“Here you are. Wanna grab some drinks and have some fun?”

“Let’s do it,” he said. “I had the mini fridge stocked. Come on up. Room 346.”

“Be there soon,” she said, her smile evident.

Less than five minutes later, JC heard a knock on the door and, opening it, saw Erin standing there in a pair of dark wash ultra-low-rise jeans and a flowy white crop top.

She did not come to play, he thought to himself, biting his bottom lip. Out loud, he said, “Damn,” as he opened the door wider and stepped out of the way for her to enter the room.

While she had changed, JC still had on his same joggers and T-shirt combination.

“So, what can I make you,” he asked as he moved over to the mini fridge.

“Got stuff for a screwdriver?”

JC shuddered at the way she said the drink. He was definitely going to regret this tomorrow, but he was going to enjoy himself tonight.

Mixing the drink, he handed her the glass, as he poured himself a glass of the bottle of complimentary merlot the record label had gifted each of the artists in their welcome bag. All the artists had agreed that whatever monetary payment they would normally receive for the song would be donated to the nonprofits and lobbyists they were supporting. So, instead, they each received a “swag bag” of sorts from the label.

“Well, cheers,” he said, holding up his glass in her direction.

“Cheers.”

After a bit of small talk and chatting about the photoshoot, Erin broke the seal. “You looked fucking hot in that outfit.”

JC almost spit out the wine in his mouth so caught off guard. Choking the wine down as it burned more than it should, he said, “Well, thanks. I was feeling myself a bit today for sure. And don’t think I didn’t see you taking notice.”

He winked at her and caught her gaze. Eyes locked, it was mere moments before the pair was in the midst of a series of deep kisses. As their tongues took turns exploring each other’s mouth, they exchanged moans as the tension had been building inside each of them since the shoot ended. Still sitting on the ground where they had been drinking, JC started to stand, bringing Erin to her feet with him, not once losing contact with her lips. He wrapped his arms tighter around her as his hands made their way to her hair.

Erin took her time feeling his back muscles move with his arm movements before her hands reached under the bottom of his shirt to feel the skin of his lower back before moving them around to his abs. She felt the muscles contract under her fingers at the surprise touch. As JC pulled her closer, she could feel his need against her leg and let a groan escape into his mouth as they shifted and she felt the pressure move closer to her center.

JC broke their lip lock long enough to rip his shirt off, fully revealing the body he had worked so hard on for the last few weeks.

Erin had readied herself for this, but nothing could have prepared her for the amazing specimen of a man standing in front of her as she just stared. “Come on, don’t let me be alone,” JC said with a smirk as he reached for the straps of Erin’s crop top. In one swift movement, she pulled the loose-fitting top over her head, revealing what JC had suspected: She had come prepared, skipping the bra.

Now it was JC’s turn to growl as he turned Erin around and wrapped his arms around her from behind, moving his mouth to her neck, gently sucking and kissing. Erin flinched a little as she felt him poke against her, and she guided his hands from her waist and stomach up to her breasts. She sucked in a sharp breath as she felt his soft, strong hands cup her breasts, rubbing each nipple with his thumb.

She leaned her head back into his chest in pure pleasure and ran her hands down the front of his thighs. As her hands made their way back up, JC turned her back around and started to unbutton her jeans, which she took as her invitation to grab at the waistband of his joggers. In no time, they were standing in front of each other completely naked. JC took a moment to admire this woman standing in front of him. This woman who he had only met five hours earlier. His lips crashed onto hers again, as he guided them over to the bed.

As she hit the edge, she laid down with JC following on top of her.

“Give it to me,” she instructed, almost breathless as JC’s lips had spent time on her mouth, neck, breasts and stomach.

That was all he needed to hear. Guiding himself in, they found a rhythm as the sound of skin hitting skin and grunts echoed in the room. Erin’s moans grew louder and JC stifled them with his mouth as he kept up his pace. “Shhh,” he whispered on her mouth. “Do I need to slow down, mama?”

“Oh God, no!” she moaned back. “I want it all.”

JC quickened his pace a little, getting deeper with each thrust.

“Oh! Oh! Oh God! Oh JC!” Erin started to yell as JC’s head started to spin also.

Their hearts were racing and their breaths got faster and shallower as they both felt the waves crash over them.

JC collapsed onto Erin before rolling over onto his back beside her, their chests rising and falling in unison with each other.

“Oh fuck,” he breathed out.

Erin laughed. “My thoughts exactly,” as she turned her gaze from the ceiling to JC.

They kissed a little more, softer than before, as they came down from their sex-induced high. Before long, they were both asleep in those same positions, their feet still hanging off the side of the bed.

When JC woke up at 8:30 the next morning to the sun shining through the crack in the curtains, he saw Erin was gone. A note on the desk read: “Thanks for a great night. Call next time you’re in NYC,” with a heart.

Well, at last we both understood what last night was, he thought as he continued on to the bathroom to get a shower. He didn’t exactly care for one-night stands anymore, but he couldn’t deny how good it felt to be with a woman again.

It was Sunday, his last day in New York before taking the short trip to DC for a few days. He met Max for a few quick tweaks and to let Stevie Wonder hear the finished song. With the verbal thumbs up from the man himself, JC and Max closed out the record, calling it done.

From the studio, JC made his way to Central Park to meet Lance for lunch at Tavern on the Green.

“So you’re going to see this girl after you hooked up with another girl last night?” Lance asked.

“It’s not like that, man. I told you, Allyson and I are just friends, that’s it. And last night was just that, last night.”

“Whatever you say.”

“So what’s the deal with you,” JC asked, flipping the conversation. “Where’s Ben, huh?”

“He had a client to take care of this morning, thank you very much,” Lance responded with a defensive smirk.

“Oh OK, so he’s earning the big bucks in the relationship, now?” JC teased.

“Shut up,” Lance laughed. “Do you know what you’re going to order yet?”

They enjoyed a casual lunch with only a couple requests for photos, which they politely posed for. Neither of them minded the request, but honestly would have preferred they waited until after they finished their food.

“Well, I should get a move on. I’ve got to get my stuff from the hotel and head to DC.”

“Oh, yeah, yeah,” Lance said looking at his watch. “It was good to see you, man. Hey, and I might be moving out to LA soon, so be on the lookout for any good houses up in those Hills of yours.”

“You got it. Love ya, buddy. Take care,” JC said as the two embraced each other.

“Love ya, brother. Be safe.”

Bout to head your way, JC wrote to Allyson quickly.

      Yay! Im excited! he got a minute later.