Tina's Tricks Ch. 01

She was almost to the chair when Anna turned and spotted her.

"That was quick! WOW, Kate! You have gorgeous legs! You must really spend a lot of time at the gym. I wish my legs were that tone. You ever swim? You have a swimmer's body, well... except for your boobs I mean. I was a cheerleader, so my legs are kind of bulky compared. You have the lean ones I always wanted. I mean, I can see the muscles, but they aren't bulging like mine do. Sometimes I just hate my legs. They should make a stretching machine to make legs longer, you know? They can do a lot of stuff with medicine nowadays."

She guided Kate to the chair, and barely had her sitting before she continued.

"We'll do hair last. I've picked out some colors for you that will look great. I'm not sure what the sessions will be yet. Terry or Vance should come in and tell us pretty soon." She pulled Kate's blonde curls back and clipped them in a quick ponytail. "You already have really perfect features, so it makes my job easier. You must have your eyebrows sculpted or something. I feel like I'm plucking mine every other day, but they still feel bushy. I know there not, but it's like an eating disorder, where I cannot leave them alone even when everyone tells me they're great. Hey, you want a glass of wine or something? We always have that for the models. Or coffee... Tea?"

Something about Anna's constant talking was really helping Kate to relax. She felt like she already knew the vivacious woman.

"A glass of wine would be great," she smiled.

"Sure thing," Anna nodded. She went over to another table and glanced back. "White or red?"

"Red sounds good."

"That's my favorite too," she started as she grabbed the bottle and started pouring. "I only have white with fish, and I only eat fish in restaurants. Hate the smell it leaves in my apartment. Especially if you leave the pans in the sink for a while."

She held the drink to Kate and glanced down with a frown as the woman leaned forward to take it.

"Are you still wearing your underwear?" She was still frowning at the edge of the bra revealed by the robe.

Kate looked down where the thin robe had pulled apart on her chest. "Well, yeah."

"Oh, no. You've got to take that off or it will show lines on your skin. That's what the robe is for," she was pushing Kate forward as she spoke and felt around for the strap of the bra on her back. She quickly pinched in the practiced move all women know and felt the bra clasp come apart through the robe.

Kate grabbed her breasts to hold the bra in place as she felt the tension give. Her wine sloshed in the glass but didn't spill.

"Seriously! That's why I had you change." She was reaching into the arm of the robe and quickly tugged the bra out enough to slip the shoulder strap over the elbow of the woman's arm. "Panties too?"

Setting the glass of wine down on the table with her free hand, Kate nodded.

"They've got to go too."

"But, I'm not posing naked, Anna," she announced, half fighting to slip her elbow back through the bra's strap.

"Of course not, silly! The underwear you'll wear will match the outfit your modeling." As Kate stopped struggling, Anna deftly slid the strap over her hand and helped remove the bra through the other sleeve. "They always have the sexiest underwear. I wish I could redo my wardrobe from what some of you guys get to wear. But, you'll end up taking them home for sure."

"Taking them...?"

"Yeah, all of the underwear is brand new. I know because I have to cut the tags off them. The models get to keep the underwear and bras they wear because no other model would be willing to wear them. Isn't that stupid? I mean, it's not like you're lactating or anything, and I can wash the damned things. Still, it's really rare that someone leaves them after. Here, stand up..."

She took Kate's hands and pulled her to her feet.

Kate froze as the brunette reached down and bent at the knees to slip her hands up under her robe. Before she could react, the woman had grabbed both sides of her panties at the hip and tugged them down to her knees where she dropped them.

"Oh, good! You shave."

Kate blushed and tugged the robe back together over the front of her thighs where it had separated.

As Anna straightened and nudged Kate back into the chair, she continued. "There was a model once that didn't and it showed right through the underwear and gown she was wearing. You know, that really black bushy hair down there some girls have? It was so obvious that Vance made her go and trim it way down before he would continue. I really like yours though. That little patch of hair you left up high looks really hot on you, especially on that little strip of white skin. Your bikini must be one of the smallest ever to have tan lines like that. Is it a Wet Weasel? I always shave myself smooth like that too, but I don't leave anything. I just love how sexy it makes me feel, don't you? Something about walking around..."

Still holding the robe together on her lap with one hand, Kate lifted her other and took the glass of wine from the table. The glass was large and three quarters full, but she thought it was a little more dry than she preferred once she finished gulping it down. She set the empty glass back on the table.

Anna continued to chatter away, occasionally asking questions before rolling on to a new topic. She started with a very light foundation and then focused on Kate's eyes. Dark eyeliner, a lighter eye shadow, perfect mascara, and then a light blending underneath and around left Kate's green eyes astoundingly vivid. A little blush and a hint of more shadow just under the jaw and beneath her cheekbones and then Anna stepped back.

"That's one of the easiest make-up sessions I've ever had to do. Oh, you want some more wine?"

Kate nodded.

Anna smiled and turned to the wine table as she continued. "Usually takes me about twenty minutes to half an hour to get everything right, but you just have perfect skin. Seems like most beautiful women like you have a tiny scar at the temple, you ever notice that? I couldn't find one on you, and I looked for it. Wish I had skin like yours. Heck, I'd even settle for... Oh, hey Terry!"

"Hi, Anna. This must be Katrina Thomas?"

Kate watched the man approach from the mirror and gripped her robe a little tighter on her lap. She knew he would be able to see her nipples through the sheerness of the robe, and took a breath to hide her embarrassment.

"It's Kate," Anna answered. "Isn't she just gorgeous? I was just telling her she was my fastest make-up session ever. I haven't done her tan lines yet, but I'm not sure what she'll be modeling."

The man seemed to ignore the brunette, his eyes staring into Kate's in the mirror.

"Hi, Kate," he smiled, stepping beside her and shaking her hand.

"I'm Terry, and Vance will be your photographer today. Are you excited?" His voice was very soothing and professional.

"I'm nervous," she admitted with a smile as she looked up at him.

"There's nothing to be nervous about, Kate." He looked back into the mirror at her, as though he was judging a painting instead of her. "You are quite beautiful and the camera will just love you." He stared for a minute more before turning back to her.

"So, we have a couple of shoots for you to do tonight. Both are for romance novels, but the first will be harder because of wardrobe. It's set in the 1800's and we had to have a custom dress made. You are much more buxom than we were expecting, but fortunately for us the main character is a farm girl who is brought into high society so the dress is pretty simple and not some hoopskirt and corset monstrosity."

Kate nodded, trying to revise the image of herself in an elaborate old-fashioned dress she first imagined but wasn't sure how a farm girl dressed.

"The second shoot is more of a steamy romance. I'm still not sure what I want to do with that one, but Vance - he's the other owner of this studio - said he had some ideas."

"Oh, okay," Kate answered. "So what do you need me to do?"

"Anna here will get you dressed and fitted and then she'll touch up any skin blemishes or make any cosmetic enhancements as needed. A lot can be done with digital picture editing after they are taken, but we've found it's much easier and more cost effective to have it done naturally without editing the picture. The only time we really have to adjust the pictures directly is when there are reflections in the eye that are visible in close shots."

He turned to the brunette who was idly toying with a cosmetic brush while she listened.

"Would you please go and get the costume from the wardrobe room, Anna? It just came in yesterday, so it should be on the front rack."

She nodded with a grin and turned to skip away to the far door. Kate watched her bounce off and through the door with a smile on her lips.

Terry stepped over to the wine counter and quickly popped the cap of the vial open with his thumb. The clear liquid mixed with the red wine instantly as he replaced the cap. His other hand was making a show of re-corking the wine as he slipped the vial into his pocket.

He swirled the drugged glass with his hand as he moved the bottle of wine back with his other and then turned to face her.

"Kate," he said handing her the glass. "If you would?" He held out his hand and let her take it as she stood. He led her back toward the fitting room as Anna closed the wardrobe door and skipped over to join them, a garment bag held over one arm.

"Let me know when she's ready, Anna?"

"You bet, Terry!" she sang back as she bumped the blonde into the dressing room with her hip and then giggled as Kate struggled to keep her wine from spilling.

Terry turned away, unable to hide his leering smile as he glanced up at the security camera and winked. Just in case Tina missed it, he gave the okay sign as he walked through the door to the studio.

"All righty," Anna said as she shut the door behind her and slid the bolt to lock it. "Let's see what we have here." She hung the hanger poking through the top of the wardrobe bag on the center hook and unzipped the bag to slide it down and away.

The dress was brown and looked almost like a burlap bag. It had large arm holes cut into the fabric on the sides with frayed edges and pieces of individual fibers that hung like rough uneven fringe. It was fairly long, but the bottom was cut unevenly and frayed like the arms. A long slit on one side ran from the bottom edge up to nearly the arm hole. The slit was wedge cut so that it gaped open at the bottom and tapered up to its peak.

The dress was clipped to the hanger with little clothespins at the sleeve holes, and when Anna unclipped one, it dropped off the end to swing by the other clip. A little plastic bag of brown colored safety pins fell to the floor which Anna picked up and re-pinned to the hanger.

"Well, not much to look at, eh? You'll look like a goddess in rags." She glanced at Kate as the woman tipped her glass up and chugged its contents. "Here," she said as she took the empty glass away from her and set it on the bench. "Let's see how it looks on you."

Kate ran her tongue over her lips. The wine was sweet, reminding her of honey as she nodded and nervously untied her robe. She could feel the courage from her first glass and knew the second would help get rid of the butterflies in her tummy.

"Oh, wow!" Anna sighed as Kate opened the robe and slipped it from her shoulders to fall down her back to the floor. "You have a fantastic body!" She turned away and held the neck of the dress, not wanting to embarrass the woman as she bent to pick up the robe at her feet.

Anna waited until Kate slipped the robe over a hook before she unpinned the clothespin and held the dress out. Using both hands, she bunched up the fabric to the bottom hole and then lifted it to let it fall over the nude woman's head and torso.

Kate lifted her arms and easily found the holes for them to slide through. Once her head was through the top, Anna released the dress to let it fall naturally around her waist and legs.

"Dang," Anna whispered. "Okay, honestly. I'm pretty fucking jealous right now," she said with a sheepish grin as she stepped back to admire the woman. When she lifted her eyes and met the deep green within the woman's, she blushed. "I mean, I knew you were pretty, but... Really? Your body puts pretty much every model I've worked with to shame. You don't have any tan lines on your shoulders, but you do on your boobs? You must pull the straps down."

One of Kate's breasts was completely exposed through the wide neckline, and Anna lifted and adjusted the dress until it was covered. The arm holes stretched down to almost the waist, gaping wide enough to show the entire profile of either breast when she moved. The split on the one side started over her hip and opened up to completely expose the full hip and thigh of her leg while the other side fell only a couple of inches above the knee.

"It's a little scratchy," Kate said as she admired herself in the mirror. "And a little more revealing than I expected."

"Yeah, it's pretty sexy for something that looks so cheap. But, you know how those covers look. I never buy a book unless there's a hot guy with he shirt open on the front. Or better yet, just wearing a loincloth. They say don't buy a book by its cover, but I have yet to find a book with an almost naked hunk on the front that I haven't liked." She had pulled a handful of safety pins from the bag on the hanger and was pinching pleats in the dress and pinning them to adjust the fit as she talked. The brown pins matched the dress surprisingly closely.

"I remember this one book I got because it had a guys half-bared butt on the cover. I didn't realize it was erotica at the time, but it wasn't my kind of erotica. The story was about a girl that stalked this guy and pretty much slept with all his friends to finally get with him. Turned out he was gay and didn't want her the same way. A little disappointing, but there were some pretty steamy scenes in it! I don't usually pick out erotica. Only a few times, really. Neither of my boyfriends likes to read much, but when I'm alone I like to."

The itching was starting to get to Kate. It seemed like every time Anna shifted the fabric, her skin got warm and tingly. And the fabric was constantly being moved. It wouldn't have been so bad if the brunette had just worked on one place until it was correct. She kept circling, pulling and rubbing, pinching and pinning in different areas all over her body. Then, she'd go back and revisit with the little tugs and adjustments to re-pin it differently. Kate's skin was on fire!

"There," Anna finally ended and stepped back toward the door to admire. "What do you think?"

Kate looked at her reflection and smiled. The dress was hung over the shoulder on the same side as the split over the hip. It helped raise the neckline enough that only the top half of her breasts were exposed and was snug beneath to really show off her curves. The waist was pinned tight as well, which revealed more of her leg and hip on the one side, but kept it from slipping to reveal more when she twisted. For an ugly brown sack dress, it actually looked pretty good!

"Now, let's go do your hair." Anna took her hand and skipped and bounced them over to the make-up station.

"Alright, what kind of hair does a farm girl wear? Has to be one of those fluffy full jobs that romance novels have, like it's always lifted by that unseen breeze of love and lust..." She started teasing the blonde hair with her fingers as she pulled the brush off the table and went to work.

Once she was finished, Kate couldn't help but smile at herself in the mirror. She really did look like a wanton damsel the way Anna made her hair cascade down and to the side. It really did look like it was lifted by the breeze, yet it wasn't full of hairspray and remained soft.

"Okay, I'll go let them know you're ready." She turned to leave but quickly glanced back. "Hey, you want another glass of wine or something?"

"Sure, that sounds really nice, Anna. I don't usually drink more than a couple, but this is all new to me and I'm still a little nervous."

Anna skipped over to the wine counter. "Really? You seem really relaxed now. Just kind of mellow and smiling at yourself like that. Although," she grinned as finished pouring and came back with the full glass. "Your headlights are on high beams right now." She giggled as Kate's eyes dropped in the reflection and spotted the obvious bumps of her erect nipples under the coarse fabric. She giggled again when the blonde's cheeks colored in embarrassment but she didn't cover up.

"Relax, Kate. That's really common. Most models seem to get more than a little excited when it comes time to actually do the shoot. I've even had to tape down a couple when the shoots were for family products. Having those puppies poking out a little will just sell the book better, right? Okay, I'll let them know."

Anna was only gone for a minute when Terry came back with her.

"Okay, let's see what we have to work with," he said as he held out his hands to help Kate to her feet. "Nice," he said as he slowly turned her by the arms. He tugged the fabric a little at the arm and it shifted a bit across her breasts. "Does it itch?"

"A little at first," she admitted, feeling the tingles around her nipples. "I'm getting used to it now."

He frowned slightly, but quickly smiled. "Alright then, let's get started."

He led her into the studio and she was surprised to see how elaborate it was. The bed in the center was a four post old-fashioned queen size with a canopy on top. The linens were white and inviting, almost like a storybook. She laughed when she realized that's what it was supposed to be. White silk scarves hung down from each heavy post and draped to the floor, softening the frame and making it feminine and attractive. There were black canvas sheets hanging from the two story ceiling by chains on three sides, partially boxing it in and making it the sole focus.

"This is Vance, my partner and your photographer today," Terry introduced.

The large black man stopped adjusting his camera and let it hang from the band around his neck as he stepped forward. She held out her hand and was enclosed completely in his warm grip. His white teeth showed brightly as he smiled and she returned the smile easily as he held her hand. His t-shirt did nothing to hide the muscles that rippled and bulged across his chest, nor the obvious strength within his arms. But, his hold on her hand was warm, and firm, and gentle.

"Hi, Miss Thomas," he said. "I know this is your first time as a model, so please let me know if there is anything that I can do to make you more comfortable."

She felt charmed by his kind smile and the calm tone of his voice. "It's Mrs. Thomas," she said automatically. "But, please call me Kate."

"Kate," he nodded without moving his eyes from hers. He released her hand and seemed to shake himself back into the present. "Just let me direct you at first, and then once you get comfortable you can go with the flow. The hardest part is the first twenty minutes or so, when you feel awkward and don't know what you should be doing. Once you loosen up a bit, it's like nature takes over and you will start posing yourself. Those are always the best photos for this kind of shoot."

She nodded and he stepped back to check another camera on the table nearby.

"Anna will be helping you pose. She has been doing this for years and knows just what to do to get the right shots. Let her guide you around to get just what Vance is looking for and this will be a perfect shoot."

Anna bubbled. "I'll also be here for any touch up, wardrobe, or hair fixing. Just consider me your personal assistant slavegirl."