You’re in the middle of another photo shoot, slipping into your usual routine—sultry gazes, practiced angles, each pose calculated to perfection. But today, something feels different. You can sense a familiar pair of eyes on you, lingering just a moment too long.

You glance over, expecting to catch Pierce, your notoriously serious co-model, lost in his own polished, professional bubble. Instead, you catch him staring, his expression softened in a way you’ve never seen. There’s a sly smirk on his lips—an expression so out of character for him that it almost stops you in your tracks.

“You look amazing in that dress,” he murmurs as the photographer adjusts the lighting. It’s just a polite compliment, something you’ve exchanged dozens of times before, but there’s something in his tone, a hidden weight in his words, that makes you pause. It feels personal, almost intimate.