Blushing, Blue Jeans, and Bloomers

"It's clever." Gwen conceded while she was distracted by the model squeezing into yoga pants.

Lloyd rooted around in his pocket and produced a $50 bill which he extended to the model. She palmed the money without comment and departed.

"You only pay them 50 DOLLARS?" Gwen looked aghast.

"Of course not. That's just the tip. I pay the agency $60 per hour. I'm not sure how much of that goes to their employee."

"How many hours?" Gwen raised her eyebrows.

"Usually about twelve."

"They get paid $720 per day? That's half a month of rent."

"Since you mention it, when can you pay your back rent?"

Gwen paused as if the wheels of a calculator spun in her mind. "I'd only need to work for you for three or four days."

"That's based on what the agency gets."

"That's what I would earn because I don't owe anything to an agency." Gwen looked calculating. "Plus, with tips, it would only be three days."

"Are you interested in modeling for me?"

"I don't know," Gwen looked at her feet. "I don't look like your other models. For one, they are each a foot taller than me."

"Nah, they're only six to eight inches taller. Plus, you're better proportioned than most of them. You have a better figure. It's all about the ratios."

"Now I feel like a slab of meat or a store mannequin." Gwen frowned.

"It doesn't matter," Lloyd assured, "I'm out of money at least until my tenants pay the rent."

"Can I pay my back rent with services?" Gwen's voice quavered.

"Listen. You should consider what you're asking. I photograph my models. Those photographs are sold, displayed, and sometimes posted online."

"That's right," Gwen mused. "I forgot about that for a minute just focusing on the dollar signs."

"Think about it and let me know tomorrow."

"No. I've thought about it, and you're right. I don't want my body displayed online. I shiver to think what might come from that! My brother said one of his friends got caught wanking to a picture of me ice skating with a little camel toe visible. It wasn't even a good picture. It was a fuzzy, black and white image buried in a small town newspaper's spread about the competition. I never looked at his friend the same way again."

"Hmm. That's sounds like 'projection' to me." Lloyd smirked. "And, I bet the back issues of the paper are online now."

"Oh. Yuck!. Don't even say that. My own brother!"

"It should make your next family gathering interesting. You'll always wonder."

"Thanks for that!" Gwen looked like she just sucked on an especially sour lemon.

"That settles it then. I repeat. When will you have the back rent?"

"I don't know." Gwen sounded concerned

Lloyd shrugged and turned back toward his room. "I have to cleanup before my limited stock of paint dries. I've got to conserve every penny."

Gwen lay on her futon to think. Her distraction almost made her late for work. When she stepped out of a hasty shower, she realized she hadn't brought her uniform into the bathroom with her. She could put her day clothes back on only to fetch her uniform and change again. She elected instead to make a topless dash from the bathroom to the living area and don the bustier. When Lloyd's door didn't open to catch her exposed, she sighed and looked thoughtful. It was impossible to tell if she was relieved or disappointed. Gwen grabbed her jacket to ward against the chill outside and then froze. She whispered, "Why didn't I just wear a towel from the bathroom?" She missed her usual bus but still arrived in time for her shift.

Gwen didn't see Lloyd again for a couple of days. She could tell he wasn't home because even though his bedroom door was closed, it wasn't locked. She fondled some of his belongings before looking guilty and slinking out of the room.

When Lloyd turned up for a dinner, Gwen asked, "Isn't there some way I can model for you without becoming a deposit in someone's spank bank?"

"Someone?" Lloyd smirked. "I think it might be more than one. I know it would be more than one."

"You know what I mean. Do you have to photograph it?"

"What is the point of my art if it is never displayed?"

"I mean - you would see it. Right?"

"Do you want me to see you naked? What about MY bank?"

"Your money bank or your spank bank?" Gwen quipped.

"Yes." Lloyd's face remained impassive. "And no. I can't afford time or materials for work that will never be seen."

"I'm worth it just for your own - um - pleasure." There was a pause. "Of creation I mean. Your own satisfaction." Another pause, "Creative expression, I mean."

Lloyd crinkled his face to digest Gwen's double entendre whether she intended her speech or not. "You're cute as a button," he conceded, "but I really can't afford it. I'm not kidding. The special paints I use are expensive. Whatever I use can't be replaced - until I collect more rent."

Gwen let the subject drop while serving spaghetti squash with a cinnamon and clove accented sauce. Between bites, she asked, "Where have you been? I haven't seen you around for a while."

Lloyd took another bite and swallowed before he explained, "I have a cabal of acquaintances in the local art scene. We're organizing a joint show to promote each other. Dianna, a photographer, shanghaied me to her studio an hour away from here. I had no way home until she deigned to drive me."

"Are you sleeping with her?" Gwen sounded surprised at herself for voicing the question.

"Who? Dianna? No. Her wife wouldn't like that, and I will never get on her wife's bad side. Even if she let me live, she'd display my penis as a trophy over her mantle."

Gwen frowned with an inscrutable expression.

The rest of the conversation regarded the weather, plans for the next few days, and if they should share a laundry load to conserve quarters for the machine. With Lloyd's schedule disrupted by Dianna, Gwen discovered him already in the bathroom behind a locked door when she needed to change for work. She stood for a moment poised to knock on the door but didn't. She stripped in the main room. She even dropped her panties and stood naked for a moment facing the bathroom as if considering something. Then, she pulled up her uniform spandex shorts. Going commando produced a prominent camel toe that she picked at before giving up. With the bustier on and a jacket wrapped around her waist, Gwen scampered off to work with a glance back at the closed bathroom door.

Gwen's therapy session the next day cancelled, so she was eating leftover squash when Lloyd emerged from his room and sauntered into the bathroom. He left the door cracked open, so Gwen wandered over to talk to him. She beheld is long shirtless torso as he leaned over the sink to shave.

"Do you need the bathroom? I'll be done in a jiffy," he offered out of the side of his mouth while he dragged a razor over the opposite cheek.

"No. I was just wondering what your plans are."

"I have a faucet to fix in 303." He shrugged. "Then, I need to interview some more models."

"I thought you didn't have money for models." Gwen's hands gripped her hips.

"This is for the show we're putting together. There isn't enough wall space to hang everybody's works, and the whole scheme will unravel if anyone feels slighted. One of the others suggested we hire models to display my work instead of hanging photos. I don't have any money for that, but they said I should interview some of my regulars anyway. If any are willing and available, maybe there's a way." He wiped his face on a towel. "I thought it was a waste of time, but Dianna wants to photograph the event including the models. I got to thinking, Dianna's shots of my work might grab the attention of a whole new set of buyers. She really sold me when she observed that buyers are vain, and pictures of the buyers themselves mingling with my models might jack up the sales. They'll want to hang those works for bragging rights."

Gwen retreated without comment, but when Lloyd sat beside her at the table, fully dressed, Gwen said, "Too bad the event will be photographed. I'd do it except I don't want the pictures taken."

"You're truly interested?" He studied her face and body language.

"I mean, maybe."

"The photos could be auctioned to buyers at the show. It's likely only the buyers and their friends would ever see them."

"Sure. Then, someone puts them on the Internet. Someone gives them to a museum where half the world traipses in and out ogling my body."

"Wouldn't that be great!" Lloyd grinned, "My pictures in a museum." When Gwen offered no reply, Lloyd shrugged and added, "You don't really want to do it anyway."

"Why do you say that?" Gwen cross examined.

"As flattered as I am that you think my work will be displayed in a museum, you make too big a deal about people seeing your body. You know my work. Most of the clods in the world would't even notice you're naked, and none of them would recognize you. Besides, so what if they did? You're way too prudish and self-important. You have a body that's just like half the bodies on the planet. It's not as if people haven't seen sexy naked women before. Hell, the Internet is saturated with women voluntarily displaying themselves. They post videos of themselves masturbating or giving blow jobs, and those are just the amateurs. Nobody is paying them to do it."

"You sound awfully familiar with Internet porn."

"That's the point. You're uptight about something so common that any and every sexually curious person can access it with a click of a button. I can't believe you'd seriously model for me."

Gwen looked stunned even though Lloyd never raised his voice or sounded scolding. It was matter of fact from him.

"Yah, but it's my body. It's different."

"Then we agree. You'll find some other way to repay the rent."

"I work half naked every night!" Gwen tried to score a point, "I'm not a prude."

"You're cute in that little uniform, but you're hardly half naked. In some ways, clothes that tease a glimpse of flesh are more tantalizing than the flesh."

"I," Gwen hesitated. "You think it's tantalizing?"

"You know it is." Lloyd's tone remained flat. "Your shorts accentuate the cutest little ass I've seen."

Gwen blushed. Her pale skin burned from her cheeks to the subtle rise of her breasts.

"I always wonder if you're wearing a thong or nothing at all because if those shorts were any tighter, I could count the freckles on your derriere."

Gwen's blush deepened. "And you call me a prude. I've worked a whole shift with no underwear. How about that, mister."

Lloyd didn't respond.

"I had to smooth out the camel toe every five minutes." Gwen stared at Lloyd to gauge reaction.

"Were the tips better that night?"

Gwen considered the question. "Maybe," she admitted.

"So you're going to model for me at the show," Lloyd stated.

Gwen's mouth hung slightly open. She looked like a deer in headlights. It was almost possible to read her thoughts: "When had she agreed to that?" Before she spoke, she closed her mouth and transformed her expression to neutrality. "For three month's rent." She held out her small hand to shake.

"No deal." Lloyd carried his plate to the sink and rinsed it.

Gwen followed and proposed, "Two months rent."

"Twice for three month's rent," Lloyd suggested.

"No deal." Lloyd's dejected roommate sulked to her futon.

"Why not?" He asked gently.

"I might - might - nerve myself up to do it once. I mean - that's what my twenties are for right? Stretch my boundaries - Expand my horizons - Do wild things I'll never do again just to have the memory. There's no way I'd do it twice."

"Then you shouldn't do it once," Lloyd recommended in his sensible voice. "I don't want to pressure you into anything. I already feel like I'm taking advantage of you over the back rent. You'll find some way to repay the rent. I'll find someplace else to live. There is no need for you to twist yourself in knots over this. I want to work with enthusiastic collaborators - not shrinking violets. Let's just drop the subject."

"No!" Gwen leapt to her feet from the futon. "No. The deal is two times for three month's rent." She extended her hand.

Lloyd enveloped Gwen's small paw in an expansive grip. "Deal." After a prolonged mutual silence, Lloyd asked, "What's for dessert? I'm still hungry."

Dianna turned out to be a credible stand-in for her namesake goddess. Dianna towered above crowds with her mocha-latte complexion, long straight black hair, and legs that could elevate an NBA star. Each of Dianna's arms were thicker than Gwen's thighs and more muscular too.

Gwen and Dianna met a day before the scheduled show. Lloyd and Dianna kibitzed about what to paint on the demure waif of a model. At one point, Dianna asked Gwen to strip to the waist. Lloyd joked, "You just want to see her tits." He didn't get a reply from either woman.

Gwen pulled her faded Darth Vader t-shirt over her head replicating a contortion she saw in a movie. She seldom wore a bra, and her breasts were small enough that people seldom noticed. Nevertheless, Dianna stared at Gwen's bare bust. Gwen blushed.

"What about a boxer of MMA fighter?" Dianna queried.

"You always go for contrasts don't you? How about a milk maid or dancer?"

"Oh, I know what you have to do!"

"What?" Gwen and Lloyd spoke in unison.

Dianna whispered in Lloyd's ear.

"What?" Gwen closed the gap between the tree of them to hear.

"Well," Lloyd contemplated. "Dianna has proposed a real contrast, but you won't like it."

"What?" Gwen seemed both excited and skeptical.

Dianna spoke: "He should paint you as a nude man - like the statue of David - Give you a realistic little penis and everything. Half the guests will see a beautiful young man, and since many of them are gay, it works! You'll get the gays and the straights so hard they won't be thinking when they bid on my photos."

Gwen reflexively covered her breasts with an arm. The blush extended to her belly button.

"That's exactly what you should not have said," Lloyd scolded. "She's already horrified by the prospect of being ogled."

Dianna complained, "It's a fantastic idea. You have to do it."

Gwen's voice creaked. "Um, no. I mean, it kind of fascinates me. I don't," Gwen choked, "I like to think it wouldn't work. I mean, I look too feminine."

"You've seen what Lloyd can do," Dianna argued. "He could make it so convincing a doctor would say you're a boy."

"I like the idea of gender confusion," Lloyd mused. "How about a wrestler in those things they wear - a singlet. I could paint a realistic bulge between her legs - you know - hint at things instead of beating people over the head with it. The singlet straps could cover her breasts." Lloyd gestured a line rising from Gwen's groin to her shoulder brushing a breast along the way.

"Yeah. You could paint a huge erection. You know those wresters are all cruising for sausage. That grappling is gay foreplay."

"No." Lloyd decided.

Gwen released the breath she had been holding.

"What then?" Gwen asked.

"How about tight jeans with a bulge? I'll paint a sagging muscle shirt and put hair on her chest. We'll taunt the guests by leaving a nipple exposed and dare them to consider whether the fact it is a woman's nipple makes any difference. I mean, it's not remarkable to see a man's nipple. Dare them to reveal their hypocrisy."

Dianna nodded. "What about her face? A mustache?"

"No," Lloyd assessed. "I won't touch her face at all. Let her delicate bone structure and coy expressions accentuate the confusion."

"But, I thought you'd blend me into the background or something. I don't want people to recognize my face. You want to show my nipples - not even painted?"

"One nipple is enough," Lloyd scoffed. "This is your last chance to back out."

Dianna appeared again on the appointed day with an offer to drive them to the event. While Lloyd prepared his bedroom studio, Gwen sat nervously at the table. Dianna leaned over and whispered, "If you haven't masturbated today, you should probably go do that. Otherwise, you're going to want to and not be able to later."

"What?" Gwen's shocked mouth hung agape. She only blushed a little.

"Seriously. The whole painting process is ridiculously sensual, and then you're going to be the only one naked in a room full of strangers all lusting for your real or perceived sex. It may be the most erotic experience of your life."

Before Gwen could seriously consider the advice, Lloyd called from the bedroom.

"Too late." Dianna smirked. She shouted to Lloyd, "I'll be back at 5:00 with a snack, and we can drive over then."

If Lloyd responded, it was a grunt that Dianna didn't wait to hear. Soon enough, Gwen found herself alone in the apartment with Lloyd, and he expected her to get naked.

"How does this work?" she asked while hunched with one arm covering her breasts and a hand covering her vulva.

"Just lay here on the floor. Start face down. I'll paint the back, let it dry, and then flip you for the second half."

There was a paint stained white tarpaulin covering the indicated patch of floor. Bright photographer's light concentrated on the space. "I thought you weren't going to take pictures here," Gwen complained.

"I'm not, These are just to light my work, and they'll keep you warm."

Gwen clambered to the floor and rested her head on her arms crossed in front of her.

"Are you comfortable?"

"Mmmm."

Lloyd consulted rough sketches and outlined edges of the anticipated shirt on Gwen's back. Gwen drifted toward sleep for a while until Lloyd switched to infill painting. A large brush saturated with paint slathered between her bum cheeks.

"I almost forgot I am naked," Gwen informed.

"Good. This next bit is," Lloyd hesitated, "more intimate."

Gwen held her tongue while short light brush strokes tickled her anus. Lloyd changed tools and swabbed outer labia. Gwen clenched her thighs, but Lloyd guided them apart again. "Almost done for a while," he promised. Lloyd painted stitched seams on the "jeans". The fine brush tickled. One followed her buttocks crack, and others followed the arc of each hip. It took another hour to complete the back. Lloyd lingered around the cuffs at her ankles evidently struggling to achieve exacting standards.

"Can I take a break to pee?"

"Sorry," Lloyd replied. "You need to wait a while for the paint to dry or it will smudge off onto the toilet seat."

"I don't think I can wait much longer. How about if I hover over the seat," Gwen suggested.

"Alright. Give it a try. I still have time for some touchup after."

When Gwen returned, she appeared sheepish. "I think I messed it up."

"Turn around and let me see." Lloyd knelt and made an intimate appraisal of the gap between her thighs. "Bend over." Gwen's legs trembled with tension as she bared her loins. Lloyd pressed his face right up there, and he spread her cheeks to study the damage. "It's not too bad. Are you sure you didn't do it on purpose so I'll have to paint there again?"

Gwen stood and spun to face Lloyd.

"Just a joke," he claimed. "I can touch it up while I do the front. Wait fifteen minutes and then lay on your back. Do you want anything while you wait?"

"Do I have to stand here naked in front of you the whole time?"

"I'll leave the room if you want. I have to say - when I'm in the groove - so to speak, I really don't see your body. I see a canvas."

"Are you still in the groove?"

"Obviously not at this moment," Lloyd admitted with a chuckle.

"I feel like you're ogling me now."

"Well, I'm mostly thinking about the next steps for the painting, but I'm a straight man, and you're very attractive."

Gwen covered her breasts and vulva again, but dropped her arms back to her sides after a moment. "Look," she sighed.