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those.”
    Gabriel didn’t stop and question the choices. He slipped into the chinos Briar picked out for him without hesitation, buttoning up the shirt quickly. Then, Gabriel sat at the makeup chair to fiddle with his hair again.
    “Good,” Briar told him, half turned away already to head for the door. Then, he stopped and turned back, gazing at Gabriel for a few long moments. Gabriel didn’t know what to say or what Briar was looking for, but he met the gaze without hesitation.
    Faintly, only because of the silence between them, Gabriel heard the sudden rise in voices that meant someone—several someones—had come into the studio.
    Briar abruptly turned again to unlock and open the door. Before the changing room door closed behind him, Gabriel heard him greet the photographer and chat with Julius. He sounded like nothing at all had happened.
    God, even if that was a one-time fling, it was one of the best Gabriel could remember ever having had.
    Briar Fields fucked me, and it was awesome.
    Despite the pouty persona he wanted to show the camera, Gabriel couldn’t stop smiling.

8
Briar
    “ H oly shit . Gabe killed that photo shoot.”
    Briar smirked as he strode down the hallway beside Julius, one hand tucked into his pocket. With the other, he clapped Julius’s shoulder. “I told you he was a good choice.”
    “I didn’t think so when poor Hayes ran out.”
    Briar’s eyes flashed with annoyance. “Poor Hayes? He was being a dick. I don’t blame Gabe for dicking him right back.”
    “Yeah, I suppose. Presumably not dicking dicking him,” Julius muttered under his breath, then snorted.
    “I want someone to yell at Hayes before we bring him in again. He lays a hand on our models while he’s pissed off, he gets escorted out next time.”
    Julius nodded sharply. “I’ll take care of it,” he promised. “But the second guy worked a lot better with him. What did you say to Gabe to knock the diva out of him?”
    I fucked the diva out of him. Briar cocked his head. “I just reminded him why he’s here.”
    “And why’s that?”
    Briar hummed under his breath. “You know, I don’t think he knew until today. He didn’t walk in expecting to be a model. But I saw the switch flip.”
    “You gonna let him do that instead of be your assistant?”
    “He’s a useless asshole behind the desk,” Briar laughed. “And I’m a useless asshole on the other side of the desk. I can’t delegate. Dayne should know that by now. Put Gabe’s talents to work where they’ll do more good. You want him?”
    “If you’ll let me have him.”
    “Sold. Guess I better tell him, then,” Briar grinned, turning around to head back to the photo studio.
    He was about to make Gabriel’s day.

    * * *
    “ Y ou’re what ?”
    Briar’s lips curled in an amused smirk as he watched the expressions—shock, joy, then embarrassment at his sudden display of emotions and an attempt at neutrality—flit across Gabriel’s face.
    “I’m gonna give you your big shot in London. That’s two weeks from now. You better be ready for model boot camp, ’cause Julius is not gonna ride your ass with as much lube as I did.”
    The photographer was still in the room—hell, so was one of the interns setting up for the next shoot—but it didn’t matter. Everyone would think it was a metaphor.
    Everyone but Gabriel, of course.
    Again, Gabriel caught his breath with surprise, and again, he tried to push through it. He casually stretched as he pulled his shawl back on—the last piece of street clothing. “Of course.”
    “That obviously means you won’t be working with me, and a whole new set of paperwork. You’ll work when Julius tells you to work, and with the photographers he gives you. Your paycheck won’t be regular like the assistant job. Julius will be your agent—manager or booker, some people call them—”
    “I know all that ,” Gabriel impatiently muttered.
    There it was: the sassy spark again.
    Oh, that attitude made Briar