I'd been busy doing as little as possible and was looking around the front garden to see if there was anything I needed to do right away. I was quite satisfied that everything would survive quite happily without me doing anything and was about to go inside. I could hear a cold beer calling to me and thought I'd better answer.
That's when I noticed Jan tripping down the road, a skip in her step and a smile on her face. Quite a pretty young woman, Jan. My guess was that she was about twenty. Quite popular with the opposite sex and it was easy to see why. I paused for a moment, deciding to say hullo. Talking to a pretty girl is never a hardship.
"Afternoon, Jan," I said with a smile. "Going shopping?"
It was an easy guess. She was nicely dressed but in casual clothes. She also had her big handbag with her and was heading in the direction of the local mall.
"Christmas," she said with a sigh, casting her eyes heavenward. "The shopping never ends."
Yeah, she looked really despondent at having an excuse to go out and spend some money.
"Gets us all," I agreed. "Of course," I added innocently, "some of us do all our shopping early and are able to avoid the crowds."
"Some of us," she returned, "get their sister to do their gift shopping for them."
She had me there. Sisters are useful at times.
"Well, happy spending," I said, and then a thought struck me. What women ever had enough money to spend? A naughty idea sprung to mind, fully formed and wanting to be acted on.
"You know, you're a very lovely young lady," I said thoughtfully, as though I'd only just noticed. "You know I do photography as a hobby? How would you like to earn a hundred by posing for me for an hour?"
She looked startled, the idea obviously never having entered her mind.
"What, me? Why would you want to take pictures of me?"
"I just told you. You're very lovely and I'll bet you're really photogenic. I'd like a few shots of you."
"So you're offering me a hundred dollars just to pose for you for a short while?" she confirmed, sounding cautious.
"That's the idea," I confirmed. "Of course there will be a couple of conditions but on the other hand there will also be that hundred dollars."
"And just what would those conditions be?"
"Well, the first one should be obvious. I'd want to include a few nude shots."
She bridled a bit at that, looking doubtful.
"I'm telling you that up front so that it doesn't come as a nasty shock," I explained. "You have lovely long legs. Very shapely. I'm betting the rest of you measures up to those lovely legs."
She didn't laugh or deride the offer or go stalking off in a huff. She was seriously considering it. Shopping with extra money was a big incentive.
"How do I know that you won't try anything if I pose naked?" she asked.
"That is the second condition. While you're posing nude I reserve the right to pull you down onto the nearest bed and ravish you."
"Ravish me?"
"It's a gentleman's way of saying rape you. That's me - a true gentleman."
She looked at me as though I was nuts.
"Hold on. You're saying that if I agree to pose for you, you'll expect me to have sex with you? Why on earth would I agree to that?"
"Because you're getting paid to pose," I said innocently. "The sex would be incidental but extremely interesting. In my opinion, anyway."
I unlatched my gate and let it swing open, moving slightly to the side as though expecting her to walk through it. She was chewing on her lip. The hundred dollars for the posing she could handle, even if she had to be nude for some of it. The sex she wasn't so sure about.
"Um, I don't mind posing," she said finally, "but I'm not agreeing to have sex with you."
"You don't need to agree to have sex," I pointed out. "I said I was willing to ravish you. That means I would force myself upon you and take you without your consent. You'll just be the innocent victim of my lust."
"But, but that still means I have to sleep with you."
"Oh, Jan, if you manage to sleep I'll be dreadfully disappointed in my sexual prowess. My ego might never recover from such a blow."
"You know what I mean," she snapped.
"I do, but you won't be agreeing to sex. It will be forced upon you and you can remain the complete innocent."
I shut up at that stage and let her persuade herself. If she was going to say no she would have done so already, laughing off the whole thing as a joke.
"Um, look, I'll pose for you, but that's all I'm agreeing to," she finally said.
I still kept my big mouth closed and just made an after you gesture. She walked down the path to my front door, chatting nervously. What sort of poses did I have in mind? Artistic ones, of course, showing off the human body without necessarily revealing anything personal. Definitely not anything pornographic, I assured her. She'd probably be quite happy showing off the finished photos to her mother. (Not her father. He'd go spare at the thought of his precious baby doing nude photography, no matter how artistic.)
Where I was concerned the posing was well to the rear. My first intention was to get her naked and into bed. Or on a couch, against a wall, over a chair, whatever it took.
I wasn't kidding about doing photography as a hobby. I'm quite expert and I have a couple of excellent cameras. I also have Photoshop and I'm quite skilled in the use of it. I also have a spare room fitted out as a small studio, complete with a green wall. I took her through to the studio.
The studio was originally a bedroom and still had a bed in it. I do use it as a bedroom occasionally. Jan spotted the bed as soon as she walked in and went slightly pale. She was plainly having second thoughts. She stood in the middle of the room, nervously plucking at her belt, casting suspicious little glances towards the bed.
"If you'd sit on the stool in front of the green screen," I suggested, picking up one of my cameras and also switching on the lighting. "I want to try a couple of shots to see how they come out."
I fussed about, having her sit just so, then took a couple of trial shots. With that I flicked off the lights and, connecting the camera to my computer, I opened up Photoshop.
I love green screens, Photoshop, and standard scenes. Do you remember the scene in Jurassic Park where the lawyer is sitting on the toilet and the T-Rex knocks the walls down, leaving him in the open? I'd long ago removed the lawyer but the rest of the picture was there. A few practiced sequences and Jan was on her stool, sitting looking up at the T-Rex. And quite lovely she looked, too. She really was highly photogenic.
Her eyes were wide as she looked at the picture, giggling at it, and wanting a copy. I promised her I'd get her one.
"Can you take the stool again," I asked, flicking the lights back on. Jan was a lot more relaxed now and promptly sat and waited for direction.
I gave her some consideration and then spoke up.
"Um, perhaps the dress?" I suggested.
She hesitated, but I wasn't asking for full nudity, just the dress. She slowly unbelted and slipped her dress off, laying it on the bed. After that she scurried back to perch on the stool. Like I thought, she was just dressed casually for a shopping trip. Mismatched bra and panties and, in my opinion, rather ugly ones.
"Ah, Jan," I said, "I am not taking pictures of you wearing those. I'm sorry, but they just won't do. Either take them off or put your dress back on, but those undies are not going into any of my pictures."
"What's wrong with them?" she demanded.
"Nothing really, I guess. I'm pretty sure my grandmother has panties like those. I'm not taking pictures of her either."
OK, the panties weren't that bad, but they sure weren't designed with seduction in mind. Same for the bra. It undoubtedly did the required job but there was a reason it was covered by a dress.
Jan glared at me. She'd braced herself to take off her dress and now I was suggesting she put it back on.
"You're going to want me to take these off sooner or later, aren't you?"
"I am, but not until you're comfortable with the idea. If you're all embarrassed and self-conscious it will show in the photos. I need you relaxed. We can continue with the dress for a while."
"I'm not embarrassed," she said, sounding a little annoyed.
"If you say so."
"I'm not." She gave a sigh. "OK. I'll take them off."
Mentally I was jumping in the air and punching a fist skywards. Outwardly I accepted her decision calmly. I didn't even look at her while she stripped off her panties and bra. At least not directly. I had a very nice view in a mirror on the wall, and I could see that she was watching me and noticing that I wasn't looking at her strip. She seemed a little narked about it.