Broken Rules (3 page)

Alex arrived at Marco’s house Saturday morning at
8. He was renting a stunning tri-level home in the Hollywood Hills.

The shoot wasn’t to start until 10, but Alex
needed to get a lay of the land, see where she wanted to shoot Marco, and then
have some time to set up lighting. She had also talked with the writer to get a
sense of what she was looking for from the piece. It was a story about Marco’s
rise to fame starting with his humble beginnings, how he was discovered, and
who he is now that he’s suddenly Hollywood’s “It Guy”.

Alex brought a small crew. It was just her, Jesús
and one other assistant, Luis. On a location shoot like this, she never brought
a lot of equipment. She needed to be nimble so that they could move quickly
from one part of the house to another. Plus, not knowing what type of rooms and
exteriors they’d be dealing with, she knew that at most, they’d have room for
basic lighting, and in some cases, just use natural light. That said, this was
for the cover of Vanity Fair, so whatever the shot, it had to be spectacular.

When they pulled up, before they got out of the
car, they were greeted by a shirtless and sweaty Marco, followed by three large
Rottweilers. Alex smiled liking everything she was seeing. Marco’s body was
spectacular. Broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long, lean muscles. His skin
was caramel color, and he had obviously been working out as there was a light
sheen over his entire body. Alex couldn’t help but stare at him, but was soon
brought back to reality as Luis said, “Shit, those dogs are going to kill us.”

Alex laughed. Having two pit bulls herself, she
knew how scared people could be of certain types of breeds. But it was clear
that Marco was the pack leader as all three dogs followed him and sat
immediately by his side when he stopped. Alex hopped out of the car and smiled
broadly at Marco who was grinning at her as he started walking towards her. She
knew enough about dogs, and especially these types of breeds, to know not to
make eye contact with them until he told her they were ok. Marco reached out
and grabbed her shoulders, kissing her on the cheek, “Alexandra, welcome.” Just
this brief touch sent shivers all throughout her body. She knew she was
blushing, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it at this point.

 “Thank you, Marco. I’m sorry we’re so early,
did we interrupt your workout?”
No duh he had been working out, sweaty and
shirtless
, but that was about all Alex could manage. She was surprised she
got that much out. She was also surprised she was reacting this way. She had
been around plenty of gorgeous actors and never got like this. She’d get over
it. She’d have to.

 “Oh,
dios mio, lo siento
, I probably
got you all wet.” Alex raised her eyebrows, wow, he’s cocky. Accurate, but
cocky. Then he chuckled, “
Ay
, I meant when I kissed you, I’m all sweaty.
I didn’t mean to get my sweat on you, Alexandra.” She laughed and rolled her
eyes. Then he asked, “Are your guys going to get out of the car?” Alex realized
they were still sitting in the Range Rover, paralyzed with fear.

Alex laughed, “I think they’re afraid your dogs
are going to have them for breakfast.”

 “But you’re not afraid.” It was a statement,
not a question.

 “No, the minute I saw you walk out the door,
it was clear that they’re very well behaved and that they respect you. You’re
clearly the alpha dog.” She smiled at him and he seemed to appreciate the
compliment, but she wasn’t blowing smoke up his ass, so she added, “You’ve done
a very good job training them.”

 “
Gracias
. You have dogs?” Alex
nodded.

 “Two pits, three and a half cats.”

 “A half?”

 “Long story. I’ll tell you later. Anyway,
I’m going to tell Jesús and Luis that it’s safe for them to come out, ok?”

 “Well, I’d prefer it be just you and me,
Alexandra, but if you must.” He winked at her and damnit if she didn’t feel
herself blush again. She turned around to walk back to the car, so maybe he
didn’t see… When she got to the passenger side, Jesús had the window already
rolled down.

 “Are you guys going to join us or stay in
the car all day?”

 “Is it safe, Alex?” Jesús asked

 “Well, they haven’t eaten me yet, so I think
you two chickens can come out and test the water.” Jesús shot Luis a look and
they both rolled their eyes and slowly got out of the car, but didn’t make a
move forward. Alex laughed. “Come on, I’ll protect you.” Alex said as the three
of them walked back to Marco. Alex protecting Jesús and Luis seemed to humor
Marco as he asked them in Spanish,

 “
You guys need a woman to protect you?”
Uh oh. Alex could feel the testosterone start to flow as both Jesús and Luis
suddenly puffed up. Jesús especially. At which point two of the dogs emitted a
low growl. Marco snapped his fingers and the dogs stopped. But Alex could see
that with three macho Latin men and three Rottweilers, she was going to end up
being part photographer, part referee. She said a silent prayer that Marco
didn’t continue flexing his muscles, literally and figuratively, especially not
with Jesús. Long ago, Jesús appointed himself Alex’s protector. This was not
the issue on which to challenge him.

But Alex also didn’t appreciate the implication.
Of course, she wasn’t about to let Marco know that. She needed him happy and
cooperative if she were going to make this a good shoot. But this little
exchange helped her get a little clarity about Sr. Flores. As hot as he was,
and he was hot, this Latino machismo bullshit helped clarify for her that he
was just another cocky Hollywood actor.  Hopefully that was all she needed
to stop her from blushing every time he opened that beautiful mouth of his.

Alex was going to have to be the adult here, so
she turned to Marco, and, all business, said, “Marco, if you don’t mind, could
you show us around, maybe show us your favorite spots in the house so that I
can get a sense of where we might want to shoot, and then we can get set up
while you finish your workout and get dressed, ok?”

Marco looked at her, then at Jesús and Luis, then
back at Alex, “
Si, Alexandra, por supesto. Venga
.” His tone was cool,
strong and commanding. He was making it clear that he was the alpha dog, they
were on his territory after all. He held out his arm in a motion that made it
clear for Alex to put her arm through his at the elbow. Once she did, he
started leading the way, the dogs behind them, and then Jesús and Luis picking up
the rear. Yep, Marco made the hierarchy very clear.

It was the ultimate Hollywood actor bachelor pad,
furnished in a way that it felt at once both comfortable and sophisticated.
There were three levels with the bottom level featuring a living room that
opened out onto a large deck with a good-sized swimming pool. Since the whole
house was built into the hillside, each level had a view overlooking the city.
They started their tour on the bottom level. As Alex looked out she said, “Wow,
the view’s amazing. I’ll bet it’s beautiful at night with all the city lights.”
The minute she said it, she knew what that sounded like. Ugh.

 “You
should
see it at night,
Alexandra.” And as he said that, he gave her arm a little squeeze. Alex bit her
lip hoping that Jesús somehow had missed that little exchange. And damn her if
she wasn’t feeling her body respond to that squeeze. She swallowed and reminded
herself,
cocky macho actor
. She almost nodded but realized she was
talking to herself, which made her chuckle. Of course, Marco thought she was
chuckling at his suggestion, “I wasn’t joking, Alexandra.” His tone suddenly
stern.

 “Oh, I wasn’t laughing at you! I was
laughing at myself. Honest!”

 “
Bueno
.” Was all he said. Alex was
starting to think that the fun, easy going actor she had met the other day was
either a lot more arrogant or a lot more complicated than she first thought.
She was looking forward to reading the article when it came out to see if there
was more to him than just a pretty face and washboard abs.

They walked through the living room with its
overstuffed sofas and chairs up to the next floor where the kitchen, dining
room and guest bedrooms were, then finally up to the top floor which was one
big massive master bedroom with a giant master bath. The layout was such that
even in the bathtub, one could see the amazing view. It was amplified by the
fact that the walls surrounding the tub were all mirrors, reflecting the city
outside.

 “Do you own a tux, Marco?” Alex asked as
they were looking at the bathroom. It was really just the two of them in the
bathroom, the dogs were in bedroom and Jesús and Luis were standing in the
bedroom doorway. Marco furrowed his brow, thought for a second and then nodded,
“
Sí, porque
?”

 “I’d like to end here, in the tub with you
in a tux, the city at sunset in the reflection.” Alex said as she looked
around, looking for just the right angle.

A mischievous smile crept onto his lips as he
leaned in so that Jesús and Luis wouldn’t hear him say, “I’d like to end here,
in the tub with you too. But definitely, not in a tux.” With all the mirrors
Alex could see just how bright red she turned. And that wasn’t the worst of it.
She could see her nipples harden through her white ribbed tank top. So too did
Marco as he looked down with appreciation and then back up to her and asked, “
Bueno
,
so we know where we’re going to finish. Where,
Corazon
, are we going to
begin?”

As it turned out, they started at the bottom and
moved up as the day progressed. And Alex was not going to let Marco get the
best of her. Number one, it was unprofessional. Number two, this was just part
one of the shoot. And Number three, she didn’t want to dignify his sense of
machismo and arrogance that women were there to be seduced by him. She was
there in a professional capacity and his good looks and charm weren’t going to
work on her. Now, if she could just tell her body to stop responding, that
would help.

The first setup was in the pool with Marco leaning
back against the wall, his arms up on the top concrete so that you could see
him to just below his nipples, the rest of his body was submerged. Alex lay
down on her stomach on the opposite side of the pool so that the shot was at
eye level. He definitely knew how to work the camera. His looks ran the gamut from
smoldering to head back and laughing. The last shot she asked, “Hey Marco, do
you by any chance have any rubber duckies?” It turned out he did, so the last
shot in the pool was Marco leaning back looking serious as a trail of three
yellow rubber duckies floated by in front of him. It was sexy and playful all
at the same time.

Alex asked him to get out of the pool as she
snapped candid shots of him lifting himself, his shorts sticking to his ass,
him turning around winking at her and then a shot of him sticking his tongue
out at her as she clicked away, then finally, he put his hands on the waistband
of his shorts like he was going to pull them down. He slowly started inching
them down so that Alex could see just a little bit of hair that she hadn’t seen
before when Jesús yelled, “Hey, man, it’s not that kind of shoot.” Marco shot a
look over at Jesús then at Alex.

Alex quickly scrambled to her feet since which
took a second, since she couldn’t just push herself up as she was holding onto
her camera. She needed to diffuse this situation before it became one so she
said, “I think we’re good here. Marco, why don’t you go get changed for our
next setup and we’ll meet you inside on the couch.”

Alex couldn’t quite understand why all the guys
were suddenly staring at her. Obviously, she was talking, but the looks on
their faces, something was off, but she thought maybe it was just all the
tension so she continued rambling,  “We’ll need a few minutes to get the
lights set up and that’ll work while you get dressed…” she was walking around
the pool until she was now a few feet from all of them. Suddenly, Jesús moved
so that he was standing in front of her and then turned around, giving her his
back. Marco burst out laughing. Alex tried to walk around Jesús but he moved
with her. “Jesús, what the hell?”

Jesús wouldn’t turn around but he said as he
looked straight at Marco, “Alex, the concrete you were on, by the pool, it was,
um, it was wet.”

Alex was pissed and didn’t know what he was
saying. Why the hell was he talking about the concrete and why the hell wasn’t
he turning around to look at her when he talked…
Oh shit
. She looked
down and saw what everyone else just saw. It looked like she had been in a wet
t-shirt contest. It never even dawned on her when she laid down that the
concrete was wet, she was so focused on getting the shot. Now everyone had seen
her, for all intents and purposes, topless. Great.

 “Shit.” Was all she could muster.

 “Alexandra, you just shot me topless. I
think it’s only fair, no?” Marco teased. That was the last straw for Jesús he
started to take one step towards him and Alex had to put her arm around him,
not that she could really hold him back. But it was enough of a reminder that
she was his boss, and if she said no, he listened. Which unfortunately, only
added fuel to Marco’s macho fire.

 “
No te preocupes, Jesús
.” He said
cavalierly as he turned to go into the house. He won this round. He didn’t need
to fight Jesús to prove it. He turned back over his shoulder and said,
“Alexandra, I’ll grab you a T-shirt you can change into.” And then, like he
couldn’t help it, “But I don’t have a dry bra, so you might just need to go
without.” He winked and grinned as Alex held onto Jesús even tighter as he
flinched again about to lunge at Marco.

 “Jesús, let it go. He’s just fucking with
you. It’s not a big deal that everyone saw my um, you know, anyway, let’s just
pretend this didn’t happen.” She said to his back. He still couldn’t turn
around to look at her.

 “I don’t like this guy, Alex. I don’t like
the way he talks to you. And I don’t like the way he looks at you.” One of the
things Alex loved about Jesús was that there was no filter, no nuance. He said
what he felt.

 “I know, Jesús, I know you don’t like him.
But this is work, and we’re going to be travelling with him and spending the
better part of a week with him. And the madder you get, the more he enjoys
teasing you, or me just to get to you. So, you have to be the bigger person,
Jesús. Understand me?” it was difficult having this type of conversation with
Jesús at all, but talking to his back, it was ridiculous. She saw him nod.
“Good. Now, please give me your shirt so that we can work until he gets back
here with my change of clothes.” Jesús took off his Tshirt and handed it
backwards to Alex. She quickly slipped it on over her, and noticed his muscled
and almost completely tat-free back. There was only one tattoo, right at the
top in between his shoulder blades. It was of an angel with two little initials
in script under it, A.M. Alex stared. She had never seen this tattoo. Why would
she, she had never seen Jesús without a shirt. She knew she wasn’t supposed to
see it either. So she mumbled a thank you and started directing them to pick up
the lights and move into the living room.

As Jesús and Luis lifted the lights and equipment
inside, Alex tried not to stare at Jesús’s bare chest, but it was hard not to.
He was strong and wirey. Whereas Marco was broad and muscular from working out,
Jesús’ lean muscles were clearly from the hard life that he lived. She knew he
lifted weights and kept himself in shape, she just had no idea how well in
shape he was. When Marco came downstairs finally, he suddenly seemed a little
jealous of Jesús. Marco looked at Jesús and then at Alex, handing her a clean
tank top of his and then pointed, “There’s a bathroom over there.” Alex mumbled
a thanks and went to quickly change.

Back with everyone clothed, Alex wanted the next
shot to be with Marco and his dogs. She directed him that she wanted two
flanking him on the couch and the third on the floor between his legs. He
suggested a few tricks for her to get their attention so that she got some
shots where all four of them were all looking straight to camera. Then she got
some dog cookies and asked Marco if he’d be comfortable putting one in his
mouth and holding it out to “Oso” who was on his right. Sam caught the shot of
Oso biting one end of the cookie, Marco biting the other and the other two dogs
looking longingly at the cookie that they weren’t getting. After that shot,
everyone got a treat. She did a few more shots with the dogs, one where Marco
was lifting up the top lip of two of their mouths showing their fangs. He
growled too and gave a command so that the third dog, Lobo, who’s lips he
couldn’t pull up, also growled. Alex loved it. Jesús and Luis, not so much.

Marco’s cell had rung, or buzzed, at least a dozen
times by then. Respectfully, he would always look at it, then silence it
sending the calls to voicemail. After the setup on the couch, where it buzzed
three times, Alex suggested that now might be a good time to break for lunch so
he could answer his calls, and they could all eat before going on to the next
setup.

Alex, Jesús and Luis all ate together. The food
had already been prepared and dropped off by the caterer. Usually, at shoots
the lunch conversation between Alex and the crew was light and breezy, but
Jesús couldn’t even look Alex in the eye. And Alex wasn’t about to have a
serious conversation with him with Luis there. So they ate in silence which
gave them time to listen to Marco’s voice raise and yell at whoever was on the
other end of the phone. They couldn’t hear what he was saying, but it wasn’t a
pleasant conversation, that much was clear.

After that call, it was a good thing that Alex
wanted Marco serious in the next shot. They were in the dining room with Marco
leaning against the glass sliding door as he looked out over the city. Alex was
behind and to the side of him so the shot captured his profile, but also got
the city out in the distance. He looked pensive and serious. Whether or not his
emotion was genuine, it sure came across that way. Alex had always prided
herself on being a good read of people, and as good-natured and flirty as Marco
could be, there seemed to be a depth to him too. She couldn’t believe he was
that good of an actor or model to look as sincere as he did if he weren’t truly
feeling something.

Regardless of what had happened so far in the
shoot, Alex knew she was getting a great range of shots: sexy, playful, sweet,
serious…

It was late in the afternoon when they were
finally ready for the bathtub shot. Marco changed into his tux while they set
up. The lighting was beautiful and Alex knew this could be a great shot with
the sun starting to reflect off the building tops. Marco came walking in and
Alex had to stifle a moan. The man was gorgeous, but in a tux, oh my, he was
beyond words. Alex couldn’t help but say, “Marco, you look, um, you clean up
well.” She said almost shyly. He smiled sweetly, taking her free hand and lifted
it to his lips and kissed it as he said, “
Gracias, Corazon
.” Once again,
he had her blushing, which she could see in all the bathroom mirrors.

She could tell he was tired. She was too, and she
couldn’t blame him. They’d been shooting all day and she knew that he had to go
back to the set the next morning. “Ok, Marco, last shot of the day. We’ll be
quick and then we’ll be out of your hair. Let’s get you in the tub with your
feet up, crossed at the ankles, perfect, and arms behind your head, that’s right.”
Alex had to step out and position herself just so that she wasn’t caught in the
mirror reflection. Because the space was so tight, Jesús and Luis were standing
in the bedroom, there wasn’t much they could do. This last shot felt intimate,
like it was just the two of them. He looked so damn sexy like that in the tub.
She got a few shots like that, then asked Jesús for the couple of props which
were a glass of scotch and a cigar. The whole shoot was a lot leaner than most.
Marco requested no stylists or prop people. He didn’t want all those strangers
in his house, which Alex could appreciate. So throughout the day, they all
pitched in when it came to props or fixing wardrobe.

Alex wasn’t sure why, but instead of asking him to
undo his bow tie and unbutton the first couple buttons of his shirt, she set
her camera down, walked over to him, leaned in and did just that. As she was
undressing him, he started to get that mischievous smile and all she could do
was smile back. She had to hold herself back from unbuttoning the whole damn
shirt. She stepped back and asked him to grab the scotch and cigar, which he
did and she got a few shots like that and then announced, “I think that’s it
Marco, I think we’re done.”

He shook his head and said, “Not yet, one more.”
And then yelled, “Jesús!” Jesús came in quickly looking concerned. Marco asked
him if he would do him a favor and get a shot of him and Alex together and
added, “I promise, I won’t hurt her, and I’ll be a gentleman.” He raised his
right hand and crossed his heart. Jesús looked at Alex, and Alex just shrugged,
she thought, no biggie, she’s had her picture taken with lots of talent at the
end of a long shoot. She waited for Marco to get out of the tub and held out
her hand to help him out, but instead, he grabbed her hand and pulled her down,
quickly catching her so that she was now lying on top of him, her back to his
front. “Perfect! Ok, Jesús, we’re ready” Marco said proudly. Alex was sure that
Marco could feel her heart beating as he held her tightly against him, his arms
wrapped around her waist and his head nuzzled next to hers. Alex squirmed a
little and Marco’s grip got tighter as he whispered, “Not so fast,
Corazon
.
You feel so good against me. And you told me we’d end in the tub. It’s just a
shame that we have all these clothes on.”

Alex smiled but tried to diffuse the situation by
calling Marco’s attention back to the fact that a large, somewhat angry,
heavily tattooed man was standing just a few feet away from them. She called
out with a little too much enthusiasm, “Ok, Jesús, we’re ready!” Alex said and
Jesús took a couple shots. Alex tried to reposition herself again, but Marco
tightened his grip and this time, she knew why he didn’t want her squirming all
over him as she could feel him hard underneath her ass. She took in a deep
breath and Marco chuckled and whispered “Do you see now why I didn’t want you
moving all over the place? Now we’re going to have to stay in here until I calm
down, unless you want Jesús attacking me.” Alex giggled and Jesús snapped more
shots as she threw her head back and laughed. He didn’t like seeing her with
that jerk, but he did love it when she laughed.

 “Jesús, I think that’s enough shots of me.
Can you start breaking down the equipment and loading it into the truck? I’ve
got a couple things I want to discuss with Marco.” Jesús didn’t like leaving
them like that, but she was his boss so he just nodded and left the room. Then
she turned to Marco and said, “Ok, I got you out of that one. You owe me.”