Free In Too Deep by Roxane Beaufort Page B

and
tattooed youth on her other side got up and headed for the skittle
alley and the band. George instantly squeezed himself into the
vacant seat and set his whisky tot on the table.
    'I'm warning
you, George, Julia is one of these new girls,' Will said. 'If you
refer to her again as "totty" you'll probably get a clip round the
ear.'
    Ignoring
Will's advice, George continued to subject her to his lascivious
stares, pressing his bony thigh against hers. She couldn't move in
the close confinement of the table and bench, crushed between him
and Will. The bar was dimly lit, but she could see that both men
were flaunting erections: Will's jeans were bulging and George's
corduroy trousers were full beneath the fly buttons.
    'What are you
doing in this neck of the woods?' Will asked. 'Not your usual
stamping-ground, is it?'
    'Had to see a
man about a dog, if you get my drift,' George answered, squeezing
Julia's hand, which lay on the table. 'No, actually, it was to fix
up a photo-shoot. For a skin-mag, you know. Nice work if you can
get it.'
    'I heard you
were concentrating on photography now,' Will said, and Julia was
glad to have him there, protecting her like a faithful mastiff.
There was an ambience about George that made her think of dark
alleys and deceitful deeds.
    'That's right.
I'm in with most of the top-shelf porno magazines. They like my
work.'
    'We've got a
bit of a problem here,' Will said, picking up George's empty glass.
'Maybe you can help us. Another Scotch? Hang on while I get
it.'
    Julia wanted
to stop him from leaving her with the unpleasant George, but he was
already elbowing his way to the bar.
    'And what do
you do, darling?' George asked, his eyes never quite meeting hers.
He always seemed to focus just beyond the person he was addressing,
as if unwilling to allow them a peep into the windows of his soul,
which she imagined to be black and wrinkled and hard as an old
prune. And Will had once been his bosom buddy? He dropped in her
estimation.
    'I'm a model,'
she replied, and this wasn't entirely untrue. She had modelled for
Arlene in a fashion show once.
    'Are you?
Well, you're pretty enough and have a great figure.' He slipped an
arm round the back of the seat and fastened his clammy hand on her
shoulder, his fingers moving over the flesh revealed by her
sleeveless crop-top. His predatory gaze dropped to where her
breasts filled the white jersey cloth.
    'I'm rather on
the short side, even in high heels,' she said quickly, unable to
shift away from him. 'Fashion models are expected to be tall and
thin.'
    'You're okay.
I like petite, curvaceous girls,' he leered, licking his thin
lips.
    'Here you go,
George,' Will said, returning with the whisky, and Julia had never
been more thankful to see him.
    'Cheers,'
George said, and knocked it back in one. 'Now then, you said you
wanted my help.'
    'Julia's a
model, but she needs pictures for her folio.'
    'No problem.
I'll do them.'
    'I haven't
much money,' Julia put in, unwilling to be indebted to him.
    'That's all
right. I'll get paid if any of them are used.'
    'Not for porno
mags?'
    'Call it art,
my dear,' he answered, running his tongue over his slack lower
lip.
    'But I want
poses that will make people take me seriously as a model for
clothes,' she protested, having second thoughts about the whole
idea.
    'And so they
will. I can see you doing kinky clobber. Fetish gear's all the rage
now, and you don't have to be into the scene to wear it. Leather,
PVC, chains, studs, bondage straps; you can buy them in lots of
highstreet stores, or something remarkably like them. You look
vulnerable and innocent, yet with a hint of naughtiness, too. It'll
drive the punters wild. Who are you going to apply to for a
job?'
    She glanced at
Will questioningly, but he nodded and she said, 'Marty Blake.'
    'Going
straight to the main man, eh? And why not? I've found models for
him before.'
    'So you know
him?' Will asked cautiously.
    'Of course,
old boy.' George shrugged and looked