Newly Exposed (35 page)

I grabbed her before she could walk away and pulled her into my chest. I tilted her chin up and smiled down at her.
 

“Please, don’t worry about all those comments…”

“And marriage proposals,” she interrupted me.
 

“Really? How many?” I asked, pushing my luck.
 

Fury fumed in her eyes, making me laugh.
 

“I’m kidding. Forget about all of those comments and marriage proposals. They mean nothing to me. The only thing that matters is what you think. I want to make you happy and keep you satisfied,” I added, while pinching her ass.
 

Her eyes softened and she wrapped her arms around my neck.
 

“You definitely keep me satisfied.”

“Damn,” I breathed out. “That’s fucking sexy to hear you say.”

“Don’t let it go to your head,” she smiled, just as the door to the front of the studio opened.
 

We quickly separated, knowing it was Zia, who still didn’t know about our relationship. Even though it pained me, I understood why we needed to keep it from her, at least for the time being, since I was so new to the company. We didn’t want anything to come in the way of seeking new photo shoots.
 

“Is Axel here?” she called out, as her heels clicked across the lacquered cement floor.
 

“Yup,” I said, giving myself some distance from Solo, something I hated doing.
 

“Good, can I see you in my office?”

“Sure,” I looked at Solo hesitantly, but she nodded, so I followed Zia into her office.
 

She shut the door behind me and took off her leather jacket, and then sat down in her chair. She was wearing all black again, no surprise there, but her eyes were cast in a more natural tone, making them stand out. Her hair fell down over her shoulders, making her look less harsh and terrifying. She almost looked human.
 

Placing her hands on her desk, she said, “I want to apologize to you for being so harsh during your casting. I’m ashamed to say I didn’t see any potential in you. It wasn’t until Meryl really pushed me that I let you join us here at Teeg, and I’m glad Meryl wouldn’t give up on you. Right now, you’re my most requested model, Axel.”

“Really?”

I was shocked, not only at finding out that I was requested above all the other guys, but also because Zia was apologizing to me. That didn’t seem like something she did often.
 

“Yes. The ladies are loving you.” She shifted to her computer and looked at her screen. “There’s an event this weekend in Vegas that I was contacted about, a club appearance that needs some eye candy. I want to bring you, Scout, Nikko, and Ty. Would you be up for that?”

“Uh, sure. Does it pay?” I asked, a little shamefully. I needed as much cash flow as possible.
 

“Of course,” she smiled. “All you have to do is show up, flirt with some girls, and then go to bed. The guys do it all the time.”

“Flirt?” I didn’t like the sound of that.
 

“Don’t worry, there is a no touching policy, if that’s what you’re worried about. You just have to make the girls fall in love with you.”

“That can’t be too hard,” I said with a smile, feeling like an idiot.
 

“With that dimple and that body, there won’t be a problem at all.”

Her eyes scoured my body and I immediately felt self-conscious.
 

Clearing my throat, I said, “Um, is that all?”

“Yes, have Solo make hotel reservations; she’ll know what to do. Then have her fit you with some trunks.”

“Trunks?”

“It’s a club pool party during the day. We don’t want you clothed, Axel,” she shook her head at me.
 

“Oh, okay,” I smiled, and then walked out her door, feeling her heated gaze on my backside. Trips with Zia seemed like they were going to be interesting, that was for damn sure.
 

When I walked out to the open space where Solo had her desk, her head perked up from hearing me come in. She had worry in her eyes, but a smile on her face; she was trying to mask her concern…it was cute.
 

“How did it go?”

“I’m fired,” I said, with a bow to my head.
 

“Oh, my God, why?” Solo said, as she ran to my side to comfort me.
 

“Just kidding,” I said with a smirk.
 

“Ugh, I hate you!” she said, pinching my nipple and walking back to her desk.
 

“No, you don’t,” I teased.
 

“I do right now, so what did she want?” she asked, sitting back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest.
 

Knowing Zia was in the other room, I kept my distance. “There’s some pool party event in Vegas. She wants to take me and some of the other guys, and I need swim trunks for it.”

“Oh,” Solo said, her face not showing any emotion. “Let’s get you fitted into something then. Follow me.”

I followed her to the back where there was a closet full of clothes and walked inside of it with her. I shut the door and pulled her into my chest.
 

“Come on, I have to get you your swimsuit, and I can only imagine that I have to start booking flights and hotel rooms,” she said, pushing away.
 

“Hey, stop trying to distance yourself.”

“I know that this is fun for you, but I do have a job I have to do,” she snapped at me.
 

Her tone made me release her and step back. She was clearly mad, and I wasn’t doing a good job putting out the fire that was building up inside of her. Instead of pushing my luck, I sat back and watched her rifle through drawers, looking for a pair of swim trunks. She tossed aside a lot of Speedos, which inwardly made me laugh; clearly she didn’t want me showing up in a tiny scrap of fabric.
 

I could see the tension in her back as she finally pulled out a pair of white and blue striped board shorts.
 

“Here,” she tossed them at me. “Try these on. I’m going to go see exactly what Zia wants.”

“Solo,” I grabbed her hand and made her look at me. “Please, don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m not,” she said, as she let out a frustrated breath. “Just, let me figure this out, okay?”

I nodded and let her go.
 

I had a perfectly good pair of board shorts at home, but when I started this job, I was told we had sponsors and we needed to wear their clothing during photo shoots and appearances, so the trunks in my hands must have been from a sponsor.
 

I tried them on and they actually felt kind of amazing. They rode low on my hips, which apparently was the look. Unfortunately, it wasn’t because the workout and diet routine that Anzel had me on was trimming me up. Well, it was trimming me up, but not to the point that a medium wouldn’t fit me anymore.
 

Needing to make sure I looked alright, I walked out to Solo’s desk and saw her just returning from Zia’s office with a pad of paper and a pen in her hands. When she looked up, she stopped in her tracks, taking me all in.
 

I continued forward and said nervously, “Is this alright?”

I could visibly see her gulp as her eyes scanned my body with heat pouring out of them. She wanted me, and at that moment, all I wanted to do was clear her desk and take her, give her what she wanted.
 

“Yes,” she cleared her throat. “That should be fine. I’ll, uh, make sure to schedule you to get your hair touched up before you leave. It’s a little long.”

“I thought you liked it long,” I smiled, trying to pull her out of her funk.
 

“It doesn’t matter what I like,” she said, sitting down at her desk, shutting me out.
 

Growing frustrated, I turned around and went back to the closet to change. She wasn’t in the mood, and I wasn’t about to push her. I knew this was hard on her, but she didn’t need to shut me out.
 

Once I was changed, I grabbed my stuff, and headed out toward the front. I walked past Solo’s desk, where she was hard at work and said, “I guess I’ll catch you later.”

She just nodded, letting me know that I should just leave, so I did, even though my heart was heavy. I wasn’t about to beg her to talk to me, not when Zia was a couple of doors down. I would let her cool off, and hopefully, once she got home, she would want to talk.
 

***

“Can you please tell me why you’re sitting here, sulking over a pile of vegetables and what is that…chicken, when Solo is home?” Scout said, as he hovered over my dinner.
 

Solo came home two hours ago and had yet to text me back or come over. Call me stubborn, but I was pretty sure the ball was in her court now.
 

“Giving her some space,” I said, while shoving a fork full of asparagus in my mouth. My pee was going to be real ripe in about an hour.
 

“That doesn’t sound good,” Scout pointed out the obvious, as he grabbed a piece of asparagus off my plate and tossed it in his mouth. “Dude, is that chicken?”

“Yes, and get your own fucking plate.”

“What did you do to it?”

I looked down at my half broiled chicken and said, “The grill got a little too hot.”

“I’d say. Looks like the damn thing spent a week in hell.”

“Don’t you have something else you can do other than bother me?” I asked, trying to chomp through my chicken. Fuck, it was terrible, but I needed the protein.
 

“Nope, free as a bird.”

“Lucky me,” I responded sarcastically.
 

“You excited about Vegas? Guess who’s rooming with you?” Scout wiggled his eyebrows.
 

“Thank fuck,” I responded. “If I was stuck with Ty, I was going to be pissed. I’m still surprised we don’t have our own rooms.”

“They’re suites, but Zia does it so we don’t get caught up in all the women. She likes to make sure we keep an eye on each other.”

“That doesn’t make much sense; we could just cover for each other if we wanted to.”

“Yeah, well, she doesn’t know that,” Scout winked at me.
 

Interested to learn more about these events, I said, “What happens at these things?”

Scout grabbed a water from the fridge and sat down next to me.
 

“Basically, these big party hotels like to have weekend pool parties. They hire a bad ass DJ, scatter bartenders every five feet, and pack the joint with attractive people. Guests and party goers come to have a good time, get a little naughty, and pretty much get wasted all afternoon. They’re fucking fun, man. We just show up, take pictures with Zia, strut ourselves for a few minutes, and then sit back on lounge chairs while babes in hot bikinis give us drinks and feed us. It pays mad cash and we’re done in a day.”

I nodded my head as I tried to comprehend what I had gotten myself into. If it wasn’t for the cash, I would most likely forgo the opportunity, because all it sounded like was an opportunity for Solo to get supremely pissed at me. I just needed to convince her that, no matter what, she needed to trust me. That was, if I could get her to talk to me.
 

“Let me guess, Solo is not too happy about you going?”

“You could say that.”

“Well, I can see why. The last pool party we went to that Zia actually attended, Ty cheated on her.”

“Cheated on who?” I asked, confused.
 

“On Solo…” Scout’s words cut off, as he realized what he just said. “Oh, fuck, you didn’t know.”

Dots started connecting in my head, as I thought about the information Scout just let slip past his lips. Solo and Ty? Holy fuck!

“I sure as fuck didn’t know,” I roared, as I stood up and grabbed my plate.
 

“Dude, calm down. It’s not a big deal…”

“Yes, it fucking is. Ty was with Solo and she didn’t tell me. That’s a big deal. I mean…does she still have feelings for him?” I tossed my plate in the sink, cringing from the clash of dishes, but I didn’t care too much. My hands went instantly to my hair and I started pulling on the strands, not knowing what to do with the rage that was building in my chest.
 

“She doesn’t,” Scout responded, looking fidgety.
 

“Oh, and what else do you know about my girlfriend that I don’t?”

Scout looked around for a second, and then responded, “She doesn’t like cereal because it gets too soggy…”

“Shut the fuck up!” I roared again, and stormed up to my room, feeling my heart beat heavily against my chest. I could feel every vein in my body pulsing with anger; I was so damn infuriated.
 

Once in my room and closed off from the world, I pulled off my shirt because it was too constraining, and tossed it to the side. I flopped on my bed and rested my head against the headboard as I undid my jeans and left them open. I needed to fucking breathe. Why wouldn’t Solo tell me about Ty? Was it because she really did still have feelings for him? There was no way, she would never do that, tell me she loved me, while she still liked someone else.