Womanizer (Spoilt) (2 page)

Mitch couldn’t shake the hollow feeling on the drive home. He knew how many models he’d slept with since taking on the new career direction, but he wasn’t going to be photographing
them forever, so why not reap the benefits while they lasted? However, uncertainty and loneliness had crept in and made a permanent residence. Evicting them had become harder to do of late. The flipping coin of emotions had yet to settle. Heads, find love and risk the potential pitfalls that came with it, or tails, continue to have satisfying sex with beautiful women. Mitch didn’t know which side he wanted the coin to land.

When he pulled into the garage, he glanced at the time and cursed. He was running behind and had better get a move on if he didn’t want to be late for the shoot. He’d been assigned to photograph a model he hadn’t met before for a new fragrance that would be displayed on the billboard down the street from his house. It would be pleasing to see his work displayed in such a prominent place. His thoughts wondered to the brief as he rode the lift up to his apartment. He tried to recall whether he’d seen the model before in another campaign but couldn’t put a face to the name. She would, in all probability, be beautiful and vacuous, just like most of the others he’d shot and sometimes slept with. He doubted she would be any exception.

Once again he was struck by the emptiness of his life and his apartment as he let himself in. He was almost thirty; perhaps the time had come to settle down. Maybe he should follow his brothers’ lead. This was good in theory but he’d yet to meet anyone he wanted to be serious with. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t been with any girl longer than a few months. Until recently he’d never been in one place for long enough.

The silence that greeted him usually suited Mitch but today it unnerved him. His apartment located on the seventh floor, in the heart of the city, was new and modern. To combat the quiet he walked out onto his balcony. He was greeted with the sounds of traffic and the hum of people filled streets. Mitch liked the chaos and lifestyle synonymous with city life. After travelling for as long it was nice to have a place called home.

After showering and throwing on some jeans and a t-shirt, he gulped down coffee and toast, checked the time and cursed once more. Rushing to his sleek black convertible, he thought he might make it in time to do a quick setup. He liked to have ample time and not rush, but travelling across town had taken up valuable time. He shook his head as he jumped in the car, another reason to stop his extracurricular activities.

The studio, located on the fringe of the city, should only take five minutes to travel to by car. When he went to turn into the street, he discovered police cars and fire engines blocking the way. The police were diverting the traffic around an accident. He would definitely be late now.

Chapter Three

Seduction

Isabelle breezed into the studio early feeling refreshed and ready to work. A good night’s sleep had ensured she felt and looked presentable. She glanced around and noticed photographer’s assistants setting up and there appeared to be no sign of the infamous Mitchell Montgomery. Well he didn’t appear t
o be present, as Isabelle realized she had no idea what she was looking for. There were rumors abound on every shoot from stylists about his philandering ways and the quality of his work. The first reason ensured she would be staying clear and doing only her job.

Adele, a petite girl with outrageous spiky red hair and striking brown eyes, greeted her when she entered the room set up for styling. Isabelle was
pleased Adele would be her makeup artist today as she always had lots of entertaining gossip to share. This part of the job Isabelle liked best as it was always light hearted and fun listening to the countless stories and rumors of the famous and beautiful.

“Hey, Adele,” Isabel
le said slipping into the chair. “What’s news today?”

“Well
, for starters, you are one lucky girl.” Her wide grin filled her face and a secretive kind of twinkle went into her eyes.

“Why’s that?”

“You are being photographed by the very sexy Mitchell.”

“Why does that make me lucky?”

“Well not only is he an artist, he’s also great in the sack too.”

“That is of no interest to me, Adele. You know that.”

“Yeah, yeah but you haven’t seen him yet.” She stopped applying foundation and offered another cheeky grin. “Besides, you could do with some fun.”

“Not an option. Not with Jesse.” Isabelle shook her head as she spoke. Adele ceased this by returning to work on her make-up.

“You say that now and I do understand, but wait until you see him!”

“From what I’ve heard about him—”

“Your choice.” She shrugged before enthralling her with more tales of who had been with whom as she finished working on Isabelle.

They were then joined by Jade, who began styling Isabelle’s hair and adding her ti
dbits of information with Adele. Isabelle sat back and listened while enjoying the pampering part of the shoot. She liked to use this time to relax and prepare.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Mitch raced in the door. Fortunately he had two excellent assistants on the shoot and they had already set up the lights, equipment required and the props for the set. He felt relieved he’d had the forethought to drop off his stuff the previous day so it would be ready for him. 

The fragrance they were shooting for was called
Seduction
, and Mitch’s objective, to have Isabelle looking just like that, without overdoing it. Classy and sexy was the brief.

With light meter in hand, Mitch concentrated on ensuring everything would be ready for the arrival of his model. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a tall, black haired woman walking out onto the set. His eyes shifted so he could obtain a better look and he decided she wasn’t walking, she was gliding. She had the graceful wal
k of someone sure of themselves, someone confident in their own skin.

The stylist had dressed her in a dusky pink silk gown which covered her toned body to just above the knee. Without his usual nonchalance, he stood frozen as her long legs brought her towards him. As he watched her approach, he decided it wasn’t confidence in her stride but something more unassuming. Most models entered the room with a diva attitude. She, on the other hand, carried herself with a different air, one he couldn’t put his
finger on. Mitch knew he was staring yet could not drag his eyes from her face.

When she got closer he noticed her high ch
eekbones, silky olive skin and eyes that almost glowed. As he tried to determine the color, blue or green, she stopped in front of him and stuck out her hand.

* * *

Once Adele and Jade had completed her transformation, Isabelle headed out to the set to locate the notorious Mitchell. She discovered, to her complete surprise, a boyishly handsome man who appeared a little taller than her. His blond straight hair fell over one eye as he checked light with his meter. In an instant she was reminded of Leonard DiCaprio in ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

Isabelle took the opportunity to study him for a moment before he looked up. She couldn’t help but notice his wiry yet broad shouldered physique and smooth strong looking hands and arms. He
was awfully cute and she realized Adele’s rundown hadn’t done him justice.

His eyes lifted to m
eet hers and they were the color of the sky on a clear warm day. Her pulse quickened and her instant physical reaction to him surprised her. As she watched him watching her approach, she couldn’t determine the look in his eyes. Hoping her reaction to him didn’t show in her expression, she stuck out her hand by way of introduction.

“Hi, I’m Isabelle Winters. You must be Mitchell.”

* * *

Her soft, melodic voice caused Mitch’s heart to leap and then pound like a jackhammer. He stood rooted to the spot for endless seconds
, staring.
Say something, do something
, he urged himself. With miniscule control over his flooded senses, he planted what he hoped to be a laid-back smile on his face.

“Please
call me Mitch. It’s nice to meet you, Isabelle.”

“Are you ready to start?” she asked in a cool tone which took him aback.
What was that about?

“Um, yeah.”

All of a sudden he felt out of his element and all words became lost in his mind or wouldn’t reach his dry mouth. This newfound reaction surprised him and only served to make forming words even more difficult. Somehow, he forced his tongue-tied mouth to continue.

“I thought maybe we could start with you on the seat.”

He gestured before turning, with reluctance, from her towards his camera. He wanted to take in more of her, to find out why she looked at him now as though he had a contagious disease.

Turning away from him, he watched her walk over to the seat, lie down on her side and rest her head on outstretched arms. The sultry expression she aimed straight down the camera made his heart lurch again. Not only did she know what to do without direction, nailing the brief, she also stole his breath. For the first time since he was a teenager, his palms grew sweaty and instant desire teemed through his veins. The usual lust prevalent around other models disappeared in her presence. Instead, it became replaced with a nervous, unable to string thoughts together, infatuation.

“That’s perfect,” he managed to mumble out before beginning to shoot.

Looking at her through the lens, he determined her eyes to be green, the color of the sea on a stormy day. He felt as though they penetrated his soul and evaluated what they found inside. He directed her though several different poses and each time she knew exactly what he wanted, as though she possessed the same thoughts. To say he was somewhat impressed was an understatement.

“I think we got it,” he said after snapping the final shot. He walked over to her as she stood up. “You have captured the brief perfectly.”

A silly school boy giggle erupted in his head. His natural flirtatious manner hid behind this professional, eager to be serious Mitchell, which had taken control of his mind. The first time he wanted his charm to be at play, it ran scurrying under a rock.

“Thanks,” she said. “You’re really easy to work with too.”

“Thanks,” he mumbled. Sudden shyness now slid itself onto the list of unusual reactions.

“I guess I’d better go change. Thanks again, Mitch.”

‘What is the matter with you?’ he yelled in his mind. ‘Ask her out. Don’t let her get away!’ His mouth wouldn’t co-operate.

Instead, he watched her sleek legs as she returned to the back rooms to change. The effect she had on his senses astounded him. A woman had never had this effect on him before. For the first time, for as long as he could remember, he didn’t want to sleep with her, he wanted to know all about her. Her beauty and almost ethereal poise had stupefied him.

When she re-emerged in running gear, with a fresh clean face and her hair tied back, he attempted to work up some courage to approach her. A quick study told him she looked much better this way.

Somehow he convinced his legs to move and he closed the distance in several quick strides. Now he needed to urge his mouth to speak.

“Um, I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me tonight.” The trepidation in his voice surprised him. Today was full of surprises.

“I’m busy.” Her face gave little indication of her thoughts. It was a blank canvas.

“Maybe another night then?”

“I don’t think so.” Her tone sounded cool again and he wondered why. Perhaps it was his inept attempt at charm.

“Why?”

“I’ve heard about your reputation and I have no inclination to be one of your statistics.”

“I’m not that bad,” he said, knowing that perhaps he could be and cursed himself. “I think you’re amazing and want to find out more about you.” Great: now his mouth worked like a flowing river. He groaned internally at the overeager boy sprouting words that didn’t go with Mitch the man. He gave her what he knew to be his ‘winning’ smile but this merely caused her to frown.

“Sure you do. I’ve heard all the lines before and they aren’t going to work. I’m not just some dumb model that will jump into bed with anyone who asks.”

Her reaction caused him to smirk. Not only was it endearing, it was new.

“I don’t recall asking you to bed. I asked you to dinner. You are
... intriguing.”

“Yeah, sure.
My answer still stands.”

She turned and walked out of the studio before he could respond.

“Damn it,” he mumbled to himself. He’d screwed that up royally.

Disappointed caused him to frown. The first time he’d felt a
spark, a real spark, not lust. His extracurricular activities had come back around to bite him. Isabelle had affected him in a way he couldn’t fathom and he had no idea what to do with the kaleidoscope of emotions swirling through his veins. When he’d said he wanted to know more about her, he’d meant it. For the first time - it seemed it had become a day for firsts - he felt an urgent need to talk with her, to learn more about her instead of just ravishing her. It’s not that he didn’t find this idea appealing, but this time it felt different.