Chapter 7

Barrett

Holy fucking shit.

Demi’s pictures from the week before were phenomenal. Stefan had started sending over the proofs that morning, and she looked mouthwateringly divine in each and every single one of them.

It had been a week since the shoot, and I’d been working her hard, setting up more shoots and trying her out with different looks. I’d been careful to make sure they were all closed shoots, though, even breaking my cardinal rule and being in some pictures with her. We wouldn’t use any that showed my face, of course. It was only to take a few shots of her doing things like watching TV or eating dinner, while having someone to share glances with.

In just one week, our working relationship had become rock solid. Demi took my lead without question, took risks when I suggested them, and was growing quickly into her role as a top model.

Staring out of the floor-to-ceiling windows in my office, my eyes blind to the stunning view of the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings and the city beyond, I was starting to realize that a working relationship wasn’t all that I wanted with her.

Over the time we’d spent together, I realized that I wanted her more than before, for more than even one night, even though I’d happily start with just one night.

My thoughts drifted to Wednesday morning, when Gloria, the model Adam had seduced a few weeks before, tried to steal the spotlight from Demi.

Stefan, Demi, and I were in an old office building in Midtown, discussing her shoot for the day when Gloria arrived. We’d booked the building for the day for back-to-back shoots but I had personally arranged for Demi’s to be two hours earlier than the others so we’d still be shooting closed.

Gloria had just so happened to appear in time for Demi’s shoot, undeniably trying to steal the spotlight.

“Oh, I’m ever so sorry I’m early,” she’d drawled. “I was wondering if you might need a pro to guide our little newbie here.”

The smile on Gloria’s face was as fake as her tits, but before I could call her out for it, Demi surprised me by speaking up.

“That was so thoughtful of you, Gloria. Thank you, but these two gentlemen have my head spinning with tips as it is. I’m not sure I could handle another opinion.”

Demi smiled sweetly, but I could hear the quiet fuck off to Gloria in her tone. I liked it.

I might’ve found her working in a diner, but it was clear to me that she came from money. She was familiar with proper place settings, gushed about the fine fabrics we dressed her in, and voiced her thoughts on the designer tailoring we set her up with. All things considered, it broadcasted her good breeding and elite status.

The more I got to know her, the more perfect I was sure she was. A beautiful woman who didn’t care about my money because she had her own? Fuck, yeah.

Not to mention that her personality also suited me. She was smart, amusing, and an excellent judge of character, as the quiet, but effective scene with Gloria had proven.

“Yo, my man,” Adam bellowed, interrupting my thoughts and drawing me out of my reverie. “Those the pics of our new girl?”

“She’s not our anything,” I told him, thankfully biting back the way I already thought of her as mine.

Adam looked surprised at my reaction for a split second, then shrugged. “Whatever, man. Are those the prints of the new face of the agency?”

I wanted to keep Demi’s pictures all to myself, but that wasn’t an option since I’d informed everyone who would listen that I’d found our new poster girl. Grudgingly, I slid the pictures to Adam, then watched as his eyes bugged out.

He smirked, staring at Demi’s prints like he’d like to take one to the bathroom with him. It took everything I had in me not to yank them away from him and rip his eyes from his head for having seen them.

“You’ve done it again, bro. She’s beautiful.” Adam dragged his eyes from the pictures to me. “You tapped that yet?”

The amusement in his expression pissed me off. “No.” Not yet.

“So, she’s fair game then?” He arched an eyebrow at me.

“I have no doubt she’d have her fair share of objections to being called game,” I said, fisting my hands at my sides.

Adam smirked and made himself comfortable on one of the couches in my office, popping a foot on his knee. “Then let’s make sure she never finds out.”

I folded my arms and leaned back in my chair. I needed to not be having this conversation, so I steered it in a different direction. “Nancie went on a date last Saturday.”

Adam’s eyes widened, amusement lighting them up as he adjusted so that his elbows were on his knees. “What did you do with the body?”

“Nothing, the little shit lives,” I told him with shit-eating grin.

He let out a low chuckle. “Well done on the self-control. How did it go?”

“Thanks but let’s not go breaking out the champagne just yet. The next time he steps foot in my house might not go so well. As for how it went, I don’t really know. She was pissed at me when she left, and she’s hardly spoken ten words to me since.”

“Good old teenage silent treatment already?” Adam asked, whistling low. “Damn, it’s hard to believe she’s old enough for that already.”

“I know, it sucks,” I lamented, dragging a hand through my hair. “How the hell am I supposed to deal with it?”

“Fuck if I know,” he said. “Maybe try talking to her?”

“I did,” I told him. “Get this. She told me to, ‘butt out and go back to being distracted by work and my gold digging dates.’ She said her boyfriend wasn’t like that and if I couldn’t accept it, then she didn’t want to talk to me.”

Adam whistled again, shaking his head. “Ouch. When did she grow that mouth?”

“Last couple of months, it’s been getting worse. She’s becoming more like her mother every day.”

Nancie made me miss my sister so damn much sometimes. It was like something was physically missing from my life. I did my best not to think about it, but sometimes, it all came back and crashed down on me. Watching Nancie grow up these days brought those feelings to the surface a lot more often.

“What are you going to do about it?” he asked.

“Fuck if I know,” I said, repeating his words from earlier back to him. “I figure I’ll start by buying her a dress for prom. She mentioned it on Tuesday. Maybe that’ll win me back some points.”

“Nice.” Adam winked and rolled his eyes. “Throw some money at the problem. That’ll solve it.”

“You have any better ideas?” I was half hoping that he would come up with some kind of insight since he was four years older than me, but he didn’t.

“Not a one.” He laughed and shook his head. “She’s a chick. Buy any chick a dress, and they love you. Isn’t that how it goes?”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking, but I’m not sure that’s going to be enough this time. Besides, where does one even go to buy a goddamn prom dress?”

A light knock sounded at my door.

Adam and I both slid our game faces on, the easygoing atmosphere evaporating immediately as I called out, “Come in.”

Demi’s beautiful face appeared when the door swung open. “Oh, uh, hi.”

Adam sat up a little straighter, a smirk replacing his serious expression. “Hi, you must be Demi. Your proofs are phenomenal.”

Demi had pulled her hair into a loose bun on top of her head, allowing me to see the tips of her ears burning at Adam’s words.

“Way to make her uncomfortable,” I told him, then turned my eyes back on her. “Come on in, and shut the door behind you.”

She did, stepping over the threshold wearing a deep purple sundress that accentuated her eyes. I had the sudden urge to kick Adam out, tear off the dress, and fuck her bent over my desk, but I pushed it down.

“Have you met Adam yet?” I asked her.

“No,” she answered softly.

Adam strode over to her and held out his hand. “Adam Campbell. Second in command.”

“Demi Fowler,” she said, placing her hand in Adam’s. I eyed the spot where their skin connected and felt an unfamiliar frisson of jealousy shoot through my body.

Adam made it worse by bringing her hand to his lips instead of shaking it. “It’s nice to officially meet the new face of the agency. We should go out for a drink sometime and talk strategy.”

Demi flushed a deep shade of red. Adam had been my best friend for two decades, but if he didn’t let go of her in two seconds, his head might no longer be attached to his shoulders.

I tensed as I waited for her reply. Shit, what the hell was going on with me? I never felt any sense of possessiveness over a model, much less an attachment to her. The feelings coursing through my veins were making me seriously uncomfortable.

Demi glanced at me, then pulled her hand from Adam’s, deflecting with that skilled grace I was looking forward to seeing more of. “Barrett and I have talked it over, but if you two want to go for drinks, just let me know when.”

I breathed a sigh that shouldn’t have been relief, but it was. “What can I do for you today?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to interrupt your meeting. Your assistant didn’t say that you were busy. I just wanted to talk about how best to prepare for the next shoot, but I can come back later.”

“Nah,” Adam drawled. “We’re not in a meeting. We’re dealing with a prom dress crisis.”

Demi’s eyebrows shot up. “Do I even want to know?”

“Have a seat,” I said, motioning her to a ring of couches where Adam had settled in, and I joined them, sinking into a single seater and crossing my ankle over my knee. “Nancie needs a dress for prom.”

“In June?” she asked, looking at me quizzically.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I said. I’m told that girls need time to prepare for these occasions.” I was repeating Nancie’s response.

Demi laughed, relaxing into the seat. “That’s true. You know, you should try Tamara’s over on Hudson. She’s always had the best stuff.”

My ears perked. Always?

“Thanks, any other suggestions?”

Demi turned to look out over the New York skyline beyond my office, then clenched her jaw and turned her attention back to me. “Koolhaus in SoHo, maybe? It depends on her style.”

There it was, the opening I needed. “I was planning on taking her shopping later. You should come. Save me. I was going to take her to Bloomingdales, but it doesn’t sound like that’s the best course of action here.”

Demi laughed again, shaking her head. “You’ll find something there, but there are much better places for prom.”

“Demi Fowler,” I said, turning so that I was facing her directly, my lips turning up into a pleading smile. “Will you please save me from committing yet another unforgivable sin in the eyes of my teenage niece and help me find a prom dress?”

Her eyes searched mine, but I wasn’t sure what for. She nodded once. “Sure, I can help you.”

“Great, let’s go,” I told her. “We can talk about the shoot on the way to pick her up.”

Adam watched the exchange between us silently, a curious expression on his face. Demi’s eyes flicked to him, which spurred him to action. He rose from the couch. “Well, that’s my cue. Enjoy your shopping trip.”

Demi and I followed him out the door. My hand fell to the small of her back as if it were its natural home as I led her to my car. It was a gesture of possession that I usually avoided at all costs, but strangely, I felt absolutely no inclination to move it with Demi.