Chapter 1

“Well that was an interesting day,” Drake said as he and Allison pulled back up to his house.

After spending the night with Allison, they had just finished watching a news story stating that Drake was having sex with two gay men in Allison’s home. Of course, the story wasn’t true, and Drake had just been talking to Allison’s assistant and his boyfriend as they left, but the news media didn’t care about the truth. It was a salacious story that had a lot of people’s attention, and that was all that mattered to the people who made television.

“Yes, it was an interesting day for sure,” Allison said as she cuddled up to Drake in his car.

Their day together had been as close to perfect as she could have wanted. Allison had worked with the local charity group that she loved, and she and Drake had gotten a small taste of what life would be like if they were to date for real. People asking for their signatures, paparazzi at her house and lots of people wanting to know more about them at all times. It was exhausting, but Allison liked that she had someone who at least knew what she was going through.

They stayed in the car for a little bit while they talked one last time before going into the house. Allison knew that she wasn’t going to get much more alone time with him after that day, so she wanted Drake to know just how much she had enjoyed their time together.

“I know that the news was a little crazy, but I did still have a great time with you today,” Allison said, leaning over to kiss Drake.

“I enjoyed our day as well. It was lots of fun. I’m sorry about the fiasco with the press.”

“Drake, it’s not your fault; they are always like that.”

As the two of them made their way into the house, Drake paused to give Allison one last kiss before they walked in the door. He knew that the women in the house had probably seen the news story already and hoped they knew it wasn’t true. Obviously, he didn’t like men, he was living in a house full of seven women at the time. But he was prepared to explain to them what had happened if they needed that explanation.

“Drake, come over here,” Samantha said the second they opened the door.

“Yes, ma’am,” he teased.

Drake walked into the office just off of the main living area, finding both Samantha and Robert waiting to confront him about the current press coverage..

“This isn’t good, Drake; you work with some very traditional companies and they aren’t going to like even the hint of you having sex with men. Not just one man, the news story says you were having sex with multiple men,” Samantha said, reading from the notes she had.

Drake couldn’t help laughing at how worried Samantha was about the press. There he was in a house with seven women that he had been dating, and sleeping with, over the last few days. He couldn’t help wondering what kind of stories the press would be running if they knew what was going on in his house at that very moment.

“So, you’re not worried about the seven women I have in my home and I’m sleeping with, but you are worried about the two men that are not in my home and I’m not sleeping with?” Drake said as he continued laughing.

“You know what I mean, Drake. It’s bad publicity.”

“Why? I bet I’m getting great ratings with the gay community.”

“Drake, this is serious, you need to listen to Samantha,” Robert added.

“Robert, it’s not serious. We aren’t talking about world hunger here. We are just talking about a tabloid story that isn’t true. Let it cycle through at least one news cycle, and then let’s talk about it if it’s still a story.”

“Drake I’m not sure why you think this is alright.”

Drake understood why Robert and Samantha were so worried, but in the scheme of things, it really wasn’t that big a deal. Drake really didn’t care if people thought he was gay; it didn’t bother him at all. In fact, he found it rather humorous.

“I’m done talking about this; I’m going to go talk with Cynthia and the other women for a little bit. Why don’t you two discuss what needs to happen and then let me know what you decide.”

Drake turned and left the room before either Samantha or Robert could respond. He really didn’t have time to worry about things like the two of them did. He had a life to lead, and he had to talk with Cynthia. It was already almost 9 a.m., and he didn’t want her to feel like she had missed out on her time with him.

Cynthia was sitting with Scarlett and laughing when Drake walked into the living room. He paused and watched the two women as they talked and laughed before realizing that Drake was there. Both Cynthia and Scarlett seemed oblivious to the gossiping going on around them. The other girls appeared to have the news on and were watching as they talked to each other.

Drake didn’t really care if people were watching the news story, even the women he had living with him. Anyone that knew him had to know that the story wasn’t true. There couldn’t be any doubt in anyone’s mind about whether Drake was gay or not. He loved his women and had been seen with more than any of those news reporters could even count.

But the news and tabloids weren’t interested in the real story; they just wanted something interesting to say on television. It was actually kind of sickening how little they cared whether a story was true or not.

“Do you ladies mind if I join you?” Drake asked, facing Cynthia and Scarlett.

The other ladies in the living room suddenly realized he was there and turned their attention to him. But when they realized he wanted to talk with Cynthia and Scarlett, the others resumed their conversation.

“You two look rather cozy over here,” he said as he sat down between the two women.

Scarlett was well put together in a flowing teal colored dress with her ample breasts pressed up against the top of the dress. It was impossible for Drake not to pay attention to her breasts when Scarlett was anywhere near him, but the more he got to know her, the more he realized that she was much more than just her boobs. She was a smart, level-headed woman who never seemed to let anything get to her.

Cynthia was Drake’s date for that day, and he was really quite excited about the opportunity. She was going to be a unique date for him and not for the reasons that Samantha or Robert might think. Drake was excited to have a date with Cynthia because of her professed love of being a dominatrix. He had never dated or been involved with a woman who liked that sort of thing, but Drake had secretly been attracted to that lifestyle for a long time.

It wasn’t like you could just come out and tell a woman that you wanted to try some S&M stuff, though. Either a woman was into that stuff or she wasn’t, and if you asked a woman who wasn’t into it, they got scared off and didn’t want to talk to you much more. Although, Drake LeBlanc knew that any woman who he told would probably still stick around because of his money. He did genuinely want to talk with a woman who found the S&M lifestyle exciting. He was intrigued by it and couldn’t wait to have a real conversation with Cynthia during their day together.

“We were just talking about your fondness for the gay man,” Cynthia said as she and Scarlett laughed.

“Yes, we like how sexually free you are,” Scarlett added.

Drake couldn’t help laughing at how easygoing both of the women were. They obviously didn’t care if the news was true or not, and that was exactly why he liked them. It didn’t really matter what the truth was, Drake wanted to pick a woman who was sexually free enough to not care about homosexuality.

“Scarlett, how was your day? I’m sorry that I didn’t get much of a chance to talk with everyone yesterday.”

“My day was good; I’ve enjoyed getting to know all the other women,” Scarlett said sweetly.

Cynthia couldn’t help laughing a little.

“You haven’t enjoyed getting to know the other women?” Drake asked.

“No, most of them are way too high-maintenance for me. That’s why I’m over here talking to Scarlett.”

Drake didn’t have to ask for any further explanation, he knew that the women were all very strong-willed and probably a little hard to get along with when they were all cooped up in the house.

“If you don’t mind, Cynthia, I was going to say hello to everyone before we start our date,” Drake said, standing up.

“That’s fine, I’ve got a pretty exhausting day ahead for us, though, you should grab yourself some breakfast,” she said with a wink.

Scarlett gave Drake a raised eyebrow at the news. She knew what Cynthia had planned and thought it was a great idea for Drake to give Cynthia’s lifestyle a try.

“I’m a little afraid now,” Drake added as he walked off to the next group of women.

Scarlett and Cynthia went right back to laughing and chatting as Drake walked away. He couldn’t help looking back at the two of them and admiring how comfortable and laid back they were. It was clear that they were both very comfortable with who they were and didn’t need to pretend to be something else around the other women in the house.

“Hello Lauren, would you like to come sit with me for a moment?” Drake asked as he grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the women she was talking to.

Lauren instantly became excited and practically bounced as she walked behind Drake. They found a sitting area near the stairs where they started to talk. Drake liked Lauren a lot, he liked all the women a lot; it was getting increasingly more difficult to make a decision between the women.

“Hi Drake, how are you?” Lauren asked.

“I’m good, I’m excited about our date tomorrow. Do you have any big plans?”

“I was going to surprise you with it tomorrow,” Lauren said, looking down at the ground and giggling.

“As long as it’s not surfing, man I hate surfing.”

Lauren instantly looked up at Drake with wide eyes that seemed about to cry. She had planned to take Drake surfing; it was her profession, and she loved it. Lauren couldn’t wait to spend the day with Drake on the water and relax in the sun.

“Um, well …” she stuttered.

“I’m kidding, darling. I know you surf professionally. I’m just kidding. I really would love to spend the day at the beach with you.”

“Oh, my gosh. You scared me so much.”

“I’m sorry; I’m just in a funny mood today.”

“Okay, so you are good with surfing?” Lauren asked, trying to figure out if her plans were still alright.

“Yes, beach, surfing, and all that fun sounds perfect to me.”

“Great, because I can’t wait to get out of this house.”

“I bet you feel a bit like a caged animal here. At least, there is a decent pool.”

Drake and Lauren finished talking after a few more minutes, and he moved on to talk with Sophia, Emily, and Victoria.

“Oh, Drake, how are you?” Sophia said, jumping up and kissing Drake right in front of the two women.

Drake did his best to try and push her away, but there was no keeping Sophia away from him. He finally just gave in and kissed her so he could converse with the other women.

“Hi Sophia, it’s good to see you too,” Drake said as he pressed himself away from her and made it over to sit next to Emily and Victoria.

“So, you’re gay?” Victoria asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m just sexually free,” Drake joked.

But when he saw the serious look on Emily’s face, Drake knew he needed to clarify himself.

“No, I’m not gay. That was Allison’s assistant and his boyfriend leaving her house. She’s just got a lot of paparazzi who were a little agitated with me so they are trying to get back at me.”

“It was quite the story,” Victoria added as she leaned in to talk to Drake.

“I know, that’s how those stories work.”

“Well, I think it’s bold,” Sophia said, squeezing in and sitting next to Drake. “You are a liberated sexual man and should sleep with whomever you want to.”

Drake knew that Sophia was going to like the idea of him sleeping with other men. She had mentioned to him she liked to have threesomes with two guys and herself much better than she liked two women and one guy. But Drake just couldn’t keep going with the conversation at all. He was exhausted.

“Alright ladies, you behave yourselves and I’ll be back for dinner tonight. Try to be nice to each other,” Drake said, noticing that Samantha and Robert were finally ready to talk to him again.

Samantha and Robert looked like upset parents who were about to reprimand their teenage child for his wrongdoing. It was hilarious to Drake that two of his best friends and co-workers were that upset over a silly tabloids story. He could only imagine how stressed out their life would be if he chose Allison, when everything was said and done.

The combination of Allison and Drake would certainly mean that he would need a full team to handle his public relations issues. It would be too much for Samantha and Robert to have to deal with along with their normal duties.

“Go grab Cynthia, this is going to have to do with her as well,” Samantha said as Drake approached her.

He didn’t like the sound of what Samantha and Robert had going on at all. Drake didn’t want to take away another minute of Cynthia’s time because of the silly news story. But he obliged them and grabbed Cynthia so he could at least hear what it was they had to say before he told them no. Because the truth was, Drake was in charge, and he could decide for himself what was best.