Page 29 of Strut

“Right.” I’d been the recipient of more than a few unwanted touches myself, nothing too bad, but I’d heard the stories. There was a not-so-secret list carried on the winds of model gossip and often pretty damn accurate about who to watch out for. When I’d first started working, I’d been stunned that no one seemed to bat an eye at some of the inappropriate stuff that went down, but most models treated it as an occupational hazard. It pissed me off big time, but you don’t rock the boat when you’re new.

“Anyway, congratulations,” Marco added. “Let us know how it goes. You’ll be out of this rat hole of an apartment before any of us, you’ll see.” He grabbed his jacket and headed for the front door. “Catch all your ugly mugs later.”

“Dang, man.” Aaron was still staring at me from across the room. “Who’d you have to fuck to land that?”

I didn’t bother with an answer, letting my unimpressed eye-roll do its thing.

Levi levelled a curious look my way. “Yeah, congrats, Alec. Berlini is normally loyal as shit to their usual boring stable.” He looked me over and shook his head. “Still, we don’t all look like you.”

Tim huffed and stomped past Aaron and Levi to throw his arms around me. “Congratulations, babe.” Then he added in a whisper, “Ignore them. Jealous pricks.”

The lounge cleared quickly after that, leaving just Tim and me to get breakfast.

“Hot date?” I took a swallow of my protein smoothie and indicated the bruise just visible above Tim’s T-shirt.

He flushed and his hand shot up to cover the mark. “Not really.” He busied himself with the coffee maker. “I, um, called Miles Broadhurst, like he said.”

My ears pricked up. “Really? How’d that go?”

“Good... actually.” Tim turned and leaned against the countertop, coffee in hand. “He asked a lot of stuff about my background and how I got to New York, being an Aussie. He’s doing some kind of series on diversity in up-and-coming models, or something like that. He wants to interview me. Could be a good thing, right?”

I hesitated with my glass halfway to my mouth. “Yeah, that would be amazing. Everyone reads his column.” I sipped on my smoothie and tried to ignore the unease in my chest. “Was that who you went out with last night?”

Tim’s cheeks blazed and he turned away. I wrapped my arms around him from behind and dropped my chin on his shoulder. “Hey, no judgement here.”

He wrapped a hand over my forearm and squeezed. “Thanks.”

CHAPTERSEVEN

Hunter

I stared at my phone,then pocketed it, aiming for cool and collected for the dozen or so pairs of curious eyes that watched me. I’d held up the shoot for a call, something Ineverdid, and my hands were still shaking as I crossed to where Sophie stood impatiently tapping her foot.

It had been five minutes of the scariest fucking thing I’d ever done, but Rhys had been right, and his boot up my arse had been warranted. I wasn’t a quitter. I’d spent months with Alec during Flare’s build-up to fashion week and I liked everything about him—that one heated encounter behind the bar simply sealing the deal.

No. Imorethan liked this guy.

Liked him enough to run the fuck away from him.

But it hadn’t worked, and this strange New York bubble we found ourselves in seemed a safe place to test the why of that. If we didn’t work or I fucked it up—which, to be fair, was the more likely scenario—then we could walk away from each other. No harm, no foul. Our fashion paths might cross now and then but we’d handle it. We were professionals.

It all sounded so easy, but none of those reasons matched what was really important. I didn’t simply like Alec; Iwantedhim, and not just in my bed. I wanted him in a way I hadn’t felt in ten years. Since Steven. Maybe not even then, not in the same way, because I knew I would never share Alec. There would be no open relationship, not with him. I wanted Alec enough to break all my rules. Enough to humiliate myself and practically fucking beg for a chance with him. Enough that I didn’t recognise who I was in that moment.

“Jesus, you look like you just saw a ghost.” Sophie ran a concerned gaze over me and I realised I’d been standing in front of her for a few seconds, saying nothing. “Was that bad news?”

I snorted and shook my head. “The exact opposite. Now, where were we?”

* * *

I had the cab drop me and Alec at Little Island. We grabbed a coffee to go and drank it looking out over the murky Hudson. The blue sky was patched with soft grey clouds blown by a gentle but cool northerly. It made for perfect strolling weather and we both glanced up as a straggly V of Canada geese called to their resident cousins as they passed.

Alec pointed to the formation. “Did you know they fly like that to reduce wind resistance? Plus, it helps them keep an eye on each other and the group as a whole. Something about communication.”

I nodded, finding it hard to concentrate on anything except the heat of Alec’s body next to mine. I gave in to the temptation to turn and drink my fill, but I wasn’t the only one. Alec turned heads like he always did. Dressed in tight black jeans ripped at the knees, a white T-shirt, and a baggy black-and-white-striped jacket with a jaunty black scarf slung around his neck, it was a super understated look but effortlessly cool and chic. And also very, very different from the guy I’d first met.

“You’re not listening to me.” He regarded me with a knowing smirk.

Busted.I blatantly ogled him. “Who the hell can concentrate on bloody geese with you standing next to them?”

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