Page 41 of Strut

The art director nodded as if in approval at my comment. “We felt there was no reason to keep you a secret from each other. This isn’t a competition, not really. It’s not about who is better; you’re both outstanding. This is about who is the closer fit for this campaign and then maybe for future campaigns if this one goes well. We saw Ray this morning and now you.”

I pressed down on my jiggling leg. This was big. They were talking ongoing ad campaigns and a future brand face. “Sure. I understand.” My voice had a distinct waver I tried to pretend wasn’t there.

“Good.” The director sat back in his chair and crossed one leg over the other. “I think we should start with a casual get to know each other chat, and then we’ll leave you in Darcy’s capable hands for a test shoot. The shoot is nothing complicated. We’ll throw you into a variety of our looks and see what you’ve got without too much help from hair and makeup. I’m sure you’re aware of Darcy’s excellent reputation. When he’s done, you’ll be free to go, and we’ll be in touch with your agency next week. Does that work for you?”

Was there really more than one answer to that? Because I wasn’t an idiot. “That works fine.”

“Good. Darcy will give you our standard release form. Cage did indicate you might want a couple of shots for your book?”

I nodded. “If that’s okay?”

He smiled. “Of course. We’ll make sure you get to see them, and if we don’t need them, we’ll release a few to you. But first, how about tell us a bit about yourself?”

By the end of the chat, I was exhausted. It might’ve beencasualfor them, but I felt fresh back from rendition. Their seemingly simple questions were, of course, not simple in the slightest, all designed to see if Ifitwith their label. It was a half hour of mental gymnastics, all the while feeling like a bug under a microscope.

On the plus side, the more we talked, the more excited I became. Berlini was a more conservative label than Rhys’s one, Flare, and definitely less edgy, but that was the exact reason they were a better fit for me. Iwasthat guy, less flashy, more restrained, a little older. Calvin Klein models had a certain look, Nike another, and Coca-Cola and Pepsi looked quite different as well. The fit was important. And IfitBerlini.

By the time they’d all left, I craved a beer and a certain scruffy-jawed photog’s arms to enfold me, and I hadn’t even faced a camera yet.

Darcy had me sign the release, then handed me a water and sent me to another room where hair and makeup stylists were busy with models from another shoot in the next studio. One of them waved me to a seat, and in fifteen minutes she was done. Carl wasn’t kidding about keeping it simple.

Darcy introduced me to his assistant, Gary, a fine-boned, pretty young man with shrewd blue eyes and a ruthlessly efficient manner. Somewhere in his twenties, he wore a white shirt untucked with the sleeves rolled up, showing just a tempting peek of a tattoo, a maroon bow tie, and skinny black jeans. He glanced my way, looked me up and down, frowned, then told me to lose my jacket and shoes, but keep the rest.

Darcy looked up from adjusting a camera and tossed his chestnut waves out of his face and nodded at his assistant. “Good call. Let’s start off with what he’s got on.” He turned to me. “Treat this like any other shoot. It’s just you and me and Gary. No pressure.”

But there was a gleam in his eye and I shot both him and his fine-boned sharp-eyed assistant a look that said,‘Are you fucking kidding me?’.

Darcy grinned. “I know. I know. Easy for us to say. I get that it’s a big opportunity. But if you let it get to you, I won’t have anything good to show the team. So, just try to relax and think of whatever makes you happy.”

Hunter. Hunter made me happy. And I was hoping that tonight, he’d make me especially fucking happy. I grinned. Yep. No need to look further than imagining the two of us burning up his sheets.

“There you go.” Darcy smiled and waved me over. “Whatever you’re thinking about, keep that going. We’ll start with you freestyling some poses for a bit, get you nice and comfortable. Then I’ll pick up the reins. Ready?”

I sucked in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Ready.”

“Right. Then let’s make some magic, shall we?” And he started shooting.

Fifteen minutes later, Darcy had me change into a full Berlini Tux and we shot varying versions of that for a while—coat on, coat off, tie loose, tie off, vest on, vest undone, shirt open with the bow tie hanging, and so on. As the time ticked by, Darcy became more and more directive, just as he’d warned he would, and I remembered what Hunter had told me.

Some poses he placed me in were hell to hold and I hoped they were worth it, but it was part of the job. At one point he called me over to look at some of the raw digitals and I immediately stopped worrying. They were fucking amazing. Damn, I’d stand on my head and sing the Hallelujah chorus if it meant I got pics that good.

Darcy’s talent was capturing a truckload of emotion, and commercially speaking, emotion was gold. Emotional connection equalled sales. And Darcy Fenchurch’s images sold.

“Gary,” Darcy called. “I want to try this with my Nikon. I think it’s in the other bag.”

“On it.” Gary immediately scuttled away to track the camera down.

“Okay, Alec, for this next crop, we need to see a bit more of your body. As you know, Berlini has a line of swimsuits and underwear, so can you strip to your briefs, please?”

I didn’t hesitate, stripping down to my black briefs in seconds while Darcy shifted the polyboard into position behind me. When I was ready, I turned and his gaze shot up from where it had been locked on my arse and he smirked, nodding at my crotch. “Very nice.”

Heat blazed in my cheeks as I realised he was referring to my dick, and I cringed just a little. Yeah, I was a little above average in that department, but still. Then I remembered Marco’s warning that the man could be a bit handsy and took a deep breath.Just ignore him.

Darcy smiled as if he’d said nothing inappropriate and held out a bright red jockstrap for me. “This will work better for what I have in mind.” Another smirk. “You’ll certainly fill it out.” He stared at me for a second too long, and for some reason I glanced around the room, but we were alone.

“Sure.” I took the tiny jockstrap, which hardly seemed Berlini style if I was being honest. I waited until Darcy walked away and then quickly scanned the room, but there was nowhere to change without leaving the room. It wasn’t something that would normally bother me. So why the fuck did it now?

I sighed and mentally slapped myself. This was Berlini. They were looking for a face for their label. Of course they needed to see my body. Of course they did.

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