Model Attraction

by Sharon C. Cooper

  A sudden tension circled around them. At first, she thought it was something she might have said or done. But after following his gaze to a table of men, she knew it was his protective nature kicking in. She had noticed the group when they walked in, making sure not to make eye contact, but felt their gazes on her.

  Turning to Austin, she touched his arm. “Relax, I’ll be fine.” She headed to the restroom, an extra pep in her step. She didn’t want to get too excited that maybe Austin still had feelings for her, but she couldn’t help it. His protective claws wouldn’t have come out if he didn’t feel something. Or would they? On second thought, Austin had always been chivalrous, even at a young age.

  Janna made quick work of using the bathroom and touching up her makeup. When she stepped out of the restroom, she startled. A man stood in the small area between the men’s and women’s bathrooms as if waiting on someone.

  She nodded an acknowledgment, prepared to head back to her table, but he touched her arm.

  Janna jerked away and took a step back. She could handle fans stopping to ask questions, but she didn’t like people touching her without her permission.

  “I’m sorry.” He quickly lifted his hands as if surrendering. “I didn’t mean to scare you, but aren’t you Janna Morgan?”

  She sighed. This was one evening she wished she could have gone without being noticed or approached.

  “Yes, I am,” she said and tried to step around him, but he blocked her way. She felt more irritated than threatened. “Will you excuse me, please?”

  “Listen, I mean no harm, but I was wondering if I could get a picture with you.”

  Rarely did she roam around alone, especially considering how bold people were getting in their approach. She had recently seen a photo of herself with a male fan floating around on social media with a raunchy caption. It was then she knew she had to make some changes. One being she no longer took pictures with random men. Though she was comfortable with the decision, this was the first time she’d received the request since then. Now she debated how to handle the situation without things getting ugly.

  * * *

  Austin glanced toward the restroom area, getting a little concerned about Janna’s delay. He was protective by nature, which was how he and Janna first met. He would never forget that day. She had shown up at the school’s gym during one of his basketball practices in search of the gym teacher. Gorgeous even back then, she’d attracted some unwanted attention from one of his teammates. The gym teacher had left for the day, and his coach hadn’t shown up yet, leaving the guys to practice unsupervised. One of the boys on the team suggestively offered to help her with whatever she needed. Even now, recalling how his teammate wouldn’t back off when she told him she wasn’t interested had Austin clenching his fist.

  “Here you go, handsome. You can pay me whenever you’re ready,” the server said, interrupting his thoughts when she set the check on the table. “I hope to see you in again sometime...soon.” Her wink and parting words weren’t lost on Austin, especially since he had noticed her flirtatious attempts earlier. As he had earlier, he ignored her.

  He glanced at the bill as his mind took him back to that time in the gym. Janna had been livid when he jumped in and punched his teammate, claiming she could take care of herself. That encounter led to him asking her out on a date. She would only agree if he promised not to punch every guy who spoke to her. Two years of dating resulted in two fights and one suspension from school. He could honestly say that if he had to do those times over, he’d do the exact same thing. He would fight for her.

  Like you fought to keep her? He shook the annoying thought from his mind and stuffed enough cash in the black folder to cover the cost of their meal and a tip.

  Austin grabbed her to-go container and headed in the direction of the restrooms, but stopped short. One of the men from the rowdy table was blocking Janna’s path.

  His pulse ratcheted up and a wave of annoyance coursed through his body. Like years ago, his first thought was to swing first and ask questions later, but he was older, wiser. Or so he told himself.

  Don’t do anything stupid. The last thing you want is to end up on social media or in another article.

  Janna looked up, and her eyes grew big when she spotted him. No doubt she thought he might make a scene.

  “Hey, sweetheart.” The endearment flowed out of his mouth as if it were the most natural thing to say. “What’s going on?”

  “Hey, man, I don’t mean any harm. I was just asking to get a photo with her. You know how it is,” the guy said as if he had a right to take a picture with Janna.

  “No, actually, I don’t. But I do know that outside her job, I’m the only man who takes pictures with her.” He moved past the man and extended his hand to Janna. “Ready to go?”

  At first taken aback, her mouth hanging open, she quickly recovered.

  A slow smile lifted the left corner of her lips. “As a matter of fact, I am.” She grabbed hold of his hand and winked at him, sending a wave of lust shooting through his body. “I was on my way back to the table.”

  Might as well keep the show going.

  Once her hand rested in his larger one, he lifted it to his lips, placing a slow kiss on the inside of her wrist. She shivered and her eyes stared into his.

  “Let’s get out of here.” He pulled her close and she molded to him without missing a beat, her arm going around his waist.

  “Sounds good.” They started walking away, but she stopped and turned back to her admirer. “Have a good evening.”

  Neither of them spoke as they walked through the establishment. Austin relished having her close. She fit so perfectly against his body, as if she were made specifically for him.

  When they stepped outside and he handed the valet ticket to the attendant, Austin didn’t release her right away.

  “Thank you for what you did back there.” Janna looked up at him. His eyes immediately zoned in on her lips and it was taking every bit of restraint he had not to lower his head and cover her mouth with his.

  “You’re welcome. So does that happen often?” he asked, using her words from earlier.

  She offered a slight smile and pulled slightly away from him. “Sometimes. Most times when I’m out and about, I’m usually with a friend, my manager or one of my sisters. So guys aren’t as bold in those instances. But normally the situations are harmless.”

  As far as Austin was concerned, that particular situation hadn’t seemed harmless. It burned him up inside to see guys fawning over her. He hated thinking that he was the jealous type, but when it came to Janna, he wasn’t himself.

  He lowered his hand to the small of her back when the attendant pulled up in his Porsche. Austin helped her into the vehicle before handing the valet a generous tip and climbing into the driver’s side of the car.

  “Where are you staying?”

  “The Marriott Marquis downtown,” Janna said and fastened her seat belt. “Thank you for dinner. Nice place, and the food was good.”

  He glanced at her with raised eyebrows. “How would you know? You barely ate.”

  Janna chuckled. “Well, what I ate was good and the wine was excellent. Besides, tonight was all about the company. Spending the evening with you was like old times.”

  Austin nodded, his attention on the road. “I agree. I forgot how comfortable you always made me feel. This was nice.”

  “I never really apologized for the photo that ended up in the entertainment section the other day,” Janna said, turning her body slightly despite the restraint of the seat belt. “I didn’t mean to bring any negative attention on you.”

  He gave a half shrug. “It’s all right. I’ll admit I was livid when I first saw it.” Funny what a difference a couple of days made. He’d never expected to spend time with her ever again.

  “I’m
sure. I know how you hate attention. Well, I assume that’s still the case.”

  “It is,” he said. That was a major difference between them. Janna had always loved people and enjoyed being a part of the in crowd, whereas he preferred to be alone if he wasn’t with her.

  “I noticed you’re in the media often.”

  “Not by choice. Well, at first it was because my manager said that I needed to stay visible. For the last year or so, I’ve tried to be mindful about who I’m seen with, especially when I started working on my nonprofit. I want people to see me as more than the model who graces the covers of national magazines. I want to be taken seriously, so I’ve been working on cleaning up my image.”

  “So the photo from the other day, did it help or hurt the image you’re trying to portray?”

  She thought for a moment before speaking. Another sign of her maturing. Gone was the girl who spoke first and thought later. He could remember plenty of times when she’d had to dig herself out of situations her mouth got her into.

  Austin was suddenly looking forward to getting to know this older version of Janna Morgan.

  “Considering how well respected you are, the photo might have helped my image. I’m embarrassed to say that it probably didn’t hurt it. The media is good at twisting situations, making it seem as if I’m romantically involved with every man I’m seen with. And it’s far from the truth,” she hurried to add. She didn’t know why it was so important to her that Austin knew that she wasn’t the person the media made her out to be. Yes, she liked to have a good time, but she didn’t sleep around. Besides Austin, she had only been in one other serious relationship. And even then, it couldn’t compare with what she shared with him.

  “Well, I’m glad I could help, though I had to take some serious ribbing from my brother. A couple of guys I play ball with insisted that I’d been holding out on them or I’d photoshopped you into the picture.”

  Janna laughed. “How is Malcolm? I saw him before I left the fundraiser, but I didn’t get a chance to speak to him.”

  “He’s all right. He’s still a pain in the you-know-what, but I’ve kept him around this long. I feel like I’m stuck with him.”

  Janna always did love the brothers’ bond. Austin and his brother were only a couple of years apart and were as different as night and day. Where Austin preferred quiet and was very studious, Malcolm was a partier. He’d been in college when she and Austin dated, but he always returned home on the weekends. When he wasn’t harassing Austin, he was entertaining some girl or attending a party.

  “So tell me about yourself. I know you’re the CFO of your family’s company, but what do you do for fun?”

  He laughed and was slow to respond.

  Janna wouldn’t be surprised if he was still a workaholic. During his senior year in high school, he held down two part-time jobs. Whenever he wasn’t at school or with her, he was working. His plan was to pay his own way through college. Even when several scholarships came through, he continued to work, claiming that he wanted to make sure he had enough money saved up for their future.

  Another jolt of guilt lodged in her gut. She shouldn’t have left him. It didn’t matter that they had probably been too young back then to be discussing marriage and having a family; she wanted what he wanted. She had been looking forward to being Mrs. Austin Reynolds.

  In hindsight, she wished she would have waited and talked to Austin instead of just leaving. If the modeling agency had really been interested in her, they would have understood her needing a couple of weeks before flying to Milan. She knew that now. At that time, she had no clue to how the modeling world worked.

  “Well, as you probably guessed, I work a lot,” Austin said pulling her back to the present. “When I’m not working, I’m traveling for work. And during those rare occasions that I have free time, I play ball and do some woodworking.”

  A smile tilted the corner of her lips. “So you still play with wood, huh?” They laughed. “I still have the jewelry box you gave me for my fifteenth birthday.”

  “Really?”

  “Of course. To this day it’s one of the best gifts I’ve ever received.”

  “In that case, you need to start hanging out with some better gift givers. Oh, and I see you still have the ring.”

  She held her right hand out in front of her, gazing at the ring he’d given her, one of many gifts over a two-year dating period. Despite the way her young life had started, Austin had given her some wonderful memories.

  “I never leave home without it. The only time I take it off is if I’m doing a photo shoot. Other than that, I wear it wherever I go.”

  “Why?”

  She glanced at him, caught off guard by the question. She stared at him for a moment before returning her attention to the ring.

  “It makes me feel as if you’re with me. Going to Milan at sixteen by myself was the scariest thing I’d ever done. I think I cried every day for the first month. So many times, I considered returning home. Returning to you. Even when I finally admitted that things were over between us, I couldn’t part with it. I lost you, but somehow wearing your ring made it not hurt as much.”

  Austin didn’t speak. Instead, he reached over and held her hand. This was a good sign. Maybe they could be friends...if not more. Guilt had been her companion for years for choosing her career over the person she had planned to spend the rest of her life with.

  They continued talking and Austin told her how his parents had relocated them to Atlanta a month before he started at Morehouse. Hearing him talk about his college life and the glimpses of what he’d been up to after graduating made her wonder how different her life would have been had she chosen him over her career.

  She turned to the passenger side window and watched the city pass in a blur. For years, she’d assumed that he had ignored her letter, not bothering to contact her. The thought that this could have been cleared up many years earlier made her mad at herself...and angry at Nelson. And there was a part of her that was a little disappointed in Austin. He should have tried harder to get in contact with her. Then again, at this moment, none of it mattered.

  Once they arrived at the hotel, they took the elevator up to her penthouse suite. Janna couldn’t ever recall being this nervous around a man, especially Austin. During the ride to the hotel, they’d talked and laughed like old friends. Though her feelings for him were as intense as ever, she didn’t expect him to forgive and forget. It was a good sign that he was talking to her, willing to teach her the basics of managing her finances and look over her business plan.

  They stood outside her hotel room and Janna wondered how she’d handle being in such close quarters with him. Even now, he hovered behind her as she fumbled with the key card, his warmth doing wicked things to her. She was tempted to lean back into his arms and soak up the heat radiating off him, making her even more nervous about going inside.

  “Come in,” she said when she finally pushed the door open. “Make yourself comfortable.”

  The one-bedroom king-size suite was beautifully decorated with a gold-and-brown color palette, accented with big, comfortable furniture.

  Janna set her handbag and the key card on the table near the door. Austin took a slow glance around, then walked over to the wall-to-wall windows that gave a magnificent view of downtown Atlanta.

  “I’ll be right back. I’m going to grab the business plan.”

  “Okay,” he said, his gaze still on what was beyond the windows.

  She hurried into the bedroom, kicked off her high heels and stepped into a pair of flip-flops. After a quick glance in the mirror to check her makeup, she pulled her hair into a ponytail. Now comfortable, she returned to the living room with the binder that had become like a companion.

  Austin turned and gave her a once-over. His appreciative gaze finally made it back to her face. Was he li
ke her, feeling that this time together was surreal? Janna handed him the binder. “Can I get you something to drink?”

  “How about water?” He made his way to the sofa and opened the binder.

  “Coming right up.”

  “Did you do all of this yourself?” he asked when she handed him the bottled water and sat next to him.

  “Yes.”

  The heat that propelled through her when their legs touched was almost her undoing, their attraction much more intense than she remembered. It was as if she was fighting against an invisible force. She was trying to keep her distance. Yet there was a pull between them that made her want to move closer. Much closer. It wasn’t just the scent of his cologne that drew her; it was everything about him. Gorgeous without even knowing it, Austin was the type of man who drew women’s attention. There was such a presence about him. Tall with a muscular build, he was not only fine, but highly intelligent. She’d always been attracted to intellectual men.

  “Yes, I used business planning software,” she finally responded to his question. “I’ve been working on this project for over a year.”

  “It shows. It’s very detailed and it looks as if you’ve covered everything that an investor would ask about. Impressive.”

  She couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across her mouth. Coming from him, that was high praise. It seemed as though the decision to continue her education was paying off.

  Janna had left for Milan before graduating from high school, but obtained her GED. She had always wanted to return to school and recently started an online program to obtain her bachelor’s degree. Instead of majoring in fashion design the way she’d planned to do after graduating from high school, she’d enrolled in an accelerated business program. Despite her success as a model, she had always felt inferior to her sisters—one being a doctor, the other a lawyer—and needed to prove to herself, if no one else, that she could obtain her degree.

  “Since you said that you would give me some pointers on how to oversee my finances, do you think you can help me with the budget for this project?” She was prepared to use any excuse to spend more time with him, but she really did want to hear what he thought about the financials.