I turned around.
Luca.
He gave me a head nod and then sat down.
Wearing a black jacket, a plain white t-shirt, and black jeans, he looked good. I could see why some of the models were giggling. He definitely knew how to make an entrance.
Great. Let’s ramp up the rumor mill with this little display, I snapped internally as I turned back toward the models who were standing taller and smiling brighter.
I sighed and instantly felt bad. It wasn’t his fault. He just arrived earlier than I anticipated, and I’d hoped he was going to meet me upstairs.
Clearing my throat, I continued, “As I was saying, please be on time Monday. Like the itinerary says, we’ll meet at seven o’clock upstairs in Studio C. Thank you so much.”
The models clapped before removing their shoes and giving them back to me. As they were starting to head out, I heard a few of them chatting with Luca.
“You need help?” Jessica’s eyes widened as if she were trying to signal something to me.
Giving her an appreciative smile, I nodded. “If you could help get them out of here that would be great.”
“Got it. Call me if you need me.”
“Let me help you with that,” Luca suggested from directly behind me.
I jumped, not expecting him to be that close. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“You forgot I was here that quickly?” he joked.
“No, but I didn’t think you were right behind me.” My tone was sharper than I intended. I rubbed my eyes. “I’m sorry.”
He put his hand on my back. “Are you okay?”
It was the first time he’d touched anything other than my hands, and I immediately felt warm all over. Swallowing hard, I nodded. He removed his hand, and I ignored the fact that my skin tingled in that spot.
He took the bag out of my hands and carried both sacks to the elevator. We rode up in silence and then didn’t speak again until we were in the workspace.
“Where do you want this?” Luca asked.
“On the table is fine. I’ll put them away later. Thank you.” I walked over to the clothing rack. Pulling the green dress from the rack, I hung it up separately and unzipped the garment bag. “This is it.”
He whistled. “Wow… I like that.”
The swell in my chest chased away all the frustration I felt earlier. “Really?”
“Really. But I need to see it on.”
“On Monday, I can send you a picture of it on the model who will be wearing it.”
He pulled out the stool from under the table and sat down. “You told me that you made the dress for you, so I already know it fits you. Go ahead and try it on so I can see it.”
Damn.
I forgot that when we talked about my marketing campaign on Monday, I told him that the spring line was inspired by the dress I made for an event. When we talked on the phone on Wednesday, I confessed that I ended up being so in love with the dress that I didn’t wear it to the event and instead, created twenty original pieces that fit the style story. And in our Thursday conversation, he said he needed to see the dress in order to better help me with my photoshoot concept.
I opened my mouth and then closed it. I had told him too much, and there was no real way out of it.
Luca swiveled around so his back was to me. “I’ll face this way, so you can change.”
I stared at the back of his head. “I thought you said you had something you had to do tonight.”
“I do, and I will make it on time. I don’t hear you changing though.”
I slowly took the dress out of the bag and then hung it back on the rack. “Fine. But—”
“But nothing, Serena Brooks. Are you changing?”
Smiling, I glared at his back. “I’m changing now. Don’t turn around.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
Taking the pins out of the dress, I caressed the material between my fingers. There was a partition across the room, but after another glance over my shoulder, I trusted that Luca was a man of his word.
I pulled my maroon sweater dress over my head and then unsnapped my bra. Quickly tossing those on the ottoman nearby, I removed my black combat boots. Standing in just a pair of lavender satin panties, I held my breasts in my hands and double checked that Luca was still playing on his phone.
“Are you dressed yet?” he asked as if he could feel my eyes on him.
“I’m putting the dress on now,” I announced as I slipped the dress over my head.
Looking in the mirror, I couldn’t help but smile. It looked so good. It was the type of dress that looked great on most body types. I was curvier than Jess and her legs were longer than mine, but the dress still looked gorgeous. I didn’t have the tape to secure and lift my heavy breasts. But as long as I didn’t move too much, I knew it should be okay. Grabbing the shoes, I slipped them on, and then I scrutinized myself in the mirror.
“Okay.” I stepped forward. “You can turn around.”
Luca turned around and immediately rose to his feet. My heart thumped as I felt his gaze moving over my body. His chest rose and fell as he silently took me in. Under his heated glare, my body caught fire. Seconds ticked by and he just stood there, transfixed. He inspected every inch of me and when our eyes met, my breathing hitched.
For the first time, Luca didn’t look at me like a photographer would look at his muse he wanted to shoot. He looked at me like a man would look at a woman he wanted to devour.
“You look…” He let out a heavy breath as his eyes swept over me again. “Wow.”
With my hands on my hips and holding eye contact, I walked across the room as I would walk down a runway. When I was two feet in front of him I stopped, posed, and then turned to walk back to where I began. I whipped around to face him and waited.
Clearing his throat, he tore his eyes away from me. “You look beautiful. The dress looks even better on you than it did on the hanger.”
“Thank you.”
We were engulfed in silence while he typed something into his phone. After he slipped it back into his pocket, he looked up at me again and the lust was gone. “Something like that requires a simple black backdrop…something that captures the movement of the dress in the photo.” He walked over to me and looked at my legs. “May I?”
“Okay…” My tone hesitant.
He grabbed the longer back hem of the dress and straightened it out. “Can I reposition your feet?”
“Yes.”
He kneeled in front of me and wrapped his hand around my ankle. Tugging, he made sure my legs were about a foot and a half apart. He kept his head down until he stood again.
“Don’t move,” he commanded, backing away.
Watching his eyes ping across my dress as if mentally taking notes, I could tell he was in his photography powerhouse mode. Backing away, he kept his focus and seemed to be in the zone. I noticed a little crease between his eyebrows as he started to nod.
“I will shoot your ad,” he offered, slipping his hands into his pockets.
I gasped, bringing my hands to my face. “What?”
“You can let me know if you want me to or—”
“Yes! Yes! Of course, I do!”
“Good.” He smirked. “But I have one condition.”
“What? Anything?”
“You have to model it.”
I shook my head. “Oh no… I have someone—”
“No,” he interrupted. “It needs to be you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I watched him head to the door as if the conversation was over. “But—”
“No buts.”
“Luca.”
“Serena.”
“Luca.”
Opening the door, he turned to face me. His eyes flicked over my body. “There is no one else.”
The door closed, and I let out a breath I didn’t even realize I was holding.
Chapter Seven
“Welcome to Date Night with The Lost Boys! I’m City Boy,”
City Boy opened enthusiastically.
“And I’m Country Boy,” Country Boy added, his deep voice bursting through the speakers.
“We have a big show tonight. Country Boy and I are kicking tonight’s episode off with the biggest story of the week,” City Boy teased loudly.
“I feel like our listeners already know where you’re headed with this,” Country Boy stated, his deep voice bursting through the speakers. “There’s been a lot of talk this week”
“The hot weather has officially faded away and we’ve had our first solid week of fall. So, you know what that means… it’s cuffing season,” City Boy started.
“Yes, sir! Cuffing season is upon us,” Country Boy added with a laugh. “And for those of you that don’t know, cuffing season is that time of year when you want to be cuffed—or in other words, tied down in a serious relationship.”
“So, in honor of cuffing season, and the trending topic of the week according to our emails, this week’s episode is titled…” City Boy paused for dramatic effect. “You can’t turn a ho into a housewife.”
“City, chill,” Country Boy warned with a laugh.
“What?” City Boy exclaimed. “I’m just asking if a sexually promiscuous woman is worthy of being cuffed. I’m trying to help the people out! I want these Captain Save-A-Ho types to know that some of these hoes don’t want to be saved. And the ones that do want to be saved come with a risk. I’m a man of the people. I’m here to help and offer my expert opinion.”
“Expert opinion?”
“Yes, expert! And to each his own, but in my expert opinion, I don’t think you can turn a ho into a housewife. What about you, Country? Do you think you can turn a ho into a housewife?”
“Hell no,” Country Boy answered.
“So, here’s what the talk of the town is… Luca Romano is a hometown celebrity, a fellow alum of Hamilton University, and an all-around good dude. He has money and fame and a sweet little gig on campus right now. He can and probably has had his fair share of women in town—on and off campus. I’m sure he’s getting with most of the models he shoots. And that’s cool. But here’s the thing… Luca Romano has been seen spending a lot of time with Serena Br—”
“Woah, woah, woah…” Country Boy interrupted quickly. “Just to stay on the safe side, let’s avoid using her name. Give her a nickname.”
“Good point… We’ll call her Venus,” City Boy said with a laugh. “So, Luca Romano, man who can get with probably most of the women in town, has been seen on dates with and spending time with Venus. Rumor has it that they’ve been actually dating—not just fucking around, sources say they are dating.”
“Well, what’s the problem with that, City?” Country Boy asked. “Who is Venus?”
“Venus is a model and fashion designer, and while that sounds like she would be a good fit for Luca, we’ve learned a little more about her this week.” City Boy cleared his throat before playing music.
“Ho” by Ludacris burst through the speakers.
Country Boy could barely keep it together when the music stopped. His laughter mingled with his words, and it was hard to understand what he said at first. “Man, you are so wrong for that! You know that was messed up!”
“That’s the new theme song when we refer to Venus and those like her,” City Boy explained. “We’ve learned that Venus has many, many bodies under her belt. She’s slept with quite a few eligible bachelors on campus. She seems to like the moneymakers.”
“Would that make her a ho or a…” Country Boy interjected before attempting to change the subject. “Never mind. Keep going.”
“No, I think what you were about to say is a fair point that we’ll have to come back to—is Venus a ho or a whore? A ho likes to fuck around for the pleasure of fucking around. A whore likes to fuck around for money. If Venus is limiting her fucking to men who have financial means, does that mean she’s a whore?” City Boy posed the question in a pseudo-thoughtful manner.
“I think it depends on the situation,” Country Boy responded. “If she is getting money or some sort of financial boost in exchange for sex, then yeah… that would make her a whore. But since we don’t know if she’s getting paid or not, we can’t say for sure.”
“Okay, okay,” City Boy considered his words. “Well, let’s just call her a ho because regardless of if she was getting money, we know she was getting fucked. And that brings us to our first email from Adam D who writes: Lost Boys, what’s up? I’m a recent grad of HU and a longtime listener. I’m confused about what Luca Romano is doing. The goal is to fuck sluts and settle down with good girls. Is there a shift coming where turning a ho into a housewife is the thing to do? Because I can’t get with it. I’d fuck a ho, but I respect myself too much to be in a relationship with a girl who has fucked everybody. What is Luca thinking?”
Country Boy whistled. “That’s a hell of an email to start off with. But to answer your question, Adam, I would say he’s probably not thinking. I’m not going to lie, Venus is sexy as hell. She’s not the typical model. She’s curvier. She’s got ass and tits for days.”
“Curvier? That’s one way to put it. Her fun bags are definitely motorboat worthy.” City Boy snickered. “Adam, we think Luca might be thinking with his dick. And truth be told, he may not have known she has such a notorious past. He’s been traveling the world, so he may not have any local friends who let him know that he’s involved with a ho. I definitely get him fucking a ho, but I can’t imagine him knowingly cuffing a ho.”
“That’s a good point. He may not know. He could be blinded by how sexy she is and could have no clue that she’s been around,” Country Boy agreed. “Good question, Adam.”
Clearing his throat, City Boy switched gears. “We’ve had a bunch of emails that hit on the same point, and I’m going to read a few of the quotes. ‘Now if a woman has more than five partners, I’m already looking at her sideways.’ ‘At twenty-five, a woman shouldn’t have been with more than three people if she’s looking to be a wife.’ ‘I want to marry a woman whose pussy only knows my dick.’ ‘I can’t be with a girl who has been with more than twenty people. Twenty is the max. I don’t care how old she is.’ ‘I like women who are more virginal than slutty. I’d rather be with someone who has had sex with one guy than fifteen or more.’ ‘After she hits double digits, she’s the town bicycle.’ ‘I’m thirty-five and if she’s my age, she shouldn’t have been with more than fifteen men.’ ‘Just because I know things happen, I’ll say fifteen is the most a woman should ever be with.’ ‘If a woman has been with more than twenty-five, she’s a ho. I don’t care what anyone says.’ ‘If she’s slept with ten, that’s enough. That eleventh needs to be her husband or she’s definitely heading down a ho path.’ ‘My wife needs to be a virgin.’ ‘I probably wouldn’t raise my eyebrows until she got to thirty’.”
“So, there doesn’t seem to be a general consensus about the magic number of partners a woman can have. I think it depends on her age, the situation, how old she was when she started having sex to really pinpoint a number. But just based on what I’ve seen in my twenty-five years, I’m going to say ten. I think ten is a nice round number. As I get older, the number will increase along with it. But if she’s twenty-five, anything over ten, I’m going to feel like we’re approaching ho-ness. I don’t want to cuff a ho, but I do want a woman with a little bit of experience. I want her to know what she’s doing, but I don’t want her out here doing everybody,” Country Boy said with a laugh.
City Boy chuckled along with him. “I hear you. I hear you. But I want a good girl, man. I want her to be as close to a virgin as possible. I don’t want her to have too many bodies under her belt. If she’s a virgin, even better. Tell you the truth, I’d like to pretend she didn’t even know what sex was until she met me. But we’ll never really know the truth because you know women lie about how many men they’ve been with anyway.”
The sound of a record scratching rang out. “Speak on it, City! Speak on it! I want to know the tr
uth! I want accurate numbers so I can move forward knowing what’s up for real.”
“Women will be out here fucking everybody and then tell the next dude that she’s only been with three men. And we will believe it because we want to believe it. We want to! I know I want to believe that she got all her skills from God. Lie to me, baby. I don’t want your ho-fax. I don’t want your ho-story. I don’t want to know ever. So in a situation like the one Luca finds himself in, how do you look at your girl the same way knowing not only a snippet of how many men she’s been with, but now you know everybody knows she’s a ho, too? This isn’t a ho from another city, either. This is a hometown ho. Ser-Venus is a ho that everyone knows is a ho,” City Boy continued, causing Country Boy to laugh uncomfortably. “I think that’s what’s so compelling about this story. No one knew she was a ho until she got with Luca, so maybe it’s the spotlight that brought the truth to light. So, for people like me, I’ll never deal with a girl in the spotlight. For those like Country that want to know, shine a spotlight on her and let the truth come to you.”
“Everything you said brought up some important questions. What number officially makes a girl a ho? Does it matter if she’s a ho if no one knows she’s a ho? And does celebrity have anything to do with the information that’s coming out about Venus now?” Country Boy asked.
“I can answer these questions for you here and now. Anything over fifteen is a ho. Anything over ten is ho-ish. It does matter if she’s a ho, but not as much if no one knows about it. And the fact that she’s fucking with Luca Romano is absolutely the reason this is happening. Absolutely. Because Venus has been on the scene for a minute now. She’s known, but no one really knew her business until now. She graduated from our undergrad class. I remember there was some talk about her when she hooked up with that big shot at one of our parties.”
“I remember that. But what’s interesting is that it wasn’t really about her being a ho or a slut. It was about her only being interested in him for his money and how he could finance her clothing line.”
Cuffing Season Page 8