“Samantha, I understand what you’re saying but please remember that I’m the boss around here and if I need to come into work, I’m going to come into work.”
Robert looked away as the intensity in Drake’s eyes made it clear that he wasn’t joking around.
“Don’t be a jerk, Drake. You have women that stopped their lives to come stay at your house with you and see if you were a match. Did you bother to tell any of them you were here? Did you tell Allison? It’s almost nine o’clock in the morning. She’s probably been waiting for you for hours. Get back home.”
Drake took a step toward Samantha and placed his hand on her arm. He always felt more effective with her when he touched her. Plus, she was damn nice to touch; even if it was in an appropriate work manner.
“If you order me around again, I’ll fire you.”
Samantha looked shocked at the words that came out of Drakes' mouth. It wasn’t normal for him to be so short with her and usually didn’t mind when she took control of things and told him what was going on. But Samantha knew right away she needed to back down. Whatever was going on with Drake wasn’t worth her losing her job over.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “Do you want me to call the house and let them know when you will be there?”
“No need to call them. They can wait,” Drake said and then made his way out of his office and down to his car.
By the time he reached his vehicle, Drake felt bad for the way he had talked to Sam. He knew she just wanted what was best for him and that she was looking out for the best interest of the women at his house.
Drake didn’t know if it was because of the business deal or just all the craziness that had been going on at the house, but he needed to take a few minutes to himself. He felt his blood pressure boiling up and his head pounded with a headache. Things certainly had not gotten off to a great start that morning.
As he left his office, Drake made his way down to the beach and slipped his shoes off to go for a walk. He had a lot of life decisions that needed to be made and things were piling up in his head.
Not only would he need to choose one of the girls that were in the house, but he was also going to have to tell the other ones that he hadn’t chosen them. That was going to be the hardest thing for sure.
He thought about all the women and which one he might be willing to let go. The problem was, he wasn’t sure he would be willing to let any of them go. When he had started the whole process, Drake was positive there would be one woman that would stand out above all the others, unfortunately; that had not been the case so far.
Every single woman was significantly better than the women he had dated outside the house. They were funny, independent, and great to be around. Each had their own unique personalities that Drake was attracted to as well as unique bodies that he was also attracted to.
Victoria had been his first date, she was a Harvard professor; there was no one smarter in the house. Emily was young, but she worked for Playboy and had brought Drake there for their date. Sophia was playful and sexy, she had kept Drake occupied and exhausted on their date. He couldn’t believe there were still four women left to spend time with. It was overwhelming to think about all the greatness that he had in his home waiting to spend time with him.
He decided to stop wallowing in his thoughts and get his ass back home. Allison was his date that day and he had been really excited to spend the day with her. Drake made a conscious effort to get the negative thoughts out of his mind so he could go on his date with Allison full of enthusiasm and excitement; she deserved that.
As he pulled up to his house and started to walk up toward the front door, Drake glanced down at his watch and realized that it was almost noon. He felt a pull of guilt in his stomach as he walked through the door and made his way to the kitchen to see who was around.
“Do you know where Allison is?” He asked Scarlett.
She made a funny face and then pointed outside.
“She’s been waiting a long time,” Scarlett said sweetly.
“I know, she’s probably angry.”
“Nope, I think she’s fine. Probably the best one of the bunch if you had to pick one of us to stand up.”
“I didn’t stand her up. I was working,” Drake said as he grabbed the sandwich out of Scarlett’s hand and took a big bite.
“You’ll be alright. Allison’s a pretty cool chick.”
Drake gave Scarlett a wave and then turned to go out to the back yard while he finished chewing the sandwich he had in his mouth. She was such a beautiful woman and it was hard to pull himself away; but he knew he needed to see Allison.
Scarlett was a pretty cool chick as well, Drake thought as he made his way outside. She could have said any number of things that would have had Drake worried about being so late for his date with Allison, but instead, talking to Scarlett had eased his worry.
Chapter 2
Allison woke up early filled with excitement on her day with Drake. She felt like it had been the longest week of her life. Watching the other women get their time with him had killed her. But it was finally her turn.
She wasn’t use to waiting for anyone. As a model, typically people had to wait for her. It was funny to her that she was stuck waiting for her chance to spend a day with Drake, it was certainly a role reversal that she found the humor in.
Her heart fluttered as she got ready in her private bathroom, this was going to be the day she got to spend every moment with Drake. Her morning ritual when faster than normal and she found herself ready to go see Drake much earlier than she had planned.
Allison sat down at the table in her room and watched the clock as she waited for it to be eight. She had already decided that eight o’clock was the most reasonable hour for meeting up with Drake and she wasn’t going to deviate from her plan even though she was up and ready by 7:30 am.
Finally! When the clock struck eight, Allison left her room and made her way toward Drake’s room. Her feet barely touched the ground as she moved quickly down the hall. It was like Christmas morning for her and she couldn’t wait to see Drake and have fun with their time together.
She knocked on the door and waited for him to answer. Surely it wasn’t too early in the morning for a guy like Drake. He struck Allison as the type of guy who was always up early and ready to go. She felt herself getting more and more self-conscious as she waited outside his door. It was starting to feel really desperate as she stood there and hoped for him to open the door. But by the same token, she didn’t want to leave and he was just in the shower or something like that. She agonized over what she should do as she continued to stand in front of his door.
Her excitement started to dim the longer she stood there and he still didn’t answer. It wasn’t like Allison was a surprise to him. Drake knew it was her day, they had discussed it at the pool the previous evening.
She knocked one last time and then turned to head downstairs figuring that Drake had probably chosen to spend the evening with Sophia. She had been his date the previous night so it was an obvious possibility that they had just slept together.
Sophia was very pushy and Allison knew she would have convinced Drake to stay with her for the evening. As much as Allison wanted to hate Sophia, she just couldn’t. Sophia was a nice girl but she just had a mission in her mind to land Drake. Sophia didn’t care all that much about the other girls or even being all that nice to them. She wanted to land the prize of Drake and was going to do whatever she needed to in order to make that happen.
It didn’t bother Allison though; she knew what it was like to feel like you were being pulled in a million directions and never had enough time. Her entire life was like that. Even the day she came to interview with Samantha and Robert had been one long day that stretched into two full days awake because of her schedule. So, there was no way she could get angry at Drake for succumbing to the same issues she had.
Instead of getting agitated or angry, Allison went down to the kitchen and made her
self a delicious omelet. Egg whites, ham, and spinach filled her plate and she took the dish out to the pool to sit back and enjoy the morning sun.
“No Drake yet?” Scarlett said as she came out to join Allison.
“Nope.”
“It’s alright I’m sure he’ll be down soon.”
“Thanks. But I’m not too worried. It’s a beautiful day out, maybe I’ll get grab my workout clothes and go for a run. Would you like to join me?”
“These boobs are lethal weapons if I start running,” Scarlett joked. “But if you’d be interested in swimming some laps I’d join you for that.”
Allison liked Scarlett, although she seemed really laid back and not like she was all that interested in Drake at all. It sucked that Scarlett didn’t get to have her date with Drake until the last day. Allison didn’t think she could have handled waiting that long, it would have drove her completely nuts.
“Sure, I’m not the best swimmer but I’ll give it a try,” Allison said. “Can I doggy paddle?”
“Any swimming is better exercise than sitting out here on our butts. I’ll go get my suit.”
“Me too. Do you think he stayed with Sophia last night?” Allison asked as she tried to look like she didn’t care.
“Probably. That girl is ruthless. But if you want my advice, just be above it all. Don’t let yourself get wrapped up in these girls’ games. He’s smart enough to see through all of that.”
“Thanks, Scarlett.”
As Scarlett went to get her swimsuit, Allison finished her breakfast and continued to watch the door to see if Drake was coming or not. She saw Cynthia, Lauren, Emily and Victoria all make their way to the kitchen to get breakfast. The only two missing were Sophia and Drake. She took a deep breath as she realized he must have spent the night with Sophia.
It was alright, though. Allison reminded herself that it wasn’t a competition. The only goal of staying at the house for the week was so she could get to know Drake and he could get to know her. If things worked out and they wanted to spend more time together that would be great; if they didn’t work out, that was also alright.
Coming to stay with Drake for the week had been a fluke anyway. At first, Allison thought it was a joke. She had a lot of friends who liked to play jokes on her. But after she talked with Samantha and realized it was the real deal, Allison couldn’t help but come in for an interview and see what it was all about. Drake was a handsome guy and had experience with publicity and the media just like Allison did. It was hard to find a guy who truly understood her struggles as a model.
Most men thought it was cool to date a world-renowned model, but it was only so they could tell their friends they dated Allison. Once the reality of her schedule and travel life hit home, most men decided they weren’t all that interested in her after all. Allison had gotten better at weeding the men out early on, but that was why she was so excited to meet Drake. He had similar life problems as she did and they would have a lot to talk about. That was if they ever got any alone time to talk.
As Allison and Scarlett started to swim laps, a few of the other women came out to the pool to eat their breakfasts and talk. The mornings around Drake’s house had become much more comfortable over the last couple of days. Probably because a few of the women had the chance to spend some time with Drake. Even if it hadn’t been their day with him, he did make an effort each day to spend a little time with the women.
Then, as Allison took a break from her laps, she looked up and saw Sophia as she walked out to the pool area. Sophia had on 4-inch heels and her hair and makeup was done impeccably. She didn’t look like a woman who was coming to the pool to enjoy an afternoon of relaxation. Sophia looked like a woman who was coming to the pool to seduce a man. The problem with that scenario was that it was Allison’s day and she had already missed the whole morning and didn’t want to miss any more time because Sophia was trying to pull Drake away.
“Is Drake coming?” Allison asked.
She surprised herself at how eagerly the words came out; she hadn’t meant to sound that eager. Allison felt out of her normal element all morning long as she waited for Drake to come down. She had finally waited long enough that she was getting a little annoyed.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since last night,” Sophia said rudely.
Allison looked over at Scarlett and the other women as they all tried to figure out what the heck was going on. Where had Drake gone? It was very clear that none of the women knew where Drake was.
“Let’s swim some more laps and then I’ll make us some sandwiches,” Scarlett said to take Allison’s mind off of the news that Drake wasn’t coming out.
For the next couple of hours, they swam and laughed. Some of the other girls decided to jump in the water as well. And they all had a great time, well everyone except Sophia.
Sophia decided she didn’t want to ruin her hair or makeup so she sat on the side of the pool and sunbathed while the other women played and got to know each other. It was very clear that Sophia had no intentions of being very friendly with the women.
When Scarlett went to make everyone some sandwiches, Allison got out of the pool and decided to lay in the sun for a little bit and soak in some rays. She wasn’t allowed to suntan according to her modeling contracts, but she just covered her face with a towel to keep the sun from damaging her skin. The warmth of the sun felt too good to ignore and she ended up closing her eyes and falling asleep underneath the warm sun rays.
Drake stood near the pool and looked around to see where Allison was. He looked in the pool and out of the pool until he found a woman lying down with a towel over her face.
“Is that Allison?” he asked Cynthia.
“Yep, she got tired of waiting and took a nap.”
Drake and Cynthia laughed together as he gave her a kiss on the cheek and then went over and sat down on the chair next to Allison. He was prepared to sit there until she uncovered her face and looked up at him.
He let his hand stroke her arm slowly up and down the length of it while he looked at her delicate skin. It was clear why Allison had been so successful as a model. Her skin was flawless. Her body was equally flawless with all the best curves going on.
Allison had been a Victoria Secrets model and Drake remembered seeing a picture of her runway performance in her file. He was lucky that Samantha and Robert had been able to convince her to come spend the week with him. Drake suspected she was a very busy young lady and probably had to cancel some big clients in order to spend a whole week off the grid at his house.
“Scarlett, if that’s you I’m not going to eat your pussy again. I’m too tired,” Allison said through her towel.
Drake was shocked and stopped stroking Allison’s hand almost instantly. She sat up and pulled the towel away from her face and pretended to be surprised that it wasn’t Scarlett. Allison loved to joke with people about being a lesbian, although she actually didn’t like to sleep with women at all. Allison did find it fun to shock and surprise people whenever it was possible.
“Oh, so you and Scarlett were keeping each other company this morning?” Drake asked.
Allison couldn’t keep a straight face, but she sure did love teasing Drake and making him wonder just what she and Scarlett had been doing together all morning. She tried to hold back for as long as possible before she burst into laughter. It was difficult not to laugh because Drake seemed so eager to see if what she was saying was true.
Ever since Allison was in high school she had been known as a jokester. It was just one of the things that she really enjoyed doing. Even when she was on a set of a movie or doing a photo shoot, Allison tried to keep things fun and light. It was the only way she had found to get through stressful situations.
“We were bored. You know how girls get. One minute we are bored, the next we are eating each other out.”
“Actually, I didn’t know that that was what women did when they were bored. Let me leave and come back again,” Drake teased.
“Were you busy saving the world this morning?” Allison said as she leaned in and whispered to Drake.
“Yes, but I forgot my Superman cape in the car. I can go get it if you’d like.”
“Nope, but you should go get your suit on and we can hang out here for a little bit.”
Allison didn’t mind if they just sat in the backyard and talked. She was just happy to get some time with him. She also hoped that the women would give her some personal time with him and they all wouldn’t decide to stay out there just because Drake was going to be there.
“Yes, ma’am I’ll go get my suit right now.”
Allison watched as Drake made his way back to the house and stopped to say hi to each of the other women in the house. She was happy he was saying his hellos for the day at that moment because later in the day she hoped she could have him all to herself and he wouldn’t feel obliged to come back out and spend time with the other women.
“Do you mind if I stay out here with you two?” Sophia said as she started to slip off her clothes and expose a teeny tiny bikini.
Allison just rolled her eyes. Of course, Sophia was willing to go swimming now. Only because Drake was there.
“You can stay out for a half hour, but then give me some time with him. Deal?” Allison said.
“I’ll do my best.”
Ugh, Allison wished she was a meaner person and had told Sophia to just go inside. It was going to be horribly hard to keep Drake’s attention when Sophia was out there trying to distract him.
Chapter 3
One of the most important things Drake learned in running his business was the skill of being present in the moment. Even if you had two hundred other tasks that you had to accomplish, you had to be present in the moment you were in or nothing would ever get done to the level that you want it to.
Bedroom Rodeo: A Billionaire Romance Page 100
