Billionaire Biker (Billionaires - #23)
Page 3
He poured for a couple more seconds before putting down the bottle with a grin. I laughed, and he giggled.
That smile warmed my heart. Whenever I felt even the tiniest bit down, I could just look at my boy and remember what a wonderful little piece of joy I had in my life. It’s one of the things that made me feel better about getting the modeling job with Stroker Motorcycles.
When I’d left the building on Wednesday, I’d almost hoped they’d pass me over, but when I picked him up, I’d realized how selfish that was. Jack needed me to provide for him. His future was in my hands, and it wasn’t a terrible sacrifice to go do a job.
Yes, being around all those motorcycles made me uncomfortable and reminded me of what I’d lost, and what Jack had lost, but plenty of others had suffered that and more, and we all had to go on. I was responsible for Jack’s future, so it was a no-brainer to agree to come back.
My stomach fluttered. There was only one real problem worrying me—the hot guy with the tattoos. I still had no idea who he was, but the fact that he was checking out the models and talking to Daniella meant that he’d probably be involved with the shoot somehow. I still didn’t know if he was a make-up artist, a photographer, or someone from their PR department.
I took a bite of my pancake as I thought it over. It’d be awkward working a job with someone who made you wet just thinking about him. It didn’t help that it’d been such a long since I’d felt this way that it seemed almost like being a teenager again.
I sighed. It had to happen eventually, but I wished it hadn’t happened on a gig.
“What’s wrong, Mommy?” Jack asked.
Heat flared in my cheeks. The last thing I wanted was my son worrying about me. “Nothing, sweetie. Finish up now. We need to get you to daycare.”
This would have been easier if it wasn’t summer, and I could send him to school.
“But I want to go to Grandma’s,” he whined.
“Grandma has to work today, sweetie. Maybe next time.”
I finished off my food and brought my plate to the sink. I was being stupid. I hadn’t felt this kind of lust in a while; it wasn’t like I couldn’t handle it. It might not turn out to be a problem anyway.
Hot Tattoo Guy wouldn’t be a big deal. Today we weren’t even planning to do any actual work on the photo shoot. It was just planning and getting to know the other models. If I were lucky, Hot Tattoo Guy wouldn’t even be there.
* * *
Forty minutes later, I stepped into Stroker Motorcycles. I checked in with the receptionist, and she directed me to the cafeteria. I thanked her and hurried along.
I took a few deep, cleansing breaths along the way, praying that everything would go all right. Models can be pretty catty, so it was hard not to worry that the other girls on the job might make it a living hell. We’d already made it through the audition though, so that at least should cut down the chance a bit.
I shook my head, trying to force out those thoughts. I didn’t want to stress myself out for no reason. It didn’t make much sense to worry about something that hadn’t even happened yet.
The cafeteria wasn’t hard to find, and I remembered where it was in relation to the assembly floor. After stepping in, I spotted three women sitting around a table. I recognized Daniella Stroker, and the others were a redhead and a raven-haired woman who immediately shot me a cool glance. At least it wasn’t a frown.
I hadn’t really talked much to any of the other models during the audition, but somehow these two girls seemed to fit the feel of the motorcycle ad campaign perfectly. I wasn’t quite sure why I felt that way. Maybe I’d make a good agent in the future if the hospital job didn’t work out.
“Good morning,” Daniella said with a smile. “We’re just waiting for one more person, then we can get started. Nothing big today. We’re mostly just going to do introductions and let you get a feel for the ad campaign.” She nodded toward a carafe sitting on the table. “Have some coffee while you wait if you like.”
“Thanks.” After I poured my coffee, I turned to the other girls. “I’m Catherine, but everyone calls me Cat.” I offered my hand.
“Jessica,” the red-head said, shaking my hand. She smiled then let go.
“Briana,” the dark-haired woman said, shaking my hand. Her cool look disappeared, and she smiled warmly. Maybe she was just as nervous as I was. The thought comforted me.
“Either of you work a motorcycle campaign before?” I said. “It’s my first time, and I have to admit I’m nervous.”
Jessica shook her head.
“I’ve done a few auto shows, but no motorcycles,” Briana said, with a shrug.
“Not to worry, it’ll be okay,” Daniella said. “We’re professional here, but we’re not assholes. As long as you show up and take direction well, this whole thing may be the most well-paid modeling you’ve have in a while.”
Something about Daniella’s infectious smile made everything she said seem true.
Daniella looked past me. “Ah, the last man has arrived.” She stood and started walking.
I turned around to see the new arrival, and my heart kicked into overdrive. Hot Tattoo Guy stood there, looking, if anything, more delicious than before. How was that even possible? Maybe it was because he was only a few yards away this time.
Daniella moved to stand by his side. “I just realized that even though you all saw him at the audition, you have no idea who this is.” She gestured with her hand. “This is my older brother, Drew Stroker, who happens to also be the CEO and owner of Stroker Motorcycles. He’ll be heavily involved in overseeing this campaign.”
“Good morning, ladies,” Drew said with a warm smile. His deep voice sent a zip to my center.
“Good morning,” we all said in unison.
My mouth went dry. I’d hoped that Drew might be a photographer or someone like that, maybe someone it wouldn’t be a huge deal if I got caught lusting after. But the boss? Ugh. There was no way I could be lusting after my boss.
I honestly considered standing up right then and marching out. I thought I could call my agent and ask him to find me a new job.
The idea lasted only for a few seconds. I needed the money from this job for Jack’s school. I’d lucked into getting called to the audition and getting selected, and I couldn’t throw away such a good opportunity just because the owner of the company was hot enough to melt my panties.
I sucked in a breath and swallowed. I could handle my feelings. I was twenty-seven, not some high-schooler.
“I’m glad to have you all in here. As you saw for yourselves, all the models we invited were beautiful, and I’m sure could bring their A-game to our campaign, but you three were specifically selected because of a combination of traits that made you perfect for this assignment.” He offered us a warm smile, though I could have sworn his gaze lingered on me for a bit longer.
It’d help if he wasn’t so charming. I was used to a lot of guys on these kinds of jobs openly leering at us or acting like we were one step up from their personal prostitutes. But Drew seemed charming and professional, which only made him appear all the more handsome.
“You are all successful models,” Drew said, “so you know the score. Beauty and sex sell. This is a fairly basic ad campaign where we’re trying to associate our bikes with virility—directly and indirectly. And, yeah, they are giant complicated machines straddled by a man in leather, so the theme’s pretty obvious,” he chuckled.
Everyone else laughed softly, but I just kept watching in silence.
“We also want to reinforce that idea with the presence of beautiful women.” I averted my gaze as he motioned to each of us models in turn. “That’s where you come in. You’ve been selected, not just because you’re beautiful and sexy, but also because you can bring a certain attitude, a certain vibe, if you want to call it that. Some of it is subtle—like feminine allure or danger. That vibe will help enhance the reaction of our target demographic.”
“Who is that?” I said.
“Our target demographic?” Drew said, exchanging glances with Daniella. His sister smiled at me, but there was no condescension in it.
I nodded quickly. “Sorry. That’s not really my business.”
He shook his head. “Oh no, it’s definitely your business. I’m not a PR expert, but I do get that a model needs to understand the point of what she’s doing and the point of product, so thanks for asking. It’s a good question, and I’m glad you asked it.”
My cheeks heated up, and I looked down. There he went being professional and charming again. Darn him.
“Our primary target is affluent men thirty-five to forty-five,” Drew said. He shrugged, then tapped one of the tattoos on his left arm. “Look, I’ve been riding all my life, so I know there are all sorts of bikers out there, but we make elite and expensive bikes, mostly custom, so our typical rider is really probably a middle-aged guy who couldn’t manage to live out his dream of total freedom on the road and ended up in a safe job. He has saved up his money, but the road keeps calling to him.”
His gaze grew distant for a moment. “Just like it calls to the heart of all men who seek adventure. We want to let him live that adventure, if only for a weekend on a finely crafted and exquisite machine.” His focus returned to me. “Does that answer your question?”
I gulped. “Y-yes. I think I have a much better understanding of what you’re going for now.”
Hot, charming, and intelligent. That was a really dangerous combination.
I’d been hoping he would be some sort of an arrogant asshole, or an idiot, and it’d be easier to just ignore how I wanted to feel those rough hands sliding over my skin and touching my breasts.
Growing wet, I crossed my legs. This was so not good.
“Jessica? Briana? Either of you have any questions?” Drew asked.
“Any nudity during the campaign?” Briana asked.
Drew snorted, “Our goal is to sell bikes, not catalogs. Some bikini sessions, but no nudity, not even implied nudity.”
I let out a sigh of relief. I didn’t know if I could deal with Drew seeing me in the buff. Briana’s face fell. Apparently, she wanted to do it. Jessica just seemed bored at this point.
“Okay, I want to take you on a full tour of the facility now,” Drew said. He glanced over at Daniella. “We on track, time-wise?”
She nodded, “Yeah, plenty of time.”
He grinned back over at us. “Without my sister, I’d forget my own name.”
We all shared a good-natured laugh.
“We’ll have some food when we get done with the tour, but if you want a snack,” he pointed toward a table holding several baskets of fruit, “go ahead and grab one.”
I walked over to the table to grab an apple. No one else seemed interested in a snack, so Drew walked toward the door leading to the assembly floor.
Biting into my apple, I thought it’d be helpful to hide any drooling caused by watching Drew’s tight ass in front of me.
Chapter Five
Drew
“So, why don’t we head back to the cafeteria,” I said, “and get a bite to eat. Then I’d like to talk to you all individually.”
Taking a quick glance at my pants, I wanted to make sure my hard-on wasn’t totally obvious. It’d taken more than a few quick moves to adjust myself without my sister or the models seeing.
It’s damn hard to conduct a professional tour of your production facility when your dick feels like it wants to rip right through your pants at any second because a sexy-ass gray-eyed blond sets your body on fire.
Kind of funny. The other two girls were easy to ignore and might as well have been my sisters. Cat, though, kept pulling my gaze away from the parts and bikes to her.
That’s how the next hour went as I took the girls around the building, pointing out every workstation and highlighting where we were going to do the shots for the ad campaign. I’d already talked about this in detail with Daniella and the PR department. I practically could have been the photographer at that point.
It didn’t matter though because it was taking all my effort to concentrate.
Sure, a trio of hot women was following me around, but I had no delusions about what was going on. If it had just been Jessica and Briana, I would have been fine. But every movement Cat made, every flutter of her eyelashes, every sway of her ass drove me crazy.
Every time I looked over at her and saw those gray eyes looking back, I had to resist the urge to march over and plant my mouth on hers, the other women be damned. It didn’t help that she’d brought that apple along. It had made the first few minutes of the tour a living hell.
I kept seeing her bite into the fruit, her mouth and tongue moving and working it. I couldn’t help but wonder what it’d be like to have that mouth and tongue sucking and licking on my cock instead. I had a little fruit I’d like to show her for sure.
Shit. Was that her plan? Was she just trying to get me hot on purpose?
I couldn’t be sure. It wasn’t like women never hit on me, and maybe she wanted a little fun with the owner of a big company. It wasn’t like she needed to sleep with me to get the job. She’d already earned her shot, even without my lower half straining to meet her.
The way my body was responding to her, I wouldn’t be surprised if every man who saw the ad campaign placed an order for a Stroker motorcycle right away. I owned the damn company, and I was ready to order anything I saw her sitting on.
A sudden thought struck me, and I almost grunted out loud at the idea of other men leering at Cat. Jealousy? That was dumb. She wasn’t my girlfriend, and we’d hired her specifically because her sex appeal could help move bikes.
I wanted to scrub a hand over my face, but I stopped myself. Even if the models didn’t pick up on my nervousness, my sister would, and she’d prod and poke at me until she got the truth. Sometimes, I thought she should have been a cop, given the affinity she had for getting to the truth.
Even now, Daniella kept giving me these strange looks—like she somehow knew I wanted to bend Cat over a table in the cafeteria and fuck her until she screamed. That’s not the kind of thing you want your sister to know. On the bright side, at least that thought somewhat tempered my lust.
God, I was so sick. Sick with need for a woman I barely knew, and a woman who I was pretty sure hated my greatest love—motorcycles.
I’d tried to not watch her during the tour, if only to keep my cock under control, but I couldn’t help it. My attention kept drifting to her, and it was hard to not notice how she frowned and sneered at the motorcycles. It was like seeing the bikes caused her pain.
At first, I wondered if she just hated our style of bikes, but no, after the first few times, I got it. She obviously hated motorcycles. I accepted that harsh reality.
I couldn’t believe a woman who hated motorcycles wanted to model for a motorcycle company, but then again, even though I’d spent a lot of time on the road before, I also was a guy who inherited a huge company.
Cat was a normal woman having to make ends meet, and Daniella had made it very clear that we were offering top-dollar for this modeling job in order to attract top talent. That might explain it. To me, it was just another ad campaign, but to her, it was probably the best modeling job she’d had in a while. Maybe that was arrogant, but that didn’t make it any less true.
After an agonizing hour of hiding my hard-on, we made our way back to the cafeteria, and I let everyone finish off a decent meal before asking Jessica to chat. The plan was to talk with each of the three models and get to know them better.
I glanced over at Cat. I knew I’d have to talk to her eventually, but there was no law saying I couldn’t leave her until last.
* * *
“Thanks, Briana,” I said,
finishing our little interview. She smiled at me then headed off.
Funny woman. She tried to give off this cool-as-ice vibe, but she was obviously a lot softer than she let on. I didn’t care. If she could fake the vibe for the ad campaign, that’s all we needed.
I sucked in a deep breath. My stalling had bought me twenty minutes, but now I’d have to deal with Cat face-to-face. At least we’d be sitting, so maybe it’d be easier to hide my erection.
I glanced across the room. Daniella chatted quietly with Cat at a table. They looked like they were having a nice enough conversation.
Standing, I walked over toward them. My sister’s presence would provide a nice buffer that would keep me from making a fool of myself. No matter how much Cat made my cock want to stand at attention, it would be hard to get too worked up when I was sitting right next to Daniella.
“Daniella, Cat,” I said, taking a seat. I held out my hand. “Nice to talk to you, Cat.”
The blond took my hand and gave it a firm shake. That surprised me. A lot of women who looked like her didn’t seem to want to do anything to come off too threatening.
“Nice to talk to you as well, Mr. Stroker,” she said.
I grimaced. “Ugh. Drew, just Drew, please. Mr. Stroker was my father.”
She nodded. “Okay,” she replied.
“Cat was just telling me how she got into modeling,” Daniella said.
“Oh, you didn’t always want to be a model?” I said.
Cat shook her head. “I studied business administration in school.”
“Really?” I chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Her gray eyes narrowed in challenge.
“I was going to say you didn’t seem like the type, but I have a business degree, too.” I shrugged. “Most CEOs aren’t bikers sporting ink.”
She chuckled, and the sound warmed my heart.
“Anyway, I did a little modeling during school, just to help with my bills, that sort of thing. It really was one of those strange things. A man walks up to me and says, ‘Hey, you want to be a model?’ like it was the most normal thing in the world.”