“You look surprised,” she said with a coy smile and did a little turn. “You like?”
I nodded numbly, unable to speak due to my confusion.
“I thought when you left …”
“Come sit on the couch and let me explain,” she said, and she sat down and patted the seat next to her.
I sat next to her, and she took my hand with her two and held it in her lap as she told me her story.
“I was discovered in a mall in Dallas by a young man who approached me and told me I should be a model. My girlfriends were with me, and they all warned me it was just a pickup line. He assured me he was genuine and gave me his business card. My mom and dad checked it out, and the company he represented was legitimate, to a point. They charged you to have your headshots done, and then they would send your model card to different agencies. Only a small percentage of the girls ‘discovered’ ever got even a single modeling job.
“I was their big success story. I’d developed early and looked the same at fifteen as I do now. My now manager saw my pictures and sent them to Victoria’s Secret because they were looking for new talent. They wanted to see me, so my manager approached my parents, and they signed a three-year developmental contract,” she explained.
She saw my look of disbelief.
“I know. My parents and I were naïve. My manager told us she would have to spend a lot of money up front to get me the exposure and training I needed. That was why she would only charge me fifty percent of my earnings.”
I about fell off the couch when I heard that.
“It gets better. I have to pay for my own travel expenses if the client doesn’t pick them up.”
“You need to get out of that deal. You’re getting screwed,” I said.
“We’ve tried, but we signed a contract.”
“I would bet Tyler could do it, or at least that she knows someone who could get you out of it,” I suggested.
“It doesn’t matter now. It expires in six weeks, and I’ve been advised to just wait it out for now.”
“So why all the cloak-and-dagger? Why did you leave suddenly at the club?” I asked.
“My manager has been selling information about me to the tabloids. I discovered that Blake Seaver didn’t contact my people, she contacted his. I was excited that a celebrity would want to go on a date with me. But then I found out he thought it was a booty call. He wasn’t about to turn down a Victoria’s Secret model. Once we figured out we’d been set up, he was nice about it. He took me on a couple of dates, but he still tried to get me into his bed,” she admitted.
“And he succeeded,” I said.
“Yeah,” she admitted.
“You really did catch ‘Seaver Fever,’” I teased.
“Let’s just say I got a life lesson and have no wish to repeat it anytime soon.”
“So, what happened tonight?” I asked.
“I’ve come to the realization that my manager is only looking out for herself, and everything I do will end up somewhere on the Internet. Tyler told me how upset the girl you planned our date for was about the press she received, and I felt horrible for the role I played in it. The thing is, I like you, and I didn’t want to feed them any more info that might hurt you.”
“Let me think … David A. Dawson seen out on the town with a Victoria’s Secret model. You’re right! That would destroy me in the eyes of the press and my fans,” I said in mock horror.
“‘Stupid boy,’ I was worried about your girlfriend.”
“First of all, Pam and I are good friends. She’s having my baby and will be in my life from now on, but she’s not my girlfriend. She doesn’t want to be in the press herself. I, on the other hand, can’t avoid it, so I would rather it be about something true than made-up stuff.”
“Kara explained that to me, but I guess I didn’t understand,” Melinda said.
“I expected to see Kara here. How do you know her?” I asked.
“We’ve modeled together. I think she secretly loves you, but I begged her to set this up.”
“What is ‘this’?” I asked.
“You really are a ‘stupid boy’ if you can’t figure that out.”
She was right. I pulled her into my arms and gave her a tender kiss.
“I want to do this right,” she said and led me to Kara’s bedroom.
All the candles around the room reminded me of my attempt at setting a romantic stage for Tami and me. That didn’t work out too well. Maybe Pam had been right when she tried to get me to forget about the bad memories at the lake and how I associated it with Jeff. I needed to replace the memory of Tami and insert a new one with Melinda.
“Someone has too many clothes on,” Melinda said.
I smiled as I got undressed. Her eyes were glued on my Calvin Klein boxers. When my semierect member was exposed, her eyes got big.
“I didn’t know they got that big,” she admitted.
I could tell she meant it. Some girls will throw out a comment like that to stroke your ego, but she was too fascinated with my junk for it to be otherwise. I jumped on the bed and lay back, and Melinda joined me. She grasped my member and gave him a squeeze. Mr. Happy did his imitation of The Hulk as he thickened and got longer. Well, he didn’t turn green.
