Page 27 of Strictly the Worst

He picks up the piece of paper I’ve scrawled all over, lifting a brow as he reads it. “Why have you written the clothes I should be wearing on here?”

“Because when I take videos of you in the business suite I need you in a suit,” I tell him. “And when you’re in the gym you’ll need workout clothes. I thought you could bring them all up to the main hotel and that’ll save you having to come back here and change between shots.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “I thought you were just going to give an outline of the kind of videos we’re planning to produce.”

“If we’re here, I’m pretty sure Gold will expect to see mock ups.” I shrug.

“So why can’t you be the one wearing business clothing?” he asks. “Surely we want to be equal opportunity here.”

“Because I’m taking the footage,” I say. “And I thought we’d already established that you’re our target audience.”

His eyes catch mine as he tops up his coffee. “I am. And I want to see women in the business suite.”

I roll my own eyes at him. “Just put on a sexy suit and shut up, Salinger.”

He shakes his head. “Since you ask me so nicely, I will.”

We spend the first part of the morning taking shots of the exterior of the resort, working our way from the beach, past the cottages, to the main hotel building itself. The white walls reflect the golden light of the sun, and I have to try a few different angles to get the right exposure.

“You’re good at this,” Linc murmurs as I play back some of the video I’ve made. “But why are you using your phone?” He glances over at the digital recorder I’ve set up on a tripod. “Surely that will have better results.”

“I want to make it look authentic.” I shrug. “The kind of video an influencer would make. Portrait style, a little jolty.”

The corner of his lip curls up. “I guess you’re the expert.”

It almost sounds like a compliment.

We spend an hour in the business suite, having to stop regularly as people come in to use the video conferencing office in the corner, or to print out documents with the huge machine that makes way too much noise.

When everybody finally leaves I walk over to Linc. “Lose the jacket,” I tell him. He does as he’s told and then I loosen his tie. He looks at me, those thick lashes sweeping down as I smooth out the creases on his shirt.

“I thought you wanted me to look business like,” he murmurs.

“I want you to look relaxed. Like you can make millions while on vacation.”

He starts to laugh. “You’ve got it all worked out, haven’t you?”

Yes, I have. Gina and I worked on our plans for the last two weeks. Having to refocus the pitch to include location filming was a curveball, but I need to go with it. “Sit in that chair,” I tell him, pointing at a leather swivel chair in front of a desktop computer. “Pick up your phone and look like you’re having a great time talking to somebody on the other end.”

To my shock, he does as I ask him. I lift my phone up and look at him through the screen. He really is very attractive.

I let out a long breath.

“Can you run your hand through your hair?” I ask him.

He tips his head to the side. “Seriously?”

“Yes please.”

“You want me to put the phone down?” He holds it up.

“No, keep pretending to talk. Use the other hand to touch your hair. Think sexy businessman.”

“I’m starting to feel objectified,” he murmurs.

Oh god, that’s not what I was aiming for. “We can stop.”

He starts to laugh. “I’m toying with you, Carmichael. If you can take the heat of me being a sexy businessman, then let’s do it.”

---