Page 130 of Just One Fake Date

The next image was of Damon. He was lifting weights and Cassie had seen him with such an intense expression a million times. She’d never been the target of it, though. He was wearing a black singlet and his muscles looked like sculpture, with a patina of perspiration on them. His focus and discipline was legendary in the club, but in this shot, he’d glanced up. Maybe he’d just become aware of Shannyn, but his expression was intense and sizzling.

Seductive.

Cassie had never thought of Damon as sexy, but her pink bits stood up and saluted.

Meesha shifted in her chair.

Shannyn’s next slide changed that image to black and white, cropped it vertically, and placed it beside the one of Kyle. They were stunning images individually but sent a powerful message together.

The conference room was quiet.

The next image was of Cassie herself, reaching into a stretch. She remembered the moment it had been taken, when she had been encouraging her aerobic class to give a little more. She’d heard the shutter. She looked similarly intense, glistening with perspiration, as toned as a goddess, stretching for the stars with the confidence that she could pluck a few. She had no idea she looked so good at work.

Kyle whistled, then licked his finger and pointed it at her, giving a low hiss. “Hot stuff. Cassie.”

“You’re not so bad yourself.”

The next shot was of Theo, glancing up from a crouch. He looked as if he was poised at the starting line of a race, but had already been running. His gaze was filled with resolve. Again, he looked gorgeous and his skin glistened with perspiration, and the glance he gave the camera was hot enough to start a forest fire.

The final image was of Ty, in the middle of their basketball game. He was crouched like a panther, waiting for the ball. He looked agile and muscled, ready to fight the person in his sights right to the mat. Cassie couldn’t take a full breath.

When Shannyn turned that to black and white and the screen was filled with the five shots, silence hung in the room.

“I. Want. Those. Pictures.” Meesha whispered, her words breaking the mood. “Seriously,” she said. “We would own the internet with a collection of pictures that hot.”

“We’d melt it down,” Kyle said and they laughed together.

Shannyn smiled and flushed a little. “These pictures made me realize that you don’t need to hire models, that you have incredible assets right here at the club, and that they’re exclusive to the club. You all could pose for your ads.”

There was a rustle of interest.

“After all, none of you are going to pose for anyone else’s ads.”

“Damn straight,” Theo said.

“So the images would be exclusive. Plus using images of the partners offers a connection to the club itself,” Shannyn continued. “There’s a much stronger possibility of coming to Flatiron Five Fitness and finding the model in the ad actually here and working out, which adds credibility.”

“I like how she thinks,” Meesha whispered to Cassie.

“Because we pretty much live here,” Kyle said. “I like it.”

“We own the ads, just like the club,” Theo said with a nod.

“And we wouldn’t be paying fees for models,” Ty said. “Interesting.”

“How did you get these shots?” Damon asked. “I don’t remember seeing you.”

Shannyn laughed. “The zoom lens was my friend. It’s what I do.”

“And you do it brilliantly,” Theo said, to general approval.

“But that’s just the start of my idea,” Shannyn said, sobering as she looked back at the screen. “I wondered how you could use these images to best advantage. You probably don’t remember that in the 80’s, there was a billboard campaign in Times Square for Calvin Klein.” She showed a photograph of one of the ads.

“Hot dudes in briefs, thirty stories high,” Cassie agreed with a nod. “We did a case study on it in a marketing class.”

Shannyn showed the next image. It was an animation, showing the Calvin Klein billboard being replaced with the black and white picture of Kyle, as if the Times building was being skinned with it. The image rolled down the building from roof to street, then snapped into place. The Flatiron Five Fitness logo glowed in red at the bottom.

“Holy shit,” Kyle whispered.

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