Page 31 of Meet You Half Way
“Hmm. You may be right. I never do know when to give up anyway but it’s hard with him living so far away.”
“It’s not that far,” I laughed.
“Maybe not to you coasties but it is to a city slicker like me,” Glen laughed. “Anyway I must go schmooze for a bit. Lovely to meet you, Jamie. Enjoy the set. Eat the food. Drink the coffee. There will be wine soon so make sure you drink that too.”
I did what Glen suggested, eating the pastries while Mateo lay on the chaise lounge for what felt like positively hours. They called for a break midway through and I took a raspberry Danish over to him, knowing we hadn’t had time to eat this morning.
“You look amazing,” I said, noting the way he flushed at my praise. “Gruelling work.”
“Yes it’s very hard lying about all day,” he grinned. He took my offer of the pastry and wolfed it down, a smile on his face as we stood together.
“I must say, I do like that outfit on you,” I said, using the opportunity to peruse his all but naked figure.
He chuffed a laugh. “Stop that. I have nowhere to hide up here and I don’t need you putting ideas in my head. Either of them.”
I laughed. “At least that’s less of a problem for you with a shoot like today.”
“Some of the female models prefer working with gay models on sets like this. Takes a little of the tension out of it.”
“I bet. You ever get to do shoots like that with other guys?”
“Yep. Can’t say I mind those shoots either,” he grinned and I felt something twinge in my heart. I had never seen Mateo like this before, so content and almost, dare I say it, at peace with himself. Maybe Glen was right. Maybe modelling was where Mateo needed to centre his life. Because I liked him here like this.
The set director called time and Mateo grimaced at me and then turned back to the set where he was ushered behind the backstage partition. The set had been completely transformed in the meantime, now looking like a balcony with a green screen in the background. Mateo returned in a pair of ripped blue jeans with the buttons left open and honestly, that look was just as hot on him as him in those tiny invisible undies.
The girl was back too, also in unbuttoned jeans but still completely topless and they spent the rest of the afternoon setting the two of them up with Mateo leaning against a window frame and the girl leaning between his legs. The watch arm was back in use as a modesty device as Mateo hid her breasts behind his arm, clasping onto her shoulder. Honestly, the lookwas insanely hot, hotter even than the chaise lounge and I found myself equally captivated.
I hadn’t even noticed that the sun had gone down by the time the shoot was called a wrap. Mateo dressed back into the clothes he had come in and came to find me where I was drinking a glass of sparkling wine beside Glen Akers.
“Mateo,” Glen smiled, leaning across to kiss both his cheeks. “You were magnificent as usual.”
“Thank you,” Mateo replied, pink in his cheeks.
“I have loads of job offers for you we need to talk about. That plus I’ve booked you to walk three lines at the Sydney Fashion Week next month and I need to talk you through those too,” Glen continued.
“Sounds good,” Mateo agreed, eyes half on me which I liked a lot. I handed him my half empty glass and he downed the rest, sharing a smile with me over the top.
“Any chance you’ll be around tomorrow still?” Glen pressed. “I have to get to this event tonight but I really do need to talk to you.”
“Ah, I hadn’t planned on still being here,” Mateo replied, hand rubbing the back of his neck.
“Why don’t you both stay in my penthouse tonight,” Glen offered, reaching into his pocket for his keys. “Then we can have a coffee and a talk tomorrow morning.”
“If you’re sure,” Mateo said. “Is that okay with you, Jamie?”
“Fine with me,” I replied, trying not to let it show exactly how fine that idea was with me. I’d had to sit by and watch Mateo swan around mostly naked for half the day and I was feeling a littlepent upmyself. Nothing a night in a penthouse couldn’t fix at any rate.
CHAPTER 13
mateo
Ihad the keys to Glen’s penthouse, the one that overlooked Sydney Harbour on millionaire’s row and I was on my way there now with Jamie at my side. I’d been to Glen’s penthouse many times before, had partied on his huge balcony, had spent plenty of nights in one of his guest rooms.
I had never taken another guy here, especially not one as lovely as Jamie who had helped me out of a really huge bind this morning when my not-so-trusty Alfa Romeo had up and died on me.
I’d made it sound like he was my last resort but really, he was the first person I’d called. I could have called Rob and I knew he would have dropped everything and driven me up but he had plans with Kat today and I would hate to be the reason he missed out on seeing her. Nick was never going to be a starter even if he wasn’t already up here in Sydney visiting with his boyfriend somewhere across town.
Dante would have driven me in a heartbeat but he was not well enough for me to impose on him, and as for my parents, well, they would have used the opportunity to tell me it was the Lord’s way of telling me to give up on my vain pursuits and start acting like a man.
