Any Man I Want (2 page)

Katrina—Monday, May 23—10:46 a.m.

 

 

G
lancing at my watch, I had about four hours until my flight left for Miami en route home to Dallas. Since I had a little time, I calmly clicked through the photos of myself from this past week's photo shoot with detached interest. Even though I was two months from turning the big three-zero, I still looked pretty much the same as I had when I started modeling ten years ago. I cannot lie. I was genetically gifted. Thanks to Avery and Alanna Montgomery's DNA, I stood 5-10½ in flats. I had wavy, tawny brown hair that fell to my waist. My eyes were often compared to those of a lion, golden in color, slightly tilted and generously lashed. Being named Katrina and originally born in a small town in Louisiana—people heard the name and thought of the disastrous hurricane. It wasn't that far of a jump for my nickname to be Cajun Kat. Not very original, but it worked.

As the last child and only daughter of this generation of Montgomerys, I could have been anything I wanted in life. I had the brains, the beauty, the unconditional love, and the ambition to be whatever made me happy. I had started modeling at age sixteen after graduating early at the top of my high school class. I really never wanted anything else. I loved the world of clothes and fashion. I loved creating and wearing beautiful things. I knew I wasn't going to model forever and had been slowly phasing out the modeling and spending more and more time involved in the design and business end of the fashion house. In my mid-twenties I took time to get a degree in art and fashion media from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. I thoroughly enjoyed not only the clothes but the best way to display and market the clothes across different media platforms. This shoot was the last of the artwork we needed for our next catalog.

I was deciding whether the gold bikini or the pale peach one piece would look better on the spring resort-wear catalog cover when a few things happened simultaneously. My cell phone rang, the doorbell of the villa rang, and the sound indicating that I had incoming e-mail beeped repetitively from my laptop. That couldn't be good.

I rose to move toward the door and caught sight of a photographer leaning over my balcony and pointing a huge lens at me. I snapped the curtains shut and looked down at the display on my phone. It was my agent, Fredrika Young.

“What's going on?” I answered.

“You haven't been online today?” she asked cautiously.

“No . . . but I have photographers at my windows and door and my e-mail is blowing up. What happened?”

“Kevin happened,” she deadpanned.

I sunk onto the chaise lounge with a feeling of dread. “What do you mean, Kevin happened? What did he do?”

“Before or after he released the sex tape?”

“
Sex tape?
” I screeched into the phone. “I did
not
participate in a sex tape.”

“He has the two of you on film, naked and in bed. Granted, it's grainy and there's not a whole lot of action, but it's definitely you, Kat. He says you offered him sex in exchange for the Serengeti business and once he'd signed the contracts, you discarded him. Discarded. He actually used the word
discarded
.”

“Yeah, he's all dramatical like that. Earlier, he used
rue
in a sentence.”

“Wow. Anyway, it's total bullshit, of course. Everyone knows you aren't a sex-tape kind of girl and you've never considered pay-for-play a business tactic. If nothing else, we go after him for filming you and distributing without your consent.”

“I can
not
believe this. He did say I would regret breaking up with him,” I muttered.

“Do you?”

“Hell, no. I regret ever dating him in the first place.” I huffed a brief and insincere laugh.

“As you should. From the looks of this tape he was a lousy bed partner.”

I snorted. “To say the least.”

“In addition to sucking in bed, he's a scoundrel and a liar.”

“
Scoundrel
is a sexy word for someone devilish and charming. Kevin is neither of those two things.”

Fredrika chuckled. “Duly noted.
Liar
. Not charming.”

“Well, he did say one true thing,” I admitted.

“What might that be?”

“I did discard him. I most certainly the hell did. Apparently, not a moment too soon.”

“He is alleging that this is how you've closed deals for BellaRich Designs and stayed on top in the modeling field.”

“Oh no, he didn't!”

“Yeah, he did. Said he has lists of other fashion execs and photographers that you've slept with. It's a slow news day, Kat. This is everywhere. They are calling you the Cajun Coquette.”

I closed my eyes. Over ten years in the industry maintaining a flawless reputation in the media, playing nice with people who didn't understand the meaning of the word, smiling while half naked in rain, beach, snow, and shine and now this.... I was considered flirty but fun, sexy but not skanky, pretty but professional. People took me seriously. I worked hard to be more than a pretty face. I scrapped, clawed, and kicked my way into design. My designs were smart, sultry, and sought after. I carried my weight at BellaRich Designs and I'd be damned if a pompous ass with hurt feelings and no bed game was going to ruin all of that. “Thanks, Fredrika. I need to call Beau.” My older brother Beau was a man who was often underestimated because he was so easy on the eyes. But of the three Montgomery offspring (me, middle brother Roman, and Beau), Beau was the one who not only knew how to play dirty, but relished the opportunity. He was sharp as a tack and knew how to think like both an angel and a devil.

Fredrika exhaled. “You're calling Beau? Good—he'll fight fire with fire. Call me when you know your next move.”

“Drika?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for believing in me.”

“Katrina. You're no angel, but you don't play around when it comes to business. No worries. If you need me, I'm here.”

“Thanks again.” I hung up, ignored the knocking on the villa door, and dialed another number. It was answered on the first ring.

“Baby girl, how many times have I told you that your extraordinarily bad taste in men would bite you in the ass?” Beau's slightly accented voice poured out. Though we all had some Creole influence, Beau tended to lean more heavily on his than Roman and I did. “I swear, Kat, all the lovely male influences in your life and you have to hook up with the slimiest
cochon
out there. Not smart, sis.”

I rolled my eyes at my older brother's rant. “Dating Kevin is not the dumbest thing I've ever done . . . but close. How bad is it?”

“Well,
chère
, I won't be playing that video at the next family reunion.”

Scowling into the phone, I answered, “How is that possible? We did it twice. Both times badly. In the dark for less than fifteen minutes.”

“I really didn't need details.”

“I'm just saying. It was over in an instant. How in the world did that make a juicy sex tape?”

“Are you sure?” Beau queried.

“Quite. Why?”

“This tape might be doctored. The one I glanced at—and believe me,
‘tite chou
, I never want to see anything like that again—has you in sunlight outside, near a beach in a hammock.”

That sounded familiar and wrong all at the same time. “The only time I've been in a hammock here was for the shoot. I was topless, modeling the swim shorts. There was a male model; we did some flirting for the cameras but nothing that could be a hot sex tape. Not even close.”

“This jerk must have meshed different footage together or something. Okay, I know what we're dealing with now. You need to lay low while I figure out how to go nuclear on Mr. Delancey.”

All of a sudden, I remembered my team. “What about the crew?”

“We got everyone out on the first flight this morning. I'm sending someone to get you.”

“What? No. That's unnecessary. I can fly home on my own, Beau. My flight is in a few hours.”

“We already cancelled it,” he declared.

“Oh, come on. This will blow over in a day or so.”

“I doubt it. He's out for blood. Says he has proof that you've slept with half of your photographers, most of our clients. Says a lot of the BellaRich contracts were sex for signature transactions. He's claiming your entire professional career has been based on you passing out the good-good on the regular.”

“
What?
I never—”

“I know that. I'm the last one you have to convince. When you think about it, it's actually kind of funny.”

“In what possible way is this humorous?” I screeched incredulously.

“Out of the three of us—you, me, or Roman—which of us was more likely to be accused of using sex to get ahead?” Beau said ruefully.

My brother Roman was a straight arrow. He was happily married for the second time to a great woman named Jewellen. Beau, however, had been a notorious hound dog in his day. Not even just in his day—in everybody else's day as well. The trail of broken hearts and discarded panties he left behind was legend. He was bow-wowing right up until he met my friend Belle. We had modeled together. When she and I decided to go into design, I loaned her my condo. Beau had been kicked out of Roman's house and was trying to figure out what to do with his life and decided to stay at my place. That's how they met. After a few stumbles, they appeared to be on the path to happily-ever-after. I guess you
can
teach an old dog new tricks.

“I would say this is more ironic than funny—but hey, it's just my life imploding, laugh it up,” I snapped testily. I rubbed my temple. I could feel a headache coming on. I twisted the top off of a large bottle of water and drank deeply.

“Chill, sis. Look, we all know this is ego-driven crap, but Delancey is throwing enough dirt around that we need a solid game plan before the media gets hold of you. We're releasing a statement today denying everything. In the meantime, you need to spend a few more days away from prying eyes and then come back to Dallas and stay somewhere the media can't find you for a while.”

I exhaled. “How bad can it really be? I can't just step outside and laugh this off and it will go away?”

“Katrina, you're beautiful, you're rich, you're single, and you're famous. As much as people love you, they love a messy scandal more. They smell blood in the water and they're going for broke. This is going to take a little time and cleanup. But no worries, I'm on it. And I'm sending help.”

I frowned down at the phone. “What kind of help?”

“Big Sexy is on his way.”

I exhaled shakily. Carter “Big Sexy” Parks, super-hot former football player, one of Beau's oldest and dearest friends, currently a real estate mogul, was heading my direction. Did I mention that he's super-hot? A man doesn't get and keep the nickname of “Big Sexy” without earning it. And he really did. Even more telling, no one questioned the nickname. It fit. Everything about him oozed big and sexy. I'd thrown all sorts of “do me” hints over the years and though he never said no, he never said yes either. Never even looked all that tempted, much to my chagrin. I was a girl who was used to men wanting me and chasing me. The fact that he didn't seem to care one way or the other? Quite frustrating in a “but I can respect it” super-hot way. “Carter thinks I'm a pain in the ass.”

“We all think you're a pain the ass, but we love you anyway.”

I sucked my teeth in exasperation. “Carter Parks does not love me.”

“Probably not, but he loves this family and he knows how to play tough. He'll keep you safe.”

“I don't need a babysitter, Avery Beauregard.”

“No, you don't, Audelia Katrina. You're a big girl. I know you're grown or whatever. But you do need an exit strategy and a hiding place where no one can get to you. Carter can and will provide both of those.”

“Fine,” I snapped out, already over it.

“I'm sorry, Kit-Kat. I didn't hear you. Was that a ‘thank you' that you muttered so graciously, sis?”

“
Merci
,
mon frère
,” I thanked him through gritted teeth.

“That's what I thought I heard.
De rien
. Keep your head up, sis. We'll talk later.”

“Later.”

“And Katrina?”

“Yes?”

“Don't look at it. It will just piss you off.”

“Okay,” I agreed, knowing full well I planned to look as soon as I hung up.

Beau used his sternest big-brother voice. “Katrina, I mean it.”

“Got it. Not looking.” I used my most innocent, agreeable voice.

He sighed. “I'll talk to you after Carter gets there.”

“When will that be?” I glanced at the clock.

“Knowing him? Less than two hours. He was on the jet the minute after I called him.”

Carter Parks was on his way, a sex tape with me on it was floating around the Internet, and it wasn't even noon on a Monday yet. “Fine.”

“You okay?”

“You know us Montgomerys—we're always okay.” I hung up and reached for the laptop.

Katrina—Monday, May 23—12:02 p.m.

 

 

I
'd watched it over and over again. The first two times I was embarrassed, shocked, and ashamed. I thought about crying, but in the words of my mother, “What did tears ever solve?” I wasn't that much of a crier. All the puffy eyes and stopped-up noses just wore me out and took time away from fixing what was wrong. I moved past sadness and watched it again.

The next two times I was angry and incredulous. By the time I watched it for the sixteenth time I'd zoomed past angry to furious and had vengeance on my mind. Basically, the video had been spliced and Photoshopped to look like I lured Kevin outside to a hammock, laid back on it, took off my top, and enticed him to join me, at which point we had about five minutes of what looked like simulated sex and then the video faded to black. I realized that only the top half of the woman in the video was me; the rest of it was not. Someone with serious video editing skills put this together. And since Kevin had departed less than forty-eight hours ago, he'd either been planning this for a while or had somebody on standby waiting to make this happen.

Now, it was one thing to sleep with someone and have the world watch it, if that was your kind of thing. It was entirely different for someone to manipulate the facts to suit their revenge fantasies. Yes, I'd slept with him. Twice, in the dark, for fifteen minutes in the privacy of a hotel room. I wanted to scream that from a megaphone. Yes, I'd been topless on the beach, lying in the hammock. But those two things were mutually exclusive events. Kevin Delancey did not inspire me to get freaky or full-frontal on a public beach in midday. At all. And that pompous ass knew better.

Against my better judgment, I Googled first my name and then Kevin's: one hundred eighteen thousand new search results with my name attached. I scanned a few of them. I reached for the bottled water and drank some more, wondering if I should pull out the Advil as well. I watched Kevin give a press conference that was uploaded to YouTube, where he had the nerve to stand there with a straight face and say he felt used and betrayed. Really, though?

I skipped to another video and watched as Belle and Beau gave a brief statement on behalf of myself and BellaRich Designs. Ever so politely, but succinctly, Beau called Kevin a coward, a liar, and a crook. Brother Beau stared right into the camera with that pretty face of his and said that the truth would soon be revealed and at that time full exoneration of my good name and reputation would be restored and remedies would be sought. I had to smile—Beau had such a flair for the dramatic.

Next, I pulled up my social media sites. Scrolling through my mentions on Twitter I noticed people were taking sides with the hashtags #TeamDelancey or #TeamKat.

She is way too classy for this to be true. Delancey just mad he can't hold onto her. #TeamKat!
Tweeted someone with the screen name @ModelsRock.

All models are hoes, why are you all surprised? #TeamDelancey
came from @BrosB4Hoes.

Whatever really happened she didn't look like she was having fun. I would have dumped him too. #TeamKat

He is dat dude. #TeamDelancey

And so it went. I turned off my Twitter feed at that point. My inbox had blown up like an apocalyptic war zone. After an hour or so, I made it through only a fraction of the e-mails and Facebook page posts before I switched over to a popular news outlet. A headline jumped out at me:
SUPERMODEL SEX SCANDAL GOES VIRAL.
Ignoring the voice in my head telling me not to click on it, I opened the Webpage. A perky blonde news anchor smiled out at me.

“Katrina Montgomery, former supermodel and current designer at the hot BellaRich design house, has been paired with a legion of influential, attractive men over the years. Yesterday, one of those men came forward and accused the Cajun Kat of trading sexual favors for business deals. Kevin Delancey, of the wildly successful Serengeti Web business, affirmed his carnal knowledge of the seductress with a steamy sex tape. Katrina ascended to supermodel status at the age of eighteen as the spokesperson for La Dare Denim. Her most famous ad campaign . . .” They cut away to one of my former ads and there I stood, two years into my La Dare contract. I was in my twenty-year-old glory wearing skintight jeans, a see-through white tank top, and sky-high fire-engine red spike heels. I was all big hair, smoky eyes, and crimson lips. I strutted down a street full of men, drawing all eyes. The camera panned almost indecently up and down my body before closing in on my face. “I can have any man I want and you can too in La Dare jeans.” I ran my hands up and down my body before turning to one of the men and crooking a finger at him. The commercial faded to black and the words
get what you want when you wear La Dare
. They cut back to the anchor desk and the anchorwoman smirked into the camera. “Looks like Katrina gets what she wants no matter what she is or isn't wearing.”

I hissed out a breath before slamming the laptop lid shut. I stood up and started pacing back and forth. Wasn't this just a fine turn of events? I was the punch line to a bleach blonde's feeble joke, thanks to Kevin Delancey. That smarmy son of a bitch I'd dated for less than ninety days. Was I the first woman to tell him, “No, thank you”? This is what I got for refusing to bow down and just take the BS he shoveled? Oh, it was about to be on. If he wanted to play dirty, he picked the absolute wrong person to mess with.

Yep. I had definitely turned the corner back into mad. My cell phone buzzed, indicating an incoming text message. My number was unlisted and I rarely gave it out, so I knew it could be only one of a few people. Glancing at the screen, I read the message.

I'm here. Be at your door in five.—CP

Carter Parks was here. I exhaled, inexplicably nervous. I'd been around Carter for most of my adult life and this was the first time I actually cared what he thought of me. Did he think I was skanky? Did he believe anything Kevin said? Would he look at me differently? He always looked at me with a shuttered expression that bordered on indulgence, amusement, and intrigue. Would that be different? I ran my hands down the sides of my tropical-print halter maxi-dress and made my way toward the door. Security had scared away the last of the paparazzi and I wanted to make sure they let Carter through.

A sharp rap at the door told me they had. A quick glance through the peephole confirmed it. I swung the door open and waved Carter inside before closing the door behind him. Before I could say anything, he tucked his sunglasses into his pocket, pulled me into a tight hug, picked me up, and held me close.

“You all right? That guy's an asshole. I wanted to kick his ass. You want me to kick his ass? I'd really love to do it. Asses can get kicked. You just say the word, Kat.”

I held on tight, burying my face in his neck. The headache I'd felt brewing melted away. There was no explicable reason why being wrapped in Carter Parks's arms made me feel safe and like everything was going to be all right. But it did. “Hey Sexy.” I let out a shuddering breath as he set me back on the ground. Everything really was going to be okay.

“Are you crying? Please tell me you are not crying over this dude?” He took a step back and looked into my face. There were no tears. “Okay, okay. Good. You look good. You always look good. You know what I mean. But say something.” He ran his hands up and down my arms.

I took a moment to look at the über–eye candy that was Carter Parks. Even with my three-inch wedges on, he was taller than me. I loved that. He was six feet three and a half inches of chocolaty fineness. His body was still in football shape even though he had retired a little over four years ago. If I calculated correctly, he would be thirty-eight years old on his next birthday. He looked years younger. He had smooth, espresso-colored skin and eyes such a dark, rich brown that they appeared to be almost black at times. His eyes were widely spaced with ridiculously girlish lashes and a wide, frequently used smile that showed off his perfect teeth. He was handsome in that rugged, manly-man kind of way. Squared jaw, full lips that stopped short of pouty, angular cheekbones, laugh lines bracketing his mouth. His hair was cropped low in tight black waves. Despite the tropical temperature outside, he was nattily attired in a tailored black silk suit with a turquoise linen shirt underneath. Casual black boat shoes without socks completed the look. Somehow, he took an ensemble that should not have worked and made it look like the best idea ever. When he noticed me blatantly checking him out, a slow grin spread across his face and he raised a brow. “So you're all right, then.”

I grinned back with zero shame. He was a good-looking man. It would be just plain criminal not to enjoy the scenery. “I'm good. I mean, I'm mad as hell. I'm tempted to take you up on that ass-kicking offer, but I'm good. Are you going to ask?”

“Ask what?”

“Whether the tape is a fake or not? Whether or not I seduced a man for business?”

“Girl, please.” He snorted and took his cell phone out of his pocket. Without elaborating, he started typing out a message.

I crossed my arms across my chest and started tapping my foot. He had to be the slightest bit curious.

He glanced up. “Problem, diva?”

“You seriously don't have any questions?”

“I seriously already know the answers. You, that dude? C'mon.” He scoffed and then looked around. “Pack your stuff, we're outta here.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, princess: Open your fancy suitcases and place your pricey belongings in them so we can depart. Daylight's burning.” He grinned at me indulgently and went back to fiddling with his smartphone.

The man was fine, but infuriating. “I know what packing means, smart-ass. I'm asking what you mean about me and Kevin.”

He stepped close and put a finger under my chin to tilt my head up to him. “I'm not saying you couldn't seduce a man out of his last dollar if you put your mind to it, sweetheart. But that ain't you. There may be a man on this planet who you would compromise your principles for, but Kevin Delancey is
not
that dude.”

“Yeah?” I tilted my head in acknowledgment. He made a solid point. I didn't realize he knew me that well.

“Yeah.” He laughed and waved his cell phone at me. “I'm TeamKat.”

That drew a smile from me. “Well, okay then. What's the plan?”

Carter nodded and took a step back. “You assume I have a plan?”

“You didn't hop a plane and get down here just to have conch fritters and stroll on the beach, Big Sexy. You are, among other things, a man with a plan.”

“I am in possession of a plan. I do want those conch fritters, but we don't have time. You need to get packed. We're wheels up in about two hours.”

“Are you going to tell me what the plan is?” I turned and headed for the closet. Most of my things were already packed; I just needed to pull the last of it together. I rolled out the last bag and started putting in some shoes. I walked to the bathroom to retrieve my cosmetics.

“Yes, the plan is to make Kevin Delancey rue the day he ever thought to mess with Katrina Montgomery.”

I, who was paid to walk gracefully, tripped over air as I whirled around to face him. I caught myself on the edge of the dresser. “Did you just use
rue the day
in a sentence?”

He flashed his grin again. “Yeah, Belle told me how much you love when guys say that to you.”

I choked back a laugh and rolled my eyes. “Adore it. Are you going to clue me in on any of the specifics of the plan or you wanna spend some more time cracking wise, sweet-talker?”

“Before we get on the plane, you're filming a statement.”

“Okay.” I checked the dresser drawers to make sure I had emptied them.

“Before we head back to Dallas, you're getting a new boyfriend.”

I slammed the last drawer shut and spun around again to stare at him. “A new what?”

“Boyfriend, boo, cuddle buddy. You understand the concept. We're hooking you up,” Carter said silkily.

“Why? Who? What?” I sputtered in confusion.

“You and me, sweetheart. Our time has come.” He brushed past me, picked up two of the larger suitcases, and headed for the door. “I'll meet you outside when you're ready.”

I was a college-degreed spokesmodel renowned for my confidence, poise, and assurance; but in that moment... all I could come up with to say was “Ummmm.”

“Close your mouth, Kitty. Time's a–wasting. We gotta go.” He let the door close behind him with a definitive
click
.

I snapped my jaw shut and sank down to the edge of the bed. In the last forty-eight hours I'd posed for pictures, designed a catalogue, broken up with a man, been immortalized as a skank on YouTube, and now acquired a new boyfriend. What was my life all about suddenly? Maybe I would take that Advil after all.