Male Model

by Dave Benbow

Genres: LGBT Gay

Synopsis

In his sizzling debut novel, Daytime Drama, Dave Benbow took readers inside the sexy, catty world of soaps. Now he goes behind the seams--and under the covers--of LA's fashion district, where a man's body is his business, and one man's exquisite face and form are about to take him straight to the top, into the arms of an unlikely lover. . .and into the crosshairs of a deranged killer. . . Male Model Designing window displays for the glamorous Cameron Fuller USA store on Rodeo Drive is Blake Jackson's passion.  After all, handsome, elegant designer Cameron Fuller is an icon of chic style. With his Vogue -thin wife, Suzette, he's one-half of "America's Couple." But rumors have swirled around him for years--whispers that his wife is a vicious, drunken shrew who holds Cameron's assets in her tight fist. . .that their relationship is like one of the store's many displays: luxurious, beautiful, and completely for show. . .and that Cameron's real passion is for the men he takes discreetly to his bed. Blake has often fantasized about Cameron, but he's completely unprepared to meet him in the flesh--or to have him offer to help with a last-minute window change during a surprise visit to the store late one night. Working side by side, the two men experience an overpowering attraction, and soon, they're engaged in a whirlwind secret affair, played out on private planes, in New York penthouses, behind office doors and in a remote, exotic beach house. For Blake, life with Cameron has its drawbacks--the secrecy and sneaking around--but it's sexier and more tender than he ever could have hoped. . .and it's about to get hotter. In need of a fresh look to launch his new cologne, Cameron finds it in his lover's chiseled cheekbones, ice-blue eyes, long, dark hair and hunky, six-pack abs. It's an offer Blake can't refuse, and within weeks, he's gone from shop-boy to poster god. A billboard of Blake romping in the California surf wearing only a pair of skin-tight leather low-riders stops traffic in Times Square and Hollywood. Suddenly, he's the "it" boy, wanted and feted from coast to coast, yet having to keep his feelings for Cameron in the shadows. But someone is unhappy about Blake's sudden rise to fame, and the growing love between the designer and his model. . .someone who knows their secrets. . .someone determined to make them pay dearly. And as the days tick down until the celebrity-packed party that will launch Blake's star, it's clear that the only way Cameron and Blake can hold on to what they have is to let go of everything else. . . Riveting and compulsively entertaining, Male Model is a wickedly revealing glimpse into the rarified world of fashion--the conniving stylists and creative directors who'd step on anyone to get ahead, the insecure models who swing both ways, the temperamental diva directors, the jaded wives living on couture shows and kinky boudoir habits, the barely concealed rage and need, lust and envy, desperation and dreams they all share. . .and the secrets they'd all kill to keep under (stylish) wraps.

Release date: November 20, 2014

Publisher: Kensington Books

Print pages: 331

Sample

Beverly Hills, California

The constant flashes from the paparazzi were mini explosions that lit up the impressive stone facade of the Cameron Fuller store on Rodeo Drive with staccato bursts of bright light. As each new limousine discharged yet another celebrity, the cameras went into overdrive. Flash! Flash! Flash! The clicking sound from over fifty cameras, combined with the roped-off onlookers’ cheering of each new arrival, was deafening.

Oprah. Brad Pitt. Jennifer Aniston. Sandra Bullock. Jennifer Garner. Quarterback Colt Jennings. Reese Witherspoon. Travis Church. Clay Beasley. Gwyneth Paltrow. The Rock. The Fab Five from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Drew Barrymore. Cameron Diaz. It was a cross section of early 21st century fame that had the starstruck onlookers spellbound.

And all the dazzling celebs were at this store for one reason. To pay homage to the hottest fashion designer of the moment.

Cameron Fuller.

The name alone had been in the vernacular of clothes conscious Americans for years. Along with Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Tom Ford, he had helped shape the way Americans dress, sleep, and smell.

Tonight was the formal launch of Cameron’s newest fragrance, Pacific Coast Highway, a clean, spicy scent that had gotten remarkably high marks from every focus group that had sampled it. The marketing team was optimistically projecting sales of over twenty million dollars before the end of the year.

Cameron had impulsively decided only weeks before to launch the scent at his new Rodeo Drive store, instead of at the Warehouse, his venerable Soho area New York emporium, as had been originally planned. The reasons he gave publicly were that the ad campaign and the fragrance itself promoted a California lifestyle, so where better to launch it than California?

The actual and true reason for the California launch was known only by him, and one other person.

Standing in the grand rotunda, at the top of the stunning curved Italian marble staircase that was strategically centered in the great hall of his beautiful store, Cameron Fuller himself looked around and was pleased by the turnout. He was elegantly dressed in one of his own Manhattan Label single-breasted navy suits. A crisp white shirt and sedate purple rep tie worked perfectly on his tall athletic frame.

A worried crease appeared on his normally smooth brow. On top of everything else that had gone wrong tonight, he had just had a disturbing conversation with one of his oldest friends. With determination, he forced the dark thoughts from his mind. Tonight was supposed to be a happy night.

He had called in all his markers, and every celebrity who owed him a favor was there. He hadn’t given these people free clothes for years without expecting some payback, and tonight was it. He could tell by the reporters’ excited questions that the notices about the launch in tomorrow’s papers would be glowing.

Cameron saw his wife’s father, Silas Cabbott, standing stiffly with a small group of other board members. The tension between Cameron and the board had been palpable lately, and Cameron hoped the great success of this party, as well as the launch, would smooth things over. He attempted to aim a tight smile at his father-in-law, but the old man ignored him, obviously still enraged from their earlier argument.

Cameron turned away from Oprah Winfrey and Drew Barrymore to catch the eye of his Pacific Coast Highway spokesmodel, who was across the rotunda. A new discovery, the model was everything Cameron had envisioned. He had a sexy, casual air that made you think he could go surfing, hiking, or snow boarding and still look good in a tuxedo. The hot model was lost in a sea of reporters who were firing off questions at him faster than he could answer them.

Cameron winked at him, and was just starting to walk over to rescue him from the throng when he felt a strong tug at his elbow.

“Cameron, I don’t know how you do it, but you manage to pull it off every time.”

Annoyed that he was being diverted from his mission, Cameron looked harshly at the woman beside him. “Yes, Suzette. I try,” he said through tight lips.

She raised a champagne flute in his honor. “To my husband. Who else could pass off horse piss as cologne? Salut!” She drunkenly tipped the glass to him, then brought it to her lips. As she drank, she spilled a fair amount of the Dom Perignon onto the top of her black Dolce and Gabbana sequined minidress.

Cameron stared at her in bemused disgust and detachment. He eyed her dress, noticing for the first time that it was a competitor’s design. “Jesus, Suzette. Couldn’t you at least have worn one of my dresses tonight?”

“I don’t like anything you make.” She tipped her glass up again. “Besides, don’t you want to congratulate me?” she asked, too brightly, her almond-shaped eyes flashing.

“What for, my dear?”

“Because I’m going to bury you, you sanctimonious bastard! You swore an oath to me! You swore you’d never tell, but you did! You won’t have anything left when I’m done with you! Ha, ha!” She laughed, spinning around. Her carefully arranged, sun-streaked hair flew out, and then obediently returned to its original position. “You’re going to be left with nothing!” she derided him, her face becoming pinched and spiteful.

“It’s been a hard night, and I think you’ve had too much to drink, Suzette. Maybe you should lie down. Let me escort you back to the VIP room,” Cameron said, trying to take her fashionably thin arm. He just hoped to God no one was paying attention to her.

“Is everything okay, Cameron?” asked Rafael Santiago, Cameron’s Director of Creative Services, and right hand man. He had stepped up to the arguing couple unnoticed.

“Yes, Rafe. Everything’s fine. I’m taking Suzette to the VIP room. She’s had a little too much celebration,” he explained, falsely cheerful.

“Take your hands off me!” Suzette slurred the words as she tried to pull away from Cameron. “I’ll tell you when I’ve had enough! And not versa vice!” she said, her famous temper flaring. She tripped on her own feet, which were shod in a simple but obscenely expensive pair of gold Gucci strappy stilettos. Stumbling, she fell toward Cameron, who took firm hold of her and tried to lead her to the stairs.

“Suzette! For God’s sake, sober up!” hissed her father, Silas. He had come up behind the small group silently. Suzette shooed him off with an airy wave.

Blake Jackson observed the scene between Cameron and his wife, and was concerned. Blake had been an uncomfortable witness to the earlier nasty argument. Now, Cameron looked embarrassed, and Suzette was obviously too drunk to be left alone. He knew he should go to Cameron’s side and help him with his shrewish wife, but he doubted he could get through the crowd in time. The camera flashes started up again, temporarily blinding him.

Blake had been pushed by the crowd up against the railing above the stairwell. When his eyes cleared and he could see again, he looked down the staircase at the even larger crowd milling around on the floor below.

Quite the turnout, he thought. Simply amazing. All these people here to meet some male model no one had ever heard of before tonight.

He looked up again and saw that Gwyneth Paltrow happened to be standing next to him, and again a flood of camera flashes went off in his face. At that exact moment, a woman’s scream built in pitch and intensity until it could be heard by everyone.

As the spots vanished one by one from Blake’s eyes, he looked toward where the scream was coming from. Oddly, it now seemed to come from below. He focused on a blur of black that was falling, rolling and tumbling down the Italian marble staircase. It was a woman’s body, and Blake could hear her head thunk against each one of the cold stone risers as she tumbled. The screaming suddenly stopped. Silence fell over the entire area as people watched in fascinated horror, and the woman’s descent continued all the way to the bottom of the wide staircase. Spots and smears of bright red could clearly be seen on steps as she passed them, tumbling toward the bottom.

“Suzette! My God!” There was a flash of movement at the top of the stairs as Cameron Fuller leaped down the staircase two risers at a time. Every photographer in the store had now trained his or her camera on the terrible drama happening on the marble steps. Photo flashes burst like fireworks in the three-story space.

Suzette’s body came to a stop in a twisted heap at the base of the stairs. Both her arms were bent at odd angles, and a large laceration on her forehead was pumping blood into an ever-widening pool about her. She did not move.

Halfway down the stairs, Cameron slipped on a bloody wet spot, almost falling over himself. He regained his balance and proceeded more cautiously down the staircase. At the bottom, he squatted down, picked up Suzette by her lifeless shoulders, and cradled her to his chest.

“Call 911! Someone, please! 911!” he shouted at the crowd.

Dozens of people whipped out cellphones and dialed.

Blake stood rooted in shock where he was. Even though he was far above, away from Cameron and Suzette’s huddled forms, he knew she was dead. Cameron looked up frantically and caught Blake’s eye. They stared at each other helplessly for a beat, then Blake turned away from the grisly scene as the photographers pressed forward to snap off shots of the tragedy below.

“Did she fall?” one of the photographers breathlessly asked him, snapping off a long series of shots with his automatic camera. “Or was she pushed?”

Blake ignored him, and fighting his way out from the gasping, gawking crowd, walked over to an enormous potted palm tree and held on to it for support. He closed his eyes tight, but the photographer’s words kept ringing in his ears.

Did she fall, or was she pushed?

“Ohhhh! God, baby, that’s it!”

“Yeah? Mmmmmm . . . Yeah!” Blake pulled out slightly, then thrust back in, the gasp of delight from his sex partner telling him that what he was doing was not only welcome but wanted. His hands had a firm hold of Brady’s tapered thirty-two-inch waist, and he pulled him back into each push, in effect bouncing Brady’s perfect bubble butt up against his pelvis. The muscles in Brady’s broad worked-out back flexed slightly as he adjusted his stance.

“Oh, maaaan!” Brady sighed deeply. The palms of his hands and his knees were getting rubbed raw from the rough natural sisal carpet, but he didn’t care. He hadn’t been plowed this good in weeks. Sex with Blake had always been good, but this was, like, another world!

“Daaayum! You feel so good, Brady,” Blake murmured, picking up the pace a bit. The sensation of having Brady’s beautiful ass slam into his crotch was bringing him to the brink.

“I’m gonna come, Blake!”

“Me, too!”

“Together ! . . . Ohhhh ! . . . Yeah ! . . . Now . . . !” Brady’s voice trailed off into a long, sustained whoosh of air.

“Ohhhh, damn . . . ,” Blake added as he slipped out, tugged off the condom, and shot all over Brady’s back. At the same instant, Brady came as well, valiantly trying to come in his cupped hand.

Afterwards, the two men lay on the scratchy fiber rug catching their breath. Blake began to laugh hysterically.

“I’ve never understood why you always laugh after you come,” Brady observed dryly, stretching his arms above his head. He reached for his balled up navy blue T-shirt with the yellow West Hollywood Sheriff’s Department logo on it, and brought it under his prematurely gray head, like a pillow.

“Tension release, I guess,” Blake laughed. “I can’t believe we just did that! Jesus.”

“I know. Oh, well . . . if you can’t have rockin’ sex with an ex-boyfriend, then who can you have it with?”

“True,” Blake agreed. “Sex was never the problem with us. It was the whole ‘relationship’ thing we couldn’t make work.”

“I know. Not that I didn’t try.” Brady leisurely reached up to his left ear and deftly removed the small gold hoop that had been there. He reached over to his shorts and shoved the tiny earring into his pocket. Men were not allowed to wear earrings while on duty, and last week Brady had forgotten to remove his before reporting for work. He’d been written up for it.

That small task completed, he rolled over on his side and propped himself up on one muscular arm. He looked intently at Blake through warm brown eyes.

“I know,” Blake said softly.

“Well, maybe we could try again. I miss you, Blake. Don’t get me wrong. I like being your friend and workout partner. But maybe we should try for more, again.”

“Brady,” Blake began, turning to face his ex-lover, “we tried it. It didn’t work. And yes, I’ll admit that I miss you, too. What I don’t miss are the fights. I don’t know . . . I just can’t see it working out,” he said, being honest.

“Well, think about it. That’s all I ask. Just think about it, okay?” Brady gently pleaded. Even though he was easily six feet, two hundred twenty pounds, and a tough looking sheriff’s deputy, he could seem very childlike in his needs.

“Okay, I will. I promise.” Blake glanced at the clock and was shocked by the time. “Jesus! I’m gonna be late! I gotta get in the shower.”

“I don’t have to report in for another two hours. Want me to join you?” Brady hinted suggestively.

Blake laughed. “No, thanks. You caused enough trouble for one day, deputy. By the way, your chest presses today were sad.” Blake got up and trotted out of the living room and into his bedroom.

“Fuck you!” Brady called after him good-naturedly. “You know I pulled a double shift yesterday! I couldn’t keep up with you.”

“Jealous, much?” Blake shouted back, turning on the shower. “You just wish you had my body!”

Brady sighed deeply, and sank back to the floor. “You have no idea how badly, and not in the way you think,” he said quietly.

New York City, New York

Three thousand miles away, another shower was being turned on. The scalding hot water shot out of two large facing nozzles set about six feet apart. The heavy glass door swooshed open and Cameron Fuller stepped into the enormous stall. Made entirely of imported beige Italian tile, the stall was ten feet by ten feet square. A low flat bench had been created along one side, and the platinum chrome fixtures gleamed with the shine of daily cleanings by Josephina, the trusted housekeeper.

Cameron Fuller was forty-six but looked to be only in his late thirties. A few nips and tucks here and there had helped with the subterfuge, but he had always looked younger than he was. In fact, when he was first starting out in the rag trade, he would sometimes get doors slammed in his face because the vendors couldn’t believe this kid could deliver what he promised. Now his handsome face was the iconic image of Cameron Fuller USA, CF America, CF/Active, and Cameron Fuller Manhattan Label. He was quickly becoming one of the world’s hottest clothing conglomerates, and along with his wife Suzette, he was used extensively in advertising and commercials for his company.

His hair was starting to gray, and to his surprise, he discovered that he liked the gray. It gave him a mature, distinguished air. His honest-to-God violet eyes blazed like amethysts when he was interested in something, which was all the time. His Romanesque nose was centered on a rather squarish face that, without his expansive mouth and dazzling smile, would have seemed rather blockish. A small scar marred his chin, but, oddly, it made him appear even more masculine.

Originally from a small town outside Toronto, Cameron was six feet one inch tall, and kept in remarkable shape with grueling workout sessions supervised by his Nazi-like trainer, Rolf. Rolf pushed him beyond his limits every day, yet Cam kept coming back for more.

Because he saw—and liked—the results.

His stomach, flat and cut into a solid eight-pack, rested below squared off but beefy pecs. Thick arms with beautiful musculature ended in broad shoulders that supported a thick neck.

He had a body to die for.

And right now, he just wanted to shower away the stress of the spring collections, web site snafus, the looming and troubled new cologne launch, and the disaster that was his private life.

“Cameron?”

He ignored the call, began to lather up.

“Cameron?”

He scrubbed the loofa hard into his taut skin.

“Cameron! Answer me!”

“What?!” he finally shouted back.

A shadow fell across the glass, and Cam knew that Suzette had entered the bathroom. He refused to look at her.

“A little late for a shower, isn’t it?” she questioned archly.

“A little. I slept in. I only had time to do the treadmill. I was up late last night, if you recall.”

“What I recall is that you didn’t make an appearance at Simone and George’s. You promised me, you bastard!” she snapped.

“Sorry. I had to work late at the office. I do have a fragrance launch coming out soon, you know.”

“Work late, my ass! If you’re going to fuck around, just have the balls to admit it!”

“Suzette, I’m not fucking around.” He sighed. Here we go again.

“Please. I’m not that stupid, Cameron Fuller. You may have the world fooled into thinking you’re Mr. All America, but I know better!”

“Is there a point to this, Suzette?”

“Yes. Two points, actually. One,” she pointed a fleshless finger at him, “when I find out who you’re screwing, I swear to God, I’ll be charged with murder one. And the second point is, you wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for Daddy’s money. He got you started. Don’t you ever forget that!” She had once again played her trump card.

“How could I forget it? You remind me of it at least once a day.” He turned his back to her and rinsed off the suds.

Ignoring him, she railed on. “And I should think that the least you could do would be to show up at a party for me. Just once. For me!”

Cam said nothing, hoping she’d run out of steam soon and leave. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at her.

She was standing in the exact center of the huge bathroom, thin hands on even thinner hips. At five feet six inches and a perfect size two, she slavishly maintained her body with a workout routine that rivaled his own. She had intricately highlighted honey blond hair that fell to just below her narrow shoulders. Cam couldn’t remember it ever looking any different. All one length, it was a timeless cut, and it worked for her.

Her gaunt, forty-six-year-old face had a pinched look to it, as if she was in need of a good meal. Which she was.

She, too, had had the odd lift and tuck, and was a big devotee of botox. Pale blue eyes observed everything in their path, and thin lips rarely curled up in a genuine smile.

Once every six weeks she took Cameron’s private jet to L.A. for an eyebrow tweeze by Anastasia, the eyebrow tweezer to the stars. She would return to New York the very same day, hating to spend even one night in Los Angeles, a city she loathed.

Suzette Cabbott Fuller had been the veritable poor little rich girl. She was the daughter of multimillionaire blue blood Silas Cabbott. Her mother, Clarice Wedgeway Cabbott, had been a celebrated beauty and a famous hostess. Sadly, Clarice Cabbott died giving birth to twin infants, Suzette and her seconds-younger brother, Stanton.

Suzette and her sibling were raised by a series of nannies, and while Stanton had grown up rather well adjusted, she had not. As is often the case with overindulged children, she had never outgrown her childish ways. Her temper tantrums were legendary, and more than one fiction writer had based an unflattering character on her.

She was dressed for her lunch date with Liz Smith already. Head to toe black Prada. A Gucci silver chain belt casually looped about her waist. A large black Hermès Birkin bag hung limply in the crook of her bony elbow.

Cam almost laughed. His own wife. Going to lunch with a reporter and not wearing a stitch of his own clothing label.

So typical.

“What? You’re not going to mention the apartment, too?” he asked, not caring that he was taunting her now.

“The apartment. The house in Tuxedo. The beach house in Kauai. All of it paid for by daddy!”

“Au contraire, my dear.” Cam twisted off the shower spigots and reached over for a thick ecru Cameron Fuller Newport towel. “I believe I paid for all of those. I do make a decent living, you know. Your father only put up the down payments on each of those when you decided that you had to have them. He was paid back quickly. And, even more to the point, when exactly was the last time you even saw the Kauai house?”

“The weather there messes up my hair. That one, you wanted. Not me,” she said dismissively.

“Whatever. Fact is, yes, there have been times when we needed your father’s money. But we haven’t needed it for a long, long time.” He toweled off the excess water and briskly rubbed himself down. “The money your father loaned us is almost completely paid back. At thirteen percent interest, I’d like to point out. He will be receiving the final payment I owe him in three months. Then both he and you can get off my back.”

Suzette fumed silently. She knew that once Silas received that last loan payment, there would be no need for Cameron to keep him on the board of investors. It was her second biggest fear.

Cameron enjoyed the momentary shift in power. “And, I’d also like to mention that your father’s investment in my company has proved lucrative to him as well as me. I’ve never heard him complain about the size of his check each March.”

Cameron’s mention of March referred to the end of his company’s fiscal year. Profit checks were sent out to the investors the third Friday of each March. It was known throughout the company as “Green Friday.” The famous designer shook his head vigorously, shaking out the excess water. “For Christ’s sake, despite my wishes, he runs the board of investors!” he spat out. “Something that will stop soon enough.”

“Daddy has saved your ass repeatedly with his financial expertise! He deserves to be on that board!” Suzette shrieked, her temper flaring.

Cameron sighed. “I’m well aware of the contribution your father has made to the company and to us personally.”

“Well, Mr. America,” Suzette said, her thin ruby lips twisted in scorn, “just remember that when we sit down with the lawyers to split it all up. And I’ve decided I want the Tuxedo house completely. You never go there. You don’t want it and we don’t need to share it. I want the Aspen condo. I also want this apartment,” she said, counting off the properties on her jewel-encrusted fingers as if she was counting pennies. “You can have the beach house.”

Cam snorted. “That’s mighty big of you. Tuxedo’s worth, what? Fourteen million dollars? Aspen? Nine million. This place? Twelve million? I think the last I checked, the beach house was worth three million dollars, and that’s only because of the beach front property.”

“You want out? You pay,” she hissed.

Cameron frowned, then turned his back to his wife. Little did she know how willing he was to pay. Anything to get her and her impossible father out of his life. But, only after the spring collection was safely in the stores and his new cologne, Pacific Coast Highway, was successfully launched.

After that, he’d have the massive cash flow needed to pay back the enormous personal note he had owed his father-in-law for too long. Silas Cabbott would then be unceremoniously dumped from the board of investors, and Cameron could finally run his company the way he wanted.

He’d also be able divorce his wife, something that caused Cameron to smile every time he thought about it. Total freedom in only three months. He could hardly wait.

He turned around slowly and stared his wife dully in the eye. “Trust me. I want out.”

“Good. Let’s set up another meeting with the lawyers for right after we get back from L.A. How I let you talk me into staying in that awful town for two whole days, I’ll never know.” With that, she whirled about abruptly and calmly strode out of the bathroom.

Beverly Hills, California

Blake had to haul ass.

He was late, and his obligatory daily stop at Starbucks would not help his time crunch. The Monday morning manager’s meeting was scheduled at the store for precisely 9 A.M., and Steve Barton, the store’s fidgety manager, did not take kindly to tardy section leaders. He would make a big show of pointing out the latecomer’s error and scowl at the transgressor for the rest of the day.

“Venti Mocha Frappacino, extra whip,” Blake said urgently to the bug-eyed counterperson. After illegally parking his five-year-old Jeep Cherokee in a red zone, he had literally dashed into the Starbucks on Santa Monica, across the street from the shiplike 24 Hour Fitness gym.

“Venti Mocha Frap, extra whip!” the counterperson repeated loudly to the “steamer” in back.

Nervously glancing at his watch, Blake realized he was definitely going to be late now. He would be the whipping boy at the meeting, and he knew that at the very least he would also be the recipient of a private chat with Steve about showing more respect and setting a better example for the associates.

Blake sighed and ran fingers through his thick dark hair. He was clearly the most handsome man in the coffee shop. And while he noticed the quick, appreciative glances in his direction from the women and the men waiting in line, today they did nothing to improve his frenzied state of mind. His athletically tall frame was the perfect size forty-two regular, and he wore clothes with the ease of a runway model. Daily two-hour workouts maintained the six-pack abs and muscular body that he’d had when he was on the swim team in college.

At thirty-one, his square, chiseled jaw line was softened by ruddy cheeks he’d inherited from his Polish mother and ice blue eyes that were a gift from his father’s German side of the family. His dark skin was courtesy of a Native-American branch somewhere in the woodpile. Thick lashes and a well-groomed brow line complemented the glorious dark hair that tumbled casually down to his shoulders.

Unfashionably long hair, some thought. But Blake liked the fact that while almost every other gay man had the standard Boy Scout haircut, he stood out.

Dressed for an active working day in worn low-rise Cameron Fuller Montana Rough Wear jeans that fit like a glove and a soft red flannel CF/Active shirt, he put out a vibe of relaxed confidence that was irresistible.

“Venti Mocha Frap, extra whip?” called out the counterperson, who, taken slightly aback by the beautiful man in front of him, almost dropped the beverage.

“That’s me.” Blake took the hot cup from him gratefully, and raced back out to his truck, only to find a one hundred and ten dollar ticket waiting under his windshield washer.

Well. That was a damn expensive cup of coffee, he thought grimly.

Twenty minutes later, Blake pulled into the underground parking structure beneath the Cameron Fuller store. As temporary Director of Creative Services, he was allowed to park in one of the rare and enviable employee parking spaces under the store. His boss, Spencer Douglas, had taken a few weeks off to have some liposuction done. Blake, as the most talented of the creative services team, had been asked to step up and fill Spence’s shoes while he was out. Blake had pressured Steve for the use of Spence’s space, reasoning that since he was in and out of the store so much, it didn’t make sense for him to have to spend fifteen to twenty minutes running to the regular employee lot way down Canon Drive, four blocks away, each time he had to leave.

Just before he entered the depths of the garage, Blake looked up and drank in the stunning beauty of the store, something he never tired of doing. That he worked in such a beautiful building, doing a job he loved, always caused his heart to swell with pride.

Built at a cost of over twenty-seven million dollars, The Cameron Fuller store stood like a sentinel at the corner of Rodeo and Little Santa Monica. An impressive structure of stone, concrete, glass, and steel, it perfectly reflected the vision of Cameron Fuller. The traditional arches that curved over the six display windows fronting Rodeo Drive would have looked at home on an old New York brownstone. Contemporary chrome and glass had been fitted into them to combine the craftsmanship of the old world with the excitement and energy of the new.

Rising three floors above the ground, and extending two below, the Cameron Fuller flagship store had already made the “ten best” lists of several retail marketing magazines, and had won three separate awards for innovative architectural design. Within its expensive walls was the world and lifestyle vision of its founder, Cameron Fuller.

Cameron had spilt his fashion sensibilities into several main categories. Each group fit a particular consumer niche, suiting a different type of customer.

CF America was his mid-range, more traditionally preppie line. Core basics such as khaki pants, fine-point oxford cloth shirts, ties, navy blazers, tailored twill skirts, and silk shirt-dresses were the staples of this line.

CF/Active was Cameron’s underwear and sport collection, and while it had the essentials for tennis, basketball, and golf, the designer had ventured into more cutting-edge choices for biking, hiking, an