My Best Friend's Brother(3)

"That's good. We've run into a few issues with that, especially with the syndicates that are harping on your lawsuits."


"Are we really talking about those again? Look, the woman who accused me  of harassment was lying. We proved that. The other woman, the one I  supposedly had gotten pregnant? Never even seen her. She submitted to a  paternity test. I went along with it to prove my innocence, and the  charges were dropped because the kid's not mine. What gives?" I asked.


"You know there are people out there who don't care that the charges  were dismissed. We have to do damage control on your image as much as we  can."


"If you're asking me to not date in the public eye, sorry," I said.


"If you could tone it down a bit, that would be nice," he said.


"Not a chance. Look, there are three things in life I love, a good slab  of steak, a good slab of technology, and a good slab of woman. We didn't  work our asses off for a hundred and fifty-seven million in revenue to  hide and cower away. We're working hard, and we deserve to play hard."         

     



 


"Even at the risk of tanking your image?" he asked.


"What image? Look, all of this is going to blow over. We're going to go  these interviews, we're going to tell the truth, we're going to let our  beautiful P.R. woman handle the bad press, and we're going to keep  making our product better than ever. Which reminds me, we need to look  into the child abduction rates in this part of the country."


"Why? Thinking about branching out into child protection?" he asked.


"It was just something Sarah brought up in the interview," I said. "Have someone look into it."


"Uh huh," he said. "So, we're on a first-name basis now?"


"Anyone who's that hot in person is automatically on a first name basis," I said, winking.


"And there it is," Tony said.


"What? What did I do?"


"You left your information with her assistant, didn't you?" he asked.


"So what if I did?"


"Dude. Mason. All right. That's the first decent interview you've given  in three weeks. She didn't ask you about the lawsuits, right?"


"Nope. Not one peep about ‘em," I said.


"Then don't cock it up."


"But cocking women up is so much fun," I said, grinning.


"I'm sorry to interrupt, gentlemen. I was waiting for the two of you to  finish up, so I wanted to bring an appetizer the chef's trying out for  the new summer menu. Enjoy," the waiter said.


"Well, tell the chef I said thank you, and we're ready to order. You ready to order?" I asked.


"Yes. I would like the six-ounce lunch steak, medium rare, with freshly steamed broccoli and the mushroom risotto," Tony said.


"And I would like the filet mignon, rare, with the steamed broccoli as  well and what the hell the chef's macaroni and cheese. Haven't had a  decent one in quite a while."


"The chef's macaroni is excellent. I believe you will enjoy it," the  waiter said. "Would the two of you care for another glass of red wine?"


"I think I'll just stick with water now, thank you," I said.


"And I wouldn't mind a sweet tea," Tony said.


"Sweet tea? Really?"


"You gotta try it. It's awesome," he said.


"Coming right up," the waiter said.


"So, anyway, back to cocking up women."


"No. No, you maniac," he said. "The dude in me is going ‘hell yeah. Get  it, dude.' But the professional in me is telling you to cool your pipes  until we can restore your image a bit."


"What if I'm not seen in public with her? How does that sound?"


"That's what I'm trying to get you to do, Mason. Stop being seen in  public with a new woman every damn day. Dick around all you want, but  stop flaunting it until the media cools down," he said.


"Fine, fine, fine."


"That fake pregnancy scandal was only resolved, like, two weeks ago, man," he said.


"I hear you. I get it. I'll keep it out of the limelight for now," I said.


"You're not going to do a damn thing I say, are you?" he asked.


"I'm an adult, I can do what I want."


"Said the overgrown man-child who can't keep his dick in check."


"I'm not going to ruin my image any further, I promise. And if it  happens, we're paying that PR woman a very nice salary to keep her on  retainer. What's the point if we don't use her?"


A grin crossed my face as my thoughts flew back to those long, slender  legs. Not really enough meat for me, but she'd been good for one little  desperate romp.


"Don't you even think about it," Tony said. "Staff and people we employ are off limits."


"That your way of saying you approve of Sarah and me, Daddy?" I asked mockingly.


"Eat your fucking food and shut up," he said.


"Yes, Daddy," I said, grinning.





Chapter 3


Sarah


I took a few pictures with Mason Baker that would eventually be used to  promote his segment. The fans loved seeing this type of backstage stuff  on my social media accounts, and anything I could do to cater to them, I  would. I felt like we touched on a wide variety of topics that would  help promote a product in the Dallas area I thought could do this part  of the country some good, so I wanted people to watch.


I wanted people to be educated.


I went home and fell asleep with nothing more on my mind. A few images  of Mason popped into my head but nothing substantial. I woke up that  morning ready for my next interview and looking forward to my next talk  show.         

     



 


That was my life, really. Sleeping, eating, promoting, talking, then destressing after a long day. I didn't have time for much.


Especially with regard to tall, handsome playboys with their crispy little grins.


I walked back into my dressing room and promptly sat down on the couch.  My head was swimming with Mason's sharp green eyes, even though I'd just  conducted an interview with a local woman who had been adopting  terminally ill children. He knew what he had done. The sly comments and  the little grins in the interview yesterday. He knew he had been getting  to me, and something about that excited me. There was something about a  man with confidence who took what he wanted, no questions asked. I  could sympathize because I was the same way. Bold. Blunt. Independent.  Self-made. I had a talent and a passion, and I found a way to peddle  that to the masses.


Just like he had.


A knock came at my door, and I simply didn't answer it. My assistant  knew that if I didn't answer and it wasn't important, to simply leave it  be. Removing my glasses, I clasped the bridge of my nose, trying to rid  myself of the beautiful way his body seemed to loom over me and the way  his soothing voice ran down the edges of my skin and the way his hand  had felt in the dip of my waist.


I heard my assistant slide a note underneath the door, and it caught my  attention. It obviously wasn't important, but it was pertinent enough  for her to risk a note. I got up from the couch and strode over to the  door, picking up the piece of paper off the floor. Expecting to find a  note, I was shocked when I opened it up and saw eight numbers all in a  row with Mason's signature beneath it.


I was holding Mason Baker's telephone number.


Why hadn't she given this to me yesterday after the interview? When had  she received it? If he called down here to leave his number, why didn't  he simply ask for me? If he had the money to get my assistant's number,  then he surely had the means to get mine.


Why the fuck did I care?


I honestly didn't know what to do with it. I wasn't an idiot, so I knew  about the scandals from the woman who'd accused him of sexual harassment  and the woman who claimed to be pregnant by him. The baby was shown not  to be his and the sexual harassment lawsuit fell apart when it was  found the woman was lying, but the man did have a great deal of money.


And money got you many things in the court system nowadays.


At any rate, why in the world was he trying to snag another woman? That  fake pregnancy scandal was only, like, two fucking weeks old. How tacky  was that? Oh, the baby's not mine, time to hop on the train and fuck  another bitch? What kind of game did he think he was playing?


On the other hand, he was beautiful. That was probably what got him all  the attention from women anyway. That and his fervently deep pockets and  his love of spoiling the women on his arm. He was well-known for  treating his dime-a-dozen women to lavish things, buying them diamonds  to drip off their bodies before casting them aside. The latest woman he  dated was still being seen in the fully-loaded pink BMW convertible he'd  bought for her.


I had to admit, a small part of me wanted to call him. He was into me  during that interview, I could tell. And with that dick-swinging video  of him running, two things were certain. He had a cock he would wield,  and he kept his body fit for the taking.