Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“This guy’s got modeling and reality-show offers,” Hacksmore went on. “He’s probably the most coveted commodity right now. I know image, and this guy is the image we want.”
“If it’s a hot model you are interested in—”
“A hot model? You think I struggle to find hot models, Dax? That’s not what this is about. You and I both know there are some things that just work. I have a white wedding dress, very simple design, that sells like hotcakes, and then I have the same one with a little extra fabric here and there, a couple of decorative pieces, nothing else, that sells a quarter as much…maybe. I have other dresses, same care on my part, don’t sell for shit. I could spend years marketing them, and no one would give a damn. They’d sell, yes, but not like the simple white dress. So why waste my time promoting the other dresses when I know I already have a hit?”
I waited for him to bring us back around to his point, though I was fairly sure I knew where this was going.
“This firefighter,” he continued, “what is it about him that appeals to people more than the rest of the hot guys in the world? He’s built like Adonis. He’s cut like it’s been years since he’s seen a carb, but probably eats at Dunkin’ Donuts every morning. His eyes fucking see right through you in a photo some lazy-ass teen took thinking it’d be cool to share with their friends. He’s saving a goddamn Shar-Pei! He is Superman! Men want to be him, women want to fuck him. Hell, I want to fuck him!” He paused for a moment. “But all of that can be replicated. All of that can be imitated. And yet, one thing changes and the rest falls apart. No. He’s the hit. Something about him has infected the zeitgeist and is the reason that picture, out of every goddamn image on the Net, went viral. He’s goddamned lightning in a bottle.”
While I didn’t disagree with his logic per se, it was clear the appeal he saw in this guy extended beyond interest, into a bit of an obsession, not so much with the firefighter, but about this philosophy he’d developed about why it had become such a sensation.
While to some degree he could be right, the guy could have just been lucky as fuck. Gotten the right amount of clicks at the right time, launching him into the spotlight, which he would fall out of in no time…as every celeb does.
Hacksmore said, “We throw this guy in our clothes, and they make that mental connection: ‘This will make me feel like Superman!’ That’s our brand.”
Despite my skepticism around his reasons for wanting to work with this guy, I didn’t see Hottie Firefighter hurting the brand or my plans for working with Hacksmore Designs.
“This all seems manageable.”
His expression twisted up. “No. Freyda Inc. tried to get in touch with him. We’ve talked to other firms who’ve tried. So barring you being able to get me this guy, we’re signing with Freyda Inc. I’m not going to BS you guys, because I respect you both. I was willing to take this meeting because Elliott is persuasive and I didn’t have to leave the comfort of my vacation, but this is just the way it is, and I’m sure you know, if you were in my shoes, you’d do the same thing.”
He wasn’t wrong, but I wasn’t losing this to Freyda Inc.
“I can get you Hottie Firefighter,” I said with certainty.
Hacksmore narrowed his eyes at me. “Really?”
“Yes.”
He chuckled, turning to Ferah, who laughed with him. Carter appeared equally suspicious.
What the hell? Why was no one on my side?
“Well, if you can land Hottie Firefighter before next week, when we make our final decision, our account’s all yours.” Hacksmore smiled as though he was impressed, but also like he didn’t believe I could do it.
And woe to the man who didn’t believe I was more than talk. I didn’t fucking get to where I was by bullshitting people. I got there by being a hardworking, ass-kicking motherfucker who didn’t take no for an answer.
* * *
As soon as Hacksmore left the boardroom we’d rented for the day, I caught my breath. “And there we go.” I groaned.
Maybe it was going to be a challenge, but I fucking lived for challenges. I turned to Carter, who was texting on his phone as he stretched out across the leather chair, throwing his legs over the arm.
“Okay, where can I find this guy?” I asked him. “What are you snickering about?”
“You bullshitted Hacksmore into thinking this is a done deal, and you don’t even know where Mr. Hottie Firefighter lives?”
“It’ll be a done deal once I get his people on the phone. Hacksmore Designs is the future of fashion, so I guarantee you, we can negotiate whatever this guy wants.”