No Kissing Allowed

Chapter 2: Out of Fashion

Chapter 2: Out of Fashion

"One minute, folks. Can we get that boom mic out of the shot, please?"

Jamie swallowed the opening line he was about to say, waiting for the crew to readjust. His final blind date for the evening sat in silence across the table. She looked away and stirred her drink.

Jamie dabbed his forehead with the back of a cocktail napkin. The TV lights had been beating down on him all night, relentless and remorseless.

The hour was getting late. Most of his would-be co-stars had already paired off or been dismissed. He had one more date to go. One last chance to make it onto this glorified thirst trap of a television show, or he could all but kiss his livelihood goodbye.

Good God, how had it come to this?

The lobby of the JFK Airport Marriott Hotel was perhaps not the ideal setting for a NYC-based model in the midst of New York Fashion Week. Jamie should have been on a catwalk at Lincoln Center or, at the very least, sipping cocktails at some soirée with the industry elite. He had returned from London last week for that express purpose—or so he had assumed when he'd received the summons from Darius, his agent.

But Darius had sent him here. An airport hotel in Queens. There could be no clearer symbol of Jamie's fall from grace.

He had said as much in his agent's office on Tuesday afternoon. "Bodies of Water? What the hell is this?"

"Emphasis on the 'Bodies,'" Darius had replied airily, as if that explained anything. "Imagine an opening montage with lots of bare skin and abs and water droplets."

Jamie hadn't yet realized at the time that his agent was serious. He still thought they were making fun of the thing. "Odd title, isn't it? Makes no sense."

"'Love Island' was taken, I believe."

Jamie shifted in his seat, squaring up the collar of his suit jacket. He was dressed in dark jeans and an ink-blue Armani blazer, with a pair of sleek black boots crossed at the ankle beneath the cocktail table. He wouldn't have looked out of place in an airline first class lounge or on the steps of a private jet: The picture of an international businessman on a layover, casually unaware of his Poseidon-like physique, cut like chiseled marble beneath his tailored shirt...

In other words, precisely what the casting director had ordered when they reached out to his agency.

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BODIES OF WATER
A new reality matchmaking experience from the executive producers of "Clothing: Optional" and "I Married a Perfect Stranger." Ten sexy singles will be paired off and castaway for a month of luxurious seclusion in paradise. Seeking 20-something, fit, international man-of-mystery to round out the cast. Open call.
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Darius had gotten him past the open call at least. Upon arrival, Jamie had been met by a producer with a clipboard. He'd been swept beyond the velvet ropes without another word, the moment he handed over his portfolio with his agency's logo at the top.

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G3 Model Management

Name: James (Jamie) Bowen
Home: London/New York

Age: 27
Height: 6' 2
Weight: 170 lbs
Caucasian male (he/him)

Look: Classic and refined, or rugged and tempestuous. Jamie can be anything to anyone. A true chameleon.

Talents: British accent.
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The screen test had gone smoothly enough. Jamie could play this part in his sleep. He could be anything to anyone, chameleon that he was. He'd been impersonating men of mystery in photoshoots for years.