Chapter seven

Author's note

: I must confess, I forgot that I started this story on a Thursday and that there would be four days to cover for the "weekend". I have corrected it in the last chapter, Tony won't start with the police academy till Monday of course and I have changed it to "his next day well rested". I'm sorry about this and hope it won't happen again. I don't know if anyone even noticed, but in my head, it was already Sunday. But I wanted to make it right, so we start this new chapter as the Saturday!

Also no Gibbs Tony interaction just yet… We'll get there… I promise!

I hope you all enjoy it! :D

Tony woke to the sound of his phone ringing. He groaned, who on earth was calling him at, he briefly looked at the clock, seven… SEVEN in the morning, on a Saturday. He shut his eyes again and blindly reached for his phone.
"DiNozzo!", he answered curtly.

"Don't you just sound chipper this morning, Tone?", came the teasing answer from the other end of the line.

"Steve? What the hell, man? It's seven in the morning, on a Saturday, why are you calling me this early? Did something happen?", Tony asked and sat up in his bed.

"No, nothing happened… well actually something did happen, but nothing bad. Listen Tony, I know you haven't been in contact with my friend from the model agency yet, but they kinda have an emergency and need someone to jump in. Are you free today?", Steve questioned, and Tony could practically hear him begging through the phone.

He thought about that for a moment. He wasn't really prepared to do any kind of model job today, but on the other hand, he had agreed to do the job so why not start today. It wasn't as if he had anything other than relaxing to do.

"Is this just today, Steve, because I need tomorrow to get into the mindset of starting the academy on Monday?"

"Yes, yes, just today! So, does that mean you're free? "

"Yes, I'll do it. When does the shoot start and where?"

"It's at 10:00 and I'll send you the coordinates for the location. Tone, you're a lifesaver… They've been preparing for this shoot for weeks now and now the model is sick, and they really needed someone. You'll be great. Thanks man, have fun and tell me all about it later, when I had more sleep. Bye!", and with that Steve hung up and Tony looked at his phone in disbelief.

He groaned again, sometimes he really hated his friend and that he always had to help everyone, please everyone. What was it about him that suggested that everyone could just demand something, and he would do it. He really didn't know, not that he minded overly much but sometimes it sure was a bit annoying. It wasn't like he couldn't say no, but most of the time he just got sucked into stuff and couldn't refuse because he had already promised someone.

Seeing as he was awake now anyway, Tony got out of bed and went into his bathroom to take a shower to expel the remaining tiredness that came from waking up at such an un-golden hour.

After his shower he stared at his reflection and wondered if he should style his hair or if there were people who would do that. Steve hadn't given him an opportunity to ask any questions and Tony knew that he would be asleep again. And when Steve was asleep, nothing could wake him, especially not the sound of his phone.

Tony sighed and decided not to do anything about his hair. He figured that if they wanted him to do something, Steve would have told him and Tony didn't really know anything about what kind of shoot they were doing, so he just left his hair alone, brushed his teeth and then went downstairs to have breakfast.

Breakfast consisted out of cereal and Tony munched happily on it. Maybe not the healthiest breakfast on earth but Tony enjoyed it every damn day. His parents had never allowed him to have cereal for breakfast and insisted on something healthy, 'so that he would grow up to be strong and tall' and Tony had hated it every day, so seeing as he was now an adult and could eat whatever the hell he wanted, he had cereal every morning and loved it.

As he was driving down the road to the coordinates, that Steve had send over, he realized that he was a bit nervous. It wasn't as if he was shy about his body, he was proud of the way he looked and he knew he looked good and how to pose for a camera. But he really didn't know anything about the job he had to do, hell, he hadn't event met with Steve's friend yet. And as Tony thought about that he realized with a start that the reason why he was nervous was because he didn't know if he was what they were looking for. He was sure that Steve had shown them pictures but there always was a difference between a photo and the real thing. Tony knew he was able to fit in almost everywhere, but they were looking for someone specific and he wasn't sure if he fulfilled all the requirements, because Steve hadn't told him anything. Even if he had told him, he would do great, Tony wasn't so sure, if he could trust Steve's judgement, 'what did he know about modeling anyway?!'

When Tony arrived, he took in the scene before him. There were a few people setting up the cameras and a few more arguing about where to put the lights. The location was great, they were at a marina and Tony again wondered what the shooting was for.

While Tony had been staring at the scene before him a man had noticed him and was approaching.

"Are you Tony DiNozzo? You are, aren't you? Man, I thought Steve was exaggerating when he told me he knew just the right man for this, but he wasn't, was he? I'm so glad you were able to come here today. I am Jacob by the way, Steve's friend, and the one responsible for all this.", the man, Jacob, told him, and Tony immediately liked him. He was talking so fast and so much that he had to concentrate so that he wouldn't miss anything.

Had to fight a blush when he realized that Jacob shamelessly checked him out and looked him up and down with an approving gaze.

That was two days in a row that he was being checked out by a good-looking man. He stashed that thought away for later examination. When Jacob told him his name, Tony realized, Steve had never mentioned his friend's name and how good looking he was. He was tall, muscular build and had a handsome face. If Tony hadn't seen that other guy in the diner yesterday, he would have loved to get to know Jacob better than just as his Boss, but after feeling the older man's eyes going over his body, even if he didn't know him, had made him feel things he had never felt. He felt possessed by just that single glance and that aroused him, but also secretly scared him. 'Now is not the time to think about that, Tony!', he told himself and quickly focused on Jacob again.
"Yeah, that's me. Thanks, I guess but I'm not sure why he called me at seven in the morning when you could have easily stepped up and posed as your own model. I mean you don't look so bad yourself.", Tony laughed, he could still flirt with that guy. Jacob laughed too and shook Tony's hand.

"Well, I prefer to make the pictures and not be in them so I am very glad that he did call you and that you could make it on such a short notice. If you're as good as he says and I bet you are, I mean you make just standing around look good, you might even get paid extra.", Jacob said and winked at Tony.
"Ha, he told you I'm good? How would he know? I haven't even done anything like this before. By the way, what is it I am here for today, that bastard just called, told me I have job and hang up again.", Tony grinned at Jacob.

"Oh, he told everyone here, that you were a natural and knew how to show off your body", Jacob grinned back, "I think he is right though, you'll be great! Today we'll just shoot some pictures for a local yacht rental firm. Just a few pictures of you relaxing on the yacht over there and maybe we'll do some shots while you're in the water. We're free to do what we think will look good."

Tony nodded, that didn't sound too difficult, he could definitely do that.

"I'm looking forward to it.", he told Jacob and then he remembered his struggle with his hair in his bathroom, "hey, you will style my hair, right? I really am not prepared for anything; I thought you would probably do with me what you want."

When Jacob smirked at him, Tony realized what he had just said and how it sounded and couldn't fight the blush this time.

Jacob chuckled and told him teasingly, "No worries, we'll make sure everything is to our satisfaction. But if that is an offer, I will gladly take it.", he grinned and again looked Tony up and down.

Tony knew his face was red, but he couldn't stop it. He didn't quite know how to react; it had been years since he openly received a man's attention like this.

Jacob laughed again and then with a slap to his shoulder turned around to introduce him to the rest of his team.

Tony shook everyone's hands and was relieved to find that everyone seemed to be friendly and nice. He felt the nervousness ease away and from then on, he was able to fully enjoy the day.

He had great fun doing the difference shoots. Some were just him laying around on a towel, sunbathing, some were of him swimming in the water or while in the process of jumping in. A couple of shots were of him coming out of the water, climbing back onto the yacht, or drying off with a towel. And then Jacob did some where he just looked at something behind the camera and let the water drip down from his body. "That one is for the girls, you look good like that, Tony!", he told him, and everyone agreed with him on that.

Tony had a great deal of fun but when Jacob told everyone that they were done for today and that they had some great shots, they'd be able to use, he was relieved too.

He hadn't known just posing for pictures could be this exhausting. The team had laughed at him when he had whooped and theatrically flopped down on the towels still lying around, and he realized that he liked these people. He was very glad that Steve had recommended him and that everyone seemed to like him here. It was nice to know, that maybe making friends wouldn't be so difficult and it eased some of the anxiety he felt when he thought about going to the academy.

Jacob offered to take him out to diner, show him around the city a bit and maybe even go clubbing with him. Tony was shocked when he discovered that it was already 17:00 and at first, he was reluctant to go out with them, he wasn't wearing the right clothes to go clubbing tonight, but the team soon convinced him, that no one would care how he was dressed, as long as he had fun, and that they would join them for dinner, so he agreed.

They had a great amount of fun, Tony found he really liked these people and was again very glad that he met them, and they stayed out till well into the next morning and when Tony arrived back home, all he could think of was going to bed. That is why he didn't notice the small note taped to his front door and just went inside, brushed his teeth and then as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was sound asleep.