Gerri tapped her chin and glanced at the string of emails she’d shared with Lake where she set him up with his date with Priscilla. “No, she shouldn’t. You’re such a good boy, Lake. Thank you so much for that.”
A loud booming laugh sounded from his side. “You make me sound like a fourteen-year-old cub. I’m an old man, Ms. Wilder.”
She grinned and copied the email address she’d sent the original message to. “I know, dear boy. And I’ll treat you as such. By the way, I might have someone in mind for your model. What exactly are you looking for?”
“Mom gave me the idea for a line of Lush Lingerie for curvy women. It’s been difficult to find a plus-size model that isn’t booked already or traveling this week. The one model we had quit.”
“What happened,” Gerri asked with a raised brow.
“Lyle got into her pants and made her think she was going to be his girlfriend. Once she realized he’d played her, she didn’t come back.”
Lyle sounded like a jerk. “Let me see what I can do. She’s not a professional model, though.”
“At this point, I’ll take a curvy woman off the streets if she’s willing,” he grumbled.
Gerri giggled. “I’ll send your assistant her contact information, and you can figure it out from there.”
“That would be a lifesaver, Ms. Wilder. I’m going to owe you big time.”
“Don’t worry. I plan on collecting,” she said with a smile. “Have a great night, Lake. I’ll see you at my holiday party next week.”
“Good night, Ms. Wilder. See you there.”
She ended the call and stared at the email address with a frown. It was Lake’s email address. So who had she been communicating with? Now she realized, re-reading the messages, that there was something off about the replies she got. What was going on?
Chapter Two
Priscilla Bryant read Maya’s email and frowned. A modeling job? Priscilla hadn’t done any modeling since she started working full-time as a graphic artist. She could do it. She was on vacation for a few weeks over the holidays. It would be nice to have money to buy more gifts for the kids at the children’s hospital where her mother worked as an administrator.
Instead of replying, she dialed Maya directly.
“Pris!” Maya squealed. “Say you’ll do it!”
She grinned and let out a laugh. “Why? What’s the big deal?”
“Girl, this is for a big lingerie company that wants to showcase a curvy woman for their holiday and New Year’s ads. Apparently, they have a new line for girls like us,” Maya told her with excitement. “Can you imagine? You on billboards and magazines in sexy lingerie?”
“That’s not going to convince me to do it,” Priscilla gulped. “That’s actually making me not want to.”
“Oh, stop. You’re perfect for this. Those curves. And you have that dark hair and those beautiful tattoos. You’re already pinup material. Why wouldn’t you do it?” Maya grumbled. “I know you’re not into showing off your body like that, but you’d be doing all curvy girls a favor. Plus, you’re too damn shy for your own good. You need to get out of your element for a little bit.”
Priscilla bit her lip and tapped her pen on her notepad. “I don’t think this will help me be less shy.”
“You won’t know unless you try,” Maya told her. “You hide behind your work, so you don’t have to socialize. Every time we have a dinner party, you give me an excuse. Don’t think I haven’t noticed,” she sighed. “But I want to help you, Pris. Just give it a chance. This could be such a good experience for you.”
“I haven’t really done modeling like that, though. You know that catalog modeling is different. Not to mention I was fully clothed. And I only did that for one semester.”
“True. But it pays really well. And knowing you, you’re going to give it all away anyway.”
She gripped the pen and clicked the top up and down. “I guess.”
“Don’t guess. You know I’ve been trying to get you to loosen up for years. I’m telling you, this is going to be a good thing.”
“Fine,” she groaned. “I’m already regretting it, but I’ll do it.”
“Wonderful! I’ll take care of everything and send you the details of the job,” Maya squealed. “You won’t regret this. I promise.”
She hung up before Priscilla had a chance to ask her anything else.
Priscilla ate pizza and scrolled through social media. It was there she saw her ex-boyfriend’s newest post. Her stomach dropped, and the piece of pizza grew in her throat, almost choking her. Married! He was getting married. He’d told her he wasn’t the marriage type. Clicking on the happy images of him and his fiancée, her chest was suddenly hollow.
It was clear they were in love. So maybe he wasn’t the marriage type with Priscilla. This just confirmed to her that she was too shy and awkward to find a man to love her. In her entire thirty years of life, she’d had two boyfriends. One left her to be with the man he really loved, and the other left her because he didn’t want to get married. To her.
Was there really something wrong with her? Did she somehow attract men that had issues? She kept getting the raw end of the deal when it came to her love life. And the one time she really thought she’d found romance, it blew up in her face. She was always getting screwed over in one way or another in the romance department.
She’d allowed Maya to talk her into asking Gerri to find her a match, hoping that she’d find her own true love like Maya had. Instead, she’d met Lake Walker, womanizing jerk, and still hadn’t gotten over his harsh words. It wasn’t so much the words he’d used since she was used to hearing them, but the way he said it.
He’d made it obvious her whole look was unacceptable to him, and she’d been so embarrassed she couldn’t ever face him again.
If she never saw him again, it would be too soon.
Chapter Three
Priscilla opened the front door to the photography studio, hoping this was the right place. At a desk, the receptionist looked up.
“Are you here for the lingerie shoot?” she asked, her voice soft and her smile warm.
“Yes,” Priscilla said and cleared her throat. “Which way do I go?”
“Down the hall to the door at the end. Have a great time.”
“Thank you.” Was she high? Have a great time? How could she say that when Priscilla was already strung tight from nerves. She dragged her feet down the hall that seemed long enough to take her to hell. Why had she agreed to do this? Pictures would be taken of her nearly naked. Everything on display. Oh, god! She stopped. Maybe she shouldn’t do it.
Yes, you should. Do it. You need this. No, she didn’t. Yes, you do. Shut up! Oh, god. She was crazy talking to herself. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She should turn around. But she didn’t. She wouldn’t let Maya down. She pushed through the door leading into a large studio where men milled about setting up lights and reflector boards. And nothing but men.
Oh, hell no. Nope. Not gonna do this. If she were wearing clothes, that would be a different deal. Hearing a gasp, she looked back over her shoulder, her hand on the knob. About twenty feet away stood a lean man in tight purple pants and a matching shirt. He looked sharp as he stared, gaping at her.
“Oh. My god!” he screamed, rushing toward her with small footsteps. “You’re fabulous.”
Priscilla looked around to see if he was talking to someone else.
“Oh, no, girlfriend. I’m talking to you. You are De...Lish.”
She wasn’t sure what De...Lish meant, but since he was smiling, she figured it was a good thing.
“Come with me, girlfriend. We need to get you into wardrobe and makeup.” He took her by the arm and snuggled up to her. “My name is Manny, by the way.”
“I’m Priscilla.” She tried to keep up with his hectic pace.
“Oh, god. Even your name is de-lish,” he sighed, rolling his eyes. Now she got it. He meant delicious. Boy, she was out of the lingo.
He
guided her to the far side of the studio where a table and light were set up as well as a rack of hanging bras, undies, teddies, bustiers, and other things she wouldn’t be caught dead in but were sexy as hell.
Manny pulled her up to the clothing and took a hanger from the pole. He held it against her.
“Darling, you’ll look fabulous in this. We’re starting with this.” He grabbed more items off the horizontal bar. “O. M. G., you’re perfect for this. Or this one?” Was the white or lavender better? “I guess we’ll do both.” He shoved the first “outfit” into her hands. “Go put this on.” He pointed to a piece of muslin strung up between two C-stands.
Priscilla swallowed hard and walked as if going to a firing squad.
“Oh, here,” Manny said, handing her a white silk robe. “It’s kind of cold in here.”
“Thank you,” she squeaked, blowing out a relieved breath. At least she wasn’t a walking porn movie. She changed into the scant clothing and walked out with the robe tied tightly around her. Manny was right there to take her to hair and makeup.
She sat in the chair with bright lights in her face while Manny and another guy stood back, studying her. Both tapped their chins, whispering to each other.
“Got it!” Manny shouted and hurried away. She sat back and watched the artist perform his magic. And holy shit, magic was right. When he was done with her, she barely recognized herself. Her hair was swept up with tendrils, and her lips plumped up with a cherry red color she never would’ve dared wearing but looked great.
From there, she was swept toward the set, which consisted of a white backdrop with a slash of red across it.
“Hi,” a woman said, shaking her hand. “I’m your photographer. This is going to be fun, and you’ll have a good time. I’ll toss out some directions, but feel free to give me whatever you’ve got.”
Whatever she’s got? Shit, she didn’t got much. This was going to be a nightmare. She should’ve told Maya no.
“Music,” the photographer hollered, and upbeat, hip-hoppy sounds poured through invisible speakers. “Fan.” To the side of the set, a small fan was turned on that blew her robe back and up. “Perfect,” the woman shouted as she snapped pictures. “Channeling Marilyn Monroe.”
Priscilla laughed. Uh. No. More like channeling a woman trying to stay covered.
“Give me a little kissy as you undo the tie.”
Okay. She could do this. The photographer was grinning and winking silly faces, and she couldn’t help but feel herself start to relax. Priscilla puckered up her red lips and then put the end of the robe tie in her mouth as if a sexy vixen with her man. She opened the robe and let it slide off her shoulders, into her hands, as she walked toward the camera. The fan was ballooning the garment behind her.
“Gorgeous,” the lady behind the camera hollered. “Give me some sass now.”
Priscilla kissed two of her fingers, making sure to get lipstick on both, then smacked them against the side of her hip just below where the strap to the bikini undies crossed.
“Great, now turn and let the robe fly away.”
Priscilla did just that, then looked over her shoulder and winked at the camera.
* * *
Lake hated that he was late for the fashion shoot, but the board wanted to talk about year-end financials and the ad campaign, which he said wouldn’t happen if they didn’t let him leave. Of course, the shoot would start when scheduled. He had full faith in Manny to get things going.
He’d wanted to vet the model Gerri found for him. He worried about her not being the “right type” of woman the line was designed for. What if she was too slim and had no curves for a line of curvy lingerie? If this shoot didn’t go well, it’d be better for him to resign than get his ass chewed by the board.
Well, not really. The company belonged to him as a birthright of the pride’s firstborn alpha. If anyone was unhappy, then they would have to find someplace else to work. He wasn’t going anywhere. With his brother at his side, he would take Lush Lingerie into the new century with the emboldened modern woman.
He parked his Mercedes around back with the grip truck and came in through the loading dock. The music thumped through his shoes, hurting his animal’s sensitive ears. He’d forgotten how much his tiger didn’t like this kind of thing.
But the closer he got to the set, the more his cat paid attention. Then he saw her and stopped. His cat roared mate and pushed to get out and play with her. Lake had to fight to keep it in.
“She’s a natural,” a familiar voice said, standing next to him. He forced his head to turn away from the sight of the beauty barely clothed. Manny had his hands clasped in front of his chest. Was that a tear in one of his assistant’s eyes? “She’s perfect.”
“Yes, she is,” Lake replied, his voice hoarse. “Who is she?”
“Her name is Priscilla,” Manny replied, staring at the woman in the spotlight.
“Does she have a last name?”
Manny waved his hand through the air to brush off his question. “Who cares. She is Cilla.” His arms stretched wide like he was an exploding star, sound effects included. “She’ll be famous now. And she is perfect for this campaign. The body. The innocence and the sass. The curves. She’s magnificent. However you found her, you did great.”
The music stopped, and the photographer called for the next outfit. Manny rushed off. The guys went into action to get up the next scene. Lake spied around the lights and flag cart to peek at his mate. He was in shock that she was right there. Close enough for him to touch. To smell.
Since he’d been a child, he’d hoped to find his true mate, but so often, that wasn’t the case. The only problem was the timing was terrible. He had so many things to do with not only the company but the pride. His people needed their alpha as much as the company needed its CEO.
Slowly, he made his way around to the far side where his mate stood with an army of people around her. She was the brightest among the group. When her eyes met his, his stomach flipped, and his heart fluttered. Fuck. Emotions he didn’t even know existed suddenly flooded his system.
He wondered if he was having a heart attack. He had never felt anything like that before. The urge to claim her overwhelmed him. He had to fight with everything in him to control the need to make her his then and there.
Where he was crazy happy, she looked pissed off with her narrowed eyes and mashed red lips. She spun around and yelled out Manny’s name. The assistant came running. They stood close enough for their heads to be together. He picked up every word.
“Manny, why is that man here?” She jabbed her pointed finger in his direction.
Manny’s brows drew down. “What man?”
Priscilla barely turned her head to peek at him. He looked away. “That man. Lake Walker.”
Lake stepped back, shocked. She knew who he was?
“Girlfriend, he owns the Lush company.”
“He what?” she squeaked.
Okay, maybe she didn’t know exactly who he was.
“He’s the CEO–”
“I heard you the first time,” she grumped. “Do me a favor and keep him away from me.”
Keep him away? What the hell for? Did she dislike men in general, or was it him? He’d seen her be nice to Manny, so it couldn’t be all men. What had he done to her besides give her a job that could make her well known among the modeling world? Well, that wasn’t happening. His mate was not going to push him off. She was his, and whether she liked it or not, mates were meant to be together.
Manny huffed and leaned into her. “I can’t keep him away if he wants to talk to you. What’s the matter with him?” he asked softly. “He’s a great boss.”
Lake stopped right behind her, about to tap her on the shoulder.
“What’s the matter with him?” she whispered, “He’s an arrogant asshole who wouldn’t know class if it came up and kicked his ass.”
Manny’s eyes got big, glancing over his mate’s head at him.
She put her
hands on her hips. “He is standing right behind me, isn’t he?”
Manny nodded.
“Crap. I knew this job was too good to be true,” she murmured.
“Ready on the set,” the photographer hollered out. Priscilla turned and walked around him without a glance.
That was unexpected. He was not used to being ignored. Just the opposite for him and his twin. Lake had to pry them off with a crowbar while Lyle took them all to his bed. One of the reasons he remained a partial recluse in his office during the day.
Not his brother, though. No, now that he was divorced, he had no problem having women on a revolving door. But to each his own. Lake would always love his brother no matter how much of a horn dog–well, cat–he was.
Chapter Four
“What do you mean it’s going great?” Lyle said into his phone as he stood in his VP suite office staring at the city below. “Where in the hell did they get a model so late?” He ran his fingers back through his hair that he combed straight back to keep the damn curls out of it. “No. Never mind.”
He pressed the red hang-up icon on his phone and stared at the contraption in his hand. After a second, the phone popped, and the casing cracked. The sides crushed in, and he threw the piece of shit against the door, sending small chunks in all directions.
This wasn’t how the day was supposed to go. He had planned it, knowing without a model, the stupid ad campaign would falter. Who the hell advertised using overweight women? Did Lake not understand that women wanted to see only thin, beautiful females they hoped to one day be? Photoshopping pictures was the only way for women to know what beauty was.
His brother was so out of touch with real life. Now, it was up to him to save the company’s reputation with the female population. He knew what women wanted and had bedded enough since his divorce to learn even more.
He slid into his desk chair and brought up Lake’s email, personal and office. His brother was so trusting, the idiot gave him the password to his account in case something happened to Lake. That way, the company wouldn’t be interrupted by its CEO’s absence.
Scrooged Over: Paranormal Dating Agency Page 2
