Andre didn’t even blink. He pulled his phone from his pocket and typed in a few words before turning his gaze to me. “My accountant has wired the retainer fee to your account. I assume that means you can start today?”
Gaping at how quick he was about it, I nodded dumbly. “Uh, yeah. Sure. Let’s go.”
Chapter 3
ANDRE LED MICHAEL AND me out of the office and back into the main arena. With an over-exaggerated sweep of his hand, he gestured for us to head into the thick of things.
“So, what’s the plan? How are you going to introduce me?” I asked, my eyes catching onto every stall as we passed by. There were so many models of all shapes and sizes here, way different from anything I had ever seen on television.
Wrapping an arm around my shoulders, Andre leaned his head down to mine so he could whisper, “We could go a few different ways with this. You could be my latest female companion...?” He gave me a knowing look, but I wasn’t quite getting what he meant.
“Female companion?” I arched a brow but then let out an eep when Michael’s arm wrapped around my waist and jerked me to his side. Glaring up at the mountain of a man, I gaped, “What was that for?”
“He means to have you act as his lover,” Michael growled, his eyes narrowed and locked onto Andre. The possessive hold he had on my waist was not at all unwelcome.
“Oh... oh!” I glanced between the two of them. “Uh, yeah that probably isn’t a good idea. How about something else? Maybe something along the lines of I’m an up-and-coming business woman looking to get into the fashion field?” I offered with an encouraging smile.
Andre’s brows pinched together, but he conceded with a sigh. “Oh, very well. My idea would have been more fun, but you’re the psychic. You know what’s best.”
“That I do.” I grinned as I lifted a finger up and waved it in the air. “Now,” I clapped my hands together with glee, “where should we start?”
“This way.” Andre reached out to place a hand on my back but dropped it at the warning grunt that Michael released. “We’ll start at hair and makeup.”
“Oooh!” My lips spread out into a gleeful grin as I eagerly followed after Andre. I wasn’t giving Michael too much attention. While I enjoyed his alpha male actions, letting him know that would only urge him to do it more. Then I’d have three archangels fighting over who got to throw me over their shoulders and drag me back to their cloud for some bang-bang.
Actually, on second thought...
“Lisa, Marco,” Andre called out to one of the booths, and two people turned around.
“Yo, boss man. What’s up?” A short woman snapped her bubble gum in our direction then chomped at it with her mouth wide open. Her pixie cut hair swooped up in a mixture of blue and pink streaks. Big earrings decorated her ears and almost brushed the shoulders of the jersey dress covering her petite form.
“This is Jane.” Andre gestured toward me, not at all disturbed by the way Lisa addressed him. “She’s interested in learning the finer points of fashion, and I thought it would be a nice treat for her to see what the models have to undergo before hitting the runway.”
Lisa’s eyes immediately went to me, scanning me up and down as if she were assessing my value. The other person who had to be Marco, a large bald guy of Latino heritage who had more muscles than a pro-wrestler, glanced over me with brief interest and then went back to digging into his makeup box.
“Aight, I guess we could give the lady the whole workaround,” Lisa said before glancing to Marco. “You in, Marco? Think you can handle the face work while I attack that crow’s nest?”
Lisa’s words made me reach for my hair with a frown. I didn’t know what she was talking about I’d brushed my hair today. Sure, I hadn’t gotten around to getting it professionally done lately, but still, it was a bit harsh.
“Jane?” Andre arched a brow as if silently asking if I was ready.
A bit nervous about being left alone in a place so out of my element, I gave him a nervous smile and a thumbs up before taking the seat Lisa patted for me to take. Michael stood off to the side, his arms crossed over his chest, while he kept an eye on the surroundings. He didn’t seem much at all worried about what they were about to do to me.
“Good!” Andre pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped a few things into it. “I’ll be back to check on you after a while. Please, feel free to look around and remember... have fun.” He winked and grinned at me before stalking away.
“Ooo, that man is fine.” Lisa hissed out, waving a long-nailed hand at her face and smacking her gum once more. “So, what’s the deal with this one?” Her dark eyes moved between Michael and me.
I opened my mouth to answer, but Michael beat me to it. “I am Michael, the Hand of God and protector of this mortal woman. All those who dare to cause her harm will face my wrath.”
While Lisa and Marco gaped at Michael, I facepalmed but couldn’t help but grin like a silly school girl. Really, who could say that they had the Archangel Michael willing to bring down the all mighty wrath of Heaven on their behalf? No one but me, that’s who.
“Woohoo. Man, you are lucky, gurrrl.” Lisa waved her comb in Michael’s direction with a smirk. “I wish my man was that dedicated. Right now, I can barely get him to text me back. Am I right, Marco?”
“That pendón doesn’t know what he’s got.” Marco clucked his tongue and picked up a couple bottles of foundation before holding them up to my face. “Hermosa, you are more blanco than my jockey shorts.”
I flushed and giggled. “Well, what can I say? The sun hates me.”
The two of them chitchatted around me while they applied makeup here and pulled my hair there. While I enjoyed the pampering, it was a bit too much. I’d be happy to be done and see the final product. Michael stood by with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes taking in everything around us, not missing a single thing.
“So...” I started after a bit. “Do you do the makeup and hair for all the models?”
Lisa shook her head. “Nah, there are at least half a dozen of us. There are far too many for just the two of us. We usually only handle Kesha and Jean Claude’s people. It would be three, but Chloe...”
“Shush, mama. Do you wanna get fired?” Marco shot Lisa a warning look. “We can’t be losing a good gig like this for being a chismoso.”
“What?” I asked, glancing between the two with more interest now. “What’s a ch... chismomoso?”
Marco paused mid-swipe of his eye brush. “Chismoso. A gossip. That’s one thing you need to learn about this business, hermosa. You keep your lips shut and your eyes open.”
Lisa nodded fervently. “These people are big on keeping your mouth shut. Nobody wants their ideas ripped off, and that’s the best way to get yourself blacklisted.”
“Oh, I get it.” I nodded. “Snitches get stitches or whatnot.”
“Exactly, but in this case, you won’t work anywhere in the state or, in some cases, the whole country if they find out you be flapping your jab.” Lisa shoved some clips into her apron and then pulled out her hair spray. “Hold yer breath, girly. This stuff is worse than second-hand smoke.”
I closed my eyes and held my breath while she sprayed half the bottle on my head. By the time she was done, I was sure that if someone lit a match, my whole head would light on fire.
“Now, just one more...” She twisted a chunk of my hair and shoved one of those hair clips into it hard enough to make me wince. “There. Done.”
I tried to move to see, but Marco pressed his hand into my shoulder. “Not so fast, hermosa. I’m not done yet. You don’t want to get out there half done. I have my reputation at stake.”
Pressing my lips together, I stayed still lest he poke me in the eye with the brush. He applied some kind of liquid to my lips, and I was told to blot it before Marco announced he was done.
“What do you think?” Marco asked Michael who turned his eyes from the room and back to me.
The way he stared at me mad
e me self-conscious. I hadn’t even seen what they’d done, and he was already making me worry that it was bad. With a small lift of his chin, Michael stated, “It is acceptable.”
“Well, that’s high praise if I heard any.” Marco grinned at Lisa before they moved my chair around to face the mirror.
“Wow,” I gaped as I stared at my reflection.
Now, I wasn’t a big person for hair and makeup. For me, the less trouble, the better. If it takes me more than five minutes to do, then it wasn’t worth it. However, what Marco and Lisa did to me was nothing short of spectacular.
Lisa had curled my hair so that it rippled down from my head in waves then pinned one side of it up so that it looked like I was some sort of mermaid in mid-serenade. Marco had complimented her work on my hair with green and blues on my eyes and a shimmering sheen on my cheeks. My lashes were long and voluptuous, and my lips pouty and covered in a pale pink gloss.
I was a fucking fairy princess.
“You like?”
I turned my gaze away from the mirror to Lisa’s impatient gaze. Nodding, I jumped out of the chair and hugged her. “Like it? I love it! Thank you so much.” I gave Marco a hug as well before moving toward Michael.
“Hold on now, missy.” Lisa grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “We’re not done yet. The boss man said the whole shebang. That includes wardrobe too.” She winked and pushed me toward another section filled with clothes and two arguing twins.
“Hey!” Lisa snapped her fingers to get the twins’ attention. “This is Jane. Andre said to hook her up, so let’s make her feel at home, ‘kay?”
The twins, two women with sharp features and completely different hair and clothing styles, turned as one.
The first one with white blonde hair with a black underlayer held her hand out. “Nikki.” I shook her hand and then glanced at the other twin who hadn’t offered me a hand or a name. “This is my sister, Tracy.”
Tracy’s nose shifted even higher in the air, her auburn hair, a stark contrast to her sister’s but I couldn’t figure out who’s was out of a box they were so well, blended with her features.
“So, you’re who the boss is screwing this week?” Tracy snipped. She glanced me over and sniffed as if she found me lacking.
“Uh, no.” I held my hands up and backed away from them. “I’m not...” My back bumped into a familiar chest, and I relaxed against Michael.
The twins’ eyes moved up to the angel behind me and seemed to change their attitude. Tracy gave Michael a sultry smirk. “Why, hello there. Are we dressing this delicious being?”
“Oh, boy.” Lisa snorted and rolled her eyes. “Stop drooling all over your Jimmy Choo’s and dress this woman.” She snapped her fingers, knocking the twins out of their stupor.
With a sigh of reluctance, Tracy and Nikki turned their eyes back to me. They circled me like vultures as their heavily made-up eyes took in every inch of me.
“Well, at least you aren’t a piggy.” Nikki poked at my side, making me flinch.
“You are a bit bustier than the others, so we’ll have to see if we have anything that’ll fit...” Tracy added, wasting no time reaching out to grab at my chest.
Frowning and already getting severely pissed off, I jerked out of her reach. “Hey, buy me a drink at least first, would ya?”
Blinking up at me, Tracy seemed confused by my outburst which made Marco chuckle. “Don’t mind them. They are used to having their hands all over the pretty puntas. It’s nothing personal.”
My lips twisted into a frown, but I didn’t argue further as they started pulling things from their clothing racks and tossing them at me. When Lisa and Marco turned to leave, I squeaked at them.
“No! Don’t leave me here with...” I lowered my voice a tad bit as the twins argued over a piece of clothing. “... the neurotic twins.”
“Oh, you’ll be fine,” Lisa said in an effort to calm me, waving a hand. Marco seemed a bit more anxious than her to leave, his eyes darting down the row and checking his watch.
“Does he need to pee?” I asked as I raised an eyebrow.
Michael interrupted Lisa’s answer. “He is waiting for the female over there.”
All our eyes shot to the strawberry blonde female dressed in a sheath dress and carrying a tray of coffee cups. She was a cute little thing, maybe even more out of her element than me. I watched with growing amusement as her foot caught on a table cloth, and her tray went flying in the air.
Marco dashed toward her but was too late. The coffee spilled everywhere, I admit I cried a bit inside at the sight, and she faceplanted on the ground. Marco knelt down beside her and helped her clean up the mess before offering her a hand to her feet. She shyly took his hand and stood beside him.
“That’s Patrice,” Nikki snipped, making me jump. Sneaky bitch. “She’s a bumbling idiot, but for some reason, Marco is crazy about her.”
“Are they dating?” I asked, glancing between the two of them with more interest.
Lisa snapped her gum. “He wishes. The boy doesn’t have the cojones to ask her out. I don’t know why. Not like she’s out of his league.”
“He’d be better off just getting a dog,” Tracy growled. “At least, then he would only be cleaning up his shit rather than the hurricane Patrice causes.” She and Nikki laughed, but the rest of us just looked at them like they were psychotic.
Well, Michael didn’t. He had that blank look on his face like he’d rather be anywhere else than here. Bet he was regretting not fucking me in the bathroom now. I snickered to myself.
“Alright, enough with the boring stuff,” Tracy announced. “Let’s get you out of those bargain basket pants and into something fabulous.”
Lisa giggled at that and patted me on the shoulder, “Good luck.” She skipped down the aisle toward Patrice and Marco and left me with the twins.
Wincing at the two of them, I had a thought. The set of The Shining had to be more welcoming than these two. Or Hell.
Chapter 4
“ALRIGHT, DISROBE,” Nikki commanded as she pushed me toward a curtained-off area.
“Jeez!” I scowled as her knife-like nails pinched into my sides. “You don’t have to be so rough. I’m going. I’m going.”
Nikki rolled her eyes and shut the curtain without a word, leaving me in a cube-like section of more curtains. Seriously, someone only needed to pull one of the curtains back to see all my goodies. I shook my head at the visual and quickly started to take my clothes.
I’d never been one for trying on clothes. I preferred to be comfortable. Which was why I was happy to stay in the same size since high school. It made shopping a hell of a lot easier. Though, if only the fashion industry would make all their cloth sizes match.
Have you ever gone to a store and tried on your size in one pair of pants and then try on the exact same size but in a different brand and have them not fit? Yeah. Not fun. If they wanted people – especially women – to buy clothes and a lot of them they should make the trying on process easier. Maybe offer alcohol or a valium before heading into the changing room.
I could use one of either right about now.
When I had my shirt over my head, my arms still in the holes, I heard Tracy’s voice. It had a kind of purring lilt to it that it didn’t have before when she was talking to me. “So, you’re her... brother?”
I was embarrassed to say that I strained to hear what Michael would say now that I was out of sight. Would he claim me as his girlfriend or whatever it was that we were? A part of me that I loathed admitting I had really wanted to hear him tell her off.
“Who?” Michael’s stern voice could be heard through the many layers of curtains just as easily as if I were standing next to him.
“What’s her name?” Nikki added with a click of her fingers.
Tracy added on, “That girl we’re being forced to dress. There’s no way a girl like that is with a guy like you. You have to be her coworker or something.”
“Why would she be anything ot
her than what she is?” I could hear the condescension in Michael’s voice and could practically envision him with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes looming down on the twins.
Tracy giggled. “So, you’re not dating her?”
There was a long pause. I shifted closer to the curtains and arched my ear toward them in case I missed what Michael said which, of course, was when it happened. I, ever the graceful being, tripped over my own feet, my arms, still caught in my shirt above my head, couldn’t help me regain my balance, and the next thing I knew, the curtain ripped, and I was falling. With a yelp, I braced for impact.
Faster than humanly possible, Michael grabbed me before I hit the floor, leaving me trapped in his arms with my arms up at an awkward angle.
Grinning sheepishly up at him, I muttered, “Uh, hi. Thanks.”
“Wow, you’re fast!” Nikki gaped at Michael as he righted me to my feet.
Still wobbly, I grimaced and held my arms toward Michael. “Could I get a bit of help?”
Michael eyed me, and then a small twitch of his lips was all the warning I had before he began to chuckle. Nikki and Tracy swooned. When Michael’s chuckle turned into a full-on bellow, I scowled. It wasn’t that funny.
The twins giggled along with him, laughing at my expense. Nostrils flaring, I lifted my nose in the air with a huff and stalked my way back to the dressing area, determined to help myself. Michael’s hand shot out as I passed by and almost tripped me once more, but he caught me with one hand on my waist, and the other grabbed my trapped hands and jerked me toward him.
Our faces were close enough that our noses brushed which shut the twins up real quick as Michael leaned into me. “I think I like you like this, trapped and at my mercy.”
I snorted, rolling my eyes. “Of course, you would...”
“Perhaps, we’ll have to try this one back at home.”
His sudden, provocative words made me swallow any sarcastic words I’d been planning to say, and my heart stuttered. “Uh, what now?”
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