by Toni Aleo
Lucas turned to see William and Elli walking towards them. A very skinny man that had a camera in his hands followed behind them and when everyone reached them, they all smiled. Fallon flashed a big grin before turning and pulling a sheet off six large posters. Everyone took a step forward looking at the images as Fallon started talking.
“So here we go, first we’ll start outside, where Tasha will greet Lucas since he just came home from a hockey game. He’ll throw the bag down and pick her up before kissing her; she’ll be holding a bottle. Next we’ll move inside for a romantic dinner,” Fallon moved her hand along each poster and Lucas’ stomach twisted with each image of him and Tasha together. “Next, we’ll go out to the vineyard where there will be shots of them walking away, Lucas holds the glass, Tasha with the bottle.”
Fallon took a deep breath and smiled big as she pointed to the last image. It was a close up of Lucas and Tasha with Tasha’s lip in between his teeth. Lucas’ heart was pounding against his chest as Fallon clapped her hands in excitement, “This is the money shot. This will be everywhere, so it has to be perfect. That’s why I saved it for last.”
“Looks great, Fal,” Elli said with a great big smile on her face.
“Good, good, let’s get started,” the camera guy said walking away.
“So you changed the whole campaign?” William asked. He had his chin pinched between his fingers as he looked over each image. Fallon stood a little taller as she nodded.
“Yes, I think what I came up with is better than what we had.”
William nodded once before pinning her with a look. “I don’t like that you did it without the consent of the board, and I definitely don’t like that you did it behind my back.”
Fallon nodded. “I did what I thought was best for the company and for Lucas since he is our model.”
William looked over at Lucas, and Lucas shrugged his shoulders since he had no clue what Fallon was talking about. He didn’t know what was wrong with the last campaign and he wasn’t going to ask. He was still caught up on how he was basically going to be making out with some girl he didn’t know. Yeah, he had done it a lot before, but he was a changed man and there was only one woman’s lip he wanted to bite.
Fallon’s.
“Well let’s hope you have all your ducks in a row, Fallon Ryane. You better not mess this up.” William gave her one last look before he walked off, leaving Lucas with Tasha, Elli, and Fallon.
“Well that was nice,” Elli said biting her lip. “Reminds me of my dreaded mother. Blah.”
Fallon laughed. “I’m not worried about it; everything is going to be fine. I can feel it!”
Lucas slowly raised his hand causing everyone to look at him. Fallon’s eyebrow went up as she said, “Yeah?”
Lucas took a deep breath in since he knew that a fight was about to happen, but he couldn’t stay quiet. He couldn’t, so he said, “I think there might be a problem.”
Fallon didn’t understand why but her heart started to beat uncontrollably but it had. With just one look in Lucas’ nervous eyes, she knew something was wrong and there was no way anything could go wrong today. Her father was on her like white on rice, and he was ready to tear her apart for changing the campaign. He was just itching to and Fallon couldn’t afford to give him any reason to do it.
As she eyed a gorgeous, black suit clad Lucas, she took in shuttering breath before saying, “What, Lucas?”
Lucas looked over at Tasha and then back at Fallon before saying, “There is no way I can make out with this girl.”
Fallon took in a sharp breath as she watched Tasha give Lucas a dirty look. When she glanced over at Elli, she saw that Elli was holding in her laughter and Fallon had no clue what was funny. Fallon then looked back up at a nervous Lucas before clearing her throat. “Excuse me?”
“I can’t make out with her.”
“And why is that?” Fallon asked. Her nails bit into her palms as she tried to control her breathing.
“Because she isn’t you.”
For the love of God.
“Lucas, not right now.”
Lucas shook his head. “I’m not doing it. I promised I would never kiss anyone but you and I am standing by it.”
Elli let out a little “awww” while Tasha just glared. Fallon was having a hard time breathing because, even though it was the sweetest thing ever and she couldn’t love him more for it, she wished that he would just make out with Tasha! “Lucas, I appreciate you staying true to your word but I really don’t need you to right now. I need you to make out with her. I give you a pass — hell, I’ll kiss you senseless afterwards.”
Lucas shook his head again. “No way. I can’t”
“Sure you can,” Fallon insisted. “It’s quite easy. We do these things all time.”
Tasha crossed her arms in annoyance as Fallon pleaded to Lucas with her eyes. He glanced over at Tasha before looking back at Fallon. “That’s the thing Fallon. I do these things with you. Only you inspire these things from me. I won’t feel right doing them with anyone but you.”
Fallon closed her eyes as she drew in deep breaths. Bless his heart for being the most amazing man in the world but damn it, couldn’t he channel the old Lucas and make out with this chick?
“What’s going on?”
Fallon’s eyes flew open to see her father standing beside Lucas with a nasty look on his face. Fallon ran her hands up her neck, cupping it tightly as she drew in another deep breath. Lucas looked over at William before turning to Fallon. He pulled her hands from her neck and pulled her off to the side.
“I can’t do this, Fal,” he whispered, “What was the other campaign? Did I make out with anyone?”
Fallon shook her head, tears gathering in her eyes. “No, but you were to be pictured drinking.” When her eyes met his, his shoulders fell as his eyes filled with love. “I couldn’t have you pictured doing something that isn’t you anymore. So I rewrote it,” she said in a sad small voice. When her father got wind of this all, her ass would be grass.
Lucas closed his eyes cupping her face. “You don’t know how much that means to me Fallon, and I wish I could do this, but it still wouldn’t be me. There is one woman and only one that my kisses belong to, and that’s you.”
Fallon’s heart filled with love since that was the one thing she had always wanted but not now. Not when she had over a hundred people there working, or her father, or hell, Elli! She looked incompetent and she didn’t want her father to have the satisfaction of watching her fail, but what was she supposed to do? She couldn’t make Lucas do it and she never would because she would never ask him to not be true to her or to himself. If he felt that strongly against kissing Tasha, than she wouldn’t ask him to do it.
“Hey guys, everything okay?”
Fallon looked over to see Elli with a small smile on her face and her hands holding her little belly. Fallon nodded, pushing back the tears as she tried to figure out what she was going to do. Maybe she could call the other models back in, or maybe rewrite the campaign real quick. Something had to be done because the campaign had to be done today. There was too much that was happening that needed the finish product.
Fallon was officially screwed.
“I can’t do it Mrs. Adler,” Lucas said. Fallon glanced up to see Elli smiling at Lucas.
“Well what do we need to do so that you will do it?” she asked, cupping the back of his bicep with her hand, “This has to be done today. There are a lot of things in motion and every single one of them needs this campaign.”
Fallon’s chest seized up and she was sure she was having a panic attack. Even Elli knew the severity of having this campaign done today.
Lucas shook his head before looking down at Elli. “Unless you can make that girl Fallon, then I have no clue.”
Elli glanced over at Fallon and smiled. “Done. Fallon will be your other half, no big deal.”
Whoa, what?
A grin came across Lucas’ face as he looked down at Fallon. “Sou
nds great to me.”
Fallon’s head whipped to the side. “Um, not to me! And this is a big deal, a huge one! I’m not campaign worthy and we already have a model!”
Elli shrugged her shoulders. “Well not now, but you can be,” Elli turned to where the makeup and wardrobe crew stood. “Hair, makeup! Get Ms. Parker ready, she will be the new model. Ms. McNeal, thank you so much for coming out and you will be reimbursed for your time but we will not be needing you. Mr. Manuel, if you can give us another hour and then we can get started.”
Fallon watched as Elli went into Eleanor Adler mode. Elli was spectacular when she channeled her inner Shea Adler; it was a sight to see. When Manuel threw his hands up in frustration, Fallon actually prayed for his safety. Elli pinned him with a glare before walking towards him, “Problem Mr. Manuel?”
“Yes! I have things to do; I am only supposed to be here for five hours. I’ve been here three and we haven’t even started!”
Elli shrugged her shoulders again. “Ok fine, you will be paid for your time, have a nice day,” she said dismissing him with her hand. “Janet! Call Harper, tell her to bring me out my camera and equipment.”
As everyone stood in complete shock as Elli turned to look back at Fallon. “You gonna get ready? We’re burning sunlight, sugar.”
How in the world did Fallon get talked into this?
Fallon wasn’t a model, she was far from it! She was a just a mommy, with a mommy body and there was no way she was going to look good enough to make the campaign everything she wanted it to be. She also looked terrible in orange, or maybe she thought she did because she hated it so much, but there she stood in a short, lace-trimmed, orange dress, wishing like hell the company’s color was something else. Fallon moved a piece of her hair out of her eyes and let out a breath. She loved her hair in the big curls they did and she loved her makeup. It was pristine, and the big chunky pearl jewelry she wore was heavy but beautiful. The orange suede pumps were to die for and Fallon felt like a million bucks, but that didn’t keep her from being nervous. Not only did she have to worry about the color of her attire but she also knew that William was probably going to kill her before the day was over.
As she came out the wardrobe tent, Fallon met eyes with Lucas first but it was only for a second before she met her father’s angry gaze. William stood and came towards her as everyone moved around them, trying to set up Elli’s equipment. Fallon stood a little taller, hoping that she didn’t look as nervous as she felt. All William had to do was pull the plug and everything would be ruined.
“So you rewrite a campaign that your boyfriend won’t even do? What were you thinking? Didn’t you think that you should have run it by him first?” William asked sternly. He wasn’t yelling, but it was bound to come.
“I did what I thought was best. I would rather have had him make out with some girl than be pictured drinking,” Fallon said.
“I think that would be the board’s choice or his. He shouldn’t have volunteered for a wine ad if he doesn’t drink!”
Fallon took in a calming breath. “He is the best-looking man on the team; he was the best choice. We could work around his sobriety.”
“You made another bad decision, like always. When are you ever going to do something right?”
Fallon’s eyes filled with anger and hurt-filled tears. “I don’t know Dad, but I’m pretty sure when I do, you’ll be the first to tell me. Now if you will excuse me.”
Fallon walked away quickly, needing to get as far away from William Parker as she could before she started crying. She hated how much she let him get to her. It was sad that she thought that if she had done a good job with the campaign then maybe he would be proud of her. Didn’t she know by now that he would never be happy with her? She would never be good enough? It was a never-ending battle with him, and until she basically walked on water, he would never be happy.
Before Fallon could get far, someone took a hold of her hand. She turned to see that it was Lucas, and before he could even ask her what was wrong she collapsed in his arms, holding him like her life depended on it.
“Fallon, are you okay?”
She nodded against his chest, breathing in through her mouth and out through her nose. She couldn’t cry, it would mess up her makeup and then she would be put back in the ungodly makeup chair. Lucas’ hands came up to her face, directing it so she was looking up at him. “What happened?”
She shook her head, closing her eyes. “My dad is an asshole. Nothing new.”
“What did he say?”
“That I basically messed up again, like always.”
Lucas’ thumbs moved along her cheeks and when she opened her eyes to meet his loving gaze, she practically melted in his arms, “I think what you have done with the campaign is great, now that we have the right leading lady.”
Fallon gave him a small smile before saying. “You just like me.”
He chuckled before meeting her mouth with his. He kissed her for so long and so hard, that she knew she was going to have to go back in that makeup chair, but she didn’t care. She would sit in that chair all day if afterwards her mouth could meet Lucas’. When they parted he kissed her nose and smiled down at her, “I may be partial but even Elli said that everything is amazing.”
Fallon nodded. “Well at least one out of the two people that matter is happy.”
“Hey, I’m offended by that. Me and Aiden are the only two people that matter, oh and Audrey, and we think you are amazing,” Lucas said with a goofy grin.
Fallon smiled as she leaned her forehead against his. “I just wanted him to be proud of me.”
Lucas’ smile fell as he kissed her lips softly. “I’m proud of you Fallon, I know that that may not be enough, but I am and I think your dad will come around.”
Fallon blinked twice before pressing her lips to his while her heart swelled with love. She loved this man with everything inside her, and she still couldn’t believe she was getting another chance with him. When they parted, she smiled against his lips. “It is enough.”
Lucas smiled as he hugged her tightly to him. “Come on baby girl, they are waiting for us.”
Fallon smiled up at Lucas as he locked their pinkies together and started for Elli. Elli watched as they came towards her. Her camera was in her hand and a huge smile on her face. A smile formed on Fallon’s face because that was the Elli she knew — the sweet, picture-taking Elli Fisher. Now she was the team-owning Eleanor Adler, and Fallon couldn’t have loved her more. Elli would forever amaze her and Fallon had never felt so blessed for their friendship than she did in the moment. If Elli wasn’t quick on her feet like she was, Fallon would be sitting in the dirt crying.
Just as they were about to reach Elli, Lucas looked over at Fallon and she smiled before he said, “By the way, you look hot in orange.”
God, she loved this man.
Chapter 33
“So Mickey will be there, right?!”
Lucas smiled over at Aiden, nodding his head. He wasn’t sure who was more excited about going to Disneyland, but Lucas was pretty sure he was. He had waited a long time to have a family to take to Disneyland — he still to this day could recall when he went with his mom and dad. It was one of the best vacations of his childhood and now that it was happening for him, Fallon, and Aiden, he couldn’t have been happier. Even though it was only a mini-vacation, it was their vacation. It was three whole days to spend at the most magical place on earth — to shop and play on the beach — all while being with the two people that completed him.
“Yup, it wouldn’t be Disneyland if he wasn’t.”
“Awesome!” Aiden said with a giggle.
Aiden turned quickly to look back out the airplane window. He was basically bouncing in his seat with a bright grin on his face. Lucas smiled, running his hand down Aiden’s back lovingly, before looking over at Fallon. She was looking through her phone with his hand resting in her lap, holding hers. She looked classic in her pale orange dress that crossed and weaved
into a pretty bow along her back. Her hair was in a low bun and her makeup brought out the honey brown of her eyes. Her lips were glossed and Lucas couldn’t help but notice the small diamond hearts that adorned her ears. As he admired her beauty, he smiled — she was breathtaking.
Lucas’ eyes left her beautiful face down to a pair of long tan legs. He lingered at her knees for a minute or so until he came to where her legs ended at a pair of sexy, yellow high heels. Lucas had to shift a little from the sudden stiffness that left no room in his shorts at the sight of the heels. Ever since that one night against the car, he couldn’t look at a pair of her heels the same way. It was torture. His need to get her naked intensified with every sexy dress, every pair of high heels, every sexy kiss, and basically, anything that had to do with her. He needed her, he wanted her, and waiting around for a moment when Aiden wasn’t within 100 feet of them was honestly killing him.
Lucas shook his head before leaning over and nipping at Fallon’s earlobe. She let out a quiet giggle and then looked over at him with a grin.
“Hey,” she said, “I’m working.”
“How are you working when you are not supposed to have your phone on?”
Fallon gave him a naughty grin. “I had Rob send me all my spreadsheets before I boarded. I’m looking over them.”
Lucas shook his head as she giggled. “You are a workaholic.”
“Yup,” she said with a nod, “to the core, just like my dad.”
Lucas watched as a sad smile replaced her radiant one. Fallon covered it well by looking back down and moving her finger along her phone. Lucas hated that she didn’t get along with her father anymore. She used to be close to him, but Lucas did remember William always trying to run Fallon’s life. So maybe there wasn’t any hope for them. All Lucas could do was hope that he was there for her as much as he could be. He squeezed her hand, placing his chin on her shoulder, watching as she went through page after page. He had no clue what she was reading or doing, but he loved being so close to her.