“Hi,” she said as she walked up the drive. “Sorry about that. I was finishing up a call.”
“Sure. This is Vito, Dawn and Shantal. They are on my team and will be helping you with a few tips. Have you had lunch?”
She nodded as she followed Zach and his team into the foyer of his house. It was large with marble floors and modern decor. She took a moment to look around and realized that he’d picked a place that would photograph well in his posts.
“Good. Then we get straight to it. Vito is one of the best hairdressers in the country.”
“Excuse me? Did I hear that right? I’m the best in the world, honey,” Vito said. “This man was a ragamuffin until I did his do. I mean shaggy might work for the just-from-bed posts but not for the red carpet.”
She laughed with Vito as Zach just shrugged. “Sorry, V. You know I’m nothing without you.”
Vito patted him on the shoulder. “That’s okay, hon. So what do you want to do with her hair?”
“Nothing,” she said.
He raised both eyebrows at her. As he came over he touched the length of her hair and then walked around behind her to look at the ends. “You have great hair. I have some ideas that will give you more of a modern look but keep most of your length. Is that what you meant?”
She glanced over at Zach and found him watching her. He had that same look on his face as he had last night when he’d kissed her. She couldn’t help remembering how his mouth felt on hers. Was he going to kiss her again? Or had he regretted it?
“Lila?” Vito asked.
“I am really not much on fixing my hair. It takes forever to blow-dry and curling it has always...well, not worked out. I’m okay to cut some of the length. Really when I said nothing, I meant I don’t want to spend an hour getting ready in the morning.”
“Got it. Let me pull some photos together while you and ZB are in Dallas shopping. Highlights?”
She scrunched her nose. Her hair was dark brown with natural highlights in it. And despite the fact that this was Texas and every time she went to the salon, they suggested lightening it, she’d resisted. “I don’t think so.”
“Got it. Want to keep your look more you,” Vito said. “This is going to be fun.”
Vito dashed off up the stairs and then Shantal and Dawn both stared at her. “Dawn will help you with writing your posts and using the right hashtags. Shantal is going to do your makeup.”
“I’m guessing the easier the better?” Shantal asked. She was tall with hair all the way down to her butt and had a deep timbre to her voice. Her eyes were bright green. She wore minimal makeup, but she had such lovely bone structure that honestly, she didn’t need it. Her skin was a deep olive complexion and her high cheekbones and full mouth made her stunning.
“Yes, for every day. But could you also show me how to do something for going out? Right now, I just swap my lip balm for red lipstick and some mascara.”
“Girl, don’t worry. I’ll give you a couple of different looks.”
“I’ll start working on some posts for you,” Dawn said. “Have you taken any photos today?”
“No. Should I?”
“Yes. I know you are promoting the event, but we also want everyone to see how fun and one-of-a-kind you and Royal are. While you and ZB are shopping I’ll go scout some locations and have some ideas when you come back.”
Dawn and Shantal left after that.
“How are you doing? Was that too much?” he asked.
She smiled over at him. It was as if he was seeing the real her, the one behind all of these new facades. She wanted to just be honest with him. But at the same time, she felt exposed now. She didn’t have her normal clothing to hide behind. If she let him all the way in, would she regret it?
“It was a little overwhelming. Are you sure we need all this?” she asked, though the idea of a makeover was exciting. She’d always wanted to wear more makeup but had never been sure how to go about it.
“It is. But it will be fun. Ready to head to Dallas with me?” he asked.
More ready than he was aware. After dreaming of him all night, then waking up to the new clothes he’d sent, it had been hard not to text him before coming over today. A part of her wanted to know if he’d been thinking about her as much as she’d been thinking about him. Not as his pet project but as a woman.
She wrapped her arms around her waist. This was it—she was going to have to face that fear deep inside her that she wasn’t woman enough for him. No matter how confident she was at her job, or in planning the Soiree, one-on-one with Zach, she stumbled.
“Yes,” she said. She’d been looking forward to seeing him again all day. Now that they were alone she was both excited and a little bit scared.
* * *
“I can’t believe they just gave us all of this stuff!” Lila exclaimed as they got back on his private plane at the small airport near Love Field.
It had taken all of his willpower to keep his hands to himself while they’d shopped today. She’d tried on outfit after outfit and modeled them for him, her grin growing bigger each time.
She had been reluctant to hand over any of the bags of stuff that had been gifted to her. She sat on the large leather couch in the main part of the plane as the pilot and attendant got it ready for them to fly back to Royal.
They’d had dinner at a revolving restaurant that had afforded them a view of Dallas at night. Lila had gotten a like from one of the Rich Wives that she followed and spontaneously hugged him. He’d hugged her back, gotten a boner and realized he needed some space. So he’d stepped away from her and turned the conversation to being a brand ambassador. As if talking was going to turn him off. It hadn’t worked, but she hadn’t seemed to notice. Lila hadn’t stopped talking since they’d gotten back on the plane.
They’d taken care of her glasses first and she now wore a pair of chic-looking frames that no longer dwarfed her face. She kept her hair in the ponytail, but some strands had slipped and now curled around her face. Her cheeks were flushed, and she kept looking at all the bags that were piled on the other couch.
“I told you. In exchange for a mention in a post and tagging them each time you wear an outfit, they don’t mind writing off the price of the clothes and accessories. It’s way cheaper for them to do this than to shoot a commercial or pay for print advertising.”
“I know but still. I’m going to send thank-you notes to all of them,” she said.
He almost laughed but knew she might take that the wrong way. So instead he only smiled. There was something so refreshingly innocent about her. That was what had drawn him to her in the first place. She was making him feel good just by being with her. “I’m sure they will appreciate that.”
“Manners are never wasted.”
“I agree,” he murmured. “Also, I have a present for you. This wasn’t gifted to me. I purchased it for you.”
“What is it?” she asked.
He reached behind the leather armchair he was seated in and pulled the orange Hermès box out, handing it to her. She took it and put it on her lap, slowly opened the box and then pulled out the Birkin bag that he’d had monogrammed with her initials. It had an adjustable strap so she could wear it across her body as she did that hideous thing she’d been carrying all day.
She caught her breath as she stared at the high-end bag. She’d never received anything like this before. She was almost afraid to touch it.
“Zach...are you sure you want to give this to me?”
“Yes. I am positive,” he told her. “I want you to transfer all of your stuff into it right now and then we can burn that other one.”
“I am not burning my favorite bag. But thank you for this. I will start using it.”
“Good,” he said.
She set the box aside after they were in the air for the thirty-minute plane ride. He’d told Jenn
ifer, the flight attendant, that she wouldn’t be needed so she was sitting in the cockpit with the pilot.
“Thank you for all of this. I always thought that fashion wasn’t anything but a waste of time but earlier today in a meeting...I felt more confident than I normally did. Started speaking up more. That’s not what I expected.”
He got up and went to sit next to her on the couch, stretching his arm along the back of it and toying with the hair in her ponytail. “I’m glad. I think we are changing the outside Lila to match the inside one.”
She turned to face him, putting her hand on his thigh. “I agree. But I’m still wondering what’s in this for you.”
A shiver of awareness went through him. His skin felt too tight and it took all of his control to just keep from reaching over and pulling her into his arms.
“Can’t I just be a good guy who is doing this because I’m nice?” he asked. But no one thought of him that way. Not even himself. He was the bad boy who kept the gossip sites and paparazzi busy following his latest scandal.
“Yes, of course. It’s just that many people do that these days. I mean even the Soiree on the Bay isn’t just for charity. There is a lot of money to be made by the vendors who are participating.”
“I get it. But this...this is for you, Lila.”
She furrowed her brow. “But you don’t know me.”
“What do you want me to say? That I’m using you?” he asked. Had she somehow gleaned that he wanted her to fit into his world? Honestly, he was not sure what he wanted from her. He knew he wanted her naked, writhing under him, but there was an emotional component to this he wasn’t used to dealing with. Wasn’t sure he wanted to deal with.
“I want the truth,” she said, her words direct, just like she’d been from the beginning.
He stopped. This. This fire and passion. These were the things he’d sensed in her from the beginning and this was what he wanted from her. But how to show her without revealing his hand? Without allowing himself to seem too...needy?
“It was a bet. Remember? And I won. I’m not someone who reneges on a bet. That’s not my style,” he said. The truth was it was so much more than that. Plus it was fun watching her excitement at the new stuff and designing her new look. But just being around her aroused him. It wasn’t like he needed to see her naked to get turned on.
Hell, he’d gotten a hard-on from a hug.
A hug.
He normally had more control and more finesse, but this was Lila and nothing was what he expected.
“You’re right. But why are you sticking around?”
“I like you,” he admitted gruffly. “One kiss wasn’t enough for me.”
“What if it was for me?” she asked.
Damn him.
Honesty, straight from those guileless big brown eyes, and he wanted to say the hell with it and grab her and pull her into his arms. But he couldn’t. Because he was starting to feel things and that wasn’t him. He got a rush from driving fast—acceptable feelings. He got turned on by women—especially Lila—again acceptable. He felt all gooey inside when she told him she was sending thank-you notes to the stores that they’d been gifted things from—not acceptable.
Not him.
Ruefully, he nodded at her. “Then I’m out of luck.”
She took his hand in hers, threading their fingers together. “I like you, too, Zach, and that kiss was amazing. But I’m not sure about this kind of lifestyle. The novelty of it is fun for right now, but I think this would wear on me after a while.”
And that was probably that. His lifestyle wasn’t for everyone and he knew what she was saying in that super polite way of hers. It was nice while he was here in Royal, but she must have sensed what he hadn’t said. That he was hiding from the world, giving the scandal time to die down. So this wasn’t real. No matter how he tried to make it so in his mind.
* * *
Lila wasn’t sure what she had wanted Zach to say. Something like it had started out as a bet but was much stronger now? She knew that she was wildly infatuated with him. How could she not be? He was funny, generous...and hot. He made her feel like she could be herself and achieve things that honestly she’d never expected.
It was so much more than the fact that he’d given her the keys to a luxurious lifestyle that she’d never thought in a million years she could be a part of. But Zach was slowly taking away the mystery of jet airline travel and high-end shopping.
She felt like Cinderella with her own ZB fairy godfather. And that was fantasy; there weren’t fairy godparents in the real world. So she’d had to bring it back to reality. No matter how attracted he might be to her in the moment, that was all this could be. A moment.
She’d always prided herself as being someone who was grounded in reality, but she was forced to admit that she was being swayed by him. When he touched her, even accidentally, she felt a rush go through her entire body. She wanted more, wanted to fall into his arms and his life, but she had to remember that they came from two completely different places. She lived in Royal. He lived online and in LA. He’d pulled her into a world where she wasn’t sure how she’d survive yet at the same time she wanted to try. He’d said he liked kissing her, but he was a playboy who changed women as often as he posted on social media, so she wasn’t building a future for the two of them. But she was building a relationship in her head.
However, she couldn’t help but wonder how much of it was because of what he could do for the Soiree. She wanted to prove herself to the Texas Cattleman’s Club members as well as to the Edmond family. Now that she’d had a taste of how people treated her with her new look, she knew she didn’t want to be that little unremarkable Lila from the chamber of commerce. She wanted to be noticed and taken seriously. She’d always been smart but she’d also always been quiet. Now she needed to shine.
She wanted to change more than her clothes.
She shifted on the couch and leaned over to kiss Zach. Just to see what he’d do. She knew that it was forward and polite ladies didn’t do this. But she was on a private plane that had a freaking bedroom in it with a roguishly sexy bad boy. And she’d been sitting next to him like his chaste sister. She wanted for once in her life to have a story that was exciting. She wanted an experience that she knew she’d never have a chance at again when Zach walked out of her life. And he was going to walk out of her life.
She knew that.
So she was going into this with her eyes open and taking this for herself. For the man who’d shown her how to be Lila 2.0.
“Lila...” He said her name slowly in that husky tone he’d used just last night when he’d kissed her by the bay, and she looked up into those gorgeous blue eyes of his, waiting and wanting so much from him. And so much for herself. She’d always told herself she was happy and that she had the life she wanted, but she also knew that she’d been afraid to take any risks.
This was the riskiest thing she’d ever done. Kissing a famous bad boy on his private plane...this wasn’t the Lila Jones she’d always been.
And that brush of his lips against hers was sending chills through her. The good kind that made her pulse race and her breasts feel full. Lila put her hand on his shoulder and he wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her, pulling her onto his lap. She wound her arms around his shoulders as he deepened the kiss, his breath mingling with hers. She sucked his tongue into her mouth.
Wanting and needing more from him. This was changing from doing something risky to doing something that she’d always wanted but never been able to find for herself. She hadn’t ever been this bold, she thought. Then, shifting on his lap to straddle him, she felt his erection between her legs and pushed herself against him.
Lila cradled his head in her hands and deepened the kiss even more as he cupped her butt and urged her to rock more solidly against his hard-on. She did. Waves of pleasure rippled through her as she
felt one of his palms on her back, moving up and down, then he grabbed her ponytail with one hand as he pulled his mouth from hers.
She closed her eyes and realized how close she was to coming. Just from this. But she couldn’t. That would be too much for this jaded, sophisticated man. But then he kissed her neck, nibbled at her sensitive flesh. His hand was under her shirt and he whispered in her ear, his breath hot and his words turning her on with each one. She rocked harder against him, felt his solid shaft between her legs, catching her right where it felt so good.
She did it again and then he whispered into her ear. “Come for me.”
And she did. She bit back a guttural sound and continued riding him until she collapsed in his arms. He held her as she rested her head on his shoulder, his hands moving languidly up and down her back.
“I want you. But not now. We will be landing soon. The team is at my place...can we go to yours?”
He was thinking through the variables and she knew he needed to figure this out for himself. As much as she might have felt like they were together in this, he wasn’t. Not really. She was a temporary diversion for him. “I’d like that. I don’t have protection.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Don’t tell me you have a sponsor for those,” she said, feeling vulnerable to him at this moment. Even though she’d been the aggressor, now she was having thoughts...all kinds. Like wanting more of him and also afraid that if she had more of Zach she might not want to let him go.
“No. Definitely not. Some things are just for me and not for my public persona,” he said.
Me? She didn’t ask but she wanted to know. She had the feeling that it was better not to know and instead maneuvered back into her seat as they landed in Royal.
Zach looked at her as if nothing had changed while inside she’d felt a huge shift, and maybe that was because this was his life. Things like women throwing themselves at him happened every day.
God.
What had she gotten herself into?
SEVEN
Harlequin Desire June 2021--Box Set 1 of 2 Page 7