Devoted to Her (Dream Date Book 2) (17 page)

“Judith isn’t going to force her friend to dance in
that condition.”

“For a moment, I thought she would.”

Judith looked like she was trying to avoid being
stepped on by Christopher. He was at least four inches taller than her, but
that’s not what she was worried about. Judith was making a show about doubting
Christopher’s skills on the dance floor.

“Let’s go rest for a bit,” Amanda suggested. Nathan
took her hand, and they walked back to their table. Halfway there, Amanda felt
her smartphone vibrate.

“Excuse me,” Amanda said. She pulled out her phone
from her jacket. “It’s my agent.”

Amanda walked outside. Nathan followed after her. She
answered the call.

“Mr. Stanley?”

“Good evening, Ms. Tilley. How are you doing?”

“Better. I’m able to dance now.”

Stanley didn’t laugh, or even react to that.

“I don’t have very good news for you. There’s a
problem with your next photo shoot for Lancôme.”

“What’s wrong?”

“You’re going to lose the contract, Ms. Tilley. The
photo shoot was set to be done soon. Unfortunately, you’re no longer fit for it.”

It took Amanda a moment to catch that.

“What? You’ve got to be kidding.”

“I tried to convince them to move the shoot to another
date. They’re already talking about finding someone else to replace you.”

“Why?”

“Your injuries, Ms. Tilley. I’ve seen a photo of you
on the Web. You’re not going to make magazine covers looking like that anymore.
Billboard ads? Not a chance.”

“That’s what makeup and Photoshop are for.”

Stanley finally laughed.

“So
now
you’re
willing to be Photoshopped? That’s something you always strongly refused,
according to your past employers. You would throw a fit whenever someone so
much as erased a freckle.”

“I wanted people to see the true me, not some artist’s
idea of perfection!”

“Digital tricks won’t be much help to you now, Ms.
Tilley. I’m sorry. Fighting to keep the Lancôme contract is pointless. They were
already hesitant to work with you because you just don’t want to be
airbrushed.”

“Can’t you do something about it? Letting me go just
because of my injuries is ridiculous.”

“You’re just not what you used to be.”

Amanda became angry at the implication.

“They don’t want me because I’m no longer perfect?
Because people can’t stand a few bruises and a scar?”

“Lancôme is a prestigious brand. They advertise their
products using only the most beautiful women.”

“I’m a beautiful woman!”

“That’s debatable.”

Amanda’s jaw dropped.

“Screw you,” she said, hanging up. Amanda started
pacing around the side of the building, fuming. Luckily, no one was there to
see her.

When Nathan learned that Amanda was at risk of losing
her job, he became outraged.

“Some talent agent he is,” Nathan said. He and Amanda
were in his apartment after coming back from the night club. They were sitting
on his sofa. “I thought he was better than you know who.”

“That’s what I thought, too! This is a new side of him
I’ve never seen before. I can’t believe he doesn’t want to help me.”

“Can you fire him?”

“What good would that do? No one’s going to want to
work with me now. And just because I don’t project an image of perfection
anymore.”

“No one is perfect, baby. If those bastards think
you’re not attractive anymore, it’s their loss.”

Amanda was still feeling let down.

“They’re not totally wrong. No one would put an injured
female model on a billboard. They think scars are sexy and macho on a man, but
ugly on a woman.”

Nathan scoffed.

“They’re entitled to their own opinion.”

Nathan caressed the injured side of Amanda’s face,
being careful with the scar. Then he leaned forward and kissed her in the lips.
Amanda was pushed back onto the sofa. She reached around Nathan, touching his
hair.

Nathan pulled Amanda toward him. He took off her sweater
and then the blouse underneath. Amanda closed her eyes when Nathan kissed her shoulder.
His hands traveled down her body. When they reached a certain spot in her back,
she recoiled.

“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” Nathan asked.

“I’m fine,” Amanda said. Nathan tried to look around.
Amanda moved to give him a better view. She had a fading bruise on the left
side of her upper back.

“There’s even a small scar here.”

“If Stanley found out about it, he’d be even more
unwilling to let me model. I’m sure that injury looks worse than my head.”

“It’ll heal.”

Nathan kissed her shoulder blade. He then pushed her
hair aside to get better access to her neck.

“If you truly wanted to,” Nathan said, “you could
model without an agent. Claire told me about independent models.”

“I could,” Amanda agreed. “I just don’t know if I would
want to do it.”

“It’s your decision. Whatever you choose to do, I’ll
support you.”

Amanda met Nathan’s lips again.

“Thanks,” she said,
smiling.

Things were normal the rest of the week. Amanda didn’t
hear anything more from Stanley, and she wasn’t looking forward to. She also
told her family about the situation with the Lancôme contract. They were sad to
learn how they treated her. Amanda’s world was highly competitive, even for a
model as powerful as she was. William and Ryan both told Amanda not to allow
anyone to let her down.

Detective Sutton called Kellan and Amanda on Friday to
give them an update on the case. The DNA that they found on the abandoned car matched
only that of the owners. No one else’s DNA was there, which meant that the car
may as well not have been stolen in the first place. Kellan feared that they
may be dealing with a cunning, yet unidentified criminal.

On Saturday afternoon, Nathan was preparing to go
shopping. He needed to buy new clothes to wear for his new job. Nathan was in
his bedroom, using his computer. He was checking how much money he had in the
bank.

When Nathan passed by the living room to head to the
kitchen, someone knocked on his door. He changed directions and went to answer.

“Hi,” Kayla said. She waved her right hand once in
greeting. Nathan saw that she was carrying a book in the other hand.

“Hi, Kayla. Come on in.”

Kayla walked inside, and Nathan closed the door.

“Are you going out?” she asked, noticing that he had
dressed up and was wearing his shoes.

“Yes. I’m going shopping in a bit. I’m going to a new
job on Monday and need to dress the part.”

“You got a new job?”

“Yes. I’m working at a law firm now. It’s a low-tier
job, but still.”

“That’s great. Congratulations!”

“Thank you.”

Kayla looked down at the floor. She still couldn’t
snap out of acting weird around Nathan.

“What’s that book?” he asked to diffuse the tension.

“Oh. It’s mine, actually,” said Kayla. She showed the
cover to Nathan. “It’s got my real name and everything.”

“You’re also publishing it in paper?”

“Print format. Yes, it was a recent decision. An
author friend of mine advised me to do it. My book has the potential to sell
lots of copies in print.”

“That is awesome news, Kayla. I’m glad for the success
you’re having.”

“Thanks. I actually brought this for you.” Kayla
handed Nathan the book.

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s an ARC version, technically. But I’m not
making any more changes. What you’ll see inside is what will be available when
the book goes on sale.”

Nathan perused through the book.

“As you can see, I signed it.”

“Cool.” Nathan read the note that accompanied the
signature. It read, “For Nathan, one of the people that matter the most in my
life. Your friend always, Kayla.”

Nathan looked up at Kayla. Her cheeks turned red.

“Thanks, Kayla. You mean a lot to me, too.”

Kayla beamed. She then walked forward and hugged
Nathan.

“You may not believe me, but I thank God every night
before I go to sleep.”

Nathan’s eyebrows furrowed. “For what?”

“I’m glad that we never acted weird around each other
after breaking up.”

“Loving you is so natural,” Nathan said to Kayla. He
leaned back to look at her. “You’re my best friend.”

Kayla smiled.

“After Ashton?”

Nathan chuckled.

“There’s more than enough space in my heart for you
and all my friends. You’re all great.”

Kayla rested her head on Nathan’s shoulder for a
moment, thoughtful. He stroked her hair, which fell like a cascade down her
back. Kayla broke out of the embrace.

“How are Amanda and Emmy doing?”

“They’re all right. Emmy thinks that she will not need
the crutches soon.”

“That’s good,” said Kayla.

“Would you like to go shop with me?” Nathan asked her.
She blinked.

“I’m sorry, but I promised Grecia I’d go somewhere
with her. You know how she is.”

Nathan laughed.

“Yeah. No problem. You go and have fun. A busy month
awaits you.”

“I know,” said Kayla, raising her eyebrows. “It’s
going to be hectic. At least I love my job.”

There was silence while Nathan waited for Kayla to say
more. She cleared her throat.

“Well, I have to go. Have fun on your shopping trip.”

“Yeah. You have fun with Grecia, too.”

“Thanks. See you later.”

Nathan opened his door
for Kayla. She smiled at him, and then walked out. Nathan closed the door. He
looked at the book Kayla had brought him. The cover art was excellent, and it
fit the story well. Nathan went to his bedroom to put the book in his
bookshelf. This was the first print book he had from Kayla.

An irate Amanda left Stanley’s office in New York. She
had just fired him. It turned out that Lancôme hadn’t said they no longer
wanted to work with Amanda. Stanley was just unwilling to represent a “broken”
model. That was why he’d told the Lancôme representatives that Amanda was
indisposed. When she forced that confession out of Stanley, Amanda was furious.

“That jerk just made me sign up with him in hopes he
would get big bucks,” Amanda told Kellan. They were now in a rented car, en
route to the next destination. Amanda was going to see her plastic surgeon. “He
knew that I was the model every agent wanted to have, so he set out to win me
over.”

Amanda had checked the resumes of various talent
agents after Hilbert’s arrest. Stanley had made a clever pitch to Amanda,
making sweet offers to make her choose him. “You can be the world’s top
supermodel. I’ll get you there,” he’d promised. That wasn’t exactly Amanda’s
dream in life, but Stanley had impressed her.

“Don’t think about him,” Kellan said. “You’re not
going to have to put up with that bastard anymore.”

“He was lucky I didn’t badmouth him in front of his
superiors.”

“That wouldn’t have helped. Technically, he didn’t do
anything wrong, at least in the eyes of the law. He was just using you for his
own gain.”

Despite her anger, Amanda
still lamented the abrupt end of her modeling career. She didn’t think she could
carry on.

Later in the afternoon, Amanda woke up. She didn’t
know what she must have heard. Sitting up, Amanda looked toward the living
room. There were voices coming from there.

“I’ll go see if she’s up.”

A few seconds later, Kellan knocked on the door.

“Amanda? Are you awake?”

Amanda sat on the edge of her bed. She’d taken the nap
in her day clothes.

“Yes.”

“Marissa’s here to see you.”

“Tell her I’ll be there shortly.”

Amanda yawned. She stood up and went to her mirror.
Her hair was a mess, so she decided to fix it. Before doing so, she put her
sweater back on.

Amanda walked into the living room. Kellan was handing
Marissa a bottle of water.

“Hi, Marissa.”

Marissa looked at Amanda. At the sight of the scar and
the fading bruises, she was visibly alarmed. Marissa composed herself.

“Nathan and Claire told me about what happened. How
are you doing?”

“Fine,” said Amanda. She walked forward and hugged
Marissa. “You?”

“Same, but a tad worried. Your scar is healing well,
by the way.”

“Thanks.”

The two women sat down.

“Have the police caught the culprit?”

“Unfortunately, no. They haven’t yet got an ID on
her.”

“So, it’s truly a woman?”

“Yes. No one has been able to figure out who she is or
why she attacked me.”

“It’s all strange,” Marissa said. Amanda nodded.

“Is Emmy doing better?”

“Yes. She’s about ready to start walking without those
crutches.”

“Stab wounds must be hell. I assume they feel worse
than a stitch on the side you get from running.”

“Trust me, it hurts. Emmy’s still on pain meds.”

Marissa took a deep breath.

“I saw your new bodyguard. What’s his name?”

“We call him Caldwell.”

“Oh. He’s…tough. He has this daunting look that could
make a mob boss soil himself.”

Amanda laughed.

“How’s your latest contract going? You were doing a
photo shoot for Lancôme, right?”

“Not anymore.”

Marissa looked concerned.

“What?”

“I’m retired. There’s no more modeling for me.”

“Are you serious? Amanda, but, you look just fine!
It’s not like you sustained burns or something bad like that.”

“I fired Stanley. The jerk didn’t want to represent me
anymore. He claimed no one will put an injured woman on a billboard ad. I was
furious when I left his office.”

“I thought Stanley was okay!”

“Yeah, I thought so too.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“I haven’t thought much about it yet.”

“You could still work independently.”

Amanda didn’t seem too interested in that.

“No. I’m done with it. To be honest, it was starting
to take too much of my time. I’d rather put a higher priority on school. I
enjoyed modeling, but it was just a means to an end. Architecture is my true
passion.”

Marissa smiled at Amanda.

“We’re going to miss you.”