Suddenly Beautiful (Entangled Covet) (8 page)

“I didn’t say that.” The tip of Nikki’s pen scratched back and forth across the paper as if she channeled some illiterate spirit. It was a nervous habit Tor recognized after working with her for so long. “I’m just surprised, that’s all.”

“Fine, if you want to do it—” He let the rest of the sentence hang in the air.

For a second, he hoped she was going to turn down the offer. It wasn’t just the inconvenience he’d suffer when she was on a shoot, but the predatory way Creed smiled at her.

Her pen stopped its random scrawl and hovered over the page. “Fine, I will.” She turned to Creed. “What do we do first?”

Creed’s gaze bounced from Tor to Nikki. “I don’t want to cause any problems between you. I just thought it might be neat to have somebody who knows and believes in the company.”

“Yeah, that’s me.” Nikki turned and gave Tor a look that challenged him to argue. “I’m always there to take one for the team.”

“I said do it if you want to do it,” he grumbled, leaning his elbows against the desk.

Why was he being such a prick? Yesterday he would have jumped at the chance to let Nikki live a little and be in the spotlight. She was a valued employee. But since this morning and waking up with those crazy dreams about her, he’d become possessive and rather irrational. And what was up with this stupid erection. He’d never had a problem controlling his lust—until now.

“I’d like to do a quick screen test with you, Nikki, just to make sure the camera loves you as much as I think it will,” Creed said.

Tor’s stomach did a flip. He’d thought Creed was going to say “loves you as much as I do” for some insane reason. He ran a hand through his hair. He really needed to get a grip.

“Actually, I have some time this afternoon while Tor’s at the tailor’s getting fitted for his tux. Does that work?”

He gave her a smile that made Tor want to strangle him with his puka-shell necklace. “Perfect. How do you feel about a makeover?”

She beamed at him. “I’m yours to mold.”

Tor sat in his desk chair, trying to gain control of the situation and his ire. “I’d like to see the shots when you have them ready.”

“You’ll be the first.” Creed stood and held out his hand. “Thank you for indulging me.”

“I trust your creative genius.” But not his motives. Tor shook the new creative director’s hand twice and released it, not feeling at all excited about the plan. “That’s why I hired you.”

“I hope I don’t disappoint.” He faced Nikki. “See you this afternoon.”

She rose with a bright smile. “I’ll be there about one.”

Creed strode from the room, leaving him and Nikki alone. A strained silence stretched between them. “So, your mother is Azzura Li Fonti.”

“Yep.” She held her binder in front of her like a shield.

“I guess it’s only natural that you’d want to follow in your mother’s footsteps.”

“Trust me, I don’t.” She inhaled and released a breath that sounded weary. “We’re not very close.”

He stared at her for a few seconds, knowing he should apologize—for a lot of things. “I’m sorry I made references to you being a corporate spy.”

She shrugged but didn’t look at him. “Is that all you want to apologize for?”

He had no idea what she was talking about. “Have I done something to make you mad?”

Now she did look at him. Her green eyes searched his face. After a few seconds she said, “No, Tor, everything is fine. Business as usual.” She stood. “Well, I’ll get back to work.” She walked to the door and stopped. “Oh, I forgot to tell you, Demetria Mirrors is in the hospital.”

“Nothing serious, I hope?”

“No.” Nikki cleared her throat. “Just an unfortunate shoe accident. Might have broken her ankle.”

“Good gods.” He shook his head. “I always wondered when that was going to happen.”

She cocked her head and shifted her binder to the other arm. “You don’t sound too concerned.”

“I’m not.” He scooted his chair forward and clicked on the yearly projections document. “She’s too tenacious to stay down long. My bet is that she’ll be back on the job in a day or two.”

“Great.” Nikki turned. “That’s just what I need.”

As she left, his eyes strayed to her firm, round backside. Instantly he was hard again. An uncomfortable wave washed through him. He wouldn’t call her back. No matter how much he wanted to. Damn, what was wrong with him? Inconvenient erections hadn’t plagued him since he was sixteen. Images from his dreams pushed their way forward. Nikki on her knees in front of him, taking him in, and the way she’d invited him onto the bed with her. He reached down and adjusted himself to a more comfortable position. Though it had only been a dream, the way she looked today had him wishing it hadn’t been.

…

Nikki tossed the binder onto her desk and plunked down in her chair. Things with Tor hadn’t gone as she’d planned this morning. Sure, becoming the face of the Goddess line was exciting. But there had been no happy reception from Tor, no barely controlled desire in his eyes, no freakin’ reference at all to their night of passion.

Though he skillfully seduced her last night, he’d just as skillfully ignored it. She waved her hand absently in the air. “Erections are wasted on that man.”

She thought about what Demetria had asked her. How weird was it that she had guessed they’d been together? Something didn’t sit right. Nikki drummed her fingers against her thigh. Tor wouldn’t have let something about them slip to Demetria—would he? No, he wouldn’t have had the chance.

Plus the whole heel-snapping incident seemed too convenient. But it had to be a coincidence. Jedi mind tricks didn’t exist in the real world—or did they? She thought about her wish not to be seen this morning and how the elevator shot to the first floor, and the taxi driver, and hitting every green light for blocks. That kind of stuff in itself might seem like good luck, but combined, they gave her one giant paranoia attack. She shook off the unease creeping through her and scrolled through her agenda for the day. The best cure for over analysis would be to focus on work.

The minutes dragged by, and with each noise from Tor’s office she tensed, expecting another terse encounter with him. At noon, he finally emerged.

“I’m leaving.” He stopped in front of her desk and stared down at her. “Call me if you need anything.”

“I will, but I think it should be a quiet afternoon.”

The silence grew past the point of comfort. He continued to look at her as if contemplating his next statement. She waited, wanting to hear what he had to say but not wanting to appear eager. After several seconds, he tapped his finger twice on the desk.

“Have a good time this afternoon.” His lips thinned into what looked like a forced smile. “Really, you deserve to have a little fun.”

Thought we did that last night.

“Thank you, I will.” Though above desk level she sat composed, underneath she swung her foot with a nervous beat. “You too.”

He nodded and strode across the lobby to push through the double doors that led to his private elevator, leaving her to wonder if his “have a good time”
was an attempt to smooth things over. A dull ache throbbed at the base of her skull.

Relationships—or lack there of—were exhausting. Trying to figure out what somebody else felt was even more so.. That was one of the reasons she hadn’t had a serious boyfriend since college. She sighed and stood. Hopefully the photo shoot would divert her attention.

After forwarding the office calls to the answering service, she locked her purse in the bottom drawer. She wouldn’t let her issues with Tor taint the excitement of being the new face for the Goddess line.

Until this moment, she hadn’t contemplated what the job would mean. The last thing she wanted was to become her mother. She pushed that thought aside. No way. It wouldn’t happen. Though she’d never given any thought to following in Azzura’s footsteps, the idea of more money and another career path if things went bad between her and Tor gave her a sliver of peace.

She hated to give her mother any credit for the opportunity, but she couldn’t deny that being the daughter of a famous model and cosmetic megastar provided a little more financial security—for once.

Now to figure out what to do about her love life.

Chapter Six

The elevator traveled to the eighth floor without stopping. Nikki could get used to this express service. The doors opened onto a stylish lobby, filled with even more stylish young women. A gorgeous blonde, standing next to the door and thumbing through a fashion magazine, smiled at her. “Hey.”

“Hi.” Nikki returned her greeting, wondering if she knew the woman.

“Congrats.” The blonde closed the magazine and held out her hand. “Hestia.”

“Nice to meet you.” Nikki shook the woman’s hand, surprised by the model’s friendly demeanor. “Hestia, like the Greek goddess?”

“Yeah.” Hestia waved a hand. “A distant relative.”

Nikki would have laughed, but the woman didn’t appear to be making a joke. “Great.”

She took a few steps and a dark-haired beauty stood and stuck out her hand. “Artemis. It’s really a pleasure to meet you.”

“Uh, nice to meet you too—Artemis.”

Before she could shake Artemis’s hand, another woman with stunning red locks stood and yanked Nikki in a hug, crushing the breath from her.

“I’m so excited to meet you.” The redhead released Nikki, and gave a several quick claps while bouncing up and down. “Apollomae.” She bounced a couple more times. “But you probably knew that already.”

At a loss for words, Nikki blurted the first thing that came to mind. “Of course.”

What the heck was going on? The group began to crowd around her like a horde of beautiful zombies. She pivoted and headed to the reception desk that spanned the length of the wall, praying they wouldn’t follow her.

“Nikki.” A tall brunette with bloodred lips and a severe bob haircut whom Nikki recognized glided around the desk. She wrapped Nikki in a rather exuberant hug. “OMG, I could not believe it when Creed told me about your shoot today. The face of Goddess. I’m so excited for you.”

“Thanks, Bridget.” Relief washed through Nikki. Finally, somebody normal. She lowered her voice and pointed at her chest, indicating the hovering horde behind her. “What’s with them?”

Bridget rolled her eyes. “Back to your seats.” She made a shooing motion. “He’s not going to show up here, so you can just cool your panties.”

A unanimous groan of disappointment rippled through the lobby and the group turned and reclaimed their seats. It all made sense. They were hoping to meet Tor, the man behind Goddess. Of course. And they were here to audition for the face of Goddess, thus the Greek names. It was clever—weird, but clever.

“I’m so excited for you.” Bridget locked arms with Nikki and pulled her toward the hallway.

“About being the face of Goddess?”

The brunette gave her arm a squeeze. “That and you know—coming into your own.”

Nikki had no idea what “coming into your own”
meant, but after this morning, she was tired of being clueless. “Oh, well, thanks.”

“So…who’d you have to bang to get that job?”

Nikki’s mouth dropped open. She glanced over her shoulder to find the other women still staring at her. “It was Creed’s idea.”

“I just bet it was. That man is hot enough to set my panties on fire.”

“I know, right?” Nikki gave her a coy smile. “You should go for that.”

“Who? Creed?” She yanked Nikki to a stop. “I thought you were hitting that.”

“Me?” Nikki scrunched up her face. “No.”

Bridget propped her hands on her hips. “Are you sure? Because all he’s been talking about is you and this shoot for the last three hours.”

“He’s probably just excited.” This was not a conversation she wanted to engage in. Sure, there had been flirting last night, but that’s all it was, especially after her night with Tor. Fueled by estrogen, gossip ran rampant through corporations like Kythera Cosmetics. The small amount of testosterone in the building did little to dampen the effect when a juicy tidbit hit the grapevine. “Creed is really nice, but you know me—” She fixed Bridget with her best martyr look. “I don’t mix business and pleasure.”

God would strike her down for that lie. Last night she’d not only mixed business with pleasure, but dumped them both into a huge blender and hit puree.

“Too bad.” Bridget pushed open a swinging cherry door. “Cuz I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t take much to get Creed out of his pants.”

As if to add a visual to Bridget’s prediction, Creed turned, smiling as he closed the distance between them. He was definitely lingerie-worthy. Even the stuff that looked like dental floss and needed to be surgically removed from the crack of her butt. Still, he couldn’t hold a candle to Tor.

“You made it.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Determined to enjoy herself and not think about Tor, she pushed all thoughts of last night and this morning from her mind. If he could pretend they hadn’t shagged their brains out, then so could she—maybe. “What happens first?”

He eyed her for a few seconds. “I think I’d like to put you in front of the camera before we start your makeover.” He brushed a lock of hair away from her face. “Let’s find out which of your features play best to the camera. Then I’ll let them have at you. “

“Them?” Nikki asked.

“The hair and makeup crew.”

Bridget gave a little shudder and pivoted to leave. “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Nikki called after her. She looked at Creed. “Should I be afraid?”

“Naw, they’re pussycats.” His firm fingers wrapped around her upper arm and guided her toward an open space in front of a camera. A white backdrop stretched behind her, but there were no other adornments to the set. Bright lights snapped on, and she blinked against their harsh glare. “Stand here, smile, and try to relax.” He moved behind the camera and peered through the lens. “I’m going to take these preliminary shots, but you’ll be assigned one of Kythera’s professional photographers for the real shoot.”

It was as if her arms and hands had grown five times their normal size. No matter how she positioned them they felt awkward and unnatural. She finally locked her fingers behind her back and smiled. Creek clicked off several shots.

“Can you turn to your right and look back at the camera?”

She did as he asked, trying to shake her nervousness. His directions were clear and tempered with gentle guidance. After a few minutes, she relaxed, understanding what he wanted from her. Perhaps she was more like her mother than she cared to admit. In all the years her mother modeled, Nikki couldn’t remember seeing a bad picture her. Either it never happened or the photos no longer existed. Azzura Li Fonti was a natural-born camera whore.

“And now to the left.” Creed’s voice took on a businesslike tone, gaining in its intensity. “Beautiful.” He straightened and smiled at her. “Just as I thought. You’re a natural.”

“A chip off the old block, eh?” In her opinion that wasn’t a compliment. She moved out of the lighting to stand next to him. “May I see?”

He handed her the camera. “Scroll right and left with this button.”

His fingers brushed hers and his chest pressed against her shoulder. A faint hint of cologne wafted around Nikki, reminding her of fresh air and the ocean. Perfect for his beach-boy looks.

With each new picture, he pointed out what he liked and didn’t like. His eye for detail was impressive. To Nikki, the photos were just great shots that made her look way better than she actually did. But from his descriptions, she ceased to be a person and instead became a beautiful object to capture.

“You still on board for a makeover?”

She handed him back the camera. “If you still want me, I’m yours.”

“I like the sound of that.” His smile held a hint of flirtation.

“I bet you do. All these beautiful women dying to be molded by you. It must be every man’s fantasy.”

He shrugged, a little of his playfulness evaporating. “You’d be surprised how much it’s
not
my fantasy.”

“Just looking for an old-fashioned girl, eh?”

“I’d be happy with somebody whose life wasn’t driven by every morsel of food she put in her mouth or the latest trend.”

Creed’s confession seemed sincere, and even though she was probably being a complete idiot for still hoping things would work out between her and Tor, she needed to put the kibosh on any ideas Creed might have about the two of them. However, she did know somebody who might be open to the idea of dating Creed. After all, he was a trophy-winning catch. “I should introduce you to my friend Stacey. She’s an attorney and loves to eat.”

“Trying to pawn me off on your friends, eh?” He smirked when she said nothing, only stared at him like a deer in the headlights. “What if I said it’s not your friend I’m interested in?”

A warm blush crept up her cheeks. “I’d say I’m flattered.” She paused. “Wait, you were talking about me, right?”

“Yes.” His blue eyes twinkled. “Unless you’ve got a special someone in your life already?”

Did she? That was a loaded question. She crossed her arms and sort of folded in on herself, not knowing how to respond. “It’s complicated.”

“Complicated, huh?” His gaze zeroed in on her, and she found it difficult to meet his eyes. “Is it Tor?”

Nikki’s mouth dropped open and she gave a cough of gasping horror. “Why would you say that?”

He shrugged. “Something about his death stare and the way you fawned over him at dinner last night.”

“I did not fawn over him.” She lifted her chin and glowered at him. “He was sick. I was concerned.”

“Then it’s not Tor?”

Curse her inability to lie. “Shouldn’t we be starting my makeover?”

“Then it is Tor?”

She let out a long-suffering breath. “Yes, it’s Tor, but so far it’s one-sided.”

“I’m sensing a but.”

She shrugged. “But I’m not ready to give up hope—yet.”

“I get it.” He nodded. “And Tor’s a fool if he doesn’t see what’s right in front of him.”

Dang, why couldn’t she fall for somebody like Creed? He was considerate, understanding, and drop-your-panties gorgeous. “Yeah, and I’m a fool for hoping he’ll change his mind.”

“Anything I can do to help? Maybe pretend to be your boyfriend to make him insanely jealous?”

She laughed, but his gaze was unrelenting. “That’s very sweet, but I can fight my own battles. I’d rather know where I stand with him than play games.”

His eyes traveled up and down her body, creating a warm stirring in the pit of her stomach. “I knew I liked you for a reason.”

“I wish he felt the same way.”

“Maybe he does. I don’t know Tor very well but he seems like a man that plays his cards close to his chest.”

“Too close sometimes.” She pointed a finger at him. “Anyway, I’d love to set you up with my friend Stacey. Are you opposed to a sexy Latina attorney?”

“I think I could suffer through an introduction.”

Nikki folded her arms again. “Good, I’ll call you with the details later—after she agrees.”

“It sounds like a plan.” He shrugged. “And in the end, if it doesn’t work out with those two, maybe you’ll give me a chance.”

She smiled. “Perhaps.” Though she doubted she’d be in a receptive emotional state if Tor completely rejected her.

He covered her hand with his, brought it to his lips, and kissed the tips of her fingers. “Come on, let’s get you ready.”

Their next stop was the makeup room. She’d never been in this section of the building before. The stylists and makeup crew were incredibly territorial, and she’d never had much reason to venture further than the executive dining room on the twelfth floor. Girlish excitement bubbled to the surface when the line of beauty products and tools came into view. Playing with her mother’s makeup on a photo shoot was one of the few good memories she had from her childhood. So many colors and products. It was like crack for beauty queens.

“Girl, I know that look.” José, the senior makeup artist, waved a ring-clad finger at her. “Like you’ve woken up to find Adonis naked, holding two cups of steaming coffee and a dozen doughnuts.” He winked at her. “If you know what I mean.”

“Nice visual, José,” Creed said.

She laughed. “Am I that transparent?”

“It happens to all of us, honey.” He motioned her over to a swivel chair. “Cosmetics are in our blood.”

“I’ll leave you in José’s capable hands.” Creed checked his watch. “What are we thinking, two hours?”

“Oh honey, by that time we’ll have her looking like Aphrodite herself.”

“Sounds good.” Creed waved. “I’ll check back.”

“You do that.” José winked and shook his head. “Thank you to whoever decided to hire that man. He’s just delicious.”

Nikki had met José once, but mainly knew of him by reputation. Everything she’d ever heard seemed to be true. White skinny pants hugged birdlike legs, and a fluorescent green-and-blue scarf draped gracefully about his neck. The small paunch and deep crow’s feet around his eyes tagged him as middle-aged, but his flamboyant style contradicted any hint of a sedentary lifestyle.

“You’re welcome.” Nikki smiled and climbed into the chair. “Though I merely suggested Mr. Killion for the job.”

I just bet you did.

There were the voices in her head again. She stared at José, positive his lips had not moved, but the look on his face told her he thought she was sleeping with Creed. Mind reading—definitely a cause to call up the psychiatrist.

“So,” she said, deciding not to mention her oddly disturbing ability, “what are you going to do to me?” She ignored José’s reference to her and Creed having a relationship. Being the face of Goddess was supposed to be a fun pastime, but she still needed to remain professional. “I’m open to anything.”

She’d seen José’s work. The man was a genius.

He pulled the elastic from her hair and let it spill around her shoulders. With a ruffling motion, he fluffed her tangled mass. A girlish pout creased his mouth when he picked several strands and held them up like a dead mouse. “Were you going for the street urchin look?”

“Come on, it’s not that bad.”

“Girl, I’ve seen more style on roadkill.”

“Wow, harsh.” She stroked her hair, toying with the ends. “All right, tell me what magic you’re going to perform.”

“Not me, honey. I fix the face.”

He stepped aside and a tall Asian woman wearing what looked like a tool belt approached. Scissors of varying sizes and several other haircutting implements jutted from the pockets.