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“Shhhh,” she crooned, her voice low and heavy. “Who do I remind you of?”
The room was silent. I had a feeling no one wanted to get this answer wrong.
They were lucky they didn’t have to guess. Sunny turned to face me, a smile spreading slowly over her lips that melted my nerves away. “My mom. You made me look like my mom.” Tilting her head to the side, she took my hands in both of hers again, and my heart panged from the success of a job completed to satisfaction. “I don’t know what you did differently, but I love it. I really love it.”
Should I give away my secret? When I was Googling her history, I saw a picture of Sunny with her mom from at least fifteen years ago. She was little then, but her mom looked something like this. Sunny was all about the natural look, but I made her lips and eyes subtly darker, just enough to make them pop. Thank you, smudged eyeliner.
Sunny turned to her assistant. “Jackie, grab her info. I want this. More of this.” She circled her hand around in front of her face to explain whatthiswas.
Jackie was by my side immediately, and I relayed my phone number while I packed up most of my makeup, slipping a few things into the belted bag at my waist. I’d need them for touch-ups later.
The knock came again, and Jackie opened the door. A guy with a decidedlyMen in Blackvibe looked right at me. “Rhett is ready for you.”
There they were, folks: the five most beautiful words I’d ever heard in my life. I snapped my cases closed and picked them both up by the handles. “It was great to meet you, Sunny.”
She tore her gaze from the mirror and stilled, her eyes narrowing. “Wait, your aura is changing.”
“What is it now?” I asked, stopping by the door.
Amusement curled her lips. “Let’s just say you don’t seem sad to see Rhett.”
I winked at Sunny before flouncing from the room. But my steps soon met the quicksand slowing me from flitting into Rhett’s dressing room with quite as much zeal. He had no idea the woman who swapped tikka masala with him last night was about to show up.
Breathing through my nose, I told myself this wasn’t a big deal. My first meeting with the guy was already over, and he hadn’t run screaming. How bad could this be?
The Agent K look-alike opened the door and stepped to the side, and I walked past him. Rhett stood at the far end of the room, his back to me while he spoke to someone on the phone. His shoulders were so broad and high, and I dragged my attention away from the perfect shape of his back.
Who knew a back shape could even be perfect? But Rhett’s was on point. He encapsulated everything in real life that I’d fantasized about, and it was a little disconcerting to find him as perfect as I’d expected him to be. I mean, my obsession was years deep now, but actually meeting the guy? Finding out he was just as tall and handsome as he was supposed to be? That threw me a little. History had taught me to expect disappointment from men. I didn’t really know what to do with the fact that, so far, Rhett had exceeded expectations.
I marched up to the counter and set my cases down. The thud was loud, resounding in the room, and he glanced over his shoulder.
Rhett froze when his gaze met mine, his eyes narrowing. He recognized me. Was this good or not? Maybe I should have shown up with some naan as a peace offering.
“You.” He bit the word out like it was a condemnation, then quickly glanced down and softened his voice. “No, notyou, Hal. I think the makeup girl is here, so I need to run. Yeah, yeah. Very funny.” A smile ticked up one side of his mouth, and the effect was dazzling. “Give Tank a big, wet kiss for me.”
Tank: his American bulldog. Hal: his older sister, Hallie.
No, I wasn’t a creep. I just happened to know a lot about this man, as did the 57 million other people who followed him on Instagram.
“Love you, too,” he said before hanging up his phone and slipping it into his pocket. He squared his body toward me and folded his arms over his chest. “So.”
“So,” I repeated brightly. I hadn’t spun the lock combination on my cases yet, so I was able to pop them open easily. I started pulling out the foundation options I would need for Rhett and pretended like my skin wasn’t absolutely on fire from the way his gaze licked over me. Charlie had told me to play it cool. Her advice was to be normal, right?
Well, I wasn’t sure I could be normal, but right now, I should definitely try. I’d just pretend that my bedroom back home didn’t feature four posters of Rhett and a life-size cardboard cutout I’d been gifted after his lastVengeancemovie premiered at our local theater.
Okay, fine.Giftedwas a stretch. I guess the proper term would bestole.
“Why are you here?” he asked.
I brandished my powder brush like a weapon. “Makeup. Your other girl couldn’t make it or something. I’m stepping in for today.”
He looked as if he didn’t quite believe me. Like I was a crazy stalker fan who just happened to sneak my way onto set with an entire makeup kit and a badge after orchestrating a wrong-food delivery and meet-up.
Resting my hand on my hip, I lifted an eyebrow. “I was already lined up to do Sunny’s hair and makeup, and they asked me to pull a double. You want to see my pass?”
Rhett waited a breath too long before shaking his head and taking his seat. That extra beat of time hurt my feelings, even though I had no legitimate right to feel that way. I couldn’t blame him for being wary, especially not when his last makeup girl had pulled a stunt at that restaurant opening—whatever that meant.
He nodded toward the brush in my hand. “No, it’s fine. Just don’t slit my throat with that thing.”
