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My brows shot up. “How the hell did you know that?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I just did.”
“That’s dangerous—for me.”
She smiled and adjusted the tucked-in corner of her towel. “I should go get dressed before people start arriving.”
As much as I hated to see her cover up, there’s no way I wanted to share the way she looked with anyone—especially the asshat photographer. I nodded. “Go.”
Stella walked away, but at the bedroom doorway she yelled back.
“Hudson?”
“Yeah?”
She let the towel drop to the floor.
I groaned. This was going to be one long day.
Before Stella finished getting dressed, the first person arrived. Dig—at least I was pretty sure that’s what he’d grumbled when he introduced himself—was a stylist. He rolled in a trunk on wheels and looked around for where to set up.
A minute later the makeup person knocked, followed by three guys delivering rented furniture, room service, a lighting technician, and some random guy whose accent was so strong I had no idea what the hell he said he did. They all pounced on Stella as soon as she emerged from the bathroom.
After forty-five minutes being surrounded by a team of people primping, she looked a little overwhelmed. So I made a plate with some fruit and a croissant from the breakfast spread and set it down in front of her.
“Did you eat yet?”
Stella shook her head.
I looked at the hairdresser who had just wrapped her entire head in rollers and then at the two guys flanking her on both sides. “Could you give her five minutes, please?”
“Oh…of course.”
I nodded my head toward the trays of food. “Why don’t you help yourselves to something to eat? There’s a table outside on the patio.”
Once she wasn’t being prodded anymore, Stella let out a big exhale. “Thanks. How did you know I needed a break?”
I shrugged. “Same way you knew I was about two seconds from ripping your towel off during that kiss earlier.”
She smiled and picked up the banana I’d put on her plate. As she went to peel it, she caught my scribble and read out loud.
“I can’t wait to show you my banana. Ooh…” She giggled. “I think I’m going to like these notes much better now.”
I smiled, but pointed to her plate. “Eat. They’re going to be back in here painting shit on your face in a few minutes.”
“On second thought, I’m going to save this for later.” Stella set down the banana and picked up a piece of melon. “So what are we going to do tonight for our date? I know I asked you out, but it’s my first time in California.”
“I figured I’d feed you and show you around LA, since you’ve never been.”
“Oh, that sounds awesome.” She bit into the cantaloupe and made an Mmmmm sound. “This is really good melon.”
“I have a call at four this afternoon that I couldn’t postpone, but if we wrap things up here early enough, I can always do that from the road.”
“If you’re too busy to go out later…” She smirked. “I can always ask Phoenix to show me around.”
My eyes narrowed. Stella lifted the piece of cantaloupe toward her lips for another bite, but I caught her wrist and redirected the fruit to my own mouth, nipping at her fingers as I took it.
“Oww…”
“You’re lucky we have a crowd and I can’t put you over my knee and smack your ass for that comment.”
She giggled. “We could go in the other room…”
“Don’t tempt me, sweetheart.” My eyes dropped to her lips. “I’ll absolutely clear this suite if you want to play that game.”
Stella’s eyes sparkled, daring me to make good on my threat. But a knock at the door interrupted our little chat.
It was an effort not to scowl, finding Phoenix on the other side. Yet I welcomed him with a curt nod. “Morning.”
The fucker walked right to Stella without even acknowledging me.
Shutting the door behind him, I grumbled, “Good to see you, too.”
Deciding it probably wasn’t good to act like a jealous boyfriend before the first date, I thought I’d go see what was going on outside. The furniture and prop people had been working on the patio since they arrived.
The small outdoor area had been transformed into a scene from Bill Nye: The Science Guy, with the addition of some estrogen. There was a lab table set up with beakers and equipment, but also jars of bright red rose petals, sand, and various colorful flowers. The front of the table had been outfitted with the Signature Scent logo, and a mirrored tray displayed all the different bottles the perfume came in.
Dig walked over and wiped sweat from his forehead. “What do you think?”
“It looks great.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t sure what the hell it was going to look like from the list of stuff we were instructed to pull together. Seemed like a strange combination. But I get it now, especially once the model is in the shot.”
