Page 86 of Hate To Be Mine

Annika grabbed a thick gold belt and wrapped it around my waist. I stood still as a statue as they worked on me. Elizabeth stood back and nodded.

“That’s it,” she said. “That’s the look.”

Mary Jo appeared with her makeup kit.

“Nothing too dramatic,” I said nervously. “I’m not a model. I can’t pull off the heavily made-up look.”

“Hush,” Mary Jo said, already studying my face with professional intensity. “You have great bone structure. We’re just going to enhance what’s already there.”

She worked for what felt like hours but was probably only twenty minutes. I kept my eyes closed, trying not to think about how many people would see these photos. Trying not to think about my father’s reaction if he somehow found out. My dad wasn’t exactly a fashionista, so I wasn’t too worried he’d be flipping through a magazine and see the pictures. And that was assuming they turned out well enough to actually make it into the campaign. I wasn’t convinced they would.

I felt bad for wasting everyone’s time and energy on what might not be usable material. I just hoped Sebastian wasn’t making a mistake by putting me in the vision he was so eager to make come alive. Personally, I felt like Clarissa would be the better choice.

But he chose me and that meant something. Now I wanted to impress him.

“Done,” Mary Jo announced. “You can look.”

I opened my eyes and looked in the mirror Annika held up.

I barely recognized myself. My eyes looked huge, emphasized with subtle gold and bronze tones. My skin glowed. My hair had been left down but styled into loose waves that looked effortless. It looked like I had twice as much hair as I normally did. There was some serious volume.

The dress made me look like someone from a painting. Someone ethereal and otherworldly and nothing like the uptight insurance rep who wore pantsuits and severe buns.

“Oh,” I breathed.

“Exactly,” Elizabeth said, smiling. “Now go knock Sebastian’s socks off. And probably his pants too.”

“Elizabeth!”

“What? That man is gone for you.”

I felt my cheeks heat, but there was no time to respond because Annika was already ushering me toward the tent exit. “Go on,” she said. “Your photographer awaits.”

I stepped out into the sunlight, suddenly self-conscious about the dress, my hair, and my makeup. All of it. I had on a pair of water shoes with grip that would help keep me from slipping—my addition to the outfit. The crew was setting up near the water, and I could see Sebastian talking to Reese and gesturing at the cove.

Then he turned and saw me. He stopped mid-sentence. Just stopped. His mouth fell open and his eyes went wide. For a long moment, he just stared, and I felt simultaneously exposed and powerful under that gaze. It felt like the world stopped for just a few seconds.

I dropped the jaw of Sebastian Blackwell. The hottest man I’d ever seen in real life. The man who’d probably seen thousands of beautiful women.

And he was looking at me like I’d stolen his breath. No matter what happened between us, I would always have this moment. The certainty that I had affected him.

“Bernadette,” he said, finally finding his voice. “You look incredible. You are the vision I imagined.”

“Don’t make this weird. Let’s just do the shoot.”

But I was smiling. I couldn’t help it.

The shoot was incredible. Once I got past the initial self-consciousness and stopped overthinking every movement, it became almost meditative. The water was warm around my legs. The sun was perfect on my skin. The dress flowed around my legs. There were several assistants making sure the gown was just right.

Sebastian directed me, telling me where to turn and how to angle my face. Mostly he just let me be and told me to just be in the moment. I didn’t know what that meant, but he seemed to be loving whatever I was doing.

Reese was shooting, but Sebastian was watching. I could feel his gaze on me. It made me want to give him exactly what he was looking for.

“Beautiful,” Reese kept saying. “Bellissima. Yes, just like that.”

We shot for maybe an hour, and through it all, Sebastian watched me with an intensity that made it feel like his fingers were brushing over my bare skin.

When Reese finally called it, saying he had more than enough shots, I felt almost disappointed. I wanted to stay in the moment forever.