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Truthfully, it was a relief to no longer have to hide the fact that she was pregnant. Disguising a growing baby bump wasn’t easy. Loose shirts, pinned slacks and an oversize bag to hold in front of the rounding part of her body could only work for so long. Knowing her secret was out was...liberating in a way she hadn’t expected.
Taking a deep breath, she headed for the building, stepped into the air-conditioned cool and came face-to-face with Eddie, the lead cameraman. He was an older man, with grizzled salt-and-pepper hair that stuck out around his head like he’d been electrocuted.
“We’re ready for the run-through, Naomi.” He gave her a smile and a thumbs-up. “You good to go?”
“I really am, as soon as I stop by makeup,” she said. Twenty minutes later, she walked to the set, hair perfect, makeup just as she wanted it and her wardrobe displaying that bump she’d been hiding for too long.
Local cable channel or not, Naomi’s show, Fashion Sense, was catching on. In the last year, she’d managed to get picked up by affiliates in Houston and Dallas, and just this week a station in Galveston had contacted her about carrying her show. And, thanks to social media, word about her show was spreading far beyond the Texas borders. Her Facebook page boasted followers from as far away as New York and California and even a few in Europe.
Naomi had plans. She wanted to take her show national. She wanted to be featured in magazines, to be taken seriously enough that even her parents would have to sit up and take notice. And she was going to make those dreams come true. Lifting her chin, Naomi walked in long, determined strides to the center of her set and turned to face the camera and her growing audience. The lights were bright, hot and felt absolutely right.
“In five, four,” Tammy, the assistant sound engineer, said, counting down with her fingers as well until she reached one and pointed at Naomi.
“Hi, and welcome to Fashion Sense. I’m Naomi Price.” She was comfortable in front of the camera. Always had been, a small part of her mind admitted quietly. Toby had been right about that, too. She enjoyed being the center of attention when it was her idea.
And she had a lot of ideas. Just last night, while she wandered her condo hoping for sleep, her mind had raced with all kinds of possibilities. To grow her audience, she had to grow the show itself. Make it appeal to as many people as possible. There were plenty of women out there, she knew, who didn’t give a damn about fashion—though she found that hard to believe. But those women did care about their homes, decorating. Just look at all the DIY programs that were so popular.
Well, she couldn’t build a staircase or install fresh lighting, but she knew how to find those who could. So today, she was going to announce a few of the changes she had in mind. Starting, she told herself, with the biggest announcement of all. With Maverick’s video out and viral by now, she had to assume that her viewers had seen it, or would have by the time this show aired. So she was taking control of the situation.
“As you can see,” she said, turning sideways to show off the baby bump proudly displayed beneath a tight lavender tank, “my own personal fashion style will be undergoing some drastic transformations over the next few months. My fiancé, Toby McKittrick, and I are both very happy about our coming baby and we’re excited to greet all the new things in our future.”
Smiling into the camera, she faced the audience head-on again and continued. “And to keep up with the changes in my life, I’m going to be doing a lot of shows focusing on contemporary, fashionable maternity wear, obviously.”
Again, that brilliant smile shot into the camera and into homes across Texas. “But don’t worry. It’s not going to be all babies all the time. As our lives grow and evolve, we have to keep up. So here on Fashion Sense, we’re going to be branching out—dipping into home furnishings and gardens and even designing your own outdoor living space.” She tossed her hair back from her face and winked. “Since I’m expanding, I thought it was only right the show did a little growing, too.”
Off camera, she heard a chuckle from one of the grips and knew she’d hit just the right note.
“So I hope you’ll come with me on this journey of discovery. Over the next few months, we’ll all be in new territory—should be fun!”
“And cut.”
When Eddie gave her the go-ahead, Naomi looked at him and asked, “Well, how’d I do?”
“Great, Naomi, seriously great.”
Eddie winked at her. “I think you’re on to something with this house stuff. My wife’s always watching those home shows, coming up with things for me to do. So I already know she’ll be hounding me to do whatever it is you show her.”
“Good to know,” Naomi said, laughing.
“We’re gonna set up for the next shot. Be about fifteen minutes,” Eddie said as the crew scurried around, making TV magic happen.
As long as most women felt as Eddie’s wife did, this new direction Naomi was determined to take would work out. All she had to do was bring in experts to interview and to demonstrate their specialties. She could already see it. Gardeners, painters, tiling specialists. She would push Fashion Sense to the next level—and at the bottom of it, didn’t she have Maverick to thank for the push?
Unsettling thought. Naomi wandered off to a chair in a quiet corner of the studio, sat down and turned her phone on. She checked her email, sighed a little at the number of them and wondered halfheartedly how many of them were because of Maverick’s video. With that thought in mind, she closed her email program. She didn’t need to deal with them right this minute, and she really didn’t want to ruin the good mood she was in.
Because she felt great. She’d taken Maverick’s slap at her and turned it around. She was taking ownership of her pregnancy, pushing her show to new heights—and marrying her best friend.
Okay, she could admit that she was still worried about that. Toby had been such an important part of her life for so long that if she lost him because of a fake marriage, it would break her heart. So maybe they needed to talk again. To really think this through, together. To somehow make a pact that their friendship would always come first.
The rumble and scrape of furniture being moved echoed in the building, letting her know the guys were still hard at work. So when her phone rang, Naomi checked the screen and felt her heart sink into a suddenly open pit in her stomach.
Wouldn’t you know it? Just when things were starting to look up.
Answering her phone, she said, “Hello, Gio.”
“Ciao, bella.” The voice was smooth, dark and warm, just as she remembered it from that night nearly five months ago now.
Naomi closed her eyes as the memory swept over her, and she shook her head to lose it again just as fast. It wasn’t easy admitting that you’d been stupid enough to have a one-night stand with a man you knew would be nothing more than that. And even though they’d used protection, apparently it wasn’t foolproof.
