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Their faces were only inches apart, and she allowed a moment of staring, wishing she could indulge and kiss him goodnight.
“See you tomorrow?” he asked.
“Tomorrow.” She turned on the engine as he stepped away from the vehicle. As she drove away, he was still looking after her from where she saw in her rear-view mirror. The man was way too good at this. If it already wasn’t for her strong feelings for him, he’d surely get her to cower under his spell.
Twenty
Arriving as told,Rick dropped off his bag of food in the staff room before heading for his next shoot. The team advised him to come with clothes he didn’t mind getting dirty, and he wondered if they were going to throw paint on him this time.
He had another makeup artist today, an older, scarier looking lady with one too many piercings on her nose, no eyebrows, and black lips. When she shot him a smile, which made her more approachable, he sighed with relief. Modeling was intimidating. He questioned everything. Even for a short project like this, he was already on edge, anticipating what was needed.
“Hi, I’m Ruby,” the artist introduced, holding out her hand. “I’ll be doing your makeup today.”
“Hello…” He shook her hand. “So I scrubbed my face as much as instructed. I’m not sure if it’s enough.”
Ruby felt his cheek with her hand. “That’s fine, dear. Come sit.”
As he got on the chair, he looked around for Charlie. It was early, and she said she was coming in later, but he wanted to catch her before getting locked in for hours of makeup and posing. IfNick and Alex were to see him now… they would never let him live it down.
As Ruby got to work, Rick relaxed, having gotten used to the routine. After an unknown time, Ruby put her tools down and thanked him.
“You’re great at this. So chill while I do my thing,” she commented.
“Thanks.”
“I’m going to clean up. Alec said he’ll be running late so you can rest up a little before the show starts.” Ruby grabbed her stuff and left.
He reached for his phone, intending to see if he received anything from Charlie, when he heard his name.
Aera, the business partner, stood at the door before approaching. She was another definition of intimidating. All clean and sleek sophistication, Rick had an inclination to stand up and salute her.
“Hi, there,” she greeted. “I’m not sure if you remember me.”
“It’s Aera, right?”
She nodded. “That’s me. I don’t think we were formally introduced. But Charlie talks about you enough that I need to make it official.”
He took the hand she held out, only hearing one thing in particular. “She talks about me often?”
“You’re the topic of the year.”
“Really?” He didn’t know how he felt about that. He only wanted to be Charlie’s topic of the century.
“Since she ran from her wedding, you were the knight in shining armor who saved her.”
Rick laughed. “She saved herself. I was just the ride.”
“The ride, the shoulder for her to lean on, and the one to make her stop thinking with just a kiss,” Aera listed.
“Charlie said that?” he asked proudly.
“Sure did. She talked about you with more enthusiasm than she did her ownfiancé.”
Guilt struck him, knowing he’d taken that for granted. “Her only flaw is having too much faith in people,” he said. “I don’t deserve half of her compassion.”
“She really sees the good in people, and she never wants to give up on them. Her brother is the biggest example,” she said. “But you’re not that bad, Rick. At least, you know when you’re wrong and are willing to correct it.”
“I hope so.”
