“So?” I ask. “What do you think?”
“Hmmm,” he says, studying me. “I think, let’s tuck it in.” But before I can start, he is tucking the shirt in for me. Then he takes a step back. “Yes! Much better. We can see your perfect little waist and heavenly wide hips so much better now. You look fantastic,” he says. “For the least cooperative customer I’ve ever had, you look incredible,” he says, arching an eyebrow at me. I chuckle and squeeze his forearm.
“Thank you,” I say.
“You had no idea about this, did you?” he asks, and I shake my head. He is about to say something else when Kikki hands him a velvet bag and Marco produces the heels from it.
“Oh,” Kikki says. “You look amazing. Brenner better have a healthy heart.”
“It’s not too sheer?” I ask, thinking of the gasket Bren blew when he realized Andreas saw me naked.
“Just sheer enough,” she says and winks at me.
Marco hands me the shoes from the bag, and I put them on. They make me spin one last time for final approval.
“Makeup and hair time!” Kikki sing-songs.
“We’re using my foundation. I’m very particular about that,” I say.
Kikki smiles. “Of course.”
Luckily, Kikki is more cooperative than Marco. She straightens and styles my asymmetrical bob perfectly and agrees to the smokey eye and dark red lip I request. Even if she took ten minutes too long trying to match the shade of the lipstick to my bra, I have to admit, I look great.
Once they pack up, Marco and Kikki give me a kiss on each cheek before leaving. “Your hunk is waiting downstairs,” Kikki says and winks at me again before she exits the room for the last time.
“Thank you,” I say to both of them.
I glance in the mirror for one last check. I look great, but the fact that Bren took the liberty of hiring stylists for me doesn’t sit well with me. He is already pampering me too much with this trip, and now he wants to dress me like some sort of paper doll.
I wouldn’t have looked quite this amazing left to my own devices, but I wouldn’t have been anything to scoff at either, damn it. I only let the stylists do their thing to preserve their dignity. I couldn’t think of anything worse than being hired for a job only to have someone else sabotage my efforts. But if people and their feelings weren’t involved, I’d have shoved this gift up Brenner Reindhart’s ass.
Brenner Reindhart needs to be taught a lesson.
FOURTEEN
Bren
Andreas finds me at the foot of the stairs. “You ready to go?” he asks me.
“As soon as Sofia comes down. Should be any minute now.”
“You’re going to flip. Seriously,” the girl stylist says, then proceeds to eat Andreas with her eyes. He clears his throat and follows her and the male stylist out as they leave.
When Andreas comes back inside, he apologizes for earlier.
“It wasn’t your fault,” I reassure him.
“I know, but you couldn’t have liked for me to see her naked like that.”
I grit my teeth. “Stop bringing it up,” I bark.
Andreas chuckles. “Sure thing,” he says but won’t wipe that stupid grin off his stupid pretty-boy face.
Andreas was hired midway through the first year of the firstIndustrial Novembertour when crowds started to get a little bit too scary for our liking. After eight years, Andreas has more than proven his loyalty, and all the guys in the band consider him a friend.
And only because of that friendship is he entirely ignorant of how close to being fired he came today. Then his jaw drops as he gazes above me. I turn around, following the direction of his gaze, and Sofia looks down at us from the top of the stairs like the goddess she is.
I haven’t seen her in heels before and am surprised at how graceful she is in those sexy strappy high heels. She descends the stairs slowly, allowing my anticipation of her to grow. I need to touch her. And god damn it, I am going to kill that stylist for the sheer blouse. I also need to seriously consider firing Andreas and getting a female bodyguard.