AllFreeNovel
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Isit at the dining room table, opposite Lilah Ryan, pulling together mood boards we started working on yesterday. We’re nowhere near done, but for something with this scope, we need so much more prep than anything I’ve ever done before. Fabric samples are scattered across the table, with different boards sitting on different chairs around the room.
Shades of purples and pinks and silvers and greens.
Satins.
Silks.
Leather.
And crystals. So many crystals.
“What about this?” The beautiful blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl next door who stole the hearts of the world at sixteen when the rest of us were busy crushing on the cute boy... My cute boy was her uncle, but anyway, that girl holds up a pretty piece of grape chiffon. “What if we layer this over a lighter color? Would that be pretty?”
She stands and spins. “The skirt would need to be big and flare out around my legs like a ball gown made of butterfly wings.”
“Holy shit, if you start talking about unicorns, I’m done,” I joke, and she bites her lip.
“Sorry. I just want it to be magical. The whole show.” She sits back down and lowers her voice. “It’s going to be the last one I do for a while.”
“Okay, well magical I can help with. Write down butterfly wings as inspiration. I have an idea.” I go searching through some old sketches, looking for something I worked on last spring as I hear her humming a pretty song. Something I don’t recognize.
The dogs bark and run for the door seconds before it opens and Callen walks in the condo. I hear him talking to them and smile as I call out, “Hey, Callen. I’m in the dining room with Lilah.”
If we don’t want this to go public just yet, I need to make sure he doesn’t walk in here naked to bend me over the table.
My God, that sounds like fun, and I have the perfect dress.
I wonder how high my heels would have to be for that to work.
“Callen’s home?” Lilah asks. “What about Maddox and Killian?”
“Callen had practice earlier, but that should have been him that just came in. Maddox and Killer are in Vegas for someMMA thing. And Bellamy is visiting her mom in Maine.” I move around the table to peer into the hall but don’t see him.
“Oh.” She puts the fabric down and looks around the room. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to take over your dining room. I should probably get going.”
“It’s not a problem at all. I like working from home, and I’m really excited for this project. It’s going to be amazing. I can’t wait to see the show.” I smile and close my binder. “Are you going to kick it off in Kings stadium?”
“No. I think they’ve got me scheduled in Europe first. I’ll finish it up in the US.” She moves around the table and hugs me, and I try not to stand there stiff as a board. I’m not exactly the biggest hugger. Bellamy likes to tease that I’m broken. “Thank you so much, Caitlin. I really appreciate this.”
“Lilah, you could have any designer dress you. It makes sense to let your cousin do it, but for me to be a part of it...” Emotion wells, and I have to force the words out just to control the quiver threatening. “Thank you for trusting me. I’m honored.”
“Listen, I’ve seen your work. It’s beautiful. And the way you’ve been styling everyone—perfection. Seriously. I’d love to maybe talk about that if you have time. But I don’t want to ask too much?—”
“I have time. I’ve got plenty of time. You let me know what you need and when, and I’m there.”Holy shit.I’m going to style one of the biggest stars in the world. We may have grown up in the same world, but we weren’t close, and this is a big damn deal for me.
She grabs her phone from the table and shoots off a text.
“Yes. That’s perfect. Let’s get something on the schedule. I just sent you my calendar. I’ve got to go, but we’ll talk tomorrow.” I follow her into the hall and watch as she squats down to give each dog a little love. I swear you can tell whethera person is worth anything at all by the way they treat animals, and Lilah treats them like they’re tiny humans.
“You’ve got a flaw, right?” I ask before my filter can catch it.
Who am I kidding? I don’t have a filter most days.
“What?” She straightens, confused.
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
“I’m not perfect, Cait. That’s just my brand. Perfect and pure like the driven snow. It’s exhausting but worth it.”
