Love Signals: An opposites-attract, forced proximity, only one bed, revenge romantic comedy (Love St

20. Too Many Aestheticians in the Kitchen

Allie

”Ouch!”I try to move but Zia Fernanda’s grip on my head is too strong.

”Stay still,” she says, attacking me with the tweezers again. My right eye starts to water the second she plucks out another one of my errant eyebrow hairs.

It’s late Saturday afternoon, and half my family showed up hours ago to help me get ready for my big date (which I keep telling them is not an actual date but a PR stunt). I wish it was a real date. Oh, how I wish. These last few weeks of being with Hudson all day have been pure torture. I’ve basically given up on the fan because his scent is burned into my brain. Even right now—when I’m being choked by a blend of cheap perfumes worn by my aunt and my sister, who is trimming my cuticles at the moment—my brain can instantly conjure up the smell of Hudson’s cologne. Or his skin. I have no idea what it is, but it’s got me undone. But I can’t let myself believe it’s a real date, because that would mean I’d start to believe we have a future together, which we definitely don’t. Therefore, tempering my expectations is imperative for my heart.

Lucia stops what she’s doing long enough to look at my eyebrows. ”I don”t think the eyebrow plucking is a good idea. She’ll have big red dots all over her face when he gets here.”

”First of all, she doesn’t have crazy black hairs all over her face. Only on her eyebrows,” Zia says. “And second, she will not have red marks. I”ve got a soothing balm I”m going to put on. I”ve been doing this for almost forty years, and somehow you still don”t think I know what I”m doing?”

”She”s got very sensitive skin, this one,” my mom says, rummaging through her jewelry box for a pair of cubic zirconia studs she bought on the Home Shopping Network back in the 90s.

I wince a little even though Zia’s not actually plucking anything at the moment. ”Yes, my skin is very sensitive, so maybe we should just leave the rest.”

She crouches over me, scouring my face for any last hairs that don”t belong. ”My niece is about to go on the most important date of her entire life. There is no way in hell I”m sending her out there unless she looks perfect.”

My father, who just appeared in the kitchen with an empty espresso mug, shakes his head. ”My daughter is perfect the way she is. She doesn”t need the plucking or the makeup or anything else. And if she needs all of that stuff to impress this man, then he is not the right man. Because the right man is going to see the beauty in her no matter what”s happening with her face.”

I smile over at my dad, who’s got that look that tells me he’s terrified his little girl is about to go out with some big shot actor. And I’m not just guessing about that. I overheard him saying it to my mom last night when I was on my way down to the kitchen for a snack. He’s afraid that Hudson is going to break my heart, just like ‘the other one,’ and I have to say, there’s a reasonable possibility it could happen. Because no matter how hard I try to tell myself we’re just colleagues, it’s too late. I’m falling for him, hard. “Thanks, Pops.”

“That”s very sweet, Enzo,” Zia says, gripping my head again. ”Totally wrong, but sweet.” She quickly yanks out two more hairs and then stands back to admire her handiwork. ”Better. In fact, perfect.”

Lucia shakes her head. ”Unlike these cuticles. Honestly, Allie, I don”t understand how you let your nails get so bad.”

”She lets them get like this because she”s busy being an astronomer all day and all night,” my mother says, and to be honest, I”m not sure if she means it as a compliment or an insult.

Zia pours some type of oil onto a cotton pad, then presses it to my stinging eyebrows. It feels cool and soothing and, for the first time since everybody showed up today, I”m not completely annoyed. And I know they”re here to help. Well, sort of. They also want to get another glimpse of Hudson.

”I”m going to let your face settle while I do your hair.” My aunt smiles at me and pats me on the cheek a little too hard. ”You”re going to look like a princess.”

Forty-five minutes later, my hair has been swept off my neck into a surprisingly lovely and rather complicated updo, my nails have been painted a soft pink, and my makeup is flawless for the second time in my life. The first time was when Zia got me ready for my senior prom. I”m dressed in an off-the-shoulder chiffon gown in various shades of soft pink with a raspberry-colored velvet clutch, both of which belong to my grandma. I stand, staring at myself in the full-length mirror in my parents’ bedroom, with half of the family crowded into the room with me.

I glance down at my niece, Camilla. ”Well? What do you think?”

”I think you can actually look like a real lady with enough help.”

Children are so good for the ego, no?

My mom is busy snapping photos of me on her phone while Lucia fluffs out the long skirt of my gown. She glances at her daughter. ”Camilla, can you plug your ears for second, sweetie?”

Nodding, Camilla sticks a finger in each ear. As soon she does, Lucia says, ”I am so jealous right now, you lucky bitch. I”m not sure I”ll ever get over this.”

She gives her daughter the nod that it”s okay for her to take her fingers out of her ears. Camilla scrunches up her face. ”Were you talking about sex?”

Jaws drop around the room and Lucia”s face turns bright red. ”No! Of course not. Zia Allie is not married.”

Giving her mom a skeptical look, Camilla says, ”Mom, I know how it works. People don”t have to be married to do sex.”

Grandma makes a loud tsking sound, then says, ”You never should”ve let them go to public school.”

The doorbell rings, putting an end to the conversation and causing the entire room to erupt with squeals of excitement. Oh God, I hope he can’t hear that from the front entrance.

”Okay ladies, let”s keep it down,” I say.

”Aren”t you excited, cara?” my mom asks.

”No, I”m nervous. That television crew will be there again, so I”m pretty much going to be spending the entire time trying not to make a fool of myself.”

”Oh God, I never even thought of that,” Lucia says. ”It could totally happen.”

”Shush, you,” mom says, waving her hand at my sister. Turning to me, she says, ”Everything is going to work out beautifully. You”re a vision and he is a handsome, charming man, and tonight is the start of what will be a wonderful life together. And if you play your cards right, you”re going to have the most beautiful babies.”

”So they are going to do sex,” Camilla mutters.

My face heats up and thankfully, my father saves me from the rest of this conversation by calling up the stairs. ”Allegra, that Hudson guy is here to pick you up. Do you still want to go?”

I hurry out of the room and glare down at him over the railing, then whisper, ”Of course I still want to go.”

”I wasn”t sure because you are taking so long to come down.”

My relatives come pouring out into the hallway and scoot around me, rushing down the stairs to greet him while my mom hangs back a bit. ”You ready?”

I nod, feeling my heart in my throat. ”I just need to grab my glasses.”

She shakes her head. “You can”t wear glasses with this dress. That would be sacrilegious.”

”Sacrilegious?”

”You know what I mean. It”ll look bad. It”ll ruin all of Zia’s hard work.”

”But what if I need to read something?”

”Get him to read it for you. Men love it when we make them feel smart.” She places her hand on the middle of my back and corrals me toward the stairs. ”You don”t need your glasses. Let yourself be beautiful for once in your life.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“You know I think you’re beautiful, but just not this beautiful most days,” she answers. “No one is this beautiful most days.”

I lift the long skirt with one hand and grip the railing with the other as I navigate my way down the staircase in a pair of Lucia’s heels. As soon as I turn the corner, I see Hudson standing in the front entry looking incredible. He”s dressed in a tuxedo that I”m sure was tailor-made for him, and the look on his face dissolves all my nervousness in an instant, replacing it with pure joy. I don”t even care that my entire family is standing here crowded into the front room, and, from the sexy smile he”s wearing, I don”t think he cares either. Although technically he is a professional at smiling, so…

I straighten out my shoulders and do my best to walk like a woman who knows how to wear high heels. When I reach him, I say, ”Hi.”

He glances down at my dress then back up at my face. ”You look stunning.”

”I bet you say that to all the girls.”

Shaking his head, he says, ”I”m not sure I”ve ever used that word in my whole life.”

My grandma pipes in with, ”Well, it”s my dress.”

Hudson chuckles a little and smiles down at her. ”It”s a beautiful dress. Thank you for lending it to Allegra.”

Based on the aww sound coming from around the room, I”m pretty sure he just made every woman in this house fall in love with him. Looking back at me, he says, ”We should probably go.”

”Yes, please,” I say, giving him a ‘get me out of here’ look.

He pushes the front door open, then holds out his arm for me. I reach up and put my hand inside the crook of his elbow as if it”s the most normal thing in the world for me to be doing—to be walking out my front door all dressed up in formal wear with one of the world”s most famous leading men.

I can see the entire neighborhood has been given advanced warning of this evening’s events, because somehow everyone is out working on their front yards. Actually, now that I look at them, I notice that a lot of them aren’t even pretending to have a reason to be out here, and are instead holding up their phones filming us.

“Wait! Allegra,” my mom calls from the front step.

Hudson and I both turn, only to see her rushing towards us. “I forgot to get a picture of you two.”

“Oh God, Ma,” I start to say, but Hudson wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me in, and the rest of my sentence disappears from my mind before I can even think it.

“Perfect. I can get the limo in too,” she says, holding up her phone.

I smile at her, and it’s a real smile, one born of hope and possibilities and the thrill of having the perfect man’s arm around me on a perfect, albeit chilly, evening. A few seconds later, the rest of my family joins them on the lawn, all holding up their phones. Out of the corner of my mouth, I say, “I’m sorry about this.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m used to it.”

When they’ve all got their shots, my dad says, “Hey, Mr. Finch. My daughter’s coach turns into a pumpkin at midnight, so have her home before then.”

“Pop, I’m thirty-five,” I hiss.

“And you’re still my little girl.”

“Midnight it is, sir,” Hudson says, not sounding the least bit offended.

Pointing at Hudson’s pants, my dad says, “And the pepper stays in the pepper mill.”

My face flames with embarrassment and rage, and I give my dad the mother of all glares as Hudson carefully spins me to face the car and gestures for me to get in. I step in and slide out of his way, then watch as he settles himself next to me. I’m honestly tempted to slap my own face just to make sure this is really happening because the entire thing feels like a fairy tale. A dream that I never want to wake up from. Well, other than my ridiculously over-protective father. But the rest of it? Incredible.

How is this my life right now?

“I’ve been in a limo exactly one time—on my way to my prom,” I tell Hudson as soon as the driver closes the door. I glance around at the massive light grey leather couch that wraps around three sides of the vehicle’s interior. “I probably shouldn’t have said that. It’s not exactly the type of information that makes me sound cool in any way, shape, or form.”

Hudson smiles down at me. “You know what makes you cool, Allie?”

“Nothing,” I answer with a little grin.

“I’m going to ignore that because it’s categorically untrue,” he says. “What’s cool about you is you’re not afraid to be yourself.”

I look down at my dress. “I don’t exactly feel like myself tonight.”

He tilts his head. “In a good way or a bad way?”

“Somehow both at the same time. I feel a little bit glamorous for the first time ever, but also, I’d kind of love to be in that pair of pajamas Stephen sent you.”

Chuckling, Hudson says, “I completely understand. To be honest, I pretty much hate these types of appearances—award shows, galas, photo ops. It’s the part of the business I could do without. But tonight, being here with you is different.”

“Different in a good way or a bad way?”

“One-hundred-percent good,” he says, leaning over and opening the mini-fridge. “Water? Champagne?”

“Water. If I have any alcohol, I’ll sleep through the last half of the opera, and I don’t want to miss a second of it.”

He hands me a water and takes one for himself too. “Now, tell me about your first time in a limo because I noticed you only said you took it on the way to the prom, and now I’m dying to know how you got home.”

I cringe a little, then say, “My parents had to pick me up because I was so wasted the limo driver wouldn’t let me back in the car. He was not wrong either because I definitely got sick.”

“Oooh, been there.”

“But the ride there was amazing. I can still feel the excitement of it—the anticipation of a night when anything and everything seemed possible.”

“Those are the best nights,” he says, his gaze so intense it’s doing all sorts of things to my lady bits.

Like tonight maybe?I nod, and swallow hard. “Definitely.”

“Speaking of anything being possible,” Hudson says, pulling a purple velvet box out of a white gift bag. “One of the perks of my job is that people are willing to lend me things like this.” He flips the lid to reveal a necklace made entirely of round diamonds set in white gold. “I thought it would suit you.”

My heart pounds in my chest and my throat suddenly feels thick. “Are those real?” I whisper.

He chuckles a little. “Yes, they’re real.”

“It’s beautiful. And so sparkly.” And definitely doesn’t belong on someone like me. Shaking my head, I say, “No, I can’t…”

Taking it out of the box, he says, “Yes, you can. Turn around.”

“But what if I wreck it or lose it?”

“You won’t.”

“But what if I do?”

“Then, nothing. They’re going to get a lot of free advertising which is worth more than the necklace,” Hudson says. “Now, turn around already so I can put this on you.”

I do as he asked, my stomach flipping as he lifts his hands over my head. The necklace is both cool against my skin and much heavier than I expected, but I don’t have time to think about that because his fingertips are brushing against the back of my neck, sending the most delightful surges of warmth through my entire body. After a few seconds, he says, “There.”

And with that, his hands are gone long before I’m ready. I turn to him, instinctively reaching for the necklace and running my fingers over the jewels.

When I look up at him, Hudson is smiling. “It looks like it was made for you.”

“Thank you,” I tell him.

“Thank you for taking time off to come with me.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m getting the better end of the deal.”

Shaking his head, he says, “Not even close. You should see who they were going to set me up with.” He pulls a face that makes me laugh.

“That bad?”

“The worst. I’ve never met a person so full of herself. And nasty too. Not to mention a complete airhead.”

“Well in that case, you’re welcome.”

He grins at me, his eyes flicking down to my lips. “Yes, I’m pretty sure tonight is one of those nights where anything and everything is possible.”

Oh good lord, I hope so, because I want to do anything and everything with him so badly it hurts…