Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
L auren knew that a few of the beauty influencers had met before, at other events, but that the rest only knew what they’d seen online. Lauren had spent the last week following the influencers across all social media—TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and more. Some of them were so engaging and shared so much of their personal lives on camera that by the end of the week, Lauren felt like she knew them somewhat. She wondered if they would be like their online personas or if some of that was just performing for the cameras.
“It’s Katy and Anna,” Eloise whispered as two gorgeous girls walked in, pulling giant suitcases and carryon bags. They were both beauty influencers. Katy was barely five feet tall and very curvy. She had auburn hair that was shoulder length and framed her heart-shaped face in long layers. Her best feature was her eyes, which were pale green—her expertly applied shadow, liner and false lashes made them pop.
Katy was also the youngest of the group at just twenty-four and her influencing career had blown up in the past year. She’d gone from working at one of the big makeup stores to having over ten million followers that tuned in several times a day to see her apply makeup and gossip about her life in her thick Southern drawl.
Anna was her opposite in looks—she was twenty-six and about five-eight, very thin, with delicate features and long, fine blonde hair and blue-gray eyes. She had a more natural, understated look and focused on perfume and fashion. She lived in a fabulous Manhattan apartment with a huge terrace and shot many of her videos there, with Smith, her adorable Maltese. Smith was with her, and Anna had an elegant way about her and often hosted glamorous catered dinner parties—where everyone was beautifully dressed and drank gorgeous cocktails and expensive wines.
“This place is awesome,” Katy said as she stepped into the family room and saw the stunning water views.
“I think we’re the first ones here,” Anna said as she looked around the room.
“That means we get first dibs on the best rooms,” Katy said. “Let’s go find the primary bedroom. It will probably have the most closet space.”
The girls disappeared upstairs and returned a few minutes later. As soon as they reentered the room, Katy looked Lauren and Eloise’s way and grinned. “Is it okay to talk to you guys now?”
Lauren glanced at Hudson and he nodded. “We’re good. We got plenty of film of their entrance.”
Lauren introduced herself, Eloise and the camera guys, and Hudson to the two influencers.
“Is it okay if we take the primary bedroom? It’s huge and has two queen beds and the walk-in closet is to-die-for,” Anna asked.
Lauren nodded. “Totally fine.”
Mike and Tom helped the girls get their heavy suitcases upstairs. While they were unpacking, Lauren and Eloise waited for the others to arrive. They didn’t have to wait long. Twenty minutes later, a taxi arrived with the one married couple, Brett and Honey Sinclair. They were about thirty and lived in the historic district of Charleston. Brett’s family went back several generations there. His grandfather had been a senator and his father was a successful real estate developer. Brett worked for his father’s company, though it wasn’t clear what he actually did there. He was fond of posting videos on social media and proclaiming himself a Southern gentleman and bourbon aficionado.
Honey was a food influencer. She and Brett dined out at least three or four times a week and documented all of it. On the nights they didn’t go out, she often cooked at home and sometimes had elaborate dinner parties and would often invite her guests to help make homemade pasta. She also regularly tried to recreate restaurant dishes she’d loved. Lauren got hungry watching her videos. Since she wasn’t much of a cook, though, she usually ended up ordering takeout. Honey’s videos made it all look easy, though, and once she was home again, maybe she would try some of those recipes.
They also had their cat, Simon, with them. Simon actually had more followers than anyone else in the house. He was a small orange cat with so much personality. He loved music and often swayed to the beat and when he was really feeling it, he would meow along. People would request their favorite songs for Simon to consider—and no one knew which ones he’d want to groove along to until he heard the music. He liked country, pop, rock.
He was also very smart. He was able to open doors and actually climbed right into cupboards to drag out his favorite treats. He’d carry the bag right over to Honey and drop it at her feet. And then wait expectantly for praise and a handful of treats. He was in a soft, blue cat carrier with a clear window along one side and he was looking around the room with interest.
“It’s as beautiful here as Larkin said it would be,” Honey said as she looked around the room and out the window.
“Larkin’s been to Nantucket?” Brett sounded surprised. His accent was uniquely Southern—a charming slow drawl that somehow gave off big money vibes.
Honey laughed. “She’s your sister. I’m surprised you didn’t know. She said she came during spring break one year with a bunch of her college friends.”
“I don’t know the half of what she did in college.” Brett picked up Honey’s oversized suitcase. We should get our stuff up to our room. I’m assuming we have the primary?” he asked.
Honey frowned. “I think they said the rooms were unassigned. Let’s head up and check.”
Lauren was tempted to tell them that the room was taken, but she stayed silent. The cameras would capture everything as they discovered Anna and Katy had already moved into the main bedroom. There were plenty of others, though, and they were all spacious. They just didn’t have the same huge walk-in closet.
Ten minutes later, they heard another car pull into the driveway. Three people walked in, Sami was a beautiful, twenty-eight-year-old health and wellness influencer. She was about five-seven, brunette, and had an enviable figure, toned from Pilates and yoga. She was most famous for her free yoga videos, where she earned millions from the ads that played before the classes began. She also posted the occasional smoothie or other healthy recipe. And she had a popular dating diaries feature—where every week she’d post a recap of her dates. And Sami dated a lot.
The two guys that walked in with her were about the same age. Noah was in his early thirties and unusually good-looking for a comedian. His career was exploding after a few clips from his comedy shows went viral. He was average height, maybe five-nine or so, with dark brown hair, a strong nose and jaw and a charming smile. His humor reminded Lauren of Jerry Seinfeld, with his ability to find humor in ordinary and relatable everyday things.
Towering over him was a former NFL starting tight end. Jason had back-to-back tendon injuries that killed his career. In the past two years, he’d built a huge following on social media with his funny fitness videos where he gave tips and interviewed popular sports figures. He was six-five with rock solid biceps and washboard abs. He also had a reputation as a ladies’ man, always dating different gorgeous women, but never seriously. He was a good-looking guy, thirty-three, and had a mischievous smile that was hard to resist. Lauren expected that the single girls in the house would be drawn to him, Noah, and probably to Billy, too.
Which was fine with her. She hoped that Billy would fall for one of the women in the house. It would be good TV and would be easier for her if he wasn’t still trying to convince her to take him back.
“So the only ones left to arrive are Billy and Suzanne?” Eloise whispered.
Lauren nodded as Katy and Anna came downstairs and stopped short when they saw the new arrivals.
Jason flashed his famous smile and Lauren saw Katy and Anna instantly fall under his spell. “Ladies. I’m Jason, this is Noah and Sami.” He introduced himself and the others.
Katy’s voice squeaked a bit as she spoke, “I’m Katy, and this is Anna. We’re both beauty influencers.”
Sami stepped forward and smiled. “I watch both of you.” She glanced at Katy. “I love your makeup tips. I never knew what primer was until I saw one of your videos.”
“And I do your yoga classes almost every day,” Anna said.
They all chatted a bit, and when the conversation slowed, Eloise spoke up and introduced the new arrivals to the production team. Honey and Brett walked into the room as she told everyone to help themselves to sandwiches and snacks in the kitchen. They made their way over to the island and everyone helped themselves.
“There’s beer and wine in the refrigerator,” Eloise added.
Within moments, Jason found the beer and put a six-pack on the island. The guys helped themselves while Katy opened a bottle of chardonnay and poured glasses for all the girls except Sami, who went for a beer.
“So, what’s everyone’s status?” Katy asked as she looked around the room.
“Well, obviously, we’re married,” Honey said. Brett responded by pulling his wife in and giving her a quick kiss.
“I’m single, and I know Anna is,” Katy said.
“Totally single,” Sami said. “I actually just ended a relationship last week.”
“Oh! I didn’t know. How are you doing?” Katy asked sympathetically.
“Well, this past week has been rough,” Sami admitted. “But it’s a good thing. I don’t think I’m ready to dive back into dating anytime soon. I’m looking forward to chilling on the beach.”
“That sounds perfect,” Anna said.
“Well, I’m single, too,” Noah said.
Jason took a sip of his beer and stayed quiet. Katy pushed through. “What about you, Jason? Page Six had a mention that you might be getting serious with someone. Is that true?”
Jason hesitated. “I’ve been dating someone, but it’s not serious, and not exclusive by any means.” He grinned. “So, yeah, you could say I’m single too…and ready to mingle.”
Katy laughed and lifted her glass. “Cheers to that!” They all clinked glasses and Lauren almost didn’t hear the sound of a car door. It was a quarter past six. They were missing the last two influencers, Suzanne and Billy.
The front door flew open and Suzanne walked in and scanned the room. When she saw that everyone was in the kitchen, eating and drinking, she set her suitcase down, reached into her carry-on bag and pulled out a big bottle of tequila and held it high.
“Who wants a shot!”
Lauren and Eloise watched in amusement as she pulled two limes out of her bag and went right to the counter and started slicing limes and looking in several cupboards until she found shot glasses. Suzanne was a party-girl. She was average height, maybe five-five or so and was fit from spin classes and always wore snug tops that showed off her impressive implants. Her hair was long and bleached blonde, cut in long layers that gave a tousled beach wave look.
Suzanne had one of the biggest social media followings. She was twenty-nine and lived in Brooklyn, and she shared everything about her life online. She went out four or five nights a week and filmed it all, restaurants, clubs, sometimes even dates, though she never showed their faces, just the drinks and dishes. She had a way of telling a story that drew you in and kept your attention. She went on lots of dates, many of them awful, and shared it all. So, Lauren knew that Suzanne had just broken up with a guy she’d been sure was the one, until she learned on date six that he was actually married!
The only one missing now was Billy, and Lauren wasn’t shocked to get a text update from him.
Missed my flight. Traffic was nuts in LA. Got on a later one, just landed at Logan. Will get on flight to Nantucket ASAP. See you soon.
“Billy is running late. He’ll be here in an hour or so,” Lauren told Eloise.
“I’ll get him settled. No worries,” Eloise said.
“Thank you. I’ll see you around nine tomorrow.”
Lauren stood to go, and Hudson raised an eyebrow. “You sure you want to go? Things usually get interesting on night one.”
Lauren laughed. “No doubt. I’ll check the film tomorrow morning to see what I missed. Eloise can hold down the fort.”
The noise level was already getting loud as Lauren headed to the door. Suzanne and the rest of the group were on their second round of tequila shots. Jason pulled off his shirt, revealing six-pack abs that made her stop short for a moment. Jason looked around the room at all the women. “Who’s up for a tequila shot off these abs?”
Suzanne didn’t hesitate. “Me!”
Lauren smiled as she walked through the door. Hudson was right. They were going to get some great stuff filmed if this was how the night began.