Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
Nina
The four of us seem to lose all thought.
“Holy hotness hell.” Scarlet pants, fanning herself.
The three of them are in varying styles of tuxes.
Elliot’s is navy and seems to have a slight shine to it, as if it’s textured.
Lance’s is all black, the jacket, shirt and bow tie, and his tattoos peek out of his sleeves and collar.
And Charlie’s looks like velvet, a dark jade shade that does absolutely everything a woman needs it to. They look fucking delicious.
“Boys, you look—”
“Fit!” Elliot finishes for me, pulling on his lapels.
“I was going to say handsome.”
“Handsome is what my granny would call me.”
“It’s perfect!” Scarlet bounces on the spot with excitement. “Can we go pick dresses, Luce? I’m dying to see what you picked out for us.”
“Yes! Boys, go get changed then carry on with these bags. You take one gift from each plate and add it. Charlie, you can tie the bows, I don’t trust the other two,” Lucy orders.
“You got it, boss,” Charlie says, smirking at Elliot and Lance as he claps them both on the back.
Scarlet dashes into the kitchen on our way out of the room. “I’ll get a bottle of bubbles. Will be right up.”
Megan leads us up the stairs, jogging at pace as her excitement grows. “I was nervous about the dresses but after seeing how spot on you got the boys, now I’m just flipping excited to see what you’ve picked out for us.”
“Well, that’s pressure.”
“I have every bit of faith in you.” Megan grins down at her as we meet her at the top.
“But you didn’t,” Lucy snaps.
“How do you two live together, still?” I laugh.
“She brings me coffee, and breakfast in bed every day.” Megan shrugs.
“I actually miss my morning coffee from you, Luce. Maybe I should move back with you girls.”
“Umm, absolutely not. I love your son, but we barely have enough room for the two of us.” Megan cringes.
“I was joking.”
We file into the room that Scarlet sent us to in the west wing. The garment bags are hung on the back of the divider and Megan and me waste no time unzipping them.
“Wait for Scar!” Lucy scolds us.
“Snooze you lose!” Megan squeals as she unzips the first bag, revealing a gold sequin dress. “Holy fuck balls!”
“That’s mine!” Lucy states, moving to stand in front of us so she can unzip them herself. “Nina, that’s yours.” She hands me a bag. “Megan.”
Megan snatches it and kisses Lucy’s cheek. “Ahhh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I hope mine is as nice as yours!”
“Of course, it is,” she tuts.
I leave them to their bickering and lay the bag down on the bed.
“Oh my fucking god, yes!” Megan holds a red embellished dress up against her. It’s off the shoulder and falls straight from the waist with a thigh-high slit on either side. It’s seductive but classy, almost alluring, maybe. It’s very Megan. She starts stripping in the middle of the room.
“Megs, you do realise that Scar had the divider put up for us to change behind?”
“Nothing you haven’t seen before,” she quips.
“Bloody hell. Slow down or you’ll fall and rip it.” Lucy grabs the dress and holds it out for her to step into.
“You didn’t wait for me!” Scarlet accuses, stepping into the room with a bottle of champagne and four flutes.
“I did!” I tell her, taking the glasses and setting them down on the table.
“What happened to your hair?” I ask her, frowning at the loose tendrils.
“My hair?” She looks into the free-standing mirror. “Oh crap.” She laughs, releasing the messy bun and restyling it. “I caught it on the doorknob in the kitchen.”
“Scar, this is yours!” Lucy grins, thrusting the bag at her.
She takes it, swapping it for a glass of champagne. “Megan, you look unreal!” She looks at me quickly before taking a sip of champagne.
“Thanks, Scar. I feel incredible.”
Megan looks genuinely choked up, and so she should. She isn’t a frilly dress kind of girl, but this dress, it’s like it was made for her.
“Lucy, you’re a damn genius. Girls, put yours on. I need to see!” I tell them.
“Okay, I will do mine next.” Scarlet takes another sip from her flute then disappears around the back of the divider.
“You were my biggest challenge, Scar,” Lucy calls to her. “I wasn’t sure what you’d normally pick.”
“Lucy…”
“Oh, you hate it.” Lucy’s eyes go wide as she looks at me in panic. “I can see what else we have in the shop.”
“I fucking love it.” Scarlet steps out from behind the divider. “What did you do?!”
Lucy’s hands go to her face as she takes in Scarlet’s silk-clad form. “What did I do!”
“It’s purple,” I state in awe.
“It’s periwinkle,” Lucy corrects, smoothing out the hem. “I knew you’d wear this well, but wow, Scar. You look beautiful.”
“I love it. Thank you so much, Lucy.”
She moves to the full-length mirror, smoothing her hands down her waist. It’s not tight to her body, but still fitted enough to show off her slender body.
“Come on, you, it’s our turn.” Lucy grabs my hand and my dress, pulling me behind the divider.
“Don’t be mad at me, okay? You have to give it a chance.”
“What does that mean? Will I not like it?”
“Just have an open mind. Here, help me into mine and then I’ll help you.”
Lucy’s dress is everything I’d expect it to be. Gold, covered in rhinestones and sequins, and tight to her every curve. It’s high at the neck and has a gaping back. It’s understated elegance at its finest, and Lucy to a T.
“You look gorgeous.”
“I know.” She smiles cheekily over to me. “I had my eyes on this one for fashion week but I knew I had to wear it to the ball.” She reaches up and unzips my garment bag. “Your turn.”
“God.” I start to sweat, bouncing on the balls of my feet as she lowers the zip. “Oh… Oh.”
“Try it on, okay? Give it a chance.”
“It’s see-through?”
“The lace detailing will hide the important parts.”
“Luce.”
“Put it on.”
She slides it off the hanger and I start to undress. “I presume I will have to go braless.”
“Yup.”
I step into the black lace as she holds it open for me, then lift the thin straps over my shoulders. I look down and instantly feel my eyes bug out at the view of my chest. “Luce, I can’t.”
“Hurry up!” Megan yells, knocking on the wood and making it wobble.
“Yes, you are, that’s all I have for you.” She stands, taking in my profile. “Turn around,” she tells me, biting her lip.
“Stop looking at me like you want to undress me, you weirdo.”
“You have no idea, Nina Anderson! I’ve nailed this.”
She zips me up and I have to suck in a breath with how tight the dress is. “I better be able to unzip this.”
“It doesn’t have much give, but we need it tight. We have to keep these bad boys safe and steady.” She flicks my nipple and I cover it with my palm.
“Oww!”
“Girls! Look at this queen!” She grins, spinning me and pushing me out from behind the divider.
“No!” Megan says in shock.
“Nina.” Scarlet stills, shaking her head.
Oh good god, no. I can’t stand the look on their faces. All I can think about is what everyone will think and say at the ball. “Luce, I can’t wear this!”
“No!” Megan tells me. “No, in a good way no. Nina, you are wearing that dress.” She points.
I move to stand in front of the mirror and instantly have to catch my breath.
Fuck.
“You’re going to kill him, your tits, it’s the tits,” Megan states.
The entire dress is lace, thin, see-through and like a second skin, hugging my every curve with its fishtail shape.
It has a plunging neckline that sits just below my sternum.
My nipples are the only parts of my breasts that are covered, hidden behind the black lace flowers decorating the dress.
Oddly, it isn’t tacky, it’s so impossibly intricate with the lace embroidered delicately into the sheer fabric, that it looks unbelievably beautiful and expensive.
“Okay, I actually don’t hate it.”
“Lucy, you are going places, girl. I’m in awe of your talent right now,” Scarlet tells her.
“Thank you, I had the most beautiful canvases.”
“Champers!” Megan orders.
We all take a flute from the dresser, shuffling around the room, feeling like princesses. “I vote to not show the boys. I mean, I don’t think Elliot will keep his mouth shut to Mase and we need the full wow factor, right?” Scarlet asks.
“Right!” Lucy agrees.
“To the girls!” I toast, holding my glass high and waiting for them to follow.
Scarlet corrects me before our glasses meet. “No. To the boys.” She winks at me. “May god have mercy on their eyeballs.”
“And inappropriate boners,” Megan adds, making us all laugh.
“To the boys and inappropriate boners!” we say in unison, clinking the Lowells’ finest crystal.
Mase
My eyes seek out Jasmine sitting at the reception desk the minute the elevator doors slide open.
I haven’t bothered to chat to her in weeks, she seems to come in, get her job done then leave.
She doesn’t say much to me, she doesn’t really acknowledge me to be honest, but I do know she speaks to George a lot.
I wouldn’t have bothered to think much of her mood had the email I received this morning not arrived in my inbox.
“Jasmine.”
Her head pops up, her eyes tired and red-rimmed.
It throws me off, despite my indifference towards her.
“Can I have a word?”
“George isn’t in yet,” she tells me, looking around at the empty reception area.
“It’s fine, pick the messages up after.”
She follows me into the office and instead of sitting at my desk, I gesture to the sofas.
With a frown, she lowers herself to sit down, smoothing out her skirt and sitting with her knees together and angled to the side.
She looks like a different woman to the one who was photographed on my lap last year.
Her skin is clear, her hair shiny and not a tacky yellow colour like it was before.
“You look well, Jasmine,” I announce as the thought comes to me.
I can see the surprise my compliment has on her. I instantly think back to every interaction we have had. It’s always been about Nina, or her children. I’ve certainly never complimented her.