The Best Friend Scandal (Bad News Billionaires Book 2) Read online

  When we met up for coffee later, I had effectively gotten nothing accomplished for the entire day. It was too hard for me to think about anything other than Hensley in my arms. If we hadn’t both hopped out of bed when my phone rang, I wasn’t sure that I would have been able to keep myself from kissing her.

  “How did the dress alterations turn out?” I asked after we ordered our lattes and sat down.

  “Good,” she smiled. “I just had to let the waist out a little because damn, that girl was about as wide as the edge of a piece of paper. It’s amazing all of her organs have room to fit inside of her body.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, some of the models are crazy tiny. So are you all ready for the show then? Is there anything else that you need to do?”

  “Oh, there’s tons that I still need to do,” she laughed. “But most of it is for the retail roll-out and not the runway show.”

  “Hensley, I’m going to pay you more,” I said, not realizing until after it came out of my mouth how blunt it sounded.

  “What, why?”

  “You’ve been doing way more work than you signed up for and in a much more rushed timeframe than we initially agreed to. With all the extra hours you’ve put in and all the extra stress, you definitely deserve additional compensation.”

  “You’re already paying me a ton,” she said. “This is the highest paying project I’ve ever worked on. You definitely don’t need to be paying me more.”

  “We both know I can afford to,” I grinned.

  “True,” she said. “But I’m not going to take any extra money from you, Arlo. It’s not just about the money. We’re friends, and that’s what friends do—help each other out when they need it. Kind of like coming and pulling me out of the night club. So I’d definitely say we’re even.”

  I tried to insist, but she was adamant that she wouldn’t take any more money, even though I knew she needed it. She seemed content and happy with the idea of getting her work out there and being able to wear a couple of her pieces down the runway. I wasn’t going to argue with her about it because she had the heart of a true artist, and there was no arguing with true artists.

  When we finished our coffee and finished our chat, we sat and looked out the coffee shop window for a little while and watched the people walking by as dusk began to set in.

  “You’re going to have your hands full on the night of the runway show. Being the designer is tough enough, but being a model, too, is doubly tough,” I said.

  “I’ll be fine,” she smiled. “Besides, you’ll be there. Speaking of which, where will you be during the show? Will you be behind the stage with us or in the crowd?”

  “I’ll be in the audience,” I said. “First row, right next to all the big names in design. I’ll introduce you as the designer; then the show will begin. At the end of the show, I’ll come up on stage to say a few words. Then we’ll call it a wrap.”

  Hensley nodded. She seemed ready for this.

  “Hey, Hensley, what are you planning to do after we roll out the retail line?” I asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, do you have a new project lined up to start, or are you going to focus on finishing your grad work, or maybe something else?”

  “I’m not sure actually,” she said as she looked thoughtfully out the café window. “Why?”

  “Because I was hoping that I could offer you a job.”

  “A job? What kind of job?”

  “Well, I know that you want to eventually be able to create your own brand and your own lines. Being in charge of an entirely new retail roll-out for Luscious would certainly give you the notoriety and the ability to set up your own stake in the industry.”

  “Wait, you want me to head-up your entire retail launch? she asked. “Don’t you have people who do that for you already?”

  “Yes, I do. But I would rather have you do it. This launch is made up of your designs. I can’t think of anyone I would rather have running it than you,” I said.

  “Wow, I don’t even know what to say to that.”

  “You could say yes.”

  Hensley laughed, and her face lit up. “Yes! Thank you. I’d be happy to accept that offer.”

  “Great,” I said. “Now, let’s get out of here so we can get a good night’s sleep. There’s only a couple of days before the show.”

  After Hensley was back at her apartment and I was on my own, I had a hard time following my own directions. Getting a good night's sleep was practically out of the picture for me because now that I knew what it felt like to fall asleep next to Hensley, that was the only way I ever wanted to sleep again. I closed my eyes for a minute while I lay in my bed and tried to imagine the feeling of her in my arms and the soft tickle of her stray hairs against my chin as she rested against my shoulder.

  I already had someone at my company whose job was specifically to head-up the new retail launches. But I wanted Hensley to do this one. There were a million reasons why it just made sense for Hensley to do it. The designs were hers; the retail samples were hers; even the entire concept had been birthed by her creativity. But all of those reasons were the logical, valid ones, and my main reason wasn’t logical at all.

  I had offered Hensley the job for one very simple and selfish reason. I still wanted to be able to see her each day. I knew that we were friends and that even before the current project had started, we texted almost every day anyway. But there was something about physically seeing her each day that I had grown so fond and accustomed to so quickly, that I couldn’t really imagine going a few days without seeing her face. I was thrilled she had accepted my offer so quickly. Now at least I knew I would have time to talk to her, and maybe, at some point, tell her all of the things I had been hesitant to say up until now.

  But for right now, I needed to get some rest. The runway show was only two days away, and I wanted it to be spectacular.

  13

  *** (Arlo Continued)

  I didn’t see Hensley much the next day. It was the day before the show, and everyone was busy in a flurry of last-minute preparations. That didn’t mean I wasn’t thinking about her, though. I texted her toward the late afternoon and asked her if she wanted to run over to Madison Square Garden with me after work to check out the venue while I dropped off some of the stuff ahead of time for tomorrow’s show. The show was in the evening, and the runway was going to be lit up with a strand runner of twinkling lights and edged with some faux forest vines to create the whole scene. Our set crew had also created a fabulous backdrop that would be put right at the opening to the runway where the models would emerge from as they came out.

  Most of the stuff had already been delivered, but there was a handful of things that still needed to be taken to the location, and I wanted an excuse to go there and look things over before tomorrow. Hensley eagerly accepted my invitation. I thought that she had been to Madison Square Garden several times, but I didn’t think that she’d ever been backstage, and I had to admit that it was pretty cool. I’d been there dozens of times, but I was still impressed with it each time I went.

  “This is great!” she said in awe of the massive behind-the-scenes set-up the venue encompassed.

  I could tell she was excited about tomorrow. “Are you nervous?” I asked.

  “A little.”

  “Don’t be,” I smiled. “You’re going to be amazing with all of it.”

  “You’re just saying that because you’re my friend,” she laughed.

  “No,” I feigned insult at the accusation that I was fibbing. “I’m saying it because it’s true.”

  “Oh, so you’re not my friend then?” she teased.

  Part of me wanted to say that I wanted to be so much more than that, but again, I bit my tongue.

  “I am your closest and most annoyingly protective friend ever,” I smirked. “You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried.”

  She laughed and threw her arms around my neck to hug me as she buried her face against my shoulder. I ducked
my head down against hers and breathed in the alluring scent of her hair. When she looked up, our cheeks were touching, and she whispered into my ear.

  “I would never want to get rid of you,” she said softly.

  I held her in that hug longer than I should have and longer than a friend would do. I felt our faces rest against each other and pressed my cheek closer to hers as if both of our bodies weren’t ready to let go of the embrace. I wasn’t sure how long we would have stood in that spot if the janitor hadn’t come in to sweep up as part of his closing duties. When we let go, it felt like my arms were too empty and like my skin was too cold without her against me. I was excited for the show tomorrow, too, both because I was looking forward to seeing all of her hard work pay off, and because I was looking forward to the project being successfully over so that we could move on to something else together and maybe, just maybe, something even more.

  I dropped the lights that I had brought onto the table and then turned to leave. “Hey, want to grab a quick drink before we head home?” I asked. “Just one, since we have a busy day tomorrow.”

  “Sure!” she said.

  We spent a couple of hours sitting nestled inside a cool little bar right next to Madison Square. The temperature at night was starting to get cooler, and it made the small space inside the bar cozy, especially with the amber mood lighting that was permeating from the hanging fixtures. We kept it at one glass of wine, which we lingered over for about an hour or so while we chatted about all the things we would do after the show.

  Hensley had no shortage of ideas when it came to just about everything, and I loved it. I watched her talk and laugh and sip her wine. There was something about her eyes glinting in the light of the bar while she looked at me, which made the whole atmosphere seem surreal and made her look like a fairy who would fit right in perfectly with the fantasy theme of the show. She was mesmerizing, and I couldn’t believe it had taken me so long to see it.

  When we were finished at the bar, I gave Hensley a ride to her apartment.

  “Well,” she said as she got ready to open the door of the car. “I guess I’ll see you in the morning. Thanks for the wine date.”

  “Get some rest,” I said with a smile. “I have a feeling that you’re going to need it tomorrow.”

  Hensley smiled back and then got out of the car. I waited to make sure she got inside okay. When she turned to wave goodbye before walking inside, I felt a strong desire not to want to leave and realized how completely ridiculous I was being. Tomorrow would be one of the biggest runway shows of my career, with the potential to launch Luscious even higher up the industry ladder than it already was. I needed to stay focused.

  I went home, got a good night of sleep, and woke up in the morning feeling refreshed and ready to meet this exciting day head-on. I stopped by the office for a few things and left the secretary with a set of instructions, then headed straight to the show to meet Hensley and the models. As soon as I got there, I could see that the chaos was already well underway.

  14

  Chapter Thirteen (Hensley)

  Wow, Arlo was right; doubling as both the designer and a fill-in model was a challenge. The makeup artists and hairstylists were busily working on each of the models and prepping for the show. It took literally hours for some of the looks to be achieved, and although the models were all used to it, it still didn’t seem like they were very cooperative about sitting still and letting the team of artists do their job.

  Once their makeup and hair were done, it was my turn to step in and get the models ready in their outfits. Unfortunately, it seemed like all of the models were ready at the same time, so I found myself running around from model to model as I tried to get them into their clothes. They all looked stunning, albeit annoyed, in their completed designs and looks. Kerynne didn’t say much to me; it seemed like she was too focused on primping herself to pay me much attention, which was good. Cai didn’t say much to me, either.

  I didn’t know if his silence and cold expression were because he felt bad about having slipped me drugs the other night or because he was angry and embarrassed at how Arlo had pulled me out of the night club and threatened to fire them all. Either way, it seemed that most everyone was focused on the runway show and nothing else, which was perfect because I didn’t want any more drama. Plus, I was also getting a bit nervous.

  I wasn’t at all concerned about my designs. In fact, I was too excited and thrilled that my outfits were about to be paraded in front of the eyes of fashion legends to second guess any of it. My work was excellent, and soon everyone would see it.

  I was mostly worried about waking out on the runway to model the two dresses. Arlo was right; it might have been a bad idea. But it was too late to change my mind now.

  After getting everyone else ready and settled, I went to go put on my own dress for the show. This model's dresses had been powerfully simple, so getting them on wasn’t difficult to do.

  “You’re modeling?” Kerynne said as she walked over to me in her spectacular look. “Who said that you could model?”

  “Arlo did,” I said, and I notice Cai’s grin from behind her.

  “We were still short a model,” I said. “So, I offered to fill-in.”

  “See?” Kerynne said as she turned to Cai. “This is why Luscious will never be as big as some of those other brands. Arlo has the potential to make billions more than he does, but instead of marketing his lines properly, he throws stray commoners onto the runway.”

  Cai chuckled at her, and I ignored them both. He seemed to think that Kerynne was just her typical self-entitled norm, but Kerynne seemed to be much more offended than usual. I didn’t think she was pleased about having to share a runway with me. She became even more agitated when some of the other models began to give me a quick rundown of what to do on the catwalk. One of the girls showed me how to walk, and even Cai jumped in at the end to show me a few tricks for making impressive poses and turns at the end of the runway.

  “I just don’t know what Arlo was thinking with this move,” Kerynne said as she stood and scowled at me. “He’s blowing this entire line release.”

  “I hardly think that my wearing a dress or two in the show is going to blow the whole line,” I scoffed. I was getting incredibly tired of her constant attitude.

  “That’s because you don’t know anything about how any of this works. You sit in your little workshop and make pretty things like a reclusive hermit. You think that being a model is easy, that we just throw on some clothes and prance around, but I can assure you that is not the case. Being a model is hard work, and we have all worked hard to get here. You think you’re just going to put on a dress and be able to do what I do?”

  Kerynne threw her head back and laughed.

  “Let me tell you; you can’t. You are going to walk like the mundane drought of a girl that you are, and it’s going to be an embarrassment for everyone here. Arlo followed some whim by thinking it would be cute to parade his designer friend around in a couple of her own outfits, and it’s going to come back to bite him in the ass when you bring his entire show crashing down.”

  “Don’t you think you’re just a tad melodramatic again, Kerynne?” Cai said as he rolled his eyes at her.

  “No, I think that I’m rightfully pissed-off that she’s going to ruin all of our reputations.”

  “You’re just jealous,” Cai shot back at her.

  “Jealous of what? This girl?” she huffed and flounced her hair over her shoulder, which made the stylist come running back over to fix it again. “Please, what in the world is there to be jealous of her about?”

  “I don’t know,” Cai taunted. “Maybe the fact that Arlo would rather sleep with her than he would with you.”

  I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. Why in the world would Cai say something like that? I frantically started to wonder what would make him think that Arlo would want to have sex with me. Surely, Cai was just saying that to piss Kerynne off and didn’t really have a
nything to back up that baseless claim. But I still couldn’t help to let myself wonder if he had picked up on something that I had not. I looked at Kerynne, and she looked furious, which made me wonder even more if there was truly substance to Cai’s claim.

  “You’re just mad because she wouldn’t sleep with you,” Kerynne hissed back. “Which is a true insult to be turned down by something like that. I guess all of your prowess and beautiful physique weren’t quite what you thought they were”

  Cai sucked his cheeks in which made him look emaciated. “She would have slept with me the other night if Arlo hadn’t come and pulled her out of the club. You, on the other hand, got straight-up refused. That little fainting stunt you pulled was a complete waste of your energy and Arlo’s time. He wouldn’t sleep with you, even if he weren’t fawning all over his designer.”

  What?

  “Uh, guys, I’m right here,” I said, feeling uncomfortable with them talking about me right in front of my face.

  “Yes,” Kerynne said with her nose in the air. “Unfortunately, you are.”

  Well, if I hadn’t been nervous and worried before, I was now. What if Kerynne were right? What if my being part of the show and playing at being a runway model for a minute ended up ruining everything? It was too late for me to back out of it, even if I had wanted to. So the only thing I could do was try to ignore the vile hatred that Kerynne was spewing and try to do my best. When I looked up, I saw Arlo walking backstage to talk with us.