The Best Friend Scandal (Bad News Billionaires Book 2), Page 2

  Having Hensley on the team was the best thing that could have happened, both for me and for the project itself. She was absolutely the most creative and innovative person I knew—in addition to her being the most quirky, which was a perfect combination. My entire staff and all of the models were always so high-maintenance, and there was never any shortage of drama and ludicrous demands to go around. I was happy to have a friend on my team this time who had a level head about her and a vested interest in seeing this be successful.

  It was a big risk to change the entire line and the entire runway show by handing it to a single designer instead of a few. But I knew that Hensley could do it, and the fantasy concept for this project was so completely her that I wanted to hand her full reign and creative control over it. Things wouldn’t turn out the same if I gave her other designers to work with. As amazing a designer as Hensley was, she was that kind of creative type who had trouble relating to other people. She did her best work when she was left alone to her own devices. Plus, she was a promising new designer, and several people had their eyes on her potential. If she could knock this runway show out of the park, she would be noticed and her career would take off. She deserved that opportunity for how hard she worked and how talented she was.

  The designs Hensley had shown me the other night over dinner were incredible. She had done just what I had hoped that she would do; she took the simple fantasy-forest concept and turned it into a virtual wonderland of magic and mystery, in designs that would completely captivate the audience. She showed me the ideas for the first ten pieces, which would be the most dramatic and obscure pieces to be the new line’s flagship. Those pieces would be walking the runway. Then she showed me her ideas for some of the more wearable, everyday fashion pieces inspired by the flagship pieces but toned down a bit for retail. It all looked fantastic to me, and later today, she would be swinging by my office to show me the actual crafted mock-up designs for the ten pieces.

  I had been hoping that at least a few of the models would still be here when she arrived so that I could see what the pieces looked like on a human form, but the models had already left, even though it was barely even noon. They whined about needing coffee that tasted like it was freshly roasted over Peruvian firepits instead of lattes that were overworked by human hands. Honestly, I didn’t have the first clue what they were even complaining about. If they weren’t such physically beautiful people who showcased my designs to perfection, I wouldn’t put up with all of their high-maintenance demands.

  “Okay, are you ready for all this?” Hensley said as soon as she got into my office and dumped an armful of sketchbooks and supplies down onto my desk. She had rolled in a small, portable clothing rack behind her that had the ten mock-ups for the runway show all hanging neatly in black garment bags that I couldn’t see inside of. I was more than ready.

  “Can’t wait!” I said with excitement lining my voice. “None of my models are here, though.”

  “Oh no, really?” she said. “That kind of sucks because you really need to see the designs on someone. It won’t do then justice just hanging on hangers. Most of the pieces have a lot of depth and layers to them that can only be shown off if they’re on a person and can move while they walk and turn. Do you want to do this on a different day instead, one that your models are here for?”

  “No, we can’t wait. The date of the show is already too close as it is. I need to see the outfits and approve them so that you can start working on the final designs, or you won’t have enough time to finish.”

  Hensley stood there, thinking for a moment. I could always tell when she was deep in thought because she did this thing where she twisted her mouth to the side. It was actually really cute.

  “Okay, well, I guess I can put them on just so you can get an idea of how they look. But you’ll have to take into consideration that I am definitely not a supermodel, so you can’t hold that against my designs!”

  I laughed. Hensley might not have been the towering height or the piercing-free image as the models were, but she was still beautiful.

  “They will look perfect on you, I’m sure,” I said. “And I don’t even need to get you a Peruvian firepit, so you’re already making the whole process easier.”

  “Huh?” she asked as she looked at me in confusion.

  “Nothing,” I chuckled as I brushed off my comment. “I’ll turn around so you can get changed into the first one.”

  I swiveled the desk chair around and listened as Hensley got the first design out of the bag. I heard the zipper pulled and the gentle shuffle of her sliding fabric over her body. It surprised me how much I wanted to turn around and look at it before she was ready, but I waited patiently for her to give the word.

  “These things are a lot harder to get into and out of then regular street clothes,” she huffed. It sounded like she was having a bit of trouble. “I’m usually the one helping the models into these things, not putting them on myself.”

  “Well, now you get to feel both sides of the process,” I said.

  “Yeah,” she laughed. “And you get to have a private fashion show with your friend.”

  “See?” I teased. “It’s a win-win.”

  “Okay,” she said. “You can turn around now.”

  As I swung my chair around, I was prepared to be wowed by her amazing textile creations, but I was not prepared to be so wowed by her.

  I sat in my chair for a few moments without saying anything. Hell, I didn’t even think I was breathing for a minute there. I literally just stared at Hensley with my mouth open and my eyes wide.

  She was wearing a dress that looked as if it had been made out of magic. The fabric was so sheer that it was nearly translucent, and I could see her bra and panties beneath it. It was like looking through a dragonfly wing to her skin underneath. It was so delicate and so thin that it was barely there. The bottom of the dress fell down around her in strands that were seemingly both connected and not. I couldn’t even fathom how she had stitched it together.

  When she turned around to showcase how the dress moved, the skirt opened up to reveal her legs all the way up to the top of her thighs, and then fell back together when she stopped like delicately feminine pieces of overlapping armor. The bodice resembled a manuscript lettered V that plunged nearly to her navel in the center and then curled up into cupped circles that covered her breasts. I had no idea how it was even staying on her body without falling, aside from the fact that it was so tightly fit that it seemed to be hugging against her. The off-shoulder poet sleeves that draped gently along the middle of her arm below her shoulders were soft and small, and they had the tiniest of opalescent rhinestones that seemed to be dripping from the bottom of the fabric.

  I was completely and utterly caught off guard by how beautiful Hensley looked. So much so that I couldn’t stand up yet because of the immediate visceral reaction my body was having toward seeing her body in this dress. In the four years that Hensley and I had been friends, I had seen her in several of her edgy designs that were cute and trendy. But I had never seen her in anything like this before. She was a sensual nymph who had stepped right out of Middle Earth.

  “Well,” she said as she tried to judge my silent reaction. “What do you think? Do you like it? I was going for a sort of paradox with this one. Kerynne is such an otherworldly beauty, and most of the pieces that I created for her are darker and edgier. I wanted there to be one that stood out as being so completely contradictory for her aesthetic that it would make the audience really think.”

  I could tell that she was getting nervous about the fact that I wasn’t answering her or commenting on the design. But I had to take another couple of seconds to try to regain my composure before speaking and blowing the fact that I was so turned on by her right now that I felt myself wanting to fuck my friend right here on the floor of my office.

  “I love it,” I said as I tried to steady my voice. “I absolutely love it.”

  Hensley smiled in relief.

&nbs
p; “I love everything about it,” I continued. “The idea of such a contrast in the other pieces for Kerynne, the fabric choice which I have never seen used to make a whole dress like this before, and the way that you constructed it to move with such innovation and delicacy. I couldn’t be more impressed.”

  “Yay!” Hensley squealed as she clapped her hands together in front of her. I could tell that she was equally as excited about her work, although not in all the same ways that it was exciting to me. “Now it will look much different on Kerynne, of course. She won’t have anything on underneath, so you’ll be able to see everything through the fabric. I was thinking a nude thong for the bottom, but nothing for the top. I think her nipples should be visible from beneath it; it will add to the sensual loveliness of the design, especially with her long, dark mane of her kept down loosely around her for this one. Do you agree?”

  “Yes,” I said, although all I could think about now was what Hensley would look like in this dress if she hadn’t kept her bra on underneath. “Totally agree, it’s perfect.”

  “Cool! Ready for the next one?”

  God, I didn’t know if I can handle the next one if it was anything like this one did.

  “Yeah, hit me with it!” I went to swivel my chair back around, but she interrupted my turn before I made a complete half-circle.

  “Can you help me unzip the back of this before you turn around?” she asked. “It’s got a hidden zipper that runs off-center down the back so that it’s practically invisible to the eye. I was able to get it zipped up to get into it, but I’m afraid of trying to pull it down without accidentally ripping the fabric.”

  “Sure,” I said as I got up to walk over to her. I stood behind her as she reached her hand around to point to where the top of the zipper was. She was right; it was nearly impossible to find.

  “Hold the top of the dress while you’re pulling the zipper down so that it doesn’t tear,” she said.

  I put my hand on the fabric just below her shoulder blade and gently tugged the zipper all the way down to the small of her back. Once the zipper was at the end of its track, I stalled my hand there for a moment against her tailbone. What was I doing? I froze.

  Hensley turned her head around over the top of her shoulder to look at me and see why I hadn’t lifted my hand from her back. For a very brief moment, there were a few uneasy seconds of sexual tension while my palm lingered against her. I thought that she might have felt it too by the way her eyes were looking up at me without lifting up her head as her chin rested against the top of her shoulder.

  “Arlo?” she said softly with a slight lilt at the end of her word.

  3

  Chapter Three (Hensley)

  That simply had to be in my imagination. There was no way that Arlo had those sorts of feelings about me.

  When I got back to my apartment after having spent the day at Arlo’s office, showing him the ten designs and modeling each one of them—even the male designs that Cai would be wearing—all I could think about was the way Arlo’s hand had lingered against my back. I knew it was only a few seconds and that I was probably being totally ridiculous. But it seemed like there was such palpable angst in the air for that tiny moment, and it was hard not to wonder about it at least a little bit. Of course, I knew that I was just indulging a fantasy, much like the clothing designs.

  Arlo and I were just good friends, and there was no way that he could be interested in me in that sort of way. I wasn’t even his type, and he was constantly surrounded by beautiful models all the time that I was sure he hooked-up with. I was more akin to be his “awkward, artsy, designer friend,” than I was to be a contender as one of his love interests. Still, I couldn’t help but allow myself a few moments to be swept up in the ridiculous and appealing thought of it.

  Ever since I had first laid eyes on Arlo, I had thought he was one of the hottest men I had ever met. He looked like he could be a model himself. Getting to know him made him even more attractive because he was such a good guy—at least he was always a good guy with me. He constantly seemed like he was looking out for me, although I realized that was more characteristic of a good platonic friend or a big brother than someone who wanted to spend the night having amazing sex with you.

  Arlo would probably drop dead if he knew I was still a virgin at my age. I honestly didn’t know any other twenty-three-year-olds who hadn’t had sex. Although then again, I really didn’t talk to many people, so maybe there were some. All the guys I had dated turned out to be complete assholes by the second or third date, so I chose to dump them rather than sleep with them. That meant that not only wasn’t I Arlo’s type, to begin with, but I was way too inexperienced to even be in the same league as the women he was always around. Most of the women in the fashion industry were seeped in sex-appeal. I was only seeped in blue hair dye and the ramblings of creativity that I mostly kept inside my head.

  Still, there was definitely something there when he had touched my back. Maybe it was just that he was blown away with the designs. Good, that was what I was hoping for. Speaking of the designs, I needed to keep working.

  I had brought all ten pieces home with me, and I had all the supplies and materials that I needed in the workshop area of my small apartment to continue working on making the final versions of them. The rest of the line would have more time to be completed, but the upcoming show's runway pieces needed to be done at a record pace. Meaning, I would have to put in some work hours at home. I didn’t mind, honestly, not with this project. It was everything I had always wanted to design, and it was my chance to break into the industry's upper echelons. There was no way that I wouldn’t put my absolute all into this.

  I took one of the designs out of the garment bag, a piece made for Cai to wear, with deep cerulean velvet that would make the audience want to reach out and touch him just to feel the color of what he had on. I gathered all the supplies around me that I would need to construct it and got to work. I worked for hours and hours, moving from one piece to the next. By the time I looked over to press my cell phone on and see how late it had gotten, I was shocked to see that it was already four in the morning.

  I needed to get some sleep. Arlo had called the models in for tomorrow to try on the pieces. There would be more than just Kerynne and Cai this time. Everyone involved in the runway show would be there. The downside to being the only designer meant that I would have to dress them all, mark adjustments on them all, and hope to get they didn’t tear the clothes by trying to slide then on or off to quickly. Arlo told me that there would be five models—two males and three females—and that each would wear two pieces during the show. The most important designs would go to Kerynne and Cai as the opening and closing pieces on the runway. I was hoping that the other models weren’t quite as difficult to deal with as those two were, but I knew that they probably would be.

  I finished up a few last things and then headed over to plop down in my bed. I hadn’t finished and could stay up longer to keep working, but that would have been an awful idea. Tomorrow wasn’t a day that I could show up being overly tired. I’d make mistakes if I did. So, I curled up in my bed and pulled the blanket over me as I shut my eyes. It took less than a second before I had drifted off to sleep.

  The banging on my apartment door was what woke me up and immediately made me realize that I had forgotten to set the alarm before passing out last night.

  Shit.

  I looked at the time on my cell phone and realized that I was already over an hour late to Arlo’s office. If it had just been a meeting with him alone, I would have felt bad but not been in such a panic. But this meeting was with all five models for their fittings in the designs. That was a lot of people to piss off before this thing had even gotten off the ground.

  The banging on my door became louder with the crash of someone’s fist against the wood. No one had ever banged on my door aside from the landlord; but seeing as though I knew I had remembered to pay my rent this month, I had no idea why he would be bothe
ring me on a weekday morning. I did know that I didn’t have time to deal with whoever was outside of my door, though. I was already hopelessly late.

  I scrambled out of bed and raced to go answer the door in my pajamas, which consisted of only a loose T-shirt and a pair of pajama shorts that I hadn’t gotten around to washing in a few days. My hair was a tangled mess that was falling into my face, so I quickly used the hair tie on my wrist to knot it up on my head as I went to answer the door. I couldn’t have been more surprised to see who was standing there when I peered through the peephole.

  “Arlo?” I said in shock while I opened the door.

  “God, Hensley, you scared me half to death,” he said with an anxious voice as he pushed into my apartment.

  I stood in front of the open door and turned around to look at him in confusion. “Wait, I scared you?” I asked. “But you’re the one who showed up and banged on my door as if the place was on fire.”

  “You didn’t show up to work,” he said as he stood there staring at me in my less-than-desirable outfit.

  I looked like a yeti with my hair already falling down, thanks to the stretched-out hair tie.

  “And then you didn’t answer any of my calls or texts.”

  I closed the door to my apartment and went over to pick up my phone to look at it again. Yep, sure enough, there were at least a dozen missed calls and unopened messages.

  “Geez, I’m really, really sorry,” I said. “I was up late last night, working on finishing the clothes for today, and I fell asleep without remembering to set my alarm. I’m so sorry that I overslept and am late to the model fitting this morning, Arlo. I won’t let it happen again; I swear.”