Chapter four
Chapter Four: Lila
“Iswear to God, Lou. I was such a fucking freak about it. I was just sayinganythingthat would distract him from how hard I was blushing up on that mezzanine.”
Lou quirks an eyebrow at me in the mirror. Gina, currently fussing with my hair, tuts her tongue.
“It couldn’t have been that bad,” she murmurs.
My best friend’s wife always gives me too much credit, though.
“I told him I was a swan in a past life,” I deadpan.
Lou cackles. “Girl,what?
Despite the fact that Gina has a length of my hair clamped into a curling iron, I drop my head into my hands. “I don’t know.”
“Well, don’t ruin your makeup over it,” Lou sighs. “And so what? You had a sexy dream about a sexy firefighter. One time, Gina had a naughty dream about her geriatric yoga instructor.”
“Hey, I told you that in confidence!”
“Okay, sure, yes, I had that dream, but then I also nearly wet my panties when I saw him the other morning wearing gray sweatpants… and his hair was still damp from the shower…ugh.”
“Wet your panties? Like you almost peed yourself?” Lou frowns at me.
Gina sighs. “Baby, she means her lady parts got a bit damp when she—”
“Oh, got it. Right. Ew.”
I stare at my own miserable reflection in the mirror. “I’m going to mess this up.”
Lou, at least, doesn’t seem too worried. “How? By having the hots for a hot guy? I’m gay, but I’m not blind. I don’t blame you.”
“But what if I get an actual crush on one of these guys and then things get weird and then—”
“And thenwhat? You do your job, save the day, and then maybe get a gorgeous boyfriend out of it once the whole living-in-the-firehouse-but-no-fraternizing thing is over? Fuck, Lila, your life is so hard.”
Gina chuckles, finishing the last curl and grinning down at her completed work.
I groan quietly at Lou’s words, definitely feeling like it’s a lot more complicated than that, but at least Gina has done wonders with my hair this evening. What is usually a mass of thick blonde hair that I have to tame with about five different products is now smoothed back in a half-up style with pretty waves. She’s also done my makeup incredibly well—better than I ever could even on my best day.
Which is important, of course, because tonight is the FDNY Charity Gala, and my date is none other than Captain Hale Hargrove himself.
“Come on, gorgeous,” Gina sighs. “Let’s get you squeezed into this killer dress.”
***
Lou and I ride with Jake, our main camera guy, to the venue. Lou will be making her unofficial debut as a director this evening, since Jake’s usual filming partner got food poisoning. I’m just grateful that my best friend, and the other half of Hartstrings PR, will be here with me tonight.
“Stop fidgeting,” Lou whispers to me in the backseat as Jake navigates us toward a parking spot within reasonable distance of the glamorous Midtown hotel that hosts the gala every year. “You look amazing.”
“I look like I had to be oiled up to fit in this thing.”
“Oh, shut up. You’re just not used to your tits looking that good.”
I frown down at my boobs. They’re not exactly spilling out of the low neckline, because that would be an insane choice on my part given that this is a professional event, but there is definitely more cleavage on display than I’m used to. Typically, I prefer to show off my legs, which are definitely my best asset.
But tonight, my legs are covered by the floor-length gown of scarlet satin that will hopefully count as a tax write-off when all of this is done with.
