Brian showed up not too long after Dad and Jenifer’s argument. I imagined it was just enough time to shower and make himself presentable after receiving Juliette’s earlier text—which I assumed woke him up. When he buzzed the gate, I’d just set the dough for the sopaipillas aside to rise for an hour and had gone back to bed with Dad’s new book.
The twins had been right about Dad’s excitement over the advanced copy. It was by far his favorite Christmas gift. I was still mulling over his reaction. He’d gotten all giddy over it the way I do about my favorite books. It was a new side to my father that I’d never seen before, and it warmed me to him in a way I’d never felt would be possible. To be able to connect with my dad over my biggest passion felt like a godsend for our feeble relationship.
When the doorbell rang, I only had a couple more pages to the end of the chapter and didn’t want to get up. Ana must have answered the door, because my dad and Jennifer had disappeared into their room right after their argument—whether to fight some more or make up, I did not want to know—and Juliette had gone back to sleep once she realized how long the sopaipillas were going to take.
Brian wandered into my room just as I flipped to the last page in the chapter. He immediately lay down on my bed, snuggling up next to me as if he liked the idea of falling back to sleep. Plucking the book from my hands, he flipped it to the back and scanned the summary. “Serial killers, huh? That’s new.”
I nodded. “Apparently, Janice Bishop is my dad’s favorite.”
“Janice Bishop…that name sounds familiar.”
I took the book back and reached over Brian to place it on the bedside table. He caught me in his arms when I tried to lie back down and pulled me against his chest. I happily nestled in. “She’s pretty big-time in the crime thriller genre,” I explained. “Got several books turned into movies. Dad said they’re filming another one right now. Murder in Motown?”
Brian’s eyes lit up with recognition. “Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. My friend Rhett is working on that one. Said it’s a good script.”
“Your friend Rhett?” Ana asked, appearing in my bedroom doorway. “As in…Rhett Kessler?” She covered a yawn and plopped down in my desk chair. “He’s hot. If you’re not going to hook me up with Logan Lerman, Rhett Kessler would be an acceptable alternative.”
Brian laughed, but I was still stuck on the fact that Ana was choosing to hang out with us, and that Juliette wasn’t even present. What was going on here? Not that I was complaining, but it was as if she’d finally let go of whatever resentment she’d held for me since the moment she learned I existed. That, or she was just really bored because it was the holiday, and she was stuck at home with the family. It was either hang out with us or watch A Christmas Story or James Bond marathons.
“I told you, I don’t know Logan,” Brian said. “I could set you up with Rhett, but your father would probably kill me for it, seeing as how he’s twenty-five and you’re seventeen.”
Ana frowned as she swiveled from side to side in my desk chair. “Well, what good are you, then?”
Brian laughed again. “I’ll tell you what. If your parents okay it, you and Jules can come with Ella and me to my agency’s New Year’s Eve party. It’s usually huge and A-list only. That way, you can ogle hotties all you want, I can keep an eye on you, and your father doesn’t murder me.”
Ana stiffened and narrowed her gaze on Brian. “Are you serious?”
“Sure. Why not? Ella would probably appreciate the company.”
I didn’t know how much I’d appreciate Ana’s company, but if she remained as tolerable as she’d been the last two days, it wouldn’t be so bad, and I’d definitely like having Juliette there.
“Seriously, though, your parents would have to agree, and your dad basically hates me, my lifestyle, and pretty much everything I stand for, so he’ll probably be a hard sell.”
Ana chewed on her bottom lip as she considered this. “Mom will be super easy, though. I’ll start with her, and we can work on him together. I’m sure she’ll help. You should have seen her rip into Dad on your behalf this morning.”
Brian jerked in surprise and looked to me for an answer.
“It was the usual,” I said. “Dad was being judgy, stubborn, and unreasonable. He thinks I’m just a shiny new toy to you, and as soon as I lose my appeal, you’ll go back to all your women, leaving me with nothing but a long life of heartache and permanent consequences.”
Brian sighed. “Ella, it doesn’t matter. Even if he never gets it, you and I know that’s not what this is.”
“I know.” I snuggled up against him some more. Not that I could get any closer than I already was, but I liked making myself comfortable on his chest over and over again. He was perfect for snuggling against. “I didn’t burst into tears this time when he called me a mistake that he’s regretted for the last twenty years. I didn’t even bother to argue with him or tell him he’d hurt my feelings. There’s no point. I think that’s why Jennifer lit into him so bad.”
Ana laughed. “I think she’s sick of his whining. We’re all getting tired of it. He’s just being stubborn. Dad can never admit it when he’s wrong, but he is wrong about you.”
Brian and I were both stunned speechless at Ana’s compliment to him. Then she smirked and said, “I don’t know what his problem is. It’s obvious to the rest of us that Ella has you completely whipped for life.”
After a heartbeat of surprise, Brian laughed. “That is very true,” he admitted with a sorry shake of his head. “The woman has completely destroyed the bad-boy player reputation I worked so hard to build for myself.” He squeezed me to him and kissed my temple. “Thanks a lot, Ella.”
The doorbell on the front gate rang, halting our conversation before I could get out a good snarky reply. Ana and I frowned at one another. “Is Jason coming over?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Vivian and her dads?”
“No. Not that we’d planned.”
“Family?” Brian asked curiously.
Ana and I both shook our heads. “Our grandparents and uncle’s family all stayed up north. They’re not coming down until spring break. We don’t have any other family in Southern California.”
“Who would show up on Christmas Day without calling?” Ana asked.
Across the empty house, we heard Dad’s deep voice answer the intercom. “Hello?”
“I have a delivery for Ellamara Rodriguez.”
“On Christmas?” Ana asked, voicing my exact thoughts.
I tried to remember if I had books coming from a publisher or something, but those wouldn’t come on Christmas. My stomach fluttered with excitement and anxiety—mostly anxiety—as Brian climbed off my bed and helped me up. He hadn’t brought a Christmas gift with him that I’d noticed, and he’d talked about nothing but how much I would love my gift all week. He’s not one to think small. If it was something that had to be specially delivered on Christmas Day, the possibilities were endless. “What did you do?”
He seemed genuinely surprised by the accusation. “Me? I didn’t do this.” He smirked. “If we were at Scott’s house, that’d be a different story. But I left your present at home because you’ve been so stressed about exchanging gifts, I figured I’d wait until you were ready.”
That was incredibly sweet of him. If I weren’t going crazy with curiosity at the moment, I’d kiss him for being so thoughtful and understanding. Instead, I laced my hand through his and headed for the front door. “Well, if you didn’t do it, what could it be?”
Juliette and Jennifer were up now, too, and we all followed Dad outside after he opened the gate for the delivery guy, equally as curious about my unexpected arrival.
The truck that pulled into the driveway was a dark SUV with a custom paint job advertising a twenty-four/seven courier service. By the time I reached the vehicle, the delivery guy had unloaded six boxes from his trunk, and it looked like he had at least that many more to go.
The delivery guy was a hefty man probably close to forty years old. When he saw me, his face lit up with recognition, and he gave me a friendly smile. He set the box in his arms down next to the rest of the stack on the driveway and pulled a clipboard from the front seat of his car. “Miss Rodriguez, if I could just get your signature?”
“Yeah, sure.” I took the offered pen and scribbled my name on a line at the bottom of a delivery slip. “What is all this?”
The man took the clipboard back and tore off a carbon copy of the delivery slip. When he handed it back to me, there was a slight blush in his cheeks. He glanced quickly at Brian and then cleared his throat. “It’s, uh, from that lingerie store. The…uh…one from your video.”
“It’s what?” I blanched.
I watched the guy unload another box from the trunk of his car. There had to be over a dozen total. “Why is it here? Who would send this to me?”
The deliveryman set the box down and offered an apologetic shrug. “Sorry. I just got paid to pick it up from the store and bring it here. I don’t know the details.”
My dad stepped up to my side, glaring down at the boxes as if he could scare them away. “The store sent them to her?”
The man nodded as he reached into his trunk for the last box. “Yeah. It wasn’t a private third party. At least, I don’t think so. The company footed the bill for the delivery. Oh, and they wanted me to give you this, too…” He grabbed a red envelope the size of a Christmas card out of the front seat and handed it over with a grin. “Seems to me it’s a Christmas gift. I don’t usually work holidays, but the store manager called me last night and offered me triple my normal rate if I’d deliver it today.”
I let out a long groan, scrubbing a hand over my flaming face. The lingerie store was sending me Christmas presents now? As if the ones Ana and Juliette got me weren’t enough? “This is crazy.”
“Crazy awesome,” Ana said, picking up one of the boxes and giving it a shake. “Do you know how much this stuff costs? They must have given you the whole store. Can we open it? Whatever you don’t want, I’m totally claiming right now.”
The blood drained from my dad’s face, but before he could say anything, Jennifer clapped her hands and added a giddy, “Oh, me too! I hope there’s some stuff in there my size.”
Brian, who had a box of his own in his hands and looked as if he was considering opening it, whirled on Ana and Jennifer. “Hold on now; no one get too excited yet.”
Yeah, I thought. Because I’m sending everything back.
Brian and I weren’t exactly thinking on the same page. He shot Ana and Jennifer a wicked smile and a wink and said, “I get first dibs on Ella’s behalf.”
Juliette burst into laughter.
Choking on mortification, my jaw fell open, and I gawked at the excited gleam in my boyfriend’s eyes as he pulled his keys from his pocket and used them to break through the tape on the box he was holding. “Brian!” I hissed.
He ignored me. “You ladies can have whatever’s left after I go through it.”
“Oh my gosh, BRIAN! You are not opening that!”
He finally looked in my direction, wearing a mask of innocence. I was not buying it for anything. No way. I thrust a finger at him. “Stop. No one is going through that, because I’m sending it all back.”
I turned to the deliveryman, who was still standing there with pink cheeks. “Is there any way you can take this all back? Give the store my warmest regards and tell them thanks but no thanks?”
“I…well, um…” The man rubbed the back of his neck, seeming surprised and unprepared for the question.
Brian stepped over to him before he could answer. “That won’t be necessary.” He slipped what looked like a freaking hundred-dollar bill into the man’s hand. “Thank you for bringing this over. You can take off now. We’ll sort the details ourselves. Have a Merry Christmas.”
The man blinked at the cash in his hand, gaped at Brian, glanced at me, looked back at Brian, looked back at me...
Brian was crazy if he thought we were going to look through this mound of lingerie together, but he did have a point in that it was Christmas and this guy should be home with his family instead of dealing with my drama. Sighing, I forced a smile to the man. “He’s right. We’ll take care of this. Thank you. Go home to your family, and have a wonderful Christmas.”
He didn’t waste any time. “You too! Merry Christmas!”
After the courier was gone, everyone grabbed a box or two and brought them into the living room. It took two trips to get them all inside. I sat down on the couch and just stared at the pile of boxes, still stunned by what had just happened.
Brian sat down beside me and took my hand in his. “I’m sorry, I should have warned you. This sort of thing is common for celebrities.”
I slanted him a dry look. “People send you lingerie often?”
His lips twitched. “Okay, lingerie is a new one for me, but free stuff, yeah. People send their products, hoping I’ll wear them or endorse them.”
“But underwear?” my dad grumbled. He was still glaring at all the boxes. “Lingerie? How could they possibly think this is appropriate?”
Brian shrugged, as if receiving a roomful of lingerie was the most normal thing in the world. “Intentionally or not, Ella gave their store a lot of free publicity. They’re going to make a lot of money from this. Of course they’d want to send her their gratitude. That’s all this is.”
Dad grunted. He continued to frown, but the rage in his gaze died.
“It’s just like when publishers and studios send her books and movies for review,” Juliette said.
“Exactly,” Brian agreed. “With celebrities, we get a lot of clothing, accessories, skin care products…things you can be seen with.”
“Sweet!” Juliette said. “Bring on the freebies.”
Ana opened a box and peeked inside. “Nice.” Thankfully, she didn’t pull out whatever was tucked away, but she did give a low whistle. After closing the lid, she smirked at me. “Next time you get caught on camera, you should say how much you love Louis Vuitton.”
Brian chuckled. I rolled my eyes. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be another next time like the Erik Clarke debacle.
“Open the card,” Juliette demanded.
She looked so curious she was about to tear the envelope from my hands and do it herself. I’d completely forgotten about it. Glancing around the room at all the curious eyes, I supposed I had no reason not to. I took a deep breath and braced myself for whatever explanation it contained.
As if knowing I needed the support, Brian slipped his arm around me. I didn’t necessarily want to read this with the whole family watching, but I knew they’d never leave me alone if I didn’t. After a quick scan of the contents, my jaw dropped again. “It’s from the owner of the company.”
“What’s he say?” Jennifer asked, sounding as excitedly curious as Juliette had.
I read the note aloud.
Dear Miss Rodriguez,
Season’s Greetings from all of us at Lindon’s Lingerie Boutique! I was so moved by your interview with Erik Clarke that I wished to send my sincerest compliments and this small token of appreciation. You are a truly beautiful woman who would only enhance the sex appeal of anything Lindon’s has to offer. I would be proud to have you representing my products. It would be my honor to have you join the team and model my upcoming spring line. I am prepared to offer you a generous contract. Please consider it.
With Sincerest Regards,
William C. Lindon
Founder and CEO of Lindon’s Lingerie Boutique
I was grateful for Brian’s arm around me, because I was so stunned I felt light-headed. His touch was the only thing keeping me sane at the moment. There was a collective gasp around the room, and my poor father looked as if he were having an aneurysm.
Ana was the first to break the silence. “Are you freaking kidding me? They want you to be a Lindon’s model?”
The disbelief in her voice would have been completely insulting if I didn’t feel the exact same way.
“No. Absolutely not,” Dad insisted.
I wasn’t the least bit annoyed that he was trying to make decisions for me since I agreed with him 100 percent. No freaking way was I going to do it.
“Hang on, Rich,” Jennifer said. She sounded ecstatic. “Don’t just dismiss this so easily.”
Dad and I both gaped at Jennifer. She shrugged and looked at me with imploring eyes. “Do you know what kind of an opportunity this is for you?”
“I don’t care what kind of opportunity it is,” Dad roared, all his earlier rage back with a renewed vengeance. “My daughter is not going to parade around in her underwear in front of the entire world!”
“Richard, be reasonable!” I was shocked when Jennifer raised her voice at him again, for the second time today. She was usually so nonconfrontational all the time. But she was also a professional model, and I could imagine this job had major significance in her eyes. “Being a Lindon’s model is one of the most coveted gigs anyone could land. I could only dream of getting a chance like that. It’s a respectable job that would open all kinds of doors for her, and it would pay enough to give her financial stability, despite all of her medical needs.”
When Dad’s face turned a scary shade of purple, I joined the argument before he could have a heart attack. “It doesn’t matter, because I’m not doing it.”
Dad let out a breath of relief, but Jennifer shook her head emphatically. “Ella, you should really consider it.”
“I’m sure it’s a great opportunity, Jennifer, but I wouldn’t even feel comfortable wearing any of that stuff privately. There’s no way I’m going to model it.”
“But sweetheart, think about what it could mean. This is something this world desperately needs. You could do so much good for so many people by taking this job.”
So Jennifer had jumped on the bandwagon with the online commentators. Not a big surprise, I guess. Being a model, she’d gotten a lot of criticism over the years, and had, at one point, nearly destroyed herself trying to mold herself into the world’s idea of perfection.
I agreed that the world could use a few models that were more average looking, but I wasn’t average looking. Beneath my clothes, my body was covered with hideous, angry scars. They were raised, blotchy, discolored, and pulled my skin in awkward directions. It wasn’t beautiful. I didn’t care how many people tried to tell me otherwise.
None of them meant it, anyway. It was just the popular or polite thing to say. It was an idealistic fad at the moment, but it wasn’t sincere. And in Lindon’s Lingerie Boutique’s case, it was worse than that.
“This job offer wasn’t sincere,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s damage control because I badmouthed the store for only using perfect models. They probably already have a handful of feminist groups gearing up to sue them. Offering me this job is the easiest way to smooth that over. Not to mention the publicity they’d gain from it. It’s nothing but a gimmick. A gimmick that exploits me and my physical condition.”
Jennifer sighed. “Just because it’s a good opportunity for them doesn’t mean it’s not a worthy cause. If the lingerie is uncomfortable for you, there are plenty of other—more modest—ways to accomplish the same thing. Swimsuits, for example. Those aren’t suggestive the same way lingerie is.”
I wasn’t sure how modeling bikinis was much better than lingerie, but I didn’t bother to argue.
“I’m sorry, I just can’t. I don’t want to show the world my body. I hate my body. There’s no way I could do it.”
The light finally left Jennifer’s eyes, and she nodded her acceptance. She looked disappointed, but she seemed to understand. I was surprised at how much I hated to let her down. I wished I could be the courageous hero she wanted and stand up to a world of judgmental, shallow people, but there was just no way I could do it. I was nowhere near brave enough or strong enough.
“It’s a dumb statement for you to make, anyway,” Brian said suddenly, squeezing my hand. “Your looks are too perfect.”
Though he wasn’t trying to make a joke—I didn’t think—I snorted a laugh. Brian grunted and nearly growled his next words like a warning. “Ellamara, I wasn’t trying to be funny. I was complimenting you.”
“Sorry?”
I gave him a sheepish smile, still having a hard time containing my giggles, and he sighed. “You are so unromantic.”
“Unromantic?” I teased. “Or just not cheesy?”
Brian scoffed. “I am not cheesy.”
That opinion was worth a decent argument, but now wasn’t the time, and despite the corny compliment, Brian had succeeded in cheering me up, because cheesy or not, he meant it. Knowing there was at least one person who loved me exactly the way I was went a long way to protect my damaged soul. Making me laugh never hurt, either.
“If you say so.” Pecking his cheek with a playful kiss and giggling at the irritated frown I got in response, I turned my attention back to my family and the room full of lingerie boxes. “Anyway…let’s just…figure out what to do with all of these and forget this happened. We have to leave for the movie in a while.”
Brian squeezed me tight. “Just set them aside for now. I can have Scotty help me bring them back to my place tomorrow. I have his and hers closets in my master suite, so we can just put it all in your closet for now, and you can go through it later. Or better yet…” He grinned wolfishly at me. “You and I can go through it together, and you can try out the modeling thing with an audience of one before deciding how to answer Lindon’s offer.”
I wasn’t sure what was more shocking—that Brian was asking for a sexy underwear show in front of my entire family, that he thought I might actually consider Lindon’s offer, or that he already considered the extra closet in his bedroom mine.
“Brian! Oh my gosh! No! I’m not going to model any of this stuff for you, and there is nothing to decide. I’m not taking that job.”
When Brian smiled triumphantly, I knew I’d been had. And he’d gotten me good. I’d totally believed he was serious that time. Curse him and his brilliant acting skills. “You jerk!” I swatted his arm, and he burst into laughter. “That’s not funny. I thought you were serious.”
“And the Oscar goes to…” He laughed.
“And you say I’m a brat.”
“You are. And you were being a brat first. It was my turn.”
The man had a point. And when I realized that, a smile cracked through my scowl. “Okay. Fine. I was. But now we’re even.”
Brian’s face lit up brighter than the sun, and he pulled my lips to his for a quick kiss. “I love you, woman.”
Someone in the room—my guess was Jennifer—sighed, and I flushed all the way from the top of my head to the tips of my toes when I remembered we had an audience. Dad was watching Brian with hawk eyes that promised death if Brian ever stepped out of line, but at least he wasn’t shouting and kicking him out. “Sorry,” I muttered, stealing his attention. “So um, yeah, I’m just gonna go shower and get dressed.” I scowled at Brian. “Behave. Which means no opening all this junk and stringing it all over the place. Please.”