A Deep and Dark December(99)

Damn Cal and his stupid favor.

*

An hour later, Mi wrapped up the show by repeating Pleasure at Home’s two phone numbers—one for women and one for men—and reminded her viewers that they could view all of tonight’s products and more online on Pleasure at Home’s website.

“That’s a wrap,” Crosby shouted.

Mi stepped off the stage, glad to be out of the glare of the lights that seemed sharper with the headache hovering at the back of her head. Her gaze automatically wandered the far corners of the studio, looking for Lucas. She found him near the door, arms folded over his chest. She could just make out his dark shape in the shadows. He looked more imposing than ever. She remembered how gentle, almost kind, he’d been with her earlier. The contrast in him gave her shivers.

She handed Tracey, the makeup artist, her on-show, trademark eyeglasses. It had been Mr. Sellers’s idea for her to wear them even though she had perfect eyesight. He’d thought the sexy librarian look would be a perfect contrast to Lucy’s blond bombshell. She missed Lucy. Doing the show without her wasn’t as much fun, but with just weeks left of her pregnancy, Lucy didn’t fit Pleasure at Home’s provocative image. A hugely pregnant woman wasn’t sexy, according to Mr. Sellers.

Mi and Tracey headed to the makeup room just off the main studio. Pleasure at Home was wildly successful, but not successful enough for anything more than a glorified closet as a makeup room. Tracey pulled the bobby pins from Mi’s hair while Mi attacked her face with a baby wipe. She hated the thick pancake makeup required for on-camera work. Tracey finished brushing out Mi’s hair just as Mi wiped the last of the makeup and cold cream off with a tissue.

Tracey set down the hairbrush and began cleaning up the makeup counter. “You’re all set, Mi.”

“Thanks, Tracey,” Mi said as she gathered her things. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She turned to find Lucas crowding the doorway. “Oh! Hello.” Had he been there the whole time?

He examined her face as though it was a riddle that needed solving. “You have freckles,” he whispered more to himself than her.

Mi lowered her head a little, touching a finger to her lightly speckled nose. She hated her freckles. “Yeah, since I was a kid,” she answered just as quietly.

“Hmm.”

She couldn’t tell if that was a good ‘hmm’ or a bad ‘hmm’. He continued to study her face, his gaze tracing over every inch as though it intrigued him. She knew she looked much different without the makeup, which exaggerated the almond shape of her eyes, the fullness of her lips and the sharpness of her cheekbones. Most men only saw the sex kitten who sold personal pleasure devices, expecting her to be wild in bed. Her on-camera self was sexy and sought after, but her off-camera self was freckled and easily skipped over.

She didn’t know why the way he looked at her now made her feel apologetic, it just did. And it annoyed her. “It’s the makeup. I’m supposed to look the part.” She dropped her voice further until it was barely audible. “You know, seductive and alluring.”

He frowned, a deep V forming between his brows.

“Mi, you forgot this.” Tracey held out Mi’s cell phone, angling herself for an introduction to Lucas.

“Thank you. Tracey Casey meet Lucas Vega my—” And then it slipped out, catching Mi as unaware as anyone. “—boyfriend,” she finished, not daring to look at Lucas. What had she just done?

“Pleased to meet you,” Lucas said smoothly, as though it were true.

“Boyfriend?” She could feel Tracey’s questioning stare, but she didn’t dare look up.

“Yes, ah—”

Lucas cut in. “We’ve just made it official.”

And then Lucas draped his arm across her shoulders, bringing her up against his side. A decidedly hot and altogether hard side. She could smell the leather of his coat mixed with the fundamental scent of warm male. It was all she could do to not turn her head and rub her face against his chest, luxuriating in his scent like a bitch in heat. Instead she brought her arm up and under his jacket, laying her hand flat on his lower back just above the hard ridge of what was probably a gun. More heat. His muscles twitched under her palm.

Tracey tipped her head back and to one side. “Well then, congratulations. I suppose.”

Mi was surprised at the tone Tracey used. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought Tracey was being catty.

“Thank you. Well, we’d better go. See you tomorrow,” Mi told her.

Lucas navigated them through the doorway. Mi bunched a handful of his t-shirt in her fist to keep up with him. Once they were clear of Tracey, Lucas leaned down and whispered in her ear, his lips brushing her hair. “Nice explanation.”

“I didn’t know what to say. How to explain.”

“I’m not complaining. It’s the perfect excuse for us to be together twenty-four seven.”

She could have sworn he smoothed his cheek away more slowly than necessary. And he might have taken an extra deep breath while he did so.

“So you’re okay with that?” She hoped he was because they were getting looks on their way back through the studio, walking with their arms around each other.

“Sure. Unless you already have a boyfriend.”

Her answer came out rushed. “No. No boyfriend.”