Kissed Blind (Hot Pursuit #2)(82)

“Oh my God, Basil, stop. You don’t even know her.”

“Stop being such a prude, Ginny. I’m sure she can handle it. Can’t you, doll?”

I blotted my tears and didn’t answer.

Ginny shook her head and began stroking my jacket. “Is this Dior? It’s beautiful.”

“Really?” Basil sat next to me and rubbed one of the flowers on my jacket between his fingers. “These are hand-stitched silk flowers. This screams de la Renta. It’s gorge. But, sweetie, I can’t let you walk the carpet with your hair like that.”

“Ba-sil,” she said. “You can’t just walk up to a girl and tell her, her hair is a wreck.”

I frowned and touched my ponytail. “What’s wrong with my hair?”

Basil stood up and grabbed his bag. “Nothing is wrong with it. It could just be more right. Let me fix this. The collar of this jacket demands a high up-do to highlight the lines of your neck. Ginny, fix her makeup.”

“My makeup is wrong too?” So much for feeling like a million bucks; I felt more like the ugly stepsister.

“Sweetie, don’t take it personally. Celebrities hire us for a reason. They don’t look as good as they do on their own. You’re already naturally stunning.” She grabbed my face and thoroughly looked me over. “These eyes. Basil, look at her eyes.”

“I know. I know. Already noticed. She’s totally fetch. They’re like tortoise shell with pretty green flecks. I won’t start on her lashes.” Basil dropped his bag on the floor behind me and opened it up, placing various products on the table next to my plate.

“You’re the one who’s been in the tabloids with Oliver lately… the bodyguard, right?” Ginny swirled a large brush in a pale shade of pressed powder.

I nodded. “None of it’s true.”

“Of course it’s not,” Basil said, but his tone implied he might have thought otherwise.

“All that stuff is just crap anyway.” Ginny studied my face a bit more. “Now, you just need a little fine tuning. Plus the wasabi made your mascara run. Just sit back and let us take care of this.” Her eyes narrowed like she was plotting her moves. She put her brush down and dabbed a mixture of this and a blob of that into her inner wrist to get the perfect shade to match my skin.

“Okay, thank you,” I said.

Basil teased, sprayed, and pinned while Ginny powdered, lined, and brushed. Not more than twenty minutes later, they were putting all their supplies away.

Ginny stood back with her hands on her hips. “Magnificent, if I do say so myself.”

Basil stepped next to her and tilted his head from side to side. “A masterpiece. Red carpet ready.”

They faced each other and high-fived. Ginny brought a mirror out of her bag and handed it to me. One look and I was speechless. I’d never seen myself done up that way and it took a second to recognize the girl staring back at me. It didn’t look like I had a ton of makeup on, but I’d felt her apply layer after layer. My skin looked airbrushed-flawless, and my eyelashes were thick and fanned out more beautiful than a peacock’s feathers. My eyes looked bigger than usual, and my lips were plumped up in a shade of rose the flower would envy.

My hair was a whole other artistic piece to behold. I held the mirror to the sides of my head and tried to see as much as I could. He’d pinned it up in a simple, sleek, and stylish way I’d never seen before. Not one hair was out of place.

“I don’t know what to say.” I handed Ginny the mirror, stunned.

“Say nothing. Your face says it all, sweetie.” She smiled.

“Thank you.”

“It was our pleasure. Now, one piece of advice while you’re out there today,” Basil offered.

“What?”

“Smile. But not like, a big Julia Roberts smile. A soft, sweet, non-toothy smile. You’re probably going to get more attention because of the picture released a little while ago. Say nothing and be pretty. Got it?”

“Okay, that’s good advice. I appreciate it.”

They put their bags back where they’d originally set them and sat down with plates of food. I wasn’t going to risk eating anything else and messing up my makeup. I pushed my food aside.

Cici’s laugh entered the room before she and Vance did. I took my plate over to a garbage can and dumped my uneaten food.

Vance’s eyes met mine for a second, and he did a double take. “What happened to you?”

I couldn’t read his expression. “Why?” I pointed my chin in the direction of Ginny and Basil, patting the side of my head. “They fixed me up a little. Is something wrong?”

He covered his mouth with his hand and ran it down his chin. “No, it’s just your face. I’ve never seen you look like this before.”

“Is that good or bad?” His expression was a cross between shock and something else.

“Good. Definitely good.”

I smiled and looked down.

“Vance, I made you a plate. Come sit,” Cici called.

He looked over at her and back at me. A moment passed where I thought his contempt and anger had briefly disappeared, but as she said his name, it was like a reminder had been whispered in his ear. His face dropped, and he walked away.

Cici looked at her phone’s screen. “I’m going to check on Camille and Oliver. We need to get moving if we’re going to stay on schedule.”