"Oh, great," Steele teased, tossing her hands up. "So, we're only friends because you still need me."
"Aside from being the best makeup artist and hair stylist in town, I have no use for you," Aria said in mock seriousness. "Honestly, you're just in the way otherwise."
Steele squawked. "Bitch."
"You know I'm kidding!" Aria leaned her head on Steele's shoulder, hugging her arm. "I love you, girl. We're still friends even if we aren't working together."
"Ugh." Steele squirmed away and stood up. "That's enough mushy gushy for now. I don't do feelings."
Aria grinned, fully aware that Steele was a lot more emotional than she let on. "Whatever, crazy. Help me pick out an outfit and look for the wrap party tonight."
"Now that I can do." Steele was already pulling clothes apart on the rack to one side of the room. "Let's go slutty tonight."
"I'm not going slutty," Aria countered, thinking of Russ's attendance.
Steele sighed. "You always turn down slutty. What about half slutty?"
"What's half slutty?"
Steele held up a dress that had no cleavage. It completely covered her chest and wrapped her neck, leaving only her arms and shoulders bare.
Aria frowned. "How is that half slutty?"
Steele held it up against her body and indicated the hem at the bottom. It barely touched the top of her thighs.
Laughing, Aria shook her head. "So, I'm a nun on top and then naked on the bottom?"
"Exactly. Half slutty."
Aria took the dress and held it up to her own body. It went a little lower on her because she was shorter than Steele, reaching about mid-thigh. "Pair these with knee-high boots to cover my legs and I'll wear it."
Steele pumped her fist through the air. "Finally! Maybe you'll meet a guy tonight."
"I am not dating right now," Aria countered, closing the dressing room door so she could get changed. "Not even interested."
"Imagine how pissed Russ would be if he saw you with another guy though." Steele handed her a set of suede boots that matched the emerald green cocktail dress perfectly. "It's the perfect revenge for his cheating ass."
Not many people knew about her affair with Russ, but Steele was part of her inner circle. Still, she had no desire to make Russell jealous. She just wanted him gone.
"I think I've learned my lesson about dating people I work with," Aria countered, lifting her shirt over her head and tossing it onto the couch. "And there's no one here I'd want to date anyway."
Steele shrugged. She was lining makeup on the counter. "There was a new guy on set today. Sexy as hell in that suit. I might have to call dibs on that."
"You're engaged," Aria reminded her. She had to admit though, Steele was right. Shepherd Film's new CEO was handsome as hell. So handsome, in fact, that she'd already completely blanked on his name from when he introduced himself. His smoldering blue eyes, rugged jaw, and broad shoulders had completely eclipsed her attention for a moment.
Steele winked at her in her reflection in the mirror as she stood behind Aria and zipped up the back of the dress. "Engaged, not blind. Sit. I'm going to do a smoky eye tonight."
"Like you'd ever leave Xavier. I've never seen two people more in love." Aria grabbed Steele's phone off the counter, clicking it on to show her the background photo. It was of Steele and a tattooed man kissing, arms wrapped around each other.
Steele blushed and took her phone back. "It's true. We're really fucking cute." Aria sat still as Steele began wiping off the makeup from filming. "And I'm about to make you really fucking cute, so you better not waste it on another night alone with your battery-operated boyfriend."
She giggled, feeling her face flush with heat. "Steele!"
Part of her had to admit, she wasn't as closed off to dating and men as she let on. She was focused on her career and not about to let a man get in the way of that, but it would be really nice to have someone to fall asleep next to again.
The truth was, Aria was lonely, and she was starting to think it was time to do something about that.
* * *
Keep Reading Nudes!
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Excerpt from Misadventures in the Cage
A Misadventures Romance
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Chapter One
“Oh my God…Josie? Josie Gray?” A young African American woman with short black hair and a vibrantly metallic dress on sidled up to her at the bar. “Can I please get a picture with you?”
Josie shot back the glass of tequila and then sucked on the lime, hissing as it hit her stomach hard. She was already four shots in and each one was helping her forget the giant rejection letter she was carrying around in her purse.
We regret to inform you that the position of sous chef is no longer available blah blah blah.
She got the point. She was never going to be a chef. Every job application she’d sent in over the last year had been turned down.
Not that she was even allowed to be one anyway.
“Sure,” she replied, finally turning to the woman and putting on her best fake smile.
The woman held up her iPhone, turning the camera around to face them and put on her best duck face as she posed for the camera next to Josie.
Josie just smiled and then turned back to the bar as soon as the photo was done.
“Another one,” she indicated to the bartender, but when she lifted her hand to motion, she knocked over her glass. Thankfully, it didn’t shatter, but it made a loud ass noise as it clattered against the bar.
The bartender shook his head, casting her a pitying look. God, she hated that. “Miss Gray, I think you’ve had enough. Why don’t I call you a cab?”
“No,” she sighed loudly. Admittedly, she was getting tired and had probably had enough. Plus, she couldn’t really afford TMZ to find her and write an article about how the reality television star was wasted and falling all over herself at a local bar. Hell, it was the entire reason she’d come to this place off the strip to begin with—anonymity. So much for that. “I’ll order a Lyft. Thank you, though.”
She paid her check and then pulled out her phone, ordering a ride through the ride share app. Honestly, she wasn’t normally like this. She didn’t regularly go get drunk by herself at a bar off the Las Vegas strip in a seedy part of town.
Hell, this entire town was a seedy part of town depending on how you looked at it.
She’d spent her entire life living in Las Vegas though, so it was home to her. She was comfortable with its antics and qualms. Something about it…she could handle. At least, that’s what she told herself.
Pulling her sweater up around her shoulders, she grabbed her purse and decided to wait for her Lyft out front. She could really use the still, night air to sober up before getting in a lurching car ride. God forbid she puke in the back of someone else’s car.