Jennika smirked and rolled her eyes at me. “Bullshit it is. You’ve changed, Storm. I can see it in you just as easily as I can see it in Laila.”
I rubbed the back of my neck and looked for an escape.
Meanwhile, Jennika pushed her bottom lip out in a flirty pout. “I wish you’d been like this when we were together. I never would have let you go if that was the case.”
I didn’t know what she was getting at, nor did I want to, so I shrugged my shoulders and rocked back on my heels. “I’m the same guy I’ve always been, Jennika. Besides, what are people always saying? The grass isn’t always greener on the other side? Maybe that’s all you’re seeing.”
Jennika tapped the side of her nose. “Maybe that’s all you want me to see.”
CHAPTER 30
LAILA
There was something about a runway rehearsal that made me feel more alive than ever.
The best part?
Storm had made an effort to show up and check things out. He claimed that he wanted to see the venue and get an idea of what things would look like for tomorrow, but throughout my entire rehearsal, he hovered around the runway, always in the prime location to see me walk when it was my turn.
I loved having his eyes on me when I walked, and I couldn’t wait to do it for real tomorrow night in sexy Valentine’s Day lingerie.
It wasn’t until about halfway through the rehearsal that I noticed I wasn’t the only woman who wanted Storm’s attention.
Jennika simply would not leave him alone.
She’d finish her walk and hurry out from backstage as soon as she was done to talk with him. He seemed engaged enough, but he wasn’t responding to her flirty pouts or the way she put her hand on his shoulder every few minutes. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was aware that she was trying to put a move on him and if he liked it.
Playboys couldn’t change their stripes overnight. He and I had been having an amazing time, but there was no guarantee that his head wouldn’t turn for Jennika. She was gorgeous, after all. I’d envied her several times over the course of my own modeling career. She was tall and thin with grace I could never imagine, and she’d also just landed the contract with Vogue. Not only that, but she had her non-profit to teach new kids in the industry how to be their own advocates and how to be safe when entering a potential career opportunity with a lot of bad history.
She was a role model, not just a runway or fashion model.
On my last walk down the runway I caught Jennika looking at Storm like she wanted to eat him. And maybe she did. She was probably just as hungry as I was, and not for cheeseburgers.
Storm seemed totally oblivious to the entire situation.
It took some serious mental strength, but I kept my chin up. I had no reason to doubt what he and I had—whatever this thing was. We hadn’t put any labels on it or talked about our future. We hadn’t acknowledged that this was even a thing. All I knew was I didn’t want to stop seeing him, and I had a feeling he didn’t want to stop seeing me, either. I felt closer to Storm than I’d felt to anyone in a long time, and I wasn’t willing to throw all of that away just because Jennika had me feeling jealous.
I still had choices in this, and I chose to trust him.
At the end of the rehearsal I threw on my sweater and hurried out from backstage to beat Jennika to Storm, just in case she had any ideas in her head about trying to get to him first.
He met me with a big grin and clasped his hands together. “You were great up there.”
“I know. I liked having you watching me. I can’t wait to do it for real tomorrow night.”
“I’ll be sitting front and center.”
My stomach did a little backflip. “Are you free tonight? Do you want to grab dinner? I could use the distraction. The night before the show is always the worst for me.”
His lips twisted into a frown. “You’re going to eat dinner?”
“I’ll get a lemon water.”
He rolled his eyes at me but not in a condescending or judgmental way, more an exasperated one. I kind of liked how much it bothered him that I wasn’t eating. Casey had always understood why this was part of the process, and my dad pretended it wasn’t real at all. Lexi, who never stopped eating herself, kept enjoying her snacks even when I was restricting before a show, but Storm?
This got under his skin.
It irked him.
For the first time since my mother died, I had someone in my life who had a physical reaction to what they perceived as me not taking care of myself properly. It made me feel special, important, and cherished.
Storm looked around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping on us. “Laila, I would kill to go to dinner with you tonight, but of all the nights for me to exercise some self-restraint, it’s tonight.”
“We can just do dinner. We don’t have to, you know…” I trailed off and pumped my eyebrows.
He chuckled. “That’s not what I meant. What I mean to say is I shouldn’t spend time with you the night before the show, especially not in public. They’ll crucify me and concoct all kinds of stories to create bad PR, and I don’t want that for my company or Cupid’s Arrows. I’ve done so well so far. I can’t let everyone down now that we’re so close to the finish line.”
I pouted. “I understand. I’ll recruit Lexi to keep me company.”
He reached for me, caught himself, and let his hand fall to his side. “My board of directors have never been such cock blocks before.”
I laughed. “So long as you know it.”
He groaned. “As soon as tomorrow night is behind us, I’ll make it up to you. Deal?”
“Deal.”
CHAPTER 31
STORM
After Laila left with Lexi, I stayed behind to talk with some of the production crew. I couldn’t help my curiosity. I wanted to know everything they were willing to tell me about putting on a show of this scale.
I had employees from the sound and light crews pointing things out to me I’d never noticed before and explaining how crucial timing was for a fashion show like this. Without the right lights and music at the right time, the impactful moments missed the mark, and sometimes even led to mistakes on the runway where models missed their cues or, potentially worst of all, their confidence.
In the middle of a cautionary tale of what not to do in the sound booth, someone came around behind me, held a camera phone in front of my face, pressed their lips to my cheek, and snapped a picture.
Jennika’s giggle filled my ear as she stepped away to admire the picture she’d snapped. “You look a little bewildered but in a cute way.”
I stepped back while conversation with the sound and light crew died around me. “What was that all about?”
“Don’t mind me. I just wanted to snap a picture for the memories.” Jennika gave me a tight-lipped smile before her attention went back down to her phone. She began editing the picture by adjusting the brightness and contrast before eventually slapping a filter on it. She held it up to me. “What do you think? Just like old times, huh?”
“Sure.”