“It’s all part of the attitude, honey,” she said.  “It puts a special kind of look in your eye in a way that nothing else can.  Confidence.”

When Becky’s girl was finished with the lower half of my body, legs too, I was left alone for a moment to get dressed again.  I ran my fingers over my pubic mound, marveling at how incredibly smooth it was under my fingertips and the heightened sensation on my skin.

Every move I made drew my attention between my legs, I had to believe her when she said it put a special kind of look in your eye.  My jeans slid up as if they were made of silk, I’d never managed to get my legs this smooth before.

Over the next hour or two an army of women swarmed around me, led by General Becky, doing things with scissors and make-up brushes that I couldn’t begin to understand.  At last, Becky held out her hands, told everybody to step back, and pulled a sheet off the mirror.

With all the time they took, I was almost expecting to look like a painted clown, but what I saw was like an alternate-reality version of myself.  It was a version of myself where I’d moved to Hollywood as a child, found my fame and fortune on the big screen, and now I was the country’s darling.

If I didn’t know I had make-up on, I wouldn’t have been sure of it from looking at my reflection.  Everything Becky had done was subtly perfect.  I looked healthy and glowing, my hair had a slick sheen to it and flowed like a wavy liquid off my shoulders as I turned my head slowly from side to side.

“There, Beth, see? That’s what I’m in this business for.  Moments like these.  That look on her face.  I’m going to cry.”

The front door opened and a man with a clipboard entered.  He talked with the girl at the front desk and my attention was torn from the mirror when I heard him say he had a delivery for Kendall Brookes.

“Over here, come through,” said Becky.

The man was holding a small gift-wrapped package, and I slipped my hand out from under the hairdresser’s poncho thing to accept it.

“Sign here, please,” he said.

I put my mark on the line he indicated and he thanked me and went on his way.  Beth and Becky crowded around.  Even Becky’s small army, now busy with other customers, were looking out the sides of their eyes.

The wrapping paper came off and joined my hair clippings on the ground to reveal a little jewelry box.  When I opened it, my eyes widened.

“Are… are these real?” I asked the two of them.

In the box was a pair of earrings with, to my eyes, huge diamonds set in platinum, silver, or white gold.  Beth and Becky crowded in for an even closer look.

“Tiffany doesn’t do cubic zirconia, doll,” said Beth.

Inside the lid was a small note folded in half.  I pulled it out and read it.

“You deserve this – J.B.”

“May I?” asked Becky, gesturing at the earrings.

“Yeah, sure,” I said.

Becky picked the earrings out of the box and held them up against my ears with the diamonds dangling below.  They seemed to catch every last bit of light, magnify it, and shine out in every direction like crazy little disco lighthouses.

“Wow…” I breathed.

“Suits you,” said Beth.  “I know where we can get the perfect outfit to go with them.  We should get going too.  Give the nice lady at the front desk our yay-card and we’ll be on our way.  Thanks, Becky, still on for tonight?”

Beth put the diamonds back in the box and I closed it.  Becky swept the poncho away to reveal my regular clothes underneath, which spoiled the movie starlet illusion.  My eyes watered when the girl on the front desk showed me the bill, which was many times what was left of my life savings, but it was no match for the “yay-card.”

There was a large part of me that said all this doesn’t come for free, that I should run home before I found out what the real cost was, but I still needed that interview.  Besides, feeling good about myself was addictive.

Every passing moment of this day fed some secret hope long-buried inside of me.  The hope that I was somebody special, that I wasn’t the invisible nothing-girl.  I… deserved to leave my worries behind, even if it was just for one day.

“Let’s do this!” said Beth, leading the way out the door.

Chapter 13

Jace

Much like the high-rise where my office was located, the building that accommodated my penthouse was an absolute fortress, and Kendall was now through the security downstairs.  As I stood at my door, I could see the numbers counting up on the elevator at the other end of the corridor, flanked by the last two security guards.

With a soft tone, the elevator announced her arrival and the doors slid open.  Kendall glanced at the two men as she stepped out, but they stood as motionless as statues so instead she fixed her eyes on me as she closed the last twenty feet between us.

There was no telling exactly what that crazy bitch Beth had done with Kendall today.  I’d get the gist of it when I saw the bill, but whatever it was I could see that it was worth it.

To me, the physical changes were negligible.  Sure, her hair was styled a little different and she was wearing six figures of clothes and jewelry, but she was still Kendall.

She still had everything that made me hard as a rock when I first set eyes on her.  She still had that sexy little body, that deer-in-the-headlights innocence and sweet mother of fuck was her face a work of art.

No, the real difference today had made was inside her.  I could see it in the way she walked, just a faint, tentative, hint of I-know-you’re-checking-me-out swagger.  A dull haze of clouds had pulled back to reveal a depth in her brown eyes that was captivating.

She was still Kendall alright, but she was glowing.  Whatever was going on inside that sexy little package was like the difference between the girl who had done her best to not be noticed, and the highest-paid supermodels the world had ever seen.  She had natural beauty they only had in their wildest fucking dreams, though.

Speaking of whatever was going on inside that sexy little package, my cock twitched as I remembered what that felt like.  That sweet virginal tightness, so snug I had to push hard just to get balls-deep and only made possible by how wet she was.  Mmmm.

Then I fucked that virgin as if she’d done it a million times and she came, hard, and I was going to have my way with her again.  It was going to be a close call as to whether I could restrain myself from forcing her to her knees the instant the door was closed behind her and fucking her face for an appetizer before dinner.

From the moment I set eyes on her I… wait, no, no.  That’s romantic bullshit.  From the moment I fucked her I knew I had to have more.  That was more like it.  What the fuck was I talking about? Her captivating eyes?

I could have fucked her again without organizing everything that I had today.  I couldn’t even explain to myself exactly why I’d done it.  There was just something about the way that cunt of a boss had spoken to her, or about her, right there in front of her like she was nothing that fucked me off.

Normally, in the so-called real world, I didn’t lose my cool like that, but the way he was talking just rubbed me the wrong way.  I was a few seconds away from reaching out and snapping his neck.  Good riddance, motherfucker.

Anyway, Kendall’s boss had survived another day and now she was here with me.  For her interview.  I smirked.

“Hi, Jace.”

Kendall looked up at me with hopeful eyes and a healthy dose of that fear she’d first walked into my office with.  She still had no idea what to expect from me, but I could see what she wanted.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that a lot of people had paid her compliments today, but the way she was standing, clutching her bag, breathing shallow, and yet standing as tall as she could, I knew she wanted me to like what I saw.  It was her lucky day, because I was about to unload a home truth on her.