Page 81 of California Dreaming

“But that’s my job. To help you with anything you need.”

“Yes, it’s your job. But can you look me in the eye and tell me it hasn’t turned into more with me?”

She swallowed hard. Then she turned to look at herself in the mirror again. Instead of answering his last question, she simply said, “Thank you for the dress. I love it. And I’ll wear it… even if it costs more than all of my possessions combined.” She gave him a small smile in the mirror, and his heart finally started beating again. “And while you’re right that I don’t want to know how much you spent because it will likely freak me out, the truth is that you’ve made me feel really, really special. Not just tonight. But so many times since I came to stay and work with you. You’ll never know how much I appreciate it.”

He was about to pull her into his arms and kiss her, when he heard Erin’s voice calling hello from the hallway. She and Mila were early.

“Your hair and makeup crew are here,” Mila announced.

She strode into the bedroom ahead of Erin, armed with an expensive-looking hair dryer and a black case of what Arch assumed to be other hair-related tools.

Her eyes widened when she took in the sight of Tessa. “Oh wow,” she said, sighing in admiration. “The dress is perfect.”

Tessa did a little twirl. “Thank you for helping to pick it out.” She gave Mila a special smile of thanks.

“I love it!” said Erin, coming into the room. “Tessa, you’re a mega babe.”

Arch felt a contented warmth flood through him. This was going even better than he’d imagined. Erin was carrying another clothes bag and handed it to Arch.

Tessa thanked his sisters. “I washed my hair and blow-dried it, but you’ve got carte blanche to style me however you like.”

Mila’s eyes glowed. She loved a makeover, and Arch knew that Tessa had all the natural beauty to make a truly jaw-dropping red-carpet entrance.

Tessa excused herself to take off the dress and shoes and went upstairs, grabbing her clothes from the living room as she went.

“Coffee?” he asked his sisters, leading the way into the kitchen. There was time before their ride came. Another surprise he hoped Tessa would like.

“Always,” Mila said with drama, as though she could barely make it through the next five minutes without a hit of caffeine. Arch set about making coffee for his sisters. He also brought out some of the black sesame cookies he knew they both loved and put them on a plate.

Erin and Mila slid onto the counter stools and watched him with what he realized was bemusement.

“Are those the sesame cookies from that great Japanese store in Los Angeles?” Mila asked.

Arch smiled. “I wanted to say thanks for doing all this for Tessa. It means a lot.”

Even though Tessa was upstairs, Erin lowered her voice and said, “We can see how much she means to you, Arch.”

He nodded seriously, knowing full well that he was no longer capable of concealing his true feelings. He might be a good actor. But pretending that he didn’t love Tessa?

Well, that was simply impossible, no matter his acting skills.

* * *

Tessa put herself in Mila’s and Erin’s hands, comforted by the knowledge that they’d do a great job with her hair and makeup. They wouldn’t have offered if they didn’t have the skills.

All she wanted was to look nice enough not to let Arch down. Plus, she was hoping she’d be able to avoid too much attention and just let Arch do his thing in the limelight. Every time she thought about walking a red carpet with him, a flutter of panic took over. She’d been pushing the idea out of her mind all week, but now that it was here, she was going to have to face it.

In a gap between the sisterly banter Tessa had grown to recognize was born of affection between the siblings, she said, “I’m feeling pretty nervous.”

Mila was winding her hair into hot rollers, and Erin was applying shadow to her eyes, and so she kept them shut, waiting for one of them to reply.

“There’s no need to be nervous,” Erin said in a soothing tone. “Arch will be with you the whole time. Just imagine you’re at a big wedding. You’re more used to being at events where you don’t know people than you think.”

“Erin’s right,” Mila said. “When I was younger, I went to loads of sport events. I learned that everyone was too busy making sure their own outfits were okay to worry about anyone else’s.”

Tessa was grateful for their kind comments, but she still needed to explain. “It’s less about my dress and more about how to behave. I’ve never been to anything like this awards show before.”

“You just smile and make small talk,” Mila said. “Seriously, Erin’s right. It is just like a wedding. You’ll be fine!”

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