Page 28 of Breaking Free (Guarded Hearts)
Felicia walks into the kitchen as I’m finishing my coffee. “Are you ready? We have a lot of work to do.”
I’m guessing that’s her way of saying I look like a hot mess? I stand up and follow her out of the room, laughing at the expression of every person that I pass as they look at my shirt.
It has been five damn hours of hair, make-up, an embarrassing waxing session, and taping my boobs down to the point that I’m scared to get undressed tonight.
When I turn to look in the mirror, I barely recognize myself. My hair is swept to one side and curled to perfection. It’s all joined right behind my ear by an intricate diamond flower clip. I made the mistake of calling them rhinestones and was shamed by Felicia. I have on teardrop diamond earrings, and my makeup is done to such perfection that I’m scared to even blink. The dress looks amazing. It hugs every single curve of my body, and even when I’m standing still, the sparkly material makes it seem like I’m moving.
The door opens and Drew walks in and he’s dressed in a black suit and tie. I’ve never seen him in anything but a t-shirt and jeans, so looking at him now awakens every nerve ending in my body. He looks me up and down, then his tongue peeks out and slowly licks his full bottom lip. “You look good enough to eat.”
Feeling brave, I start to exit the room, stopping just by his side and leaning toward him to whisper in his ear, “Maybe later if you’re good.” I hear a sharp intake of breath come from him as I exit the room.
We walk out to what I assume will be the normal black SUV, but in its place is a white stretch hummer. The driver opens the door and I sit down. I’ve never been in a limo before and it’s really nice in here. The door across from me opens and Drew climbs in. He immediately slides over next to me and runs his hand from the strap of my ridiculously high heels up to my thigh. “You like to tease me, don’t you, James?” I nod my head. His mouth descends on my neck and he gently nips at the skin. “Maybe I’ll have to tease you a little, too.”
Drew moves away, leaving me to try and squeeze my thighs together in the hopes of getting some sort of relief.
We’re stuck behind a line of cars and I’m looking around, trying to figure out why the driver doesn’t just go around them. Drew seems to sense my confusion. “It’s the red carpet line. We have to wait our turn to get out of the car. I tried to fucking skip this part but my publicist flipped out.”
Red carpet line?There are going to be cameras everywhere. I guess I didn’t let myself focus on this fact until right now. I have no idea how to stand or smile oranythingthat I should do. I feel like I’m going to look like such an idiot. Hopefully, they all want to just take pictures of him and I can fade into the background. After almost forty-five minutes of waiting in the stupid car line, we pull up. I see the red carpet and my heart starts to beat out of my chest.This is it.
Drew climbs over me. “Let me get out first, then I’ll help you out of the car.” He exits the limo and I hear screams echoing from all around us. Drew turns to wave at the people gathered around, then turns back to me and offers me his hand. I take it and slowly exit the car, praying that I don’t fall flat on my face. A woman about my age comes up to us and starts rattling off different directions about where to go and where to look. It’s all so overwhelming that I can’t even process what she is saying; I’ll just follow Drew’s lead.
He walks us to a circular platform, puts his hand around my waist, and whispers in my ear. “Just smile, you look amazing.” I do my best, hoping that my face doesn’t look as awkward as I feel right now. It feels like we stand there forever, making sure to turn in every possible direction, as to not leave anyone out. When we finally get away from ‘the circle of hell’ as I named it, I feel like I can breathe again.
We enter the building and it’s set up almost like a cocktail hour at a wedding. I look around the room, seeing so many famous singers that I’m taken aback. I can’t believe that I’m actually here. Lucas Masterson comes up to Drew, they shake hands and then he turns to me.Holy hell.I can’t even breathe right now. I’m so out of it that when he reaches out his hand I take it, and the pain of the contact shocks me. I quickly pull back my hand and earn looks of confusion from everyone around.
“Um, sorry. You shocked me.” Lucas awkwardly smiles at me.Well, that was embarrassing.
The boys start to talk about the business and the pretty brunette with Lucas looks my way. “Hi, I’m Becca.”
I smile. “I’m Holly.”
She laughs. “Is this your first event?”
I bite my bottom lip out of nervousness. “Is it that obvious?”
The smile she gives me relaxes me. “A little, but don’t worry. It seems a lot scarier than it really is. The first time Luke and I went to one of these, I pulled a Jennifer Lawrence and fell onto the picture platform.” We both laugh and I feel comfortable for the first time since we got here.
Luke and Becca say their goodbyes, but in their place we are greeted by a line of other people just waiting to get to Drew.
Every time someone else comes up to us I mumble some excuse about being a germaphobe. After an hour of introductions, we go to sit in our seats. Drew leans in close to me. “What was with the germ thing?”
“I don’t know, I was just nervous.”
His hand rests on my thigh, but his mouth is still right next to my ear. “I know your body better than you do, and I know you’re lying.”
Someone comes up on stage to announce to everyone that the show will be starting in a few minutes. Thank God, although I don’t know how I am going to dodge his questions later.
The show is absolutely amazing. I’ve always been the junkie that watches these things from the start of the pre-show to the end of the after-show. I stalk the websites for the best and worst dressed lists and sing along to all of the performances. Being there in person, though, is so much different, and just a surreal experience.
When we leave, Drew mentions going home, but I honestly want to stay out as late as possible and avoid his questioning. “Can we go to one of the after parties?”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I don’t know. I just thought it might be fun.”
I can tell that he knows I’m stalling, but he gives in to me anyway. “Okay, let’s go.”
We go to the Billboard after party. It’s so nice and we have the night I think Drew might have been hoping for when we went to the last club. We dance with each other all night long, and when it’s time to leave, I feel like I can barely walk. Throughout the night, I have a few drinks and since I don’t usually drink, I’m pretty far gone.
