Page 92 of Insatiable Park Avenue Prince

No shit he could handle it. He could also handlemein front of a camera. But I wasn’t about to offer that info up to Mira.

“So you don’t already have an agent?” she asked. “No fashion conflicts of interest I should know about?”

“Uh, no. And no.”

“Perfect. Let me see you walk.”

Again, Kelly looked at me, and this time I gave him an encouraging nod and mouthed,Do it.

There was an urgency to Mira’s line of questioning that made me think someone hadn’t shown up and there was an empty spot in the lineup that needed filling.

Holy shit, and that could be Kelly.

My heart began to hammer in my chest as something that felt a lot like hope began to stir, but I tamped it down as Kelly walked down the length of the crowded room for Mira. I didn’t get to watch, since Marco chose that exact moment to spritz my hair with what felt like an entire bottle of hairspray, but when I opened my eyes again, Mira was nodding in an approving way that made my stomach flip.

“Would you feel comfortable walking the show today?”

Kelly’s jaw fell to the floor. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, and I’ll need a decision quickly. One of my guys twisted his ankle coming down those blasted stairs, and he can’t walk the show.”

“Are you sure?” Kelly said, doubt creeping into his voice, flicking his eyes to mine. It was almost like he was asking for permission, like he didn’t want to encroach on “my” thing. But that couldn’t be further from what I wanted. As Marco finished up my hair, I twisted around in the chair to face Kelly.

“You should absolutely do it,” I said. “Ifyouwant to.”

Kelly stared at me, still obviously stunned at the turn of events. “Will I even fit the clothes?”

“It might be tight,” Mira admitted, tapping a finger against her chin. “You’re roughly the same size, but your chest is a bit more filled out. No worries—we can always lose a few buttons at the top. Is that a yes?”

“I—” He glanced at me again, and when I smiled, he blew out a breath. “Yes. Sure. What the hell, right?”

“Love to hear it,” Mira said, patting his arm. “Let me grab the designer and we’ll get you started.” She darted off through the tent, and her small frame was swallowed by the towering height of the models all around her.

“Holy shit, Kelly.” I was out of the chair and grabbing his arms before he could blink. I didn’t get close the way I wanted to, not with the amount of work that had gone into getting me ready, but I squeezed his biceps. “This is amazing.”

He looked a little dazed. “It is, but…”

“But what? There are no buts. I mean, I get being nervous, but you’re gonna kill it. I promise.”

“No, I mean, yes, it’s amazing, but did you put her up to this?”

I frowned. “Mira?”

“Yeah. Was this your idea?”

Shit, I wished it was. “No. I had nothing to do with this. I didn’t even know someone got injured.”

“You swear?”

“I swear.” Though now I was more than a little annoyed with myself that I hadn’t thought about introducing the two of them first. But knowing Kelly and the way he wanted to do things his way without my interference, it hadn’t crossed my mind.

“Fuck.” Kelly ran his hand through his hair, suddenly looking a little green. It was so opposite to the confidence he’d shown before his first Xes scene that I almost had to laugh.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Did I really just agree to do this?”

“Hey.” I reached up and cupped his jaw. An irrational thought hit me, that they better not fuckingtouchthat scruff or I’d kill them. “You’re gonna do great. You’ve done a hell of a lot more than just walk down a catwalk in front of a bunch of cameras and people before. This is nothing.”

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