Beautiful People | wlw

Six: Dress Up

Coffee with Sharise wasn't exactly the bonding experience Vera had hoped for. If she was going to have to deal with walking in on scenes like the one in the kitchen on top of Carmen constantly forgetting her own plans, it would really help if she at least knew for sure that Sharise was on her team. But they had barely ordered before Sharise's phone went off. She took the call, leaving Vera on her own to babysit Sharise's coffee and burn her tongue on her own latte and try not to think about Troy's naked ass.

She claimed a small, rickety table by the window and tapped her foot impatiently against the sticky tiles, wondering if it counted as sexual harassment to let your employees catch you fucking. Not that she was about to waste the chance of her lifetime on a frivolous complaint like that, but still. It was the principle of the thing.

Watching two cute girls folding their hands together and smiling mushily at each other on the other side of the busy coffee shop, Vera crossed her right leg over her left and took a scalding sip of coffee. She might be lonely and way out of her depth right now, but at least she wasn't missing Alex.

Outside, Sharise paced up and down the sidewalk, phone pressed to her ear, free hand gesticulating emphatically. She was wearing high-waisted pants again, these ones in loose, creamy linen, and a sleeveless, high-collared top that shone sunflower-yellow against her dark skin. In the soft glow of the sun she looked gorgeous. Despite her bitter words about Carmen "selling her body", she clearly cared enough to dress well herself. And with that stunning face--pouty lips, cheekbones for miles, deep, intense eyes--Vera could have seen her succeeding as a plus-size influencer if she had wanted to. She wondered how much Sharise's model mother had to do with her negative attitude about the whole business.

Sharise put her phone away long enough to collect her coffee before it rang again. With a sigh, Vera opened her notes app to work on a new blog post. So much for bonding with her new co-workers.

By the time they got back to the house, Troy was gone. They waited for Carmen to answer the door, just in case; she appeared in a floral silk robe and lingerie, but at least she wasn't naked. Draping herself against the doorframe, she fluttered her eyelashes.

"I think you two were here earlier. I'm sure I heard a scream."

Vera laughed sheepishly. "Uh, I—"

Letting out a cackling giggle, Carmen threw her thick curls back over her shoulders. "It's okay. Troy was so into it he didn't even notice."

She turned and swanned away down the hall to the kitchen, Sharise and Vera following in her wake like good little cygnets. "He's actually so funny. When he gets in the mood he kinda goes into this whole other world and starts acting like he's a porn star or something." She put on a low growly voice. "Oh, yeah, you like that, baby. Doesn't my dick feel so good?" She snickered. "Sometimes it's hard not to laugh."

Suddenly what Vera had witnessed didn't seem so hot anymore. She was grateful for Carmen's oversharing. "So, are you two actually dating, or—?"

There was a smug twinkle in Carmen's eyes. "You thought we were faking it for the fans."

"Well, yeah."

With a wide grin, Carmen put one palm against her cheek. "I mean, you aren't totally wrong. This's all just fun. We're not dating. We're both focusing on our careers right now."

There was a subtle twist about the way Carmen made her excuses that suggested she wished they were, in fact, dating.

Carmen floated over to the fridge to get herself a bottle of water. "You must be single, or you wouldn't have been able to fly down here for a month just like that."