Sugar and Spice (10 page)

Chapter 16
Or Maybe You’re Just Being Delusional, as Usual

“And . . . that is a wrap! You are
très, très belle,
ma chérie
! I could take pictures of you forever!”

Scarlett smiled politely at the
Maxim
photographer, an overly energetic French guy named Maurice, as she rose up from the round, silk-comforter-covered bed. The view out the window of their hotel suite was stunning, although Scarlett was so exhausted from the nearly day-long shoot that she could barely appreciate it.

One of the nameless wardrobe assistants handed Scarlett a terry-cloth robe, which she slipped on over her “outfit”: black lace La Perla lingerie and nude lace-up stilettos. Actually, this was one of
many
outfits she’d worn over the course of the shoot. First, they had shot her by the hotel pool in various bikinis (the stylist had let her pick her favorites from a rack of over fifty, all noticeably lacking in fabric on the back side) and a shocking amount of body oil. The second shot had taken place in one of the hotel’s lounges, with Scarlett sitting at the bar . . . standing behind the bar making drinks . . . then actually stretched out
on
the bar. (She had insisted that they clean it, twice. She had been to enough bars to know that they weren’t the most sanitary of places.)

Their last location had been the suite, rented for the day by
Maxim.
Scarlett had overheard her hairstylist saying to one of the assistants that the five-thousand-a-night room was often occupied by newly single male celebs needing a temporary residence. The fact that it was just upstairs from a club that was frequented by hot girls who liked male celebs, single or not, was a bonus. The hairstylist had added that one of her clients had moved in during a nasty divorce and liked it so much he stayed for nearly a year. (Scarlett hoped it was at a discount.)

When they first got up to the suite, the
Maxim
art director had explained to Scarlett that they wanted two shots there: one on the bed and one in the glass shower with the door all steamed up. Bed? Glass shower?

Scarlett had immediately turned to the PopTV publicist, Melissa, who had not said anything to her before about beds or showers; in fact, when Melissa originally told Scarlett about the
Maxim
gig, she said something about a “classy shoot” that showed off Scarlett’s “natural beauty,” and how it was all a “great opportunity” to get Scarlett “out there.”

Okay, so maybe Scarlett had promised to have a better attitude about PopTV and
L.A. Candy.
But she wasn’t an idiot, and she wished everyone would stop treating her like one. There was nothing “classy” about posing on a bed or in the shower. (The shower photo, “the most important one of the day” according to the
Maxim
art director, was going to stretch across the first two pages of the article with
HOT CANDY
or some similar title imposed on the steamed-up glass.) And there was nothing “natural” about two inches of padding in one’s bra cups. Obviously, PopTV had wanted the August cover for Scarlett because it was going to increase their show’s male viewership, and most guys weren’t too interested in classy or natural.

Scarlett had eventually agreed to the bed shot but not the shower shot. Aside from Liam and the rubber ducky next to her tub, no one was gonna see her like that, soaping up. Melissa, Maurice, the
Maxim
art director, the stylist, and a few others from the magazine on set gathered around to discuss what to do. Thirty minutes, four phone calls, and one bagel (snatched from Scarlett’s hand by Melissa: “Eat
after
the shoot”) later, the shower shot was killed.

And now the bed shot was done. Finally. Scarlett said a hasty good-bye to everyone, thanked Maurice, and went to change. She was cooking dinner for Liam tonight, and she couldn’t wait. Not the cooking-dinner part—her culinary skills had not magically improved since she and Jane had Caleb and Naveen over last week—but the Liam part. She hadn’t seen him in days, due to their busy schedules, and she missed him big-time.

Unfortunately, she was also long overdue to have a conversation with him about . . . well, recent events. She
wasn’t
looking forward to that part of the evening.

On her way out of the hotel, she saw a familiar figure sitting in the lobby, scrolling through her phone. A familiar, unwelcome figure. Should she try to sneak by and avoid a confrontation, or . . .

“Scarlett? What are
you
doing here?”

Scarlett sighed. No escape. “Hey, Madison. So nice to see you, too. I could ask you the same thing.”

“I have a meeting.
Maxim
is doing a shoot here today, and it was the only time I had in my schedule. I’m talking to one of the editors about doing the August cover,” Madison said smugly.

“Oh, really? That’s funny, because I just finished the shoot . . . for the August cover.”

Madison’s eyes blazed. “What? What are you talking about? The girl from the PopTV press department definitely said August.”

“Maybe she got it wrong,” Scarlett suggested.
Or maybe you’re just being delusional, as usual,
she thought.

“Look, this is
my
cover, and you’re trying to steal it from me!” Madison said angrily.

A young woman standing nearby was looking at them with a little too much interest. That’s all Scarlett needed, for some eavesdropping stranger to call the tabloids with a hot tip about the two of them arguing over the stupid August cover.

Scarlett fake-smiled, shifting gears. “I’m soooo late for a dinner date,” she told Madison apologetically. “I’ll catch you later, okay? Good luck with your meeting!”

With that, Scarlett turned and rushed out the door, trying not to laugh at the stunned expression on Madison’s face, and savored her tiny victory.

“Hey, these fish tacos are great! I thought you said you didn’t know how to cook.” Liam was seated next to Scarlett at her apartment, scarfing down the tacos she had just made.

“I don’t. This is all I know how to make. And the main ingredient was in the freezer twenty minutes ago,” Scarlett said, secretly pleased.

Liam grinned and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. “I’ve missed you,” he said.

“I’ve missed you, too. I wish the semester was over already, and we could spend more time together.”

“That’s, like, in a month, right?” Liam said, taking another bite of his taco.

“Yeah, I’m counting the seconds.”

“I’m gonna teach you how to wakeboard this summer.”

“Wrong, Ferguson! I’m gonna teach
you
how to wakeboard this summer.”

Liam laughed, then kissed her again, this time on the lips. Scarlett twined her fingers through his long, light brown wavy hair, then pulled him closer. She had wanted to prepare him a special dinner, complete with candles, wine, and romantic music in the background. It was a little cheesy for her taste, but she wanted to make up for being so MIA lately. (Jane was out with Caleb, so they had the place to themselves.) And to put him in a relaxed, happy mood before she had The Talk with him about Naveen.

She had been avoiding the issue for a while, and she really couldn’t put it off any longer. For one thing, she knew that the episode featuring the Caleb-Naveen dinner party (as well as Jane and Caleb’s official “first date” at some fancy Italian restaurant) was airing next week. After it aired, the blogs would be buzzing with insane headlines like:
THE NEW BOYS OF
L.A. CANDY
and
SCARLETT’S NEW MAN?

But more important, one of the big tabloids had hit the stands this morning with a trashy piece about Scarlett and Naveen filming together, going on dinner dates, and becoming an item—compliments of a “source close to Scarlett.” WTF? Where did reporters
get
this crap? Liam apparently hadn’t seen the article yet, judging from his pleasant mood tonight. But she couldn’t exactly keep him away from magazine stands, bookstores, grocery store aisles, and the internet.

“Soooo.” Scarlett sat back in her chair and began fiddling with her napkin.
Just get it over with,
she told herself. “You remember those two guys Janie and I know from high school? Caleb and Naveen?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’ve never met them. But I saw their pictures in a magazine at my dentist’s office, remember?” Liam said wryly.

“Um, right.”
Add “dentist’s offices” to the list,
Scarlett thought. “Well, I wanted to tell you . . . that is . . . Trevor kind of made us invite them over for dinner last week,” Scarlett blurted out.

Liam frowned. “I don’t get it.”

“Trevor said he wants us to hang out on camera as a foursome because there needs to be guys on the show,” Scarlett babbled on. “He said it’s not good for ratings that Jane isn’t dating anybody, and I’m dating you, except you can’t be on the show, so as far as the public is concerned, I’m not dating anybody, either. Except now Janie
is
dating Caleb.” She didn’t stop to voice her opinion on the subject, namely, that she wasn’t thrilled, and she hoped her best friend wasn’t going to get hurt—
again.
“That’s going to be on the next episode. And so is the dinner party with the four of us. And I just wanted to let you know that dinner party was totally innocent . . . well, except when Jane and Caleb started making out in the kitchen. But Naveen and I are friends from a long time ago, and you know that Trevor is always looking for a story. It’s just, you never know how Trevor’s gonna edit stuff, right? And then this crazy article came out today, but it’s all made up, and—”

“Wait, what?” Liam put his fork down and pushed his plate away. “
What
article?”

“One of the tabloids lied and said Naveen and I hooked up,” Scarlett explained. Was it her imagination, or was she talking really, really fast? “Which we never did! I mean, not
never
, because we did kind of have a thing in high school. But it was
high school
, and it only happened once. Now we’re just friends. I mean, we’re
barely
friends. We’re only hanging out because Trevor is making us.” She leaned closer and gazed into Liam’s blue eyes. “You understand, right? This is my job, and it’s not like I’m choosing to hang out with these guys.”

She stopped and took a deep breath, waiting for Liam to nod sympathetically and tell her that he understood completely. But he was looking at her with a weird, tense expression and not saying a word.

“What? Say something. You’re not mad at me, are you?” Scarlett said.

Liam sighed. “No, I’m not mad at you, Scarlett. But you should have told me this stuff before. And yeah, I get that this is your job. But do you have to pretend you’re dating this guy for the show?”

“I’m not! Trevor just wants us to hang out, that’s all.”

“Yeah, well, what does that mean, ‘hang out’? What does
Trevor
mean by that?”

“I have no idea what goes on in Trevor’s mind. Well, maybe I do, but I’d rather not think about it. The point is . . . I’m not Trevor’s puppet. He can’t make me do stuff I don’t want to do. And I absolutely, positively don’t want to even
pretend
to date Naveen. I want to date
you.
I
am
dating you.”

Liam regarded her silently.

Scarlett grabbed his hand. “In a perverse, mixed-up kind of way, maybe it’s a
good
thing that Trevor’s into his make-believe head games about me and Naveen. Maybe this way, he won’t give me a hard time about dating you.”

“He’s giving you a hard time about that? Still?”

Scarlett shrugged. “He’s not happy that I’m dating someone who can’t be filmed. It was the same thing with Jane and Braden. Not that they were dating, exactly. But you know what I mean.”

“I guess? God, this show is really messed up.”

“Yeah, I know. But it’s a job. A good job with serious money. And I’m lucky to have it.” When Liam gave her a strange look, Scarlett quickly added, “I wasn’t saying that because you don’t have a . . . I mean, I need the money to pay for tuition so I don’t have to freeload off my parents. And someday, after I graduate, I’ll have a way better job where I won’t feel like I’m living in a fish bowl. I mean, you
know
this is totally twisted, right? There’s my
real
life, like tonight. Then there’s my
other
life, in front of the cameras. And then there’s my
third
life, after Trevor’s done editing my scenes and they air on TV.”

Liam cracked a smile. “Yeah, that’s twisted, all right.”

Scarlett leaned over and hugged him. Liam hugged her back. Good. He was okay. Things were going to be okay between them.

“I’m gonna change the music. What is this? You getting sappy on me?” Liam said after a moment, extricating himself from their hug and walking over to the CD player. He pulled a CD case off the shelf and studied it. Scarlett could tell that the subject of Naveen and Trevor and the rest of it was closed. Which was fine with her. “Hey, we’re still on for this Saturday and Sunday, right? For your birthday surprise?”

“Yes, we are, sir,” Scarlett said, digging into another taco. “What are we doing? Can you give me a tiny hint?”

“It’s going to be amazing. Other than that, you’re not getting a single hint, so don’t even try.” Liam pulled out a cream envelope peeking out from between two CDs. “What’s this?”

“NOOOO!” Scarlett leapt to her feet and grabbed the envelope out of Liam’s hands. He looked totally confused. “It’s . . . um . . . it’s a surprise I have for you! So you can’t look, okay?”

“O-
kay.
” Liam cocked his head. “What kind of surprise? My birthday’s not till September, you know?”

“It’s not a birthday surprise. It’s a
different
kind of surprise. Just be patient, please? I promise I’ll tell you soon.”

“You’d better.” Liam slid his arms around her waist and hugged her again. Scarlett crammed the envelope into the back pocket of her jeans as she nestled in closer, hugging him back. She couldn’t believe he had come
this close
to seeing the return address on the envelope. She had hidden it on the CD shelf yesterday, quickly and carelessly (obviously), because it was on the coffee table and Jane had almost picked it up.