The Complete Groupie Trilogy (100 page)

What else was she going to do with her afternoon?

She slipped from the chair and disappeared into a changing room. Jorge hunted around for a pair of heels and Shannon rather enjoyed watching this process happen to someone else for a change. After about ten minutes, Maggie hadn’t come out.

“Everything OK in there?” Shannon called.

“I’m not coming out,” Maggie said.

“I’ll come in and get you,” Jorge threatened, which made Maggie promptly open the door.

Her legs were bare and she was barefoot, but the dress fit her like a glove. The cuff collar fit snug around her neck, and the tiny, sparkling rhinestones ran along the trim all the way down to where it dipped low on her back, right above her tailbone. The shorter hemline made her long legs look even longer, and everything about her popped, from the shock of her red hair to her gleaming pale skin and light blue eyes. Within a moment, Jorge had erased about ten years off of her appearance.

“I look ridiculous,” she said.

“That’s because I’m not done,” he said as he took her hand and pulled her back into the chair. He turned her away from the mirror as he got to work. He pulled out his makeup case and dug around for the perfect palate. He sent a side glance to Shannon. “Bring back memories, Shan?”

She laughed. “Indeed. It’s a lot more fun to see it happen to someone else.”

“He did this to you?” Maggie asked as Jorge bent toward her and started to apply makeup.

“I had the nerve to appear before him in ill-fitting clothes,” Shannon explained. “Top was too big, skirt was too small. And I didn’t have an ounce of makeup on.”

Jorge shuddered. “I still have nightmares,” he said with a teasing scowl.

“What’d he do to you?” Maggie wanted to know exactly what she had gotten herself into.

“Waved his magic wand,” Shannon said. “Turned me from an ugly stepsister into the belle of the ball. He also was responsible for me being cast on a dating TV show.”

At that, Maggie gripped both handles of the makeup chair and tried to rise, but Jorge sat her right back down again. “Don’t worry,” he told her. “We’re not casting for that for another few months.”

“So why are you doing this?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Why does one open curtains on a sunny day?” he pondered. “I like to spotlight pretty things.”

Maggie had to laugh at that. “Good luck,” she said.

Jorge turned to Shan. “No one ever believes me.”

But within ten minutes, when he finally turned Maggie back to the mirror, even she was shocked into stunned disbelief. Unlike he had done with Shan’s mousy locks, Jorge didn’t touch Maggie’s perfectly scarlet tresses. Instead he had flattened every unruly curl until it fell into a sleek curtain around her face, partially covering her face with side-swept bangs. Her eyes stood out with pale pink, shimmery pearl eye shadow. He used a dark gray pencil to line her eyes, and filled out her eyelashes. Her lips had the faintest blush of a pout, and she was surprised how little she looked “made up” after all the time he’d spent.

She looked natural and youthful… and undeniably sexy. “You are a magician,” she said softly.

He laughed. “I just polished the masterpiece,” he said as he handed her a pair of strappy high heels.

By this time she was giddy with the playfulness of it all. She stepped into the heels and let Jorge complete the transformation. “And where am I supposed to go looking like this? I can’t sing so you can’t cast me on the show.”

Jorge grinned. “Well, I’m taken myself so I can’t ask you, but I’m pretty sure you’ll have ten dinner invitations by the time you leave the building.”

Shannon didn’t miss how Maggie’s face fell. “Maybe she only wants one,” Shannon said softly.

Maggie blushed. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Before she could head back into the changing room, Shannon twirled her by the arm and steered her from the wardrobe department. “You were looking for Graham, right?”

Immediately Maggie balked. “I can’t let him see me like this,” she said.

“Why not?”

“Because he’s never seen me like this,” she answered, which made Shannon pick up the pace.

“Then perhaps it’s time he did.”

Graham was on a conference call when the two women popped into the conference room where he’d been hiding. He did a double-take when he saw Maggie, as if he hadn’t recognized her at first. In fact, he thought Shannon was going to introduce him to another contestant, and his first thought was that she was much too pretty to be undiscovered.

“I’ll… uh… call you back, Mike,” he said as he disconnected the call. He turned back to them with his mouth hanging open. “Mags?” he said, although the endearment seemed wildly inappropriate for the goddess who stood before him.

She blushed and Shannon had to pull her further into the room. “I thought you’d want to know what your money is paying for,” Shannon said. “This is what the show stylist can do.”

Graham was speechless. He rose and walked around the table to join them where they stood by the door. “You look amazing, Maggie,” he said with such genuine warmth she could barely look him in the eye.

“Thanks,” she finally said. “I guess I should go wash off all this war paint,” she said, but Shannon didn’t let go of her arm.

“Nonsense,” she said. “Graham, you should totally take her on the town and show her off. It’s the least we can do for her since she indulged Jorge and his fit of creativity.”

“I agree,” Graham said. “What do you say, Mags?”

Maggie looked up in his earnest eyes. Whenever he called her Mags she was putty in his hands. She nodded and then grabbed his empty food tray from his desk. It was why she had been looking for him in the first place, to ensure that he had eaten. He had worked through many lunches since they started production on
Fierce
, and she was still his nurse, responsible for his care. “I’ll just take care of this first,” she said as she scurried from the room, trying not to trip on the unfamiliar high heels.

Graham stared thoughtfully after her.

“Good woman,” Shannon supplied. “She was quite the sport when Jorge got the notion to take her under his wing. He doesn’t do that for just anybody.”

He nodded. “Thank him for me,” he said.

Shannon grinned as she took a seat at the table. “So what’s the deal with you and Maggie, anyway? If you don’t mind me asking.”

He shrugged as he sat in the chair next to her. In the past few months they had worked pretty closely, and he had come to consider Shannon a friend as well as a colleague. He had confided in her about the triangle with Andy and Vanni, as well as all the scandal that surrounded them all. He felt it only fair since she was investing her brand in his label and Vanni’s image, not to mention giving Andy a job on the team.

She had always been a sensitive and nonjudgmental listener, which he desperately needed after that fight with Andy that had sent him into a drunken stupor. She was the one who convinced him to release Andy from his own failed expectations. If he cared about her, truly cared about her, he couldn’t afford to be selfish. Enough people had been hurt; and holding onto his anger and resentment was only poisoning him now.

He knew she was right.

Graham took a deep breath before he answered her question about Maggie. “She’s my nurse,” he said. “Damn good one, too. She performed a miracle with me, Shan. The reason I’m walking today is because she never let me give up. She’s tireless and devoted and demands nothing but the best from everyone around her.”

“Sounds like a remarkable person,” Shan said softly.

He nodded. “She’s the best.”

Shannon leaned forward to put her elbows on the table. “So what happens when you don’t need a nurse anymore?”

He looked at her like the thought had never crossed his mind. “What do you mean?”

“You say she’s your nurse. Her job was to get you walking, right?” He nodded. “You’re walking,” she pointed out. “What now?”

“Yeah, but we still have a lot of work to do,” he said. “I couldn’t imagine doing half the stuff I do without her. She keeps me focused and on track.”

“So… she’s an assistant?”

He shook his head. “She’s more than that. She’s my friend.”

“That you pay,” Shannon clarified. “Which brings me back to the question – what happens when that job is done?”

It almost startled Graham to realize he didn’t want Maggie’s job to be done. Ever. He couldn’t imagine not seeing her regularly, having her around to tease and to confide in – to have as his biggest cheerleader and taskmaster. But Shannon was right. It was Maggie’s job to be there. And jobs ended eventually.

The thought saddened him more than he thought it would. It lingered even as they left the lot and headed out to a nice restaurant her wondrous transformation demanded.

She wasn’t just a nurse. She was a woman… a beautiful, amazing woman.

He suddenly really wanted to treat her like one.

He ordered a bottle of champagne after they were seated. Maggie raised her eyebrow. “What’s the occasion?”

He grinned. “There doesn’t need to be an occasion to drink champagne,” he said. “Everyone should drink champagne for no reason at all.”

She giggled. “You’re the boss,” she said, which reminded Graham of his conversation with Shan.

“Is that all I am?” he asked as he perused the menu.

She was taken off guard by the question. “What do you mean?”

He looked up at her. “You perform a service and I pay you. Technically we’re a boss and an employee. But is that all?”

Her hands dropped into her lap. She wondered if he remembered their encounter in the guest bedroom when he’d been stinking drunk. She couldn’t think of anything to say so she waited for him to go on.

“I consider you my friend, Mags. Is that wrong?”

She gave a slow shake of the head. “No… of course not…”

“I’m just curious what is going to become of us when you move on to your next patient,” he said.

Her throat tightened. “Are you… ready… for me to move on, Graham?”

He shook his head. “Far from it,” he said softly. Their eyes locked and held, interrupted only by the waiter who brought their champagne to the table. After the glasses were poured, Graham raised his for a toast. “To friendships,” he said. “Long may they last.”

She nodded, but her stomach was in knots as she tried to force through that first swallow.

He took note of her discomfort. “You okay, Mags?”

She nodded and feigned a brave smile. “Of course. Look at me,” she said as she referred to the black dress.

He had to chuckle. “I actually can’t stop looking at you,” he confessed, and his heart tugged
watching her blush in response.

“You may have to get me home before midnight. You don’t want me turning into a pumpkin on you.”

He laughed. “Very well. Since the clock is ticking, let’s get this party started.” He scooted out of the booth and offered his hand. “Dance with me?”

She had no words as she nodded and put her hand in his. He led her to the tiny, darkened dance floor of the trendy restaurant, located on the roof of a high rise in West L.A. He molded her to his body, and his hand felt warm against the small of her back, bared by the risqué dress. The beat of the music was sensual, so they swayed together almost hypnotically. He spun her out and back to him again, and when the music ended he dipped her. Her laugh rang out, joyful and true, which made Graham pull her close for another dance.

By the time they ordered their dinner they were flying high on giddy laughter from the champagne and the playfulness of their night. They even sat closer together in the booth as they let a decadent dessert digest.

It was comfortable. It felt right. For Graham, it felt more intimate than any sexual encounter, and more solid than any marriage.

How had he not noticed this before?

He caught her staring wistfully at the happy couples on the dance floor. For some reason he had the immediate impulse to brush the strand of hair that had dipped over her eye, but managed to hold himself back.

“You ever think about doing it all again?” he asked softly.

Her lovely eyes met his, but it almost felt like the first time he ever looked into them.

“There never seemed to be a reason,” she said. “Mitchell was my high school sweetheart. Your first love is the most intense, so I knew everything else would pale by comparison.”

Finally he reached out and brushed her ha
ir from her face. “Everything?”

Her mouth parted as his fingers brushed against the curve of her face, light as a feather. She was lost in his darkened eyes. How could she say anything and not spill everything?

“Don’t you miss being touched, Maggie?” he asked in that same low voice.

She gulped. “Graham…”

“Just between friends,” he grinned. “I miss being touched… being kissed,” he said as he touched her lips. “Being wanted. I mean, we’re only human after all.”

She nodded and licked her lips, which drew his attention there. “Maybe I’ve been wanting the wrong things,” he said. “Maybe I chase after what I can’t have just so I can have the wanting.”