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“You are,” Aaliyah said as she placed a hand on Nicole’s shoulder. “This is an amazing opportunity for you, and although I’ll miss you at Bare Sophistication back in Miami, I’m glad I can visit to help with the pop-up shop in LA.”
“Thanks, Aaliyah.” Nicole took a sip of her delicious cocktail as she thought about everything that was in store for her over the next couple months. She loved being the lead makeup artist and hairstylist for Miami’s Bare Sophistication Boutique and Boudoir Studio in addition to all her freelance work, but now it was finally time to spread her wings.
After making a connection with a television producer who was attending a beauty trade show where she was a vendor, Nicole was given the opportunity to temporarily uproot her life to Hollywood to be the lead makeup artist and hairstylist for a series of Valentine’s Day themed commercial ads being filmed. The commercials would all tie together as advertisements for a Valentine’s Day documentary about love and relationships. Since the previous makeup artist and hairstylist suddenly quit, Nicole had a lot to prove.
The hardest part about coming to LA was leaving behind her friends and business partners, Summer Dupree-Chase and Danni Allison, owners of Bare Sophistication Miami. Fortunately, the women were very understanding of the opportunity and even better, the ladies decided that Bare Sophistication would have a pop-up shop in LA with an opportunity to do a local commercial for the boutique. Kyra Reed, current assistant manager for the Bare Sophistication Chicago location, would be in LA as well to manage the shop. Nicole would assist with the pop-up when she wasn’t filming, while Aaliyah—the Bare Sophistication Miami boudoir photographer—would travel back and forth between Miami and LA to help with the boudoir portion of the business.
Nicole and Aaliyah had arrived in LA hours prior to scope out the location of the pop-up shop and get Nicole settled in her temporary apartment. Her first day on the job didn’t officially start for another couple days, and although she’d never say the words out loud, she was nervous about her first major position on a television set.
Aaliyah hopped off her stool. “I’m going to head to the bathroom. Can you order me another mango margarita when the bartender returns?”
Nicole nodded in agreement before returning to her drink. Just shake off the nerves, LeBlanc. You’ve got this. She had no doubt that she’d spend the entire weekend chanting those words to herself.
She ordered Aaliyah’s drink and began planning her next few days in her mind. Her thoughts were momentarily interrupted when a man approached and sat in Aaliyah’s recently vacated stool.
“Magnificent,” she heard him say when he was seated.
Not again, she thought. Aaliyah hadn’t even been gone two minutes before another guy decided to hit on her.
“I’m not interested,” she said, turning to face him. The man in the sleek navy blue suit looked up from his phone.
“What are you talking about?”
Nicole raised an eyebrow. “I heard you call me magnificent, and although I appreciate the compliment, I’m not interested.”
Instead of acknowledging what she just said, he simply stared at her. Hmm, he is kind of cute. She wasn’t really attracted to the business-suit-and-tie-wearing, clean-cut all-American, but she had to admit that his good looks caught her attention.
“You must be confused,” he said. “I was referring to this.” He turned his phone to show her an image.
Nicole squinted. “You were referring to a wine bottle?”
“Yes, I was.”
Talk about embarrassing. “I’m sorry, I think I misunderstood you.”
“There’s no thinking needed on this,” he said in a monotone voice. “You assumed I was flirting with you and I wasn’t. So, you shouldn’t have said that you think you misunderstood me. You know you misunderstood me.”
It took all her effort not to let her mouth drop open.
“And it’s not just any bottle,” he said. “It’s a rare 1935 merlot that one can only hope to get their hands on.”
“Sounds like one of a kind.”
The man gave her a blank stare. “It is.” He briefly looked her up and down, and Nicole struggled not to fidget under his stare. “Although I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand,” he finally said.
Tonight she’d chosen to wear a pair of high-waisted jeans and a light peach blouse. Her curly dark brown hair was pulled on the top of her head in a high bun, and her jewelry matched her blouse. She knew she looked good, but she also knew that she didn’t seem to fit the type of woman Buttoned-up Suit was interested in.
Is this jerk for real? “Excuse me? Where do you get off making assumptions about me?”
“You’re one to talk,” he said. “Considering you assumed I was flirting with you when I sat down, although I gave you no indication that I was interested.”
Nicole was about to give him a piece of her mind when the man stood abruptly after receiving his drink and walked away.
If she’d been back home in Miami, she probably would have told him off even if that meant yelling across the bar. Given that she was new to LA, she felt it best to compose herself.
Maybe I should wait near the bathroom for Aaliyah before I get myself into more trouble. Grabbing her cocktail and the margarita she’d ordered for her friend, she stood and turned to leave only to bump into a solid six-foot-three-inch wall.
“Oh, crap,” she said as her feet, encased in peach three-inch pumps, slipped from under her and her drinks went in the air. As she tumbled to the hard-tiled floor of the bar and stumbled to catch her balance, Nicole briefly noticed that the solid six-foot-three-inch wall had a good-looking face and arms to match a deep, throaty voice that was currently warning her to watch her step.
“Shit,” he said as part of the liquid in one of the glasses spilled on his white dress shirt. Unfortunately for her, the rest spilled all over her peach blouse.
“Watch out,” he said when the second glass dropped from her hand and clacked on the floor. As the music blasted in the background, Nicole thought about those scenes in movies where a damsel in distress stumbled and tried to catch her balance only to be encased by a pair of powerful arms that caught her and pulled her to safety.
When the tall mouthwatering stranger reached out his arms, only to completely miss her outstretched hands, causing her to land even harder on her backside, she realized just how false those movie scenes were.
“Are you okay?” he asked, trying to help her up.
No, sexy guy, I’m not okay. “I’m fine,” she said, waving away his hands. She knew she should probably accept his help, but a part of her was too over the events of the night to accept any help. I must have done something wrong within the past week because karma is not on my side.
“Oh, God, are you okay?”
She turned to the sound Aaliyah’s voice.
“I’m fine, just help me up.” She reached for Aaliyah, ignoring the smirk on the man standing next to her. She hadn’t even gotten a good look at him, but based off what she’d seen on her journey to landing on her butt, he was delicious. Judging by the wide-eyed look Aaliyah was giving him, Nicole assumed she’d noticed how attractive he was too.
“I thought you didn’t need help,” the deep, throaty voice said.
“I meant I didn’t need your help,” Nicole said, using a napkin she had in her back pocket to dab the liquor from her blouse.
Aaliyah cleared her throat. “Really.”
Nicole glanced at her, immediately recognizing that motherly tone in Aaliyah’s voice. Taking a deep breath, Nicole turned to face the man. When she did, she had to remind herself to breathe. “Thank you for the offer.”
“You’re welcome.” His mouth widened into a full grin. “And I apologize. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
Even his pearly white teeth are sexy. “Maybe you should be more careful next time.”
“Seriously?” Aaliyah huffed. Nicole just shrugged. Was she coming across a little rude? Yes. Was the sexy guy standing before her making her nervous? Yes. Did she get a little rude when she got nervous? Unfortunately, yes. She either got rude or extremely quiet. Apparently tonight, rudeness won.
Sexy Guy stepped a little closer to her. “If being reckless means I’ll run into beautiful women such as yourself, then I’ll have to take a pass on being careful.”
Oh, he’s good. Pickup line or not, she had to admit that she liked how good it felt to hear him say those words.
Nicole crossed her arms over her chest, fully aware that she was probably giving him more of a show than she intended since she’d spilled liquor on her blouse. To his credit, he didn’t look down.
“Did you run that line on many women tonight or am I the lucky victim?”
He squinted his eyes before leaning closer to her ear. “I know you don’t know me,” he said in a low voice. “But I’m not the type of man to waste time running lines on women. You’re either interested, or you’re not.” He lifted his head so that he could look into her eyes. “In case you can’t tell, I’m interested, and based off how you were checking me out even as you were in the process of falling, you’re interested too. My guess? This whole diva attitude of yours is a way to redirect your attraction so that you don’t feel vulnerable.”
Nicole sighed. Sexy Guy: one. Me: zilch. She wasn’t sure if it was the trusting look in his eyes or if the fall on her butt had somehow short-circuited her brain cells, but she found herself smiling at his comment instead of denying it.
“Maybe you should buy her another drink,” Aaliyah suggested to the man. She then turned to Nicole. “You should go with him to the bar, and I’ll find someone who works here to clean up the mess.”
Nicole’s eyes grew wide at Aaliyah before she turned to the man. She studied his eyes to see if she saw any hint that he’d rather not buy her a drink.
“Sounds good to me,” he said, ending her observation.
She took a deep breath as she turned to walk toward the bar, fully aware that he was close behind her.
“What would you like?” he asked as they sat down on two stools.
“Rum and Coke.” If he was going to be sitting this close to her, she needed something stronger than a fruity cocktail.
“So, does Miss Slip ’n Slide have a name?”
Nicole smirked. “Cute.”
“I try,” he said with a shrug.
I doubt you have to try very hard. He seemed to be one of those men who women just flocked to.
Nicole briefly thought back to their previous interaction to recall if Aaliyah had stated her real name. She was satisfied when she concluded that Aaliyah hadn’t.
“It’s Bianca,” she said, extending her hand. Nicole rarely gave out her real name at bars, no matter how attractive a man was.
“Nice to meet you, Bianca.” He accepted her hand. “My friends call me KD.”
“Nice to meet you, KD.” Nicole couldn’t help but glance down at his hand, which was still holding on to hers. I wonder what the KD stands for? Even though she assumed it was his initials, the KD made him seem mysterious...edgy.
She immediately missed his hand when he released hers as their drinks arrived. “Are you new to the area?” he asked.
Nicole took a sip of her rum and Coke. “Do I give off a vibe like I’m not from the area?”
“No, you don’t. But I frequent this bar, and I’ve never seen you here before.” His eyes quickly roamed her face. As much as she tried to ignore it, her skin heated under his gaze. “And there’s no way I would have forgotten a breathtaking beauty like you if you were a regular.”
“Here you go with these lines again.” Nicole shook her head. “I hope you realize that I’m not going home with you.”
“I’m offended,” KD said as he placed a hand over his heart. “Can’t a man compliment a woman without her assuming he is only giving compliments to get her naked?”
Nicole contemplated his statement. “Point taken. Sorry for assuming.”
“Apology accepted,” he said as he took a sip of his drink, his eyes trained on hers the entire time. “Besides.” He shrugged. “I at least take a woman out on a proper date before getting her naked.”
Nicole laughed as KD broke out into a smile. “I appreciate a man with a good sense of humor.”
“That’s good, because I enjoy making you smile.” He leaned closer to her, dropping his voice to a whisper. “Just so you know, I consider this a date.”
Her laughter echoed across the bar. He may have been hitting on her, but a man hadn’t made her laugh this hard in a while. It helped that he was extremely attractive too. He was wearing gray slacks and a slightly stained white dress shirt—thanks to her liquor spill—minus the tie. To the eye, he appeared to be one of those corporate businessmen who wouldn’t know how to have fun if it bit him in the butt. But up close, she saw none of that. The sleeves of his shirt were slightly rolled, revealing a smooth chestnut complexion. His hair was thick, curly and faded on the sides in a way that made her want to run her fingers through it.
As her laughter died, she found him watching her intuitively. She’d just met him and albeit he was still a stranger, she was slightly mesmerized by that look. Although his neatly trimmed goatee accentuated his perfect lips, it was his eyes that gave her pause. They were extremely dark—almost black—and for some reason, she couldn’t stop staring at them.
His eyes studied her just as hard, and she wondered what he was thinking about. He opened his mouth to speak when a voice across the room got his attention.
“Bro, we’re headed out.”
Nicole turned toward the voice and realized it was the same guy from earlier. The one who she’d assumed was hitting on her, only for him to tell her that she wasn’t his type.
“That would be my cousin Bryant,” KD said. “I was originally coming over to you to apologize for his behavior since I’d overheard how he spoke to you, but we collided instead.”
So, the only reason he came over was because of someone else? “It’s cool,” she said with a shrug as she tried to hide her disappointment. “Consider yourself and your cousin now off the hook.”
KD squinted. “Let me rephrase that.” He leaned closer. “I came to apologize for my cousin’s behavior, but that’s not the only reason I came over. I’d noticed you the minute you entered the bar. I already had plans to come over, so I was using Bryant as my excuse. We may share blood, but he’s a terrible wingman.”
Nicole smiled. “If he was supposed to be your wingman, then he needs a little work on how to talk to a woman.”
“I’m working on it,” he said with a smile. “In the meantime, can I get your number and maybe call you sometime?”
Don’t forget, girl, you’re here for work! Don’t get distracted by a guy your first night here. “Sure,” she said, ignoring the warning. She rattled off her number as he stood to leave with his cousin and friends.
“I’ll be calling you, Miss Slip ’n Slide.” His lips cocked to the side in a smile.
“I’ll be waiting,” Nicole said to herself once he was out of earshot. A quick glance at his butt proved it was probably just as delicious as the rest of his body. So that’s how they breed them here in LA, huh?
“Earth to Nicole,” Aaliyah said as she approached. “If you stare at his ass any longer, you’ll strain your neck.”
“What did you say?” Nicole asked, turning to face Aaliyah.
Her friend shook her head. “So, I’m guessing your rule about not dating while you were here in LA just went out the window?”
“Girl, please,” she said, waving off Aaliyah’s statement. “Men like KD don’t even call like they promise. LA is big, and there are lots of beautiful women here. I’ll probably never see him again.”
Aaliyah laughed. “I don’t know about that. I was watching you guys from the other end of the bar, and he was staring a hole through you. I’m shocked he didn’t burn you with the fire in his eyes.”
“You’re so cheesy.” Nicole glanced at the door one more time and was surprised to catch him right before he exited. He nodded in her direction, and she lifted her glass to him.
“I may be cheesy, but I’m also usually right. Mark my words. I bet you’ll see him again while you’re here.”
Deep down, Nicole hoped Aaliyah was right. However, she’d never had luck when it came to men, and she doubted that fact was changing anytime soon.
Chapter 2 (#ue7ca70ca-2be2-527b-b728-d7d0622e299d)
“I think we’re finally making some leeway with this place,” Nicole said, glancing around the room.
“We definitely are,” Aaliyah said as she came to stand by Nicole. They’d arrived at the location for the Bare Sophistication Boutique and Boudoir Studio pop-up yesterday morning and were pleased with how much they’d gotten done so far.
“Excuse me,” a voice said from the doorway of the shop. “Did anyone order a sexy, somewhat loud and vibrant brown beauty to help run this place?”
Nicole laughed before turning around to face Kyra Reed, the store manager of the pop-up. Kyra was the assistant store manager for Bare Sophistication in Chicago, which was run by her sisters-in-law Winter and Autumn. Although Nicole and Aaliyah worked at the Miami location with the women who oversaw that location—Summer and Danni—employees of the two locations got together twice a year for a sales and marketing summit. Last year, Nicole and Aaliyah had met Kyra, and the three had hit it off immediately. With Aaliyah traveling back and forth between locations and Nicole working on the television commercials and documentary, Kyra would be managing the pop-up day-to-day.
