She Did a Bad, Bad Thing. Stephanie Bond

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СКАЧАТЬ from her face. “How were ratings yesterday?” she asked, to change the subject.

      Eve studied her with a little frown, then said, “The best ever. I need for today’s show to be strong, too, to keep the viewers we captured yesterday.”

      “You’ll pull it off,” Jane said, hoping to soothe the concern she heard in her friend’s voice.

      Eve smiled at her in the mirror. “Thanks. But lately I’ve been asking myself why I’m doing this.” She gave a little laugh. “My life would be so much easier if I could just win the lottery.”

      Jane laughed. “Mine, too.” She checked the date on her watch. “Hey, maybe we’ll get lucky today.” She proceeded to airbrush a layer of foundation on Eve’s lovely face, but this morning Jane’s focus was compromised as she continually blinked her scratchy, sleep-deprived eyes. More than once she had to switch off the machine and correct mistakes manually.

      “You okay?” Eve asked suspiciously. “You look tired.”

      “I…didn’t get much sleep last night.”

      “Your neighbor again?”

      Jane simply nodded, but spared her friend the gory details.

      “Sounds like a fun guy,” Eve said slyly.

      Jane didn’t respond, but admitted to herself that some of her tears last night had been due to the fact that Perry Brewer was correct in his assessment of her. Not only was she a homely geek, but listening to him pleasure his girlfriend had struck a chord in her—no man had ever given her that kind of physical satisfaction.

      He was right. She’d never had a good lay in her life.

      “Uh…Jane? Since when do you use green blush?”

      Jane gasped at her ghoulish handiwork. “I’m sorry—I’ll fix it.”

      “That neighbor of yours sure has you distracted,” Eve remarked.

      “Nothing a pair of earplugs won’t fix,” Jane murmured.

      Turning her mind firmly away from Perry Brewer and his correct assumptions, she focused on Eve’s makeup and methodically played up the woman’s eyes, cheeks, and mouth. When she finished, Jane styled Eve’s luxurious hair while they chatted about today’s show.

      “I just hope that ‘Unleashing Your Inner Wild Child’ appeals to enough viewers,” Eve said wryly. “It sounds a little like a sexual exorcism.”

      Jane laughed and removed the paper cape, then stepped back and surveyed Eve’s turquoise-colored blouse. “I have a necklace that would look great with that outfit.”

      From the bureau where she kept stock costume pieces, Jane removed a chunky silver and turquoise necklace and clasped it around Eve’s neck. Eve touched the piece and smiled wide. “It’s perfect. You have such a good eye, Jane.”

      Jane smiled. “That’s what you pay me for.”

      An assistant producer appeared in the doorway. “Bette Valentine is here.”

      Eve glanced up at Jane. “And you’re going to earn your paycheck today.”

      The women shared a laugh, then Eve heaved a sigh and pushed to her feet. “See you later.”

      “Okay,” Jane said, fighting a yawn.

      She had just finished cleaning up the vanity area when Bette Valentine sailed into the room sporting her typical tropical muu-muu, garish makeup, clanging earrings, and teased red hair.

      “Hello, hello,” the middle-aged woman sang.

      “Hello, Ms. Valentine,” Jane said, hoping her smile was stronger than it felt. “I’m Jane.”

      “I remember from the last time I was on the show,” the woman said with a smile. “Although I’m not sure why they sent me in here. I did my own makeup already.”

      “I’ll just give you a little touch up,” Jane said, gesturing to the chair. “You don’t want to look shiny under all those lights.”

      The woman sat down, her bracelets and other jewelry jangling.

      “Ms. Valentine, just between us, you might want to remove any jewelry that makes noise. The microphone will pick it up and our viewers won’t be able to hear you.”

      “Oh? We wouldn’t want that,” the woman conceded.

      “And I think I have a color of eye shadow that will better highlight those gorgeous green eyes of yours.”

      One compliment at a time, she tweaked the woman’s appearance to tone down the makeup, extract some poof from the hair, and she even found a silver beaded tassel belt to cinch the voluminous muu-muu.

      “That’s nice,” the woman agreed with a nod. Then she angled her head at Jane. “You’re quite pretty, you know.”

      Jane blanched, her tongue tied as her mind replayed her neighbor’s brutal assessment of her. “No…I’m not.”

      Ms. Valentine laughed and gripped Jane’s hands. “Dear, you’re just the sort of person I’m targeting today. You need to ‘Unleash your inner wild child.’ “

      A flush climbed Jane’s neck. “I don’t have…I mean, I’m not—”

      “Do you have a man in your life, Jane?”

      “No, but—”

      “It’s because you haven’t released the passion that lives deep within you.”

      Jane squirmed. All this touchy-feely stuff made her nervous.

      The woman clasped her hands tighter. “You have a secret. You hide behind your plain clothes and your ponytail because you’re afraid to let men see the wild child in you that’s dying to get out. Yet you grow bored with the men who don’t recognize that about you.”

      Jane started to protest, but Bette stared into her eyes with such intensity that for a split second, Jane felt as if the woman had a “third eye,” that she could see something that Jane herself couldn’t even see.

      “She’s in there,” Bette said, releasing one of Jane’s hands and tapping her lightly on the chest. “You need to find the courage to unleash her.”

      Jane’s heart was hammering beneath the woman’s hand, and she couldn’t speak—wouldn’t know what to say if she could. For some reason, the woman’s words made her want to laugh…and cry. It was as if she had channeled into Jane’s deepest fear lately—that she was doomed to be the girl whose name no one could remember.

      “Ms. Valentine,” an assistant said from the door, “you’re on in five.”

      The woman gave Jane’s hand one last squeeze. “This one’s for you, hon.”

      Jane simply stared after the flamboyant woman, feeling as if she’d been emotionally dive-bombed and blaming some of her vulnerability СКАЧАТЬ