Page 13 of Sparks Like Ours

Another valid point. “I was planning to just be professional andnot let her get to me. Probably not the best plan, though, because she alwaysseems to.”

“We could do better. Maybe we need a poster board.” Hadley lookedskyward. “Not to get off topic, but it’s intriguing what Iz said a couple weeksback, isn’t it?”

“That Ms. Pac-Man should be allowed to have boobs? The onlyproblem with that is where would they go?”

Hadley held her eyes closed for several seconds. “No. Gia.Strangely, not that.”

“Give me a hint.”

“I meant the part where she said you and Elle hadsparks. Apparently,this corn chip executive thought so, too. Interesting series of events is all.”

Gia felt her defenses engage. “Please tell me you’re not goingthere. Not everything is hearts and butterflies, Had, just because you want itto be.”

“First of all, ouch. And second of all, I’m not going there,”Hadley said quickly. “I know you hate Elle and how always put together she is.But maybe that’s part of it. That tension.”

“I see through her. That’s all. I’m not her number one fan. Thatpart is true, but it certainly doesn’t mean we have sparks. The whole idea isstupid. Isabel’s just projecting her glamorous, fictional world onto my life,and the fit’s not there. It’s lame.”

“Understood,” Hadley said, with an affirmative nod. “Won’t mentionthe sparks again. Will mention nachos, though.” Her eyes took on longing.“Let’s get some on the boardwalk. Please, with sour cream on top? My daysmacked me on the back of the head rudely. Cheese will help me love everyoneagain.”

Now, nachos on Venice Beach was an offer Gia couldn’t pass up, soshe softened, letting go of the bristles from the conversation with a sigh.“You just said the magic words.”

Hadley broke into a grin. “This way, superstar. It’s time tocelebrate your chip deal in style.”

Gia nodded. “With more chips.”

“Duh.”

Chapter Four

Elle tunneled a hand through her untamed hair as she studied thenondescript building through the windshield of her car. Her call time for the photoshoot was not for another ten minutes, but she was stringent about leaving acushion in case traffic was unruly. It hadn’t been, and as was often the case,she arrived at her destination early. She rolled the window down on her Beetleand let the afternoon breeze drift through the car.

She had a third date with Christopher scheduled for that night.The shoot for Trainers would likely go through the afternoon, leaving her asmall window to get home and changed before he’d pick her up. She’d need to doa few stretches first, as her morning workout left her muscles beaten and sore.She grinned, loving it when her muscles pulled. A sign of her hard work.

Things with Christopher had remained pleasant enough. He waswitty, and kind, and knew how to dress himself, which was sheer bonus. They’dtaken to texting in between dates, and he was a solid conversationalist. So whywasn’t she more excited about tonight? She was seriously starting to wonderabout herself and her ability to stay interested in a guy for long.

After checking the clock, she headed inside and found hair andmakeup ready to doll her to pieces for the shoot. She took a seat in thefolding chair as they went to work. Loud rock music blared from nearby and hergaze settled on Gia, who stood in front of a green screen several yards away,posing for the photographer in a black and blue two-piece that made her lookbadass and feminine at the same time. She wasn’t sure who had chosen the suit,but it was a good call. Elle had almost missed the bag of chips in her hand asshe stared at the tangle of dark hair pooling at her shoulders—that was howgreat she looked. Lights and reflectors framed the space around Gia, and amyriad of assistants dashed here and there adjusting props, lighting, and Gia’shair. As her hair was styled, Elle strained to hear the conversation above thevolume of the music.

“Hit me with a competitive gaze,” the photographer called to Gia,who adjusted her grin into a hint of a glare. It wasn’t close to the look shegot on her face in the heat of real competition. The one that said she’d cometo win. Elle knew that look all too well. Thinking about it now, visualizingit, got her worked up, and remembering the finals loss in her not-so-distantpast only bolstered the effect. Nope. She wasn’t a fan of that competitive gazeat all, and rolled her shoulders to rid herself of the strong physicalreaction.

Half an hour later, with her hair shiny and her makeup in place,she joined Gia under the lights. They would do several different looks togetherbefore Gia would head out and Elle would shoot her solo shots. The schedule wasdesigned to make maximum use of their time, which she appreciated. She alsoknew that she had more experience at this kind of thing than Gia did and wouldlikely finish her part of the session faster.

“Looks like you’re having fun over here,” Elle said, standing offto the side of the shoot.

“Oh, I don’t know about fun,” Gia said, passing her the briefestof smiles between shots. That smile was probably forced, she decided, eventhough it didn’t seem so. Would Gia afford her a real smile?

She and Gia Malone had never had the best relationship, and forwhatever reason that went beyond their competition in the water. Elle had goneout of her way to be nice to Gia on more occasions than she could count, onlyto have that friendship branch stepped on, snapped in half, and handed back toher in pieces. Gia didn’t like Elle, and after all was said and done, shewasn’t especially fond of Gia either. She found her hyperfocused and closed offfor the most part, though she did seem to have lots of friends on the tour.Didn’t mean they couldn’t have a cordial working relationship. Elle planned tomake sure that happened.

“Oh, come on. It’s not so bad.”

“For you, maybe,” Gia said. “Mugging isn’t my thing. I just looklike an asshole.”

“Then don’t think of it that way.”

While she could see that Gia was nervous and outside of hercomfort zone, she hid it well. Plus, her looks would be killer in print. Shehad these large brown eyes that just didn’t quit, thick dark hair, and asculpted body people killed for, thatEllewould kill for. The camera was going to love her, which was great news for thesuccess of the campaign.

“So, what’s your suggestions?” Gia asked.

The photographer stepped away from his camera. “That’s good, Gia.Let’s take five and then we can do the two-shot with Elle.”

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