Page 87 of Scoring His Obsession

When I first had the idea for designer pet clothes, I had no idea I’d be on TV. I thought, if I was lucky, I’d get to run a store as a job. My imagination never went so far as to the money in my bank account accruing and having to talk to an accountant. I thought maybe I’d make enough to live off of.

Athena stands in front of me, her tail wagging.We did it, huh? From the trenches—literally—to TV. Dirty to dolled-up. Grieving…well, to generally happy. I made Athena a promise a long time ago that I would give her a better life, and I think I have.

She licks my fingers, and I tangle my hands in her fur, staring into her soulful brown eyes.Man, I love this dog.

“Rae-bae.”

“Hmm?”

“She wants to powder you.”

I stand up straight quickly. “Oh. Sorry.”

I sit back in the chair, and the makeup artist smiles at me. “Just have to dim the shine for the lights.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” I try to keep my voice steady, but my nerves rear up. It’s the lights and cameras that do it for me. Even from the first show that had an audience, the lights were so bright that sometimes you couldn’t see them, and it was odd to have people laugh and cheer when you couldn’t look them in the eye. Unnerving.

The woman finishes powdering my face, wishes us luck, and then leaves.

“Do you always feel like a princess?” Tab asks.

I laugh. “Actually, I usually feel like a lab rat and all the scientists are standing around, wondering how they’re going to make me do something I wasn’t born to do.”

She rolls her eyes. “You always do great. What are you talking about?”

I shrug. “You asked. If I were a princess, I’d be wearing a tiara.”

Tab blinks. We stop for a second and stare at each other. “Tiaras!” we exclaim at the same time.

“Would that work?” she asks. “You’d have to figure out a way to keep it on their head.”

“A strap?”

Tab shrugs and grabs her phone. She brings up her note app and starts typing into it while I pet Athena. “You’d wear a tiara, huh? You’d look so pretty in one.”

“Five minutes, ladies!” one of those people with headphones on calls into the room.

Tab makes her final note, saves it, then turns to me. “I forgot to ask, how much did Micah get fined for his game day stunt?”

I grimace, peering around before whispering, “Thirty-two thousand dollars.”

Her eyes bug out of her head.

“I know! It’s usually sixteen, but since it was on game day, they doubled it.”

“Dude loves you very much.”

I shake my head and laugh because I can’t believethat’swhat she gets out of this scenario. My therapist thinks he’s too much. Tab is all on board. I can practically hear her sending prayers up to the universe that the same thing happens to her. She has no care in the world that Micah comes off a little crazy. She thinks it’s hot.

She needs a football player boyfriend, stat.

About sixty seconds later, the headphone guy stops at the mouth of our dressing room. “Are you ladies ready?”

My phone rings, and I lunge forward to put it on silent. It’s Micah.That’s strange. I told him I’d call him when I was done with the interview.

Tab and I stand, and she loops her elbow through mine. I check her side profile, looking for any hints of nervousness, but I don’t see any. Athena walks on the other side of me.

When Headphone Guy turns around, he says, “I’ve never met a more well-behaved dog.”

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