Page 40 of Made

He pushed his big leather executive chair back, stood, walked over to where I stood, being notably defiant in my childishness, and pulled my fingers away from my ears.

“If you’ll stop,” he said, “I’ll promise I won’t die today.”

I stopped and picked the argument up where we’d left it. “I know you don’t understand glamour. Why would you? You’re stuck wearing the same thing as the other gents. But if you captured an alien woman who’d never been exposed to glamour in her life and showed her what it looks like, she’d get it. And want it.”

“You’re talking about red-carpet extravaganzas.”

“We’d look marvelous on the red carpet.” The image made me smile.

He shook his head. “Not worth flying across the ocean.”

I blinked. “You canflyacross the ocean? That’s…”

Horrifying images jumped into my head. I saw Keir in a hurricane being tossed around like a lotto ball in a hopper, wings tiring, struggling desperately to make it to land. Oh my gods! The love of my life was barely hanging on! I couldn’t stand to watch! That was when I noticed that he was looking at me like I was the crazy one.

“Yes, Rita. In a first-class pod in a nice, fat dreamliner jet paid for with the winnings of my perspective-destroying hobby.”

“Oh.” I felt a little dumb. “I’m going to try on this dress.”

“Okay.”

“By myself.”

“Okay.”

I sniffed and made a show of half-stomping from the room.Egads. I’m still fifteen on the inside.

The dress almost slid on by itself and fit like it was made for me. That goes without saying because it was made for me. And, once I had it on, I could see that Esme was right as usual.I’d asked her for a midnight blue in keeping with John David’s dancing-in-the-dark theme, but she overrode the request and gave me a shade slightly lighter. When I saw how the color made my eyes pop, I was glad she knew when to take the initiative and keep her own counsel.

The velvet bustier featured rows of dark rhinestones over the staves, and the layers of tulle in the skirt made me feel far more glamorous than a person my age expects to feel.Gods bless Esme!I wanted to never take it off. I wanted to be buried in that dress. At least that’s what I would want if I decided to be buried.

Keir was waiting next to Romeo, looking head to toe like an ad for driving a Bond-style Aston Martin to the entrance of the Casino de Monte-Carlo.Gods, he was gorgeous!

When he looked up and whistled, I’m pretty sure I blushed in response. I wish I could freeze that moment in time and go back there again and again.

Nobody talks about the two sides of becoming a grandmother. One side is the transcendent experience of holding your baby’s baby and claiming them as another level of your own. The other side is that, well, you’re agrandmother!The only cure for spending too much time thinking about the latter is to look and feel like a million bucks. I could tell by Keir’s look of appreciation that my effort hit the mark. My response was a triumphant grin.

See? Life or death.

He helped me into my faux fur jacket that was such a good fake it could pass for real. When he opened the passenger door for me, I was thinking he was as smooth as a player. I could’ve just enjoyed that, but instead it reminded that we hadn’t finished our discussion about the history of his love life pre-Rita. Even I knew it wasn’t the best time to reprise that talk.

“I hope Hollywood never finds out about you. You’d make the best James Bond ever!”

Not one for false humility, he said, “I guess they’d have to learn to take no for an answer.” His smile underscored that my compliment was a testimonial and not flattery. “You look smashing tonight. Let’s skip the party so you can allow me the privilege of counting the layers in that skirt...” His smile turned wicked enough to make my breath catch. “One by one. Slowly.”

Not gonna lie. First, I stopped breathing, then my heart sped up.

“I thought clothes don’t matter,” I countered.

He pulled back and showed me a mock frown. “I said that? I must’ve been mad.”

I intended to chuckle, but what came out was a decidedly girlish giggle. I tossed my head flirtatiously. “You are temptation embodied.” Stepping close enough so that he could feel my breath on his face, I said, “But I’m the inspiration behind these parties and can’t miss. I’d like to hear more about what you’re thinking on the way home though.” With a quick peck on the cheek that, hopefully, wouldn’t leave an imprint of Sahara Mist lipstick, I folded myself into the seat and began the process of trying to get both skirt and me into a hot sports car.

As Romeo dashed away happily carrying us into the longest night, I was thinking,“Who knows? This could turn out to be the best night of my life.”

Jarvis took my jacket. Even though the air outside had gone from crisp to undeniably cold, Keir didn’t need a coat. He had an internal system that kept him comfortable in any conditions.

John David stood near the arched entrance to the drawing room so that he could greet guests as they arrived.

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