Page 24 of Doll

Gwen

Everything was ready. The lights were dim, the room was perfect, the candles flickered delicately in the corner and my body was exactly as it needed to be. The laser treatments had left me hairless, and when I say hairless, I mean hairless—everywhere except for my head was completely bald.

And that was the major part of this fantasy that I was creating for him.

I wriggled into the skin-tight pencil skirt, slipped into the formal, button-up shirt and covered my hair with a blonde wig. Then the glasses. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I barely even recognized myself.

And that’s the point…

I was about to head to the door when my phone rang. I glanced over at it and saw that it was Tiffany calling. I quickly answered.

“I don’t have much time to talk,” I told her. “Kai and I have a…thing planned.”

“Ahhh,” Tiffany replied. I could hear her smile through the phone. “A little more role playing, eh?”

I giggled back. “Anything for my man. What’s up?”

“Just wondering if you and I were still getting together before school,” she replied. “You know? One big last hurrah before college?”

“Definitely,” I replied. “Kai even offered to let us use his jet if we wanted to go somewhere exotic!”

“Wow, you really hooked the big fish, didn’t you, Gwen?”

“We hooked each other,” I corrected her. “But I was thinking we just keep it simple. Pajamas and Netflix party at your house? We’ll have all of our college years to party it up.”

“You read my mind,” Tiffany replied. “Cookies and cream and popcorn?”

“And chocolate,” I added. “Lots of chocolate.”

“Okay, I’ll invite Tyrone if you want me to—”

“No!” I laughed. “Girls only!”

“I know, I know, I’m only kidding,” Tiffany laughed. “Okay, girl. Go have your fun. Talk soon.”

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“Bye!”

I hung up and checked myself out in the mirror one last time. My collar wasn’t quite right so I quickly fixed it before moving to the door. It was incredible how much my life had changed since meeting Kai.

The FBI had brought their case against Rufus, and with it being so high profile with such damaging evidence against him, it had sped through the court system and the son of a bitch was facing twenty years in federal prison. Kai shut down Goddesses of Ecstasy, explaining to me that it was something his father had acquired originally with the plans of converting the machinery into a children’s toy company, but had died before he was able to go through with the conversion. So, Kai was doing it for him, and the new company was set to open in the winter. It was going to be called George’s Toy Box, after his father, George Forte.

The press hounded him for weeks, and he’d given a major interview explaining everything that had happened and the steps he was taking to modernize the company and to redirect it into areas that not only made money but also did good for as many people as possible. The old Kai’s tabloid image was slowly fading away and people were beginning to see him for what he really was: a sweet, loving (still slightly dangerous), family man.

I was heading to Connecticut College in the fall. I’d go to class but spend as many nights of the week with him as possible. He didn’t want me to throw away a good education and was encouraging me to explore everything I wanted, to find something that would interest me and inspire me as we moved forward in life together. Kai was, of course, picking up the tuition. Now that we were engaged, it felt right to allow him to do that for me.

Oh! The ring!

Quickly, I slid the enormous, sparkling engagement ring from my finger and hid it in a drawer. If this was going to work, everything had to be right. I stood up straight in my six-inch black heels, and opened the door.

Kai stood there looking absolutely drop-dead sexy. He was wearing a gray suit without a tie and the top two buttons of his off-white shirt undone. He had a couple of days’ worth of stubble on his face and as his piercing eyes stared into mine, I almost broke character and gave up the fantasy completely.

“Ah, Mr. Forte,” I said with as much formality as I could muster. “You’ve come for your doll, I assume?”

Kai’s beautiful lips twisted into a lustful grin that made me want to throw myself at him right then and there. But that wasn’t the plan. No, this was one of those special nights. He nodded formally.

“That’s right, Miss. Stacy,” he replied. “As CEO of this company I believe the best way to test a product is to do it personally and make sure everything is working right.”

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