“You look awesome, Kate, just admit it.” Rebecca smiles dreamily as she lies on the carpeted floor.
I nervously glance up at myself in the mirror again and brush my hands over my hips. “But I don’t look like me.”
“That’s the point,” Daniel says as he stands and fluffs my hair. “Your hair is incredible at this length.”
“I love the blonde highlights too,” Beck chimes in. “How much did he cut off?”
“Four inches. It was way too long; did you wear it up every day?” Daniel asks.
“I wear it up for work, that’s all.”
“No more, you look ten times hotter with your hair down. If I see it up again I’m ripping it out, and I don’t care where we are or who sees.”
“You’re beginning to become an annoying flatmate,” I mutter dryly.
“Flattered.” Daniel takes out his phone and begins to snap away.
“I don’t want to be on your Instagram,” I huff.
“Oh, will you shut up.” He sighs as he snaps away. “Do you know how many women would kill to be styled like this?”
He’s right.
I smirk.
“And for free, I might add,” he says. “I’m very fucking expensive, you know?”
“Sorry.” I give him a lopsided smile. “I’m just . . .”
“Just what, darling?”
“I feel very . . .” My voice trails off.
He drops his phone as he looks over the top of it. “Very what?”
I gesture to my boobs and then down to my hips. “Exposed.”
Daniel smiles proudly as he holds his hands together. “Angel, if I had a figure like yours, I wouldn’t bother with clothes at all.”
I roll my eyes. “That’s because you’re a raving ho bag.”
Daniel chuckles with a cheeky shrug of his shoulders. “I am, aren’t I?”
“It’s not a compliment,” I reply as my attention turns back to the mirror.
My now shoulder-length hair is a honey blonde and set into big curls, my dress is strapless and gold—it fits like a glove and leaves nothing to the imagination. My makeup is smoky with big red lips. I don’t look like me. I look like someone you would see in a magazine and that makes me nervous as all hell. I put my hand on my stomach. “I’ve got butterflies,” I whisper.
Daniel holds his arm out and I link mine through it. “That’s the universe’s way of telling you that you look divine.” He smiles proudly.
“Thanks.” I look down at his black dinner suit. “You look pretty gorgeous yourself.”
“I know, right?” He winks and passes his phone to Rebecca. “One for the gram.”
Rebecca stands and takes a photo and Daniel’s phone beeps a message, which he checks. “Our car is here,” he announces.
He kisses Rebecca on the cheek. “Don’t wait up, sweets, we’ll be setting the town on fire all night long.”
Rebecca smirks and I chuckle. “You’re so dramatic.”
He whisks me out the door. “Always, angel, always.”
I link my arm through Daniel’s as we walk into the ballroom. “I’m so nervous I feel like I may throw up any minute,” I whisper as we walk through the beautiful-people crowd. Everyone is dressed to the nines in black tie; it really is spectacular.