Véronique passed Maddie, giving her a wink and…
That was it.
Safely behind the curtain, Maddie almost fell with relief into Natalii’s arms.
Two leggy Amazonian models strutted out past her to flank the designer, who was taking her bows.
“Oh God!” Maddie exhaled and kicked off her heels. “I think I had a heart attack. Or maybe I’m still having it. Am I even conscious?” She looked enviously at a nearby chair but didn’t want to risk the dress. Instead, she dropped the crown on it. A security guard rushed over to collect it.
“You were magnifique,” Natalii said. “Come with me and I’ll help you with your dress.” She pulled her forward. “Tell me everything. Did you see Elena? She saw you? Was there skyfire?”
“Oh yeah.” Maddie grinned, the vision of a shocked Elena floating in her mind.
Natalii led her to a now deserted backstage changing area that had been allocated to the missing star of the show, Anastazie. She pushed Maddie onto a stool before a well-lit mirror. Nimble fingers began undoing her corset, and Maddie’s mind wandered back to Elena’s reaction—until she met Natalii’s knowing gaze in the glass.
“Uh-huh! I knew it.” Natalii’s eyes contained a triumphant gleam. “I am looking very much forward to this story.”
Natalii pulled the ties through the eyelets which dotted down the back of her dress, as Maddie recounted what had happened. “I went through the curtain. I was thinking, eyes fixed on a spot at the end, heel, toe, lean back, not too far, just like you said, but a little way, nice and relaxed. I didn’t fall; thank God for those low heels.”
Natalii nodded as she worked.
“Then I reached the end. I saw her. Well, felt might be a better word.” Maddie paused as she remembered the feeling. It was as if everything came down to the two of them. Elena’s eyes had swept over her like a caress. Elation filled Maddie, as she remembered the admiring glance.
“And then?” Natalii asked.
“And then…” Maddie frowned. “It was weird. I heard Felicity groan like a distressed cow. I’d recognise her voice anywhere. I wasn’t sure if it was seeing me or some stupid mistake she thought I’d made. It wasn’t just her, though.”
“Ah, oui, I heard the gasps. What did you do to provoke this, hmm?”
“Not a clue.”
“Well, then, perhaps you should ask her.” Natalii glanced to the left in the mirror. “Madame Bartell.” She stepped back from the chair and gave Maddie a small, reassuring smile. “I will leave you to discuss things.”
Maddie opened her mouth to reply, but she’d already turned and was headed for the door.
Elena stepped into view, her gaze ghosting across Maddie’s bared back.
Maddie blushed, feeling as if she were naked.
“Sorry if I’m intruding,” Elena said, not sounding remotely apologetic. Her eyes found Maddie’s in the mirror.
“Did you enjoy the show?” Maddie asked, clasping her fidgeting fingers together.
“Very much,” came Elena’s soft, low reply. “Possibly Véronique’s finest offering in many years. And her best show ever,” Elena’s voice became a purr, “for a variety of reasons.”
“Really? Well, that’s good.” She tapered off, unsure what to say in the face of Elena’s intense stare. “How’s work?” she asked, before cursing herself for the lame small talk.
Elena cocked an eyebrow at the topic choice and took a step closer. “Incompetence surrounds me. So—it’s much the same.” Her fingers lifted to settle on the back of Maddie’s neck. “This gown looked exquisite on you,” she said, although she was only touching skin.
The fine hairs on Maddie’s neck snapped to attention.
A trailing touch, faint as it was, drifted slightly lower, down the bumps of her spine and stopped between her shoulder blades. “The designer had the bodice so perfectly constructed and balanced that only someone with measurements like yours could have worn the garment and done it any justice.”
The fingers at her back were placed exactly behind the bodice “measurements” at the front that Elena had just alluded to—a fact Maddie was only too well aware of. “Oh,” she whispered.
“Mm, yes.” Elena’s fingers did a small, careless twirl. “So how is it you were selected for this task? I seem to remember you telling me more than once that you’re a reporter and nothing else.”
“Ah,” Maddie said, relieved to have a safe topic to discuss. “Véronique couldn’t find any model in Sydney as big as me with no notice.” She glanced down and gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Even now, I’m not sure I’ve done this beautiful dress justice.”
Elena’s eyes bored into Maddie’s in the mirror. “You’re perfectly proportioned. Which is why you and this dress were meant to be. However, modelling and you…” Her lips twitched. “Well, let’s just say you may have to work on that neutral face.”
“My what?” Maddie lost her train of thought, as Elena’s gaze, yet again, detoured across her bare back before darting back up to meet her own.
“You smiled. At the end of the runway, you struck your pose and then beamed like the headlights on my Lexus.”
Maddie froze. She’d what? The memories flooded her of her walk and the heady rush of emotions and how great she’d felt and how she’d just… Oh. Oh! That’s what the gasps had been about? She’d made a fool of herself. The entire room had been laughing at her. She gave a soft, pitiful moan.
“I did not say I disapproved.”
Elena’s tone was gentle, but Maddie couldn’t meet her eyes. She’d had one damned job. And she couldn’t even walk thirty feet, turn, and walk back without messing up.
“In fact it was refreshing,” Elena continued. “I rather enjoyed the change from sour-faced, industry-standard models. I have no doubt Véronique is out there right now spinning it as some genius marketing ploy. Accessible fashion or some such thing.”
That was definitely the kindest interpretation anyone could put on it. “Why are you being so nice to me?” Maddie asked, feeling dazed.
“Actually, I was being truthful. In case it’s escaped your notice, this is the last day of my part of the truth bet.”
It is? Maddie mentally flipped through her calendar. While she’d only had to be honest for a day, Elena had agreed to a full week. And she was right with her sums. “Okay.” Maddie deflated again.
