“I think it’s safe to say that I’ll make it back with only four of you,” Eden said dryly. “Joe could go place the order, since he and Skylar both were taking lead. That still gives you a tight perimeter around me. I doubt any of you want to starve because Skylar and I are dress shopping.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Edge said hopefully. His stomach rumbled, obviously voicing its agreement.
Joe looked chagrined that he’d somehow drawn the short straw on being the pack mule for the food.
“Hell, I don’t even speak the language,” Joe muttered.
“It’s not that hard to point at what you want and hold up the number of fingers to indicate quantity,” Eden said in amusement. “Besides, the citizens of non-English-speaking European countries speak better English than we do. I’ve never had a problem here.”
“Okay, fine, I’ll go,” Joe grumbled. “But no bitching if you don’t like what I pick out.”
“Just none of that froufrou shit,” Nathan said. “Try to make it edible, at least. At this point, I think I’d eat just about anything anyway.”
“Is there a place you can just get a burger and fries?” Edge asked hopefully. “Or a good steak?”
“Save it for dinner tonight. I don’t know if you’ve had the room service steak, but it’s pretty darn good,” Eden replied. “We shouldn’t go overly long today. We got ahead by putting in a full day’s work yesterday. That’s the way this director works. He pushes hard the first day. Tests the waters, so to speak, so he can plan the rest of the filming time accordingly. Since everything went off without a hitch yesterday, he’ll relax from here on out. Unless we hit a snag, and well, if that happens, all bets are off and we’ll be in the studio until the wee hours of the morning if necessary.”
Joe issued a short wave and all but ran from the clothing boutique as if the hounds of hell were on his heels. Eden and Skylar both giggled, which instantly gained them suspicious looks from the three remaining men.
Swanny turned to Eden as she held up the first dress for Skylar to try on. As soon as Skylar disappeared into the dressing room, Swanny got out what was obviously causing him irritation.
“So you’ve worked with this asshole in the past and willingly agreed to work with the dick again? I don’t get it. Are you some kind of masochist? He’s lucky I didn’t beat his ass for talking to you the way he did yesterday.”
Eden’s features softened and she beckoned Swanny to sit on the small two-seat sofa in the waiting area of the dressing room.
“It’s not always a cliché to say that directors are a moody, demanding and cranky breed of people. Most all of the ones I’ve worked with are perfectionists. Anal doesn’t even begin to cover it. But it’s what makes them so good at what they do. They have a talent for bringing out the best in their subjects. Of catching just the right look, setting the right tone, capturing the essence of what the advertiser wants. Lonnie can be difficult, yes. No doubt there. But you can be assured that when he calls it a wrap, it will be nothing short of perfect, which is what Aria wants, what Lonnie wants and what I want as well. A lot is riding on the success of this campaign. Not only for Aria and Lonnie and his reputation as a director—one of the best—but for me as well because I’m the spokesperson, the chosen face for Aria’s new line of products. So it’s a very symbiotic relationship between us all and we all want the same thing.”
“So you’re saying I’m overreacting and don’t have an understanding of the business you’re in,” Swanny said, looking slightly chastened.
Eden smiled at him. “What I think is that it’s very sweet of you to want to protect me from physical or emotional hurts. And in the beginning of my career, I admit I was young and not nearly as thick-skinned as I am now, and I didn’t take criticism well. It hurt my feelings and I was often in tears because I felt like I was a failure. It was actually Lonnie, ironically enough, who sat me down and told me quite bluntly that I couldn’t let what happens on the set affect me so deeply. That I wasn’t a special snowflake and that all his models received the same treatment, the same demand for perfection he was asking from me, and if he didn’t think I could deliver, he would have never signed on to do shoots with me.
“He acknowledged all the things you and I have just said about him. He was very direct about it. He told me he was a dick to work for and at times could seem unreasonable but only because he knew that his models, the few he exclusively dealt with, had the talent and the guts to make it in this business. But if I was going to let him make me cry every time he grew impatient or demanded more than what I was giving him, I needed to consider pursuing another career.
“But at the same time, he said he hoped I’d stick it out because he swore he’d never been wrong about a subject and he claimed to have known from the first time he looked over my portfolio and we worked that first gig together that I was going to be a star and he’d hate for me to allow my feelings to take that opportunity away.”
“He doesn’t sound like a complete asshole,” Swanny said grudgingly.
Eden swallowed back her laughter. Swanny looked as though he’d swallowed nails having to make that particular admission.
“So I take it his talk with you worked, then?” Swanny said after a moment. “Because it’s obvious you’ve definitely reached the top of your field and you’re working with him on this shoot.”
“Yes, it did actually,” Eden said quietly, remembering those hard first few months when her confidence faltered and she felt as though she’d gotten in way over her head. “It was more his profession of faith in me, and my knowing he wasn’t a touchy-feely kind of guy, and I was grateful for it. Because I was very close to walking away from it all. I was miserable and struggled with all the demands being placed on me. But once Lonnie spoke to me and laid it out so bluntly, I felt like a burden had been lifted and it suddenly didn’t seem quite so impossible that I could really do this.”
“I’m glad,” Swanny said in a husky voice. “If you hadn’t stuck it out I would have never met you. Never gotten the chance to have you in my arms.”
Eden flushed just as Skylar came out of the door of the dressing room. The doors were thick and heavy but still, she hoped Skylar hadn’t heard at least the tail end of their conversation.
Skylar did a little twirl as Edge and Nathan stuck their head into the small waiting area outside the dressing rooms.
“Suh-weet, Sky!” Nathan exclaimed. “Definitely your color.”
Swanny looked at his team leader as if he’d grown two heads. “Since when have you gotten so in touch with what colors complement a woman’s appearance?” It wasn’t that he disagreed. Skylar did look dynamite, but then in his opinion she was just as beautiful in camo paint and fatigues.
“Since I got married and have gone through a myriad of questions from Shea about which color shirt looks best on her,” Nathan said dryly.
“You look damn good,” Edge said gruffly. “I think it’s perfect.”
“I feel like Cinderella,” Skylar said, executing another twirl. “All shimmery and sparkly. This is to die for. All it lacks is a kick-ass pair of heels!”
Magically, or perhaps since the saleslady had all but glued herself to their asses the minute they walked into the door, she hurried in carrying a delicate pair of strappy sandals with an iridescent shimmer that were beaded and blingy at the toes and around the heel of the foot.
It gave the dress that much more pizzazz. Eden smiled as Skylar eagerly donned the shoes and then stood to her full height, which had grown by the two inches the heels sported.
“What do you think, Eden? I swear I don’t even want to try on the others now. I think this is the dress.”
“I agree,” Eden replied, thrilled with Skylar’s response over one of the dresses Eden had picked out herself.