Model Marine

“Thank you for this.”

“Who would have thought that frizzy-haired girl who begged to work as a seamstress would turn out to be the It Girl of the fashion world?”

She smiled. “You did. From that first day you seemed to see something in me that even I didn’t know I had.”

He chucked her under the chin. “Talent, love. It was oozing out of every pore. Now introduce me to the Adonis.”

Will stuck out his hand. “I’m Will. It’s nice to meet you. So you gave Hannah her first big break?”

“I did indeed. And how did you two meet?” Leland was a lot of things, but he was never subtle.

“Uh…” Hannah stammered. Her first instinct was to lie because she didn’t want to embarrass Will. But her brain stalled.

“She kidnapped me off the street and made me do her bidding,” Will interjected.

Leland guffawed. “That sounds like my Hannah. When she finds what she wants, she’s like a little terrier. She never lets go. It’s nice to meet you, Will. I hope you enjoy the party, you two. Simply everyone is here.”

They spent the next half hour greeting the guests—a delicious selection of Manhattan’s weird and wonderful. Will hadn’t even flinched when Brandy, who was really cross-dressing Randy, fingered the collar of his button-down shirt. She couldn’t blame Randy. More than once she found herself brushing up against Will just to feel those hard muscles underneath.

They finally made it over to Anne Marie and the gang. “I wanted to officially introduce you to the people who are really responsible for the great show tonight. This is Anne Marie, our assistant director of design. She keeps me on track and pretty much runs the business side of things.”

“Pretty much?” Anne Marie snorted.

“True. She runs the business.”

Hannah pointed to her other favorite person in the world. “Kayleigh handles all the press, along with Anne Marie. She’s a publicist who does a million other things, as well. She was the stage manager giving the orders tonight.”

“My bark is worse than my bite.” Kayleigh winked.

“Ha! Don’t scare poor Will away,” Hannah playfully admonished.

“The captain doesn’t look like he scares easily,” Kayleigh said suggestively.

Will shook his head.

Hannah chose to ignore the flirting. She knew Kayleigh was just giving her a hard time.

“And this guy is Jesse.” Her friend stuck out his hand to shake Will’s. “He answered the ad for an intern eight months ago, and none of us are sure how we lived without him before that. He has forgotten more about fabrics and textiles than I will ever know. And he’s a mean pattern maker. I’ve never met anyone better.”

“She likes to make us sound good,” Jesse countered. “And the reason we’re all here is because she’s got an imagination bar none, and she is a design genius.”

Hannah made an unladylike noise. “That is so not true. Now who’s being over the top? Trust me, none of this would work without the whole gang. I can be a tyrant at times, but they put up with me.”

She noticed no one came to her defense about the tyrant remark. They obviously hadn’t forgotten her numerous breakdowns over the past few weeks. She tried not to let the pressure get to her, but she didn’t always succeed.

“It’s great to meet you,” Will said to her team. “I don’t know much about this world. In truth, I don’t know anything, but I’ve been listening in on conversations all night. Everyone seems excited about the show.”

“Thanks,” the three said in unison.

“You better get back out there and circulate. Your fans await,” Anne Marie encouraged her.

“Hannnaaah.” Larisa Malone always elongated her name. The shrill voice sent a painful sting through Hannah’s chest. Dressed in leather from head to toe, false eyelashes and garish red lipstick, the other woman looked more like a drag queen than Randy did. “You are quite the surprise, aren’t you? How does it feel?” The words might sound like a compliment but the tone was vicious.

Hannah poked Anne Marie when she noticed a sneer on the woman’s face.

“Oh, Larisa, tomorrow morning they’ll be on to someone else. Are you ready for your show on Thursday?”

“Of course. I have quite a few surprises up my sleeves.”

She glanced over Hannah’s shoulder and waved. “Oh, my, that’s Justin T. I was so surprised to see him at your little show. He usually only makes an appearance for the great designers. I must tell him how delicious he was in that last movie he made.”

“That one is a piece of work.” Will scratched his head as Larisa left. “She reminds me of the women who play bridge with my mother. None of them ever has a kind word about another person and they also have sticks up their— Oh, sorry.”

Hannah smiled. “Oh, don’t be. You have her pegged. And as a result, you’re my new hero.”

Before Will could answer, Christopher Kline appeared. “Doll, great show.” He was Leland’s lover and one of the most influential chefs in New York City. Every restaurant he owned turned to gold.

She hugged him. “Thank you.”

He glanced up at Will and gave him a once-over. “Leland didn’t lie. You did find yourself a real man.”

She teased him back. “Behave.”

He waggled his eyebrows. “That is not how I roll, Hannah, love. Oh, and did you hear the gossip from the Hags in the corner? Such jealousy about you, the hate spews like a river of lies. That means you are on top, my sweet. Leland says you killed, so watch out for the claws.”

Hannah peered over his shoulder. The Hags, as everyone called them, were three women who had tried to design their own lines, only to fall flat on their faces. So instead of going back to the drawing board, they became online fashion critics. Their site didn’t have a single nice review but they had a huge following. Unfortunately, people seemed to eat up their wickedness. They wore too much makeup and their clothes were meant for women twenty years their junior. Hence, their name.

“I guess it would be too much to hope they’d give me a pass.”

“My darling Hannah, sometimes your naïveté brings such a lightness to my cold, dead heart. Don’t worry. You know how it works. The more they hate you, the more everyone else will love you.”

“I suppose,” she grumbled.

“Now you two run off and get some food. Leave those sorry wannabes to me. I have a bit of juicy gossip that might just lead them off your scent.”

Before he left, he blew her a kiss and nodded to Will.

Will guided her to the dining area that had been set up banquet style. “I didn’t realize the fashion business was so cutthroat,” he said.

“It’s the worst, really. I’m lucky Leland invited a lot of my friends, too, who are really sweet. But he has to include some of the others because to snub them is a big faux pas.”

“I always feel sorry for people like those women and the one who came up to you before. They obviously have no self-esteem if they have to beat up on others to make themselves feel better. They are no better than the bullies on the playground.”

She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek again. “You really are my hero.”

“Let’s go eat,” he said, changing the subject. He seemed to be uncomfortable whenever she tried to compliment him. “I don’t know about you, but that modeling is hard work.”

They stood in front of the food table and she was surprised when Will ate a big plate of sushi.