Harlequin Desire November 2015, Box Set 1 of 2 by Brenda Jackson

Author:Brenda Jackson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459292024
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

Any second now, someone was going to wake Gretchen up. She sat in front of her vanity applying her makeup the way the woman at the department store had told her to. Draped across the bed behind her was the gown she was wearing to the wedding as Julian’s date. That was surreal enough on its own. Knowing she’d slept with him the night before was completely in the dream realm.

She’d waited years for that moment, never once anticipating that she would end up in the arms of one of the sexiest men alive. Gretchen still couldn’t quite understand why he wanted her. It annoyed him when she mentioned it, so she’d stopped. But even if she’d had a healthy sense of self-esteem going into this scenario, it would be unbelievable.

The only thing about the past few days that convinced Gretchen that all of this was real was their awkward discussion after his call about James. She had been high on the excitement of having sex for the first time and thrilled that Julian was willing to share something that personal with her. Then he started talking about confidentiality contracts and worse—paying her to keep quiet about it.

The longer they were together, the easier it was for her to forget that none of this was real and that she was being compensated for her time. She hadn’t liked the idea of this from the beginning, but as they went on, she liked it even less. With sex added to the mix, she was starting to feel very Pretty Woman about the whole thing. The additional money for her silence just rubbed salt in the wound and reminded her that she was that much closer to being a whore.

“Ugh,” she said as she applied the last of her mascara and threw it down onto the table in disgust. She needed to get out of here and distract herself with the chaos of the wedding so she didn’t stew in those thoughts any longer.

Looking into the mirror, she admired her handiwork. It wasn’t bad at all. She’d already straightened her hair and wrapped it into a French twist with a crystal barrette securing it. Having her hair up made her neck look longer and her face look thinner, which was great. She anticipated a lot of cameras being around today since it was the big event they’d been building up to. She had to be believable as Julian’s girlfriend, and a double chin wouldn’t help her case at all.

With her undergarments in place, Gretchen slipped into the gown she’d chosen with Amelia. It was strapless with a sweetheart neckline and a high waist that fell right under her bust. The top was a shiny black ruched satin, but below the waist, it was flowing white satin, painted in purple, blue and black almost like a wearable piece of watercolor art. It was beautiful and fit her perfectly.

The last piece she added was the necklace Julian had given her. The fiery opal rested nicely on the bare expanse of her chest, falling right below her collarbone.

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