"There's a party at my grandmother's estate on Monday," he says. "It's the seventieth anniversary of the release of her first movie. She was fifteen and it was a huge scandal because of course her father cast her, and the press was saying that she was going to crash and burn."
"The Girl in the Moon," I say. "I love that movie. And she was brilliant."
"Of course she was. My great-grandfather was nobody's fool. And he only hired people with talent. Family included. At any rate, all the usual suspects will be there. Hollywood elite. Los Angeles society. It's going to be a crush."
"I bet you'll have fun. Crowded, but they're all coming to honor your grandmother."
"It'll be more fun if you come with me."
I pause. "Really?"
"I want her to meet you."
"Oh." Those butterflies are back, and I feel all of fifteen again. "I'd love to come." I glance down at the drenched sundress. "I can do better than this. But I don't know if I have anything that really fits the occasion."
"No problem," he says, with the kind of gleam in his eye that should make me nervous but right now only makes laugh. "You can just leave that to me."
26
"I definitely should have brought my camera," Wyatt said, as Kelsey did a little twirl in the dress he'd picked out for her. It was classic black, with a form-fitting velvet top that reminded him of a dancer's leotard.
The skirt was equally on theme, made from three layers of gauzy black material that had enough transparency to make it racy but not indecent. The material hung in varying lengths, so that it not only flowed as she walked, but flared out when she twirled. And though the dress didn't reveal them, he liked knowing that underneath it all she wore the black La Perla panties he'd bought to complete the outfit.
She'd said it before about a dozen times, but she thanked him again as he opened the door of his Navigator and helped her in. "For the dress and for the experience," she added. "I've never been shopping quite like that."
"It was my pleasure," he said, meaning it. Usually, shopping bored him. And usually, he avoided calling on his Hollywood pedigree.
But for this, he'd decided to take the leap. He'd felt like Richard Gere in Pretty Woman, after she'd been snubbed by the snooty women on Rodeo Drive. Only in the movie-which he'd seen far too many times on far too many bland dates-they didn't play the scene right. At least not as far as he was concerned.
No, the point wasn't that Julia Roberts got her outfits. The point was what Gere could do for her. What Wyatt could do for Kelsey.
And he'd felt like Santa on Christmas morning as the sales team from one of Beverly Hills' most elite clothing stores brought rack after rack of cocktail dresses, shoes, and accessories to his studio for her to try on.
In the end, he'd picked out two, but when she said she'd only accept one, he insisted it be the black one with the look of a dancer. "It's you," he'd told her. And she'd slid into his arms and kissed him, right there with the store manager looking on.
It had been a sweet moment, but now, as he maneuvered the Navigator toward his grandmother's Holmby Hills mansion, he felt a growing heat. She looked wildly, deliciously sexy next to him, in the stunning dress and black heels and her hair piled high, so that loose tendrils curled at her neck.
But it was when he noticed the bracelet that he really felt that pang of desire. The infinity bracelet that he'd given to her in Santa Barbara. That was the second time he'd seen her wear it, and that simple connection between them tugged at his heart.
"You're staring," she said, smiling.
"You're beautiful."
Her smile widened. "I think it's the dress."
"I know it's the woman."
She sighed happily and leaned back in the seat. They'd worked all morning in the studio, and now, on their second full day of shooting, he already had an excellent collection to choose from. Three more days, and he truly believed he'd be able to curate the perfect show.
She'd left around three so that she could teach one dance class before heading home to change for the party. And when he'd picked her up, he'd been delighted by her tiny but tidy Valencia condo.
Still, they had a way to go until they reached his grandmother's. And beside him, Kelsey tilted her head back and took off her shoes. "Usually I'm the one making this horrible drive. It's nice to be able to relax."
"You could move closer in."
"Most of the classes I teach are around Valencia," she pointed out. "And so's the school once we're back in session. But more practically, I can't afford it."