Sculpting Grace: A Light Romance Novel (Art of Grace Book 2) (13 page)

"Come on!" Portia shouted from inside the car, leaning forward to stick her head and shoulders up between the front seats. "What are you two waiting for, I thought we needed to get going?"

My smile slipped away as Carter headed around to the driver's side, and I tried to take another deep breath as I slid down into the car. I loved Portia, but her lack of boundaries tended to make any night with her quite eventful, not always in a good way. And now Carter was along for the ride - and I didn't want him to see my crazy side just yet.

This was going to be a long night, I thought to myself as the luxury sedan pulled away from the curb.

Chapter Fifteen

*

Sure enough, the situation quickly went from mildly embarrassing to agonizingly so, as soon as we arrived at Exalt Talent and Modeling.

A part of me had hoped that, because we were stopping by so late in the day, there might not be anyone else besides the receptionist around at the agency. This little flame of hope flickered and died, however, as soon as we walked in the front door.

Portia's eyes lit up like floodlights as she stopped dead, her hand snaking out to grab onto my arm. "Oh my god," she whispered to me in a voice that still carried far too well. "It's full of models! This is my paradise!"

Sure enough, the lobby of the agency was filled with beautiful people, both men and women. I shrank back, immediately fighting to block out the little voice in my head that pointed out how most of them were taller than me, all of them thinner and more graceful, their clothes perfectly chosen to accentuate and highlight the slim lines of their well-toned bodies.

Portia, however, somehow managed to look like she fit in perfectly with the gaggle of models. I didn't know how she managed to pull it off, but she breezed in, and even some of the models turned their heads to look at her with expressions of surprise and envy! I wished desperately that I could possess even a fraction of her grace and confidence.

Of course, not all of the models standing in the main lobby of the agency focused on Portia. Several of the women looked past her after a glance, their eyes settling instead on Carter. Maybe all of these women here just looked permanently hungry from starving themselves, I thought to myself, but their expressions of hunger seemed to sharpen further when their eyes took in Carter's strong jaw and broad shoulders.

"Oh look, there's the receptionist's desk!" I called out, darting over to Carter and throwing my arm through his. I sent a glare towards the nearest female model, a dusky, long-legged brunette with perfect eyeshadow and mascara, trying to scare her away. "Let's go over there and grab this catalogue, so that we can get going!"

"Just call me back when you're ready," Portia said over her shoulder. She moved towards the nearest couple of men in the lobby as if being drawn along by magnets.

Frantically, I reached out with my other hand, the one not looped through Carter's arm, to catch at her wrist and keep her from drifting away. "Focus!" I hissed at her. "Come on, let's get this catalogue and get out!"

Looking back at me, Portia pouted that I wasn't letting her head off and flirt, but she settled for giving the group of handsome men a seductive little wave, accompanied by a mouthed word that I didn't quite catch.

With both Carter and Portia in tow, drawn along by my grasp on their arms, I advanced on the front desk of Exalt, and the woman behind it. In contrast to the models milling around, she at least looked mostly professional in a white button-up blouse and a black pencil skirt, her hair done up in a chignon. She looked at me over a pair of thin, red-framed reading glasses as I approached.

"Yes?" she asked, her tone and expression implying that if I was here to try and pursue some childhood dream of becoming a model, I wouldn't make it far.

I forced myself to put on a false smile, trying to keep from looking like I just wanted to bare my teeth at her. "Hi, I'm Becca Grace, here to pick up a model catalogue for Dean Benjamin de St. James," I said, attempting to sound at least halfway pleasant. "I called earlier today?"

"Ah, de St. James," the receptionist repeated, sounding slightly relieved that I wasn't going to ask for a modeling application. She turned her attention to a stack of papers and magazines on top of the desk, flipping through them until she found the one she was after. "Yes, here it is."

I accepted the catalogue from her, glancing down and flipping through the glossy pages. It looked a lot like a magazine that I might get in the mail from a clothing manufacturer, I realized, except that instead of selling the clothes on the models, it was selling the models themselves! Each page featured half a dozen pictures of a different individual, with a name, contact number, and sometimes some other information listed at the bottom of the page. Flip through the pages, find the right model, and order them. Amazing.

"Thank you," I told the receptionist, who just sniffed back at me. "That's all I need - I'm sure you'll be hearing from Mr. de St. James very soon."

I turned around, my arm still linked through Carter's. "Great," I said to him, my eyes already tugging towards the exit. "Now, let's get out of here!"

"We'll need to go collect Portia first," he replied.

"No we don't, she's right-" I turned to where I'd last seen Portia, standing right beside me, but my eyes fell on empty air. "How did she do that??"

"Apparently, when male models are involved, she's got the stealth of a ninja," Carter answered dryly. "There she is." He pointed across the room to where the same three models that Portia had originally targeted still stood - now with a dark-haired brunette in their midst, looking up at them as she twirled a long, smooth, gleaming strand of her hair around a delicate finger.

I tried to think. If I went to go collect Portia, that would involve letting go of Carter. If I brought Carter with me, on the other hand, I'd just be parading him around the lobby, giving more of the female models the opportunity to try and steal him away. I needed to send him out of here.

"Listen, can you go get the car started?" I asked Carter, pressing the model catalogue into his hands. "I'm going to go grab Portia, but I'm sure that she'll want to stick around, so I'll just bundle her out of here. If you can have the car waiting, we can climb right in and go before she slips out of my grasp."

He nodded. "Got it handled. Are you sure you don't want me to go get Portia, however? I'm sure I can charm her away from those guys."

Looking up at him, I didn't doubt in his ability for a minute - but although I wanted to keep the other female models away from Carter, having Portia flirting with him for the rest of the night didn't seem like a good alternative, either.

"No, I've got it," I assured him, giving him a light push towards the door.

As he left, I turned and stomped over to Portia. I expected her to push me aside, wanting to keep flirting - but I wasn't ready for her to loop her arm around me and draw me into the little circle with the three men.

"Ah, Becca! I want to introduce you to these guys!" she exclaimed, taking immediate advantage of my momentary off-guard silence. "This is Damiano, Alain, and Cuther, three of the models who work for Exalt!"

I looked up at the three very beautiful men in front of me, my voice vanishing. I tried to say something, but all that came out was a little squeak. I felt my cheeks turn flame red, but Portia's hand around my shoulders kept me from ducking away.

Damiano, Alain, and Cuther were all objectively gorgeous, I immediately decided. Damiano had the swarthy Italian look, but without the excessive hair that made some Mediterranean men look like they had a gorilla somewhere in their family tree. Alain was tall, thin, pale, and very blond, while Cuther looked like he'd just stepped off the set from shooting a Marlboro commercial. Plop a cowboy hat on his head, and he'd fit in perfectly in any bar in Texas.

"Piacere di conoscerti," Damiano murmured as he nodded his head to me, and I felt my legs wobble. He even spoke Italian? How was Portia not clawing his clothes off and dragging him into a closet as we spoke?

"Er, good to meet you, too," I replied, wiggling a little to free myself from Portia's grasp. "It's very nice to meet you all, but I'm afraid that Portia and I need to be going-"

"Oh, relax, Becks!" Portia cut in, beaming at the men with her perfectly even, white teeth. "We're not in any rush, and Alain was just telling us about how he got invited to this new club downtown! Weren't you, Alain?"

I glanced over at the pale blond, who sniffed as he looked back at me down his aquiline nose. "Well, I'm not sure that it's for everyone," he murmured, not even bothering to disguise the fact that he was referring specifically to me.

My blush faded, along with my moment of warmth from these very attractive men looking at me. "Right, well, I'm sure that you're always a ton of fun, but I really need to get going," I said, finally managing to tug my arm free from Portia's hold on me. "Portia, I'm leaving. If you want a ride, you'd better come."

"No, hold on a minute," she said. I nearly groaned out loud, but Portia had narrowed her eyes up at Alain and wouldn't let me pull her away. "What was that comment supposed to mean?"

Alain's expression shifted to one of faint surprise, as if Portia was obviously supposed to agree with his slight towards me. "Well, some people fit in better at the trendy spots than others," he languidly commented, as if this would make me feel better. See, it wasn't my fault - I just didn't fit in well! No need for me to feel hurt!

"And you're saying that Becca doesn't fit in?" Portia continued, her frown deepening. "That seems rather judgmental, doesn't it?"

"Portia, it's okay," I said to her, glancing again towards the door - Carter surely had the car ready by now - but she just shook her head, her eyes now in full glare.

"Maybe I misjudged you," she said, directing her words not just to Alain, but to Damiano and Cuther as well, who both shrank back slightly from her. "In fact, I think I'm busy this Friday, after all, and won't be able to make that party that you mentioned. So sorry about that."

Alain said nothing, instead just sighing and walking away as if the whole conversation exhausted him, but both Damiano and Cuther looked dejected. "Come on, Portia," Cuther spoke up, his voice carrying a faint Southern accent that matched his cowboy persona. "Alain just gets a bit flighty, he didn't mean anything by it-"

"He insulted my friend," Portia countered, patting me on the hand. "I'm not going to stand for it."

I sighed. I appreciated Portia standing up for me, really, but I just wanted to get out of here. "Listen, she'll call you," I told Cuther and Damiano, grabbing onto Portia's wrist as I stepped backward, towards the lobby's exit.

Damiano frowned. "But we did not yet give her our phone numbers-" he began.

"She'll look them up in the catalogue! So sorry to break things up, have a good rest of your night!" Portia let out a wordless complaint as I pulled her away from the men, back towards the exit, towards Carter's car, towards escape, but I didn't loosen my grip on her wrist.

"Fine, fine, I'm coming!" she said, once I'd made it clear that I wasn't going to let her slip away again. She turned and walked alongside me, out into the chill of the evening air as the sun dropped below the horizon. "I just wanted to introduce you to those new people, maybe open up some other options for you-"

"Thank you," I said through gritted teeth, "but I've got more than enough options right now. I don't need any more." I'd forgotten how exhausting it could be to go out with Portia to somewhere new, especially if I didn't feel up to the task of meeting dozens of new, attractive, out of my league people.

Thankfully, Carter had pulled his car up to the street right outside of Exalt. I opened the back door and nearly pushed Portia in, tumbling in after her and pulling the door shut.

"Everything okay?" Carter asked, glancing at the two of us through the rear view mirror.

"Great!" Portia replied before I could get a word out, smiling back at him as she reached behind her shoulder for her seat belt. "So, where are we going to go next? Time to grab a bite to eat together?"

Chapter Sixteen

*

"So, Portia seems like quite the handful," Carter commented as we sat down in front of folded cloth napkins.

I sighed, picking up my napkin and dropping it on my lap as I leaned back against the leather rest of the booth. "She means well, she really does. And I love her enthusiasm, how she pushes me out to try new things."

"It sounds like there's a 'but' coming up in this conversation."

"Well..." I looked across the table at Carter, wondering how much I really wanted to reveal to him. "Sometimes, I'm just not ready to handle everything that she wants. She's always trying to move me forward, when sometimes I just want to enjoy where I'm at right now and not rush into anything."

Even as these words came out of me, however, I thought that they could just as well describe the relationship between Carter and me as the relationship that Portia and I shared. I thought guiltily about how I'd been basically dodging Carter's attentions over the last few days. I told him, told myself, that I was focused on getting the whole thing with de St. James straightened out first.