All That He Loves (Volume 2 The Billionaires Seduction) (29 page)

“You’re going to go in there and you’re going to show him the very best side of you, and you’re going to awaken
his
very best side, and that’s what you’re going to do,” he said.

I closed my eyes. “Do I even have a chance?”

“There’s ALWAYS a
chance…
” he said in a voice like,
Well, yes, you COULD win the lottery…

“SEBASTIAN.”

“What?!” he asked impatiently.

All the evidence was there: Connor hadn’t called me. He hadn’t reached out. He obviously couldn’t tell me he loved me – because he didn’t.

And why didn’t he?

Because I wasn’t pretty enough.

Because I wasn’t smart enough.

Because… because I wasn’t like all the other models and Playmates and Grace Kelly CEO’s he could get at the click of his fingers.

He’d made all of that clear when he hadn’t called.

I knew I didn’t have a chance. Why didn’t Sebastian?

“If Miranda hadn’t betrayed Connor, would they still be together?” I asked.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Just answer the question.”

“You mean if Miranda wasn’t a lying, backstabbing sociopath, would they still be together?”

I rolled my eyes. “…yeah.”

“Probably, yes.”

His words were a knife in my heart.

Because they were true.

“Why?”

“Because she wouldn’t have stabbed him in the back like the lying sociopath she is. What the hell are you going on about? We don’t have time for – ”

“Connor can get any woman he wants. He can find somebody he wants, that he loves, who’s a lot prettier than I am, who’s a lot…
whatever
than I am. Because if he wanted me, he would have called.”

“Ah. You’re comparing yourself with Miranda.”

Sebastian stepped back, rested his right elbow on his other arm, and put his fingers on his chin as he inspected me.

“Not just her,” I sighed. “With any woman who – ”

“Miranda is far more beautiful than you, Lily,” Sebastian said authoritatively.

AGH.

That
was like a SWORD in the heart.

I stared at him.

But he didn’t stop there.

“She’s taller, she’s thinner, she has bigger boobs, a better ass, and she has no cellulite to speak of. Not to mention she’s rich, cultured, highly educated, is the owner of a company she started, and looks like she belongs on the cover of
Vogue
.”

I really
was
about ready to cry.

“Thanks,” I said savagely, tears blurring my sight.

“…and you’re ten times the woman she is, Lily,” Sebastian said quietly.

I swallowed hard and stared at him in shock.

“I hate that bitch,” Sebastian said with a fury I’d never heard from him before. “I hate what she did to Connor, I hate what she did to you, I hate everything about her. She is a horrible, thoroughly despicable human being – and you’re a complete idiot if you overlook how ugly she is on the inside just because of how she looks on the outside. I know for a fact how happy you made Connor. I know how much better he is with you – not just happier, but
better.
As a person. As a man.
You
did that. Not Miranda, not any other woman he’s ever been with –
you
did that.”

Now I
was
crying – but for different reasons than just a moment ago. “…really?”

“Yes, really. I love Connor – ”

Here Sebastian paused and looked at his boyfriend.

“Not like
that
, Javier, I only love
you
like that.”

Javier just grinned. He was obviously used to Sebastian’s high-flying drama.

Sebastian continued. “I love Connor, but sometimes he is a complete fucking idiot. I realize circumstances were less than ideal, but he should have never let you go. And having let you go, he should have fought to get you back. But right now we’re going to do our best to make sure
you
get him back, because sometimes men are so stupid, they don’t know the best thing for them even when it’s staring them in the face.”

As an aside to Javier, Sebastian added, “Not me, darling.
I
know that when you’ve found the right one, it’s time to stop looking.”

Javier just grinned again.

Sebastian turned back to me. “We just have to educate Connor similarly.”

I smiled sadly. “I appreciate the speech, Sebastian, I really do… but really, what chance do I have?”

“Do you remember our talk the night when I told you to leave?”

How could I forget?

“Yes.”

“What did I say?”

I squinted, trying to remember his exact words. “You said if I stayed, I had a one percent chance of holding onto him – ”

“At best.”

“And if I left, I had a twenty percent chance of getting him back. Maybe.”

“This is your twenty percent chance, Lily,” he said, crossing his arms. “Your one in five shot. Are you going to take it or not?”

I looked at Sebastian staring at me sternly… at Javier smiling at me kindly… at Abby holding her breath, wondering what I was going to say.

I thought about what I stood to gain if I succeeded… how little I was really risking, since I didn’t have him anyway… and how failure was guaranteed if I sat here and did nothing.

“…okay,” I whispered. “I’m in.”

The first thing we had to do was wash my hair so Javier could cut it.

He gave me two fancy plastic bottles with French written on them. “I want you to lather and rinse twice with the shampoo – really work it into your scalp. Then put the conditioner
all
over your hair, from your scalp to the tips. Leave it in for three minutes, then wash it out. Do you have a robe?”

I winced. “Um… it’s kind of ratty…”

“How did I guess?” Sebastian muttered.

“I didn’t know I was going to do a makeover show, jackass.”

“Just come out wrapped in a towel, I need access to your shoulders anyway,” Abby said. “But before you go in, I need to strip off your makeup first.”

“Um… is that necessary?”

“Yes. It is.”

I sighed and let her get to work with cotton balls and some sort of makeup remover. As she worked, she gave me more directions.

“I’m going to give you two bottles. Use the bigger one on your body with a washcloth, and exfoliate gently. The smaller one use on your face with just your hands, and do NOT rub hard, just lightly.”

A few minutes later I stepped into the shower. The water had been on maybe 30 seconds when Abby poked her head into the bathroom.

“HEY!” I shouted, instinctively covering up.

“Relax, I can’t see anything except a peach-colored blur.”

It was true, the sliding glass shower doors were made out of pebbled glass. I probably looked like a Picasso painting.

“Besides,” she teased, “I saw more of you on the national news.”

Ouch.

“Not cool,” I said petulantly.

She just laughed. “Remember to shave your legs in case you get laid. And anything else closer to the action, if that’s what you do – ”

“I
don’t.”

“Well, if it’s been awhile – ”

“It’s
fine!”
I fumed.

“I don’t need to hear this!” Sebastian called from somewhere behind her.

“Neither do I!” I yelled.

Once Abby left, I grumbled about the committee hanging out just outside my bathroom, but did as I was told.

After five minutes, Sebastian was already banging on the door. “Hurry up, we don’t have all night!”

“IT’S ONLY BEEN FIVE MINUTES!” I yelled back. “And I have to shave my legs so I can get laid, remember?”

“Yeah, don’t rush her, we don’t need any nicks, especially on the lady parts,” Abby ordered.

“There aren’t going to
be
any nicks on the lady parts, because I’m not
shaving
the lady parts!” I yelled.

“Oh, God, please don’t talk anymore,” Sebastian moaned.

After ten more minutes I walked out with one towel wrapped around my body like an ultra-short tube dress, and another in a turban on my head. I was squeaky clean, exfoliated, shaved, fully conditioned – and highly paranoid that my towel was going to reveal more than I wanted it to.

Abby saw my discomfort. “What’s wrong?”

I tugged the towel down a half inch and blushed. “I don’t want to go all Sharon Stone in
Basic Instinct.
”

“Relax. I see it in the mirror every day, and these guys aren’t interested in the least.”

“For the record, I am very interested in
not seeing anything at all,
” Sebastian announced loudly as he averted his eyes.

Javier sat me down in a chair in front of the bathroom mirror and covered my body with a sheet. He began snipping with a pair of scissors, positioning my head this way and that as he cut. After 25 minutes he ordered me back into the shower.

“Just wash your hair to get the pieces out, that is all,” he explained.

“And leave your skin alone,” Abby ordered.

“And HURRY,” Sebastian commanded.

“Alright, ALRIGHT,” I yelled at them.

A few minutes later I returned to the chair in front of the mirror.

“Let me put this on before you finish with her, Jav,” Abby said, pronouncing it ‘Hav.’ “I want it to soak in while you’re doing your thing.”

Abby dabbed a sweet, rose-smelling oil all over my face, neck, and bare shoulders, then gently patted it in.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Rose oil.”

“Rosewater?”

“No, rose
oil.
The essential oil of rose petals.”

“It smells wonderful.”

“It should, at $225 an ounce.”

The only thing that kept me from standing up in a panic was my fear that the towel would fly off.

“WHAT?!” I screeched. “I can’t afford that!”

“You could
now
,” Sebastian said. “You’re just cheap.”

“HEY – ”

“What you
really
wouldn’t want to afford are Javier and Abby,” he continued. “Javier’s four hundred an hour and Abby is five, with a minimum charge of two hours apiece.”

My mouth dropped open. I could feel the blood drain from my face.

“Relax, I’m taking care of Abby,” Sebastian said, “and Javier has donated his services
gratis
because of
moi
.”

“Sebastian, I – I can’t accept that,” I gasped. “It’s too much – ”

Sebastian snorted in amusement. “What, you thought I meant that I was
personally
paying for her? Ohhhh no no no no no. Let me be more specific: Connor’s taking care of it.”

I frowned. “How?”

“I’ll bury it under a mountain of other expenses.”

“He’s not going to like that.”

“He’ll never know. And if it works out, he won’t care.”

“What if it doesn’t work out?” I asked nervously.

“Why must you be so defeatist? Javier, show her what $400 an hour buys.”

Javier winked and set to work. He dried my hair as much as he could with a towel, then used a cold-air blow dryer. The whole time he was snipping stray locks and applying various sprays and creams as he brushed. Most of the time he was in front of me, blocking my view. I only got short glimpses of my transformation.

Finally he stepped aside and said, “Finished.”

I finally saw myself in the mirror for the first time.

I gasped.

“Oh my God,” I whispered.

My hair looked absolutely beautiful.

I had been getting generic haircuts from generic places all my life. You know, those national chains that you can find in virtually every big city across the nation. They were fine, and I had always been fine with the results.

But this…

I looked like I was about to go walk down the red carpet at a premiere of my own $100 million movie.

I don’t even know the right terminology to describe what Javier had done – what he had layered, or feathered, or whatnot – but it was astounding. Not only was the hair perfect, but it balanced out my face so much better than before. It made me look thinner, and accentuated my eyes more, and just overall was gorgeous.

“You like it?” Javier asked worriedly.

“I
love
it! It’s absolutely beautiful! Thank you.”

“You are welcome,” he grinned shyly.

“Damn, Jav, you’re good,” Abby said behind me.

Sebastian had been on the phone back in the main room, but when he peeked through the doorframe, he clasped a hand to his chest as though his breath had been taken away. “Javier, you are a god among men.”

I narrowed my eyes at him in the mirror. “He’s amazing, but I don’t know if I’d go
that
far.”

“
I
would, because he works miracles. Javier, you can turn the lowliest sow’s ear into a silk – ”

“HEY!” I yelled.

“Kidding,” Sebastian said to me. “But if Connor liked you before when you looked like Peppermint Patty, he’s going to flip over this.”

I heard ‘peppermint patty’ and frowned. “You think Connor thinks I look like chocolate-covered candy?”

“No, like the little lesbian girl in the ‘Charlie Brown Christmas Special,’” Sebastian clarified.

“HEY!” I yelled again.

“Actually, Marcy’s the lesbian. Patty’s into Charlie Brown,” Abby informed Sebastian. “She’s just butch.”

“I AM NOT BUTCH!” I hollered.

“No, Peppermint Patty’s butch,” Abby said.

“Well,
he
said I look like Peppermint Patty!” I snarled.

“He’s being funny,” Abby reassured me. “Or trying to.”

“No I’m not,” Sebastian said.

I spoke through clenched teeth. “Sebastian, I swear to God – ”

He suppressed his smile. “See, this is the Lily I like, the one with the steel spine instead of the mopey little girl I saw when I walked in.”

Son of a bitch.

He was deliberately antagonizing me to break me out of weepy wallflower mode.

I straightened up and looked at him from out of the corner of my eye. “…I see what you did there.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Remember it for later.”