Diane [The Town of Pearl 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (8 page)

Mark stared at them and thought about what was going on. He didn’t need to be in the middle. He was glad that he was only hired out for specific jobs. This was exactly why he was slowly ending his career with the government. It was getting too dangerous, and people he thought he could trust would easily turn their backs on him. He felt the guilt hit his gut. How could Brenda do this? What had changed?

“I’ll do it, and whatever else you need. These individuals need to be stopped.”

Diane knew that her mouth gaped open, but she really didn’t care. She was in shock.

There was chaos all around her. Women half-naked throwing on different outfits as other people did their makeup and hair. She had been part of that chaos moments ago while she helped Elvira and some friends pick out the lingerie needed for the runway models. She was envious as she watched the models strut their stuff down the runway as cameras flashed, and the audience clapped at designs they loved. It was a full house both behind the curtain backstage and in the audience. She met some famous designers, a few wealthy CEOs, investors, store managers, and a few very attractive men. One in particular had kept watching her.

But she wasn’t expecting the model, Clara, to pass out. She sure didn’t expect the words that came out of Elvira’s mouth.

“Get that shocked expression off your face, Diane. We need you. Hurry up and change into this.”

Monique, the woman in charge, the designer of the top lingerie in the business, ushered Diane across the room and behind an almost sheer partition. Two men were standing there talking.

“Move it. We need this area,” Monique stated. Pasqual and Elvira appeared, carrying a sexy red teddy with thong panties. The top barely covered the top of her ass if she was to wear that, and she certainly would not be.

“Uhm, I’m not going out there. I’m not a model.”

Two men came behind the curtain and began setting up a makeshift makeup stand. She covered her breasts as best she could and gasped.

“She needs some work, but Bruce and I can pull off miracles,” one of the men stated. Instantly she knew he was gay. Not that it mattered. To someone as shy and reserved as Diane, she still saw them as men, strangers who were seeing the goods that no other man had ever seen.

“Quit fidgeting. We have ten minutes. Please, Diane. You are gorgeous. You can do this. Just sashay this sexy body down the line and don’t trip,” Monique said as she unclipped Diane’s bra.

“I can’t do this. Oh God. I can’t!” she exclaimed.

“Please, Diane. Please do this. I need you,” Elvira pleaded as she pulled the one-size-too-small lingerie in front of Diane’s chest.

“I hope she got a Brazilian wax recently because this lingerie is tiny,” Pasqual said as he peaked around the corner. She was pretty sure he was gay, too, and Monique’s promoter for her line of lingerie here and in Europe.

In no time at all, the five or six people had her makeup done and her hair complete. She stepped into incredible high-heeled red shoes that matched the outfit. She was shaking, but glad she had shaved as one of the guys mentioned a few moments ago. How embarrassing would that be?

They all stepped back, and Elvira’s eyes widened in shock.

“What? I look bad. See, I told you I’m not a model. Look at the size of my ass, my hips, and thighs. Models are stick thin, and surely don’t have these.” She cupped her breasts that were already pouring from the top.

“Holy shit, she’s gorgeous,” Pasqual said.

“Thank you,” Bruce, the makeup artist, replied and then hurried to the next model.

Diane tried to adjust her boobs in the lingerie, but they were too big. The wrong move might actually cause one breast to push upward and reveal her areola.

“Okay, you’ve been watching the models all evening. Don’t focus on the crowds of people, just put one foot in front of the other,” Monique told her as she walked her to the opening in the curtain.

They added something to her hair, and her eyes were all done up, too.

“Think sexy, make a man come in his pants from watching your kind of walk,” some woman told her and winked.

“Don’t freak out. You can do this. Don’t even worry about the cameras.”

“Cameras?” Diane asked, feeling her heart beat so fast she thought it might leap through her chest and make a run for it.

“Just breathe. You’re on in four, three, two, one.” The curtain opened and she felt the small push to her lower back and wham, she was in the spotlight.

The music was a nice pace. The crowd, hell, she couldn’t even see it with all the lights, but as the crowd oohed and ahhed, she felt a bit more confident. She did what she thought the other models did, and soon she was halfway down the runway. Another model exited the curtain but the focus seemed to be on Diane. As she came to the center, the lights didn’t block her view of the crowd, and she saw the multiple flashes from the cameras, which nearly blinded her, and then four men dressed in tuxedoes who stared intently. One man whispered to the other as she stopped, turned around to show off the outfit and hoped that her entire ass wasn’t out. But then she felt the breeze as the material lifted, and there went her confidence. She gulped, and headed back down the other side a little less sexy than before and to the safety of the backstage area.

“Oh my God, you were great,” Elvira stated.

“I don’t think I’ve seen more flashes from the photographers all night. You were a hit, and rightfully so, Diane. You’re gorgeous.” Monique caressed her cheek as people approached.

“Get me out of this,” Diane stated through clenched teeth, and Elvira chuckled.

“Don’t be so worried. The chances that you and that little number will be the main focus of the media are pretty damn slim. Have you seen the barely there outfits these models are parading in public? Yours was classy yet sexy, and with that innocent look you have…no worries. The media, photographers, and agents go after the raunchy stuff all the time. Now, let’s grab your things.”

As Diane and Elvira headed to the small changing area, Bruce handed her a sleek, almost sheer, pale pink negligee with a long slit up the side, a deep plunge neckline. “Get this on quickly. You’re on in three minutes.”

“What?” Both Diane and Elvira asked.

“Please, Diane,” Monique yelled out. “Just three more outfits, and when you’re done, the whole wardrobe from the event is yours to keep. I need you.”

“Oh, brother,” Elvira said and then helped Diane remove the first sexy lingerie and replace it with the next.

“At least more is covered,” Elvira exclaimed.

“Uh, hello, do you not see what I see? Nipples, my…” She pointed to her mound. The material was definitely more translucent, and it clung to her round ass. None of these models had an ass like hers. It was her worst body part.

“I can’t.”

“You have to.”

“One minute, Diane,” the guy yelled to her who was running the curtain. He told the models when they were going on.

She stepped into the shoes and took a deep breath.

“God help me.” She hurried toward the curtain and prayed that no one found out about this.

* * * *

“You look exhausted,” Monique stated as she joined Diane and Elvira by the set of chairs near wardrobe.

“I think the adrenaline rush is over. I was so scared, embarrassed, overwhelmed. God, I can’t believe I just paraded my goods up and down a runway with over a hundred strangers watching.”

“Three hundred and seventy-five to be exact, and of course a few thousand at least who were watching on television,” Monique stated.

“What?” Diane asked.

Monique smiled. “Darling, you have got nothing to worry about. As a matter of fact, I have some extra surprises for you. In that case right there is the perfect cocktail dress, shoes, jewelry, all for you to wear tonight at the after-party. Now, not all the models get invited, but you and Elvira are definitely in. I have a lot of friends who want to meet you, and some big shots will be there, too. Don’t be surprised if you get offered some modeling contracts. You have a very sexy figure,” Monique told her.

“Sexy? I thought models had to be super thin and have hardly any curves so they can fit in anything.”

“Not my lingerie line. It’s made for women of every size from petite to full figured. I would love to talk to you about coming to my studio in New York and doing a shoot. We’ll talk more tonight. I have a gig coming up in the fall in Paris. That could work well for you, too. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Holy shit! That was Monique Parrinni. The number-one lingerie designer of all time. Paris? New York? Oh my God, you’re going to be famous.”

“No, I’m going to be sick.”

* * * *

“Holy shit, Melissa. Did you know about this?” Willie asked Melissa. She was standing in the living room staring at the television screen. Her face was bright red. She couldn’t believe what she just saw. Diane was modeling sexy lingerie on local Texas television.

The sound of cell phones going off filled the room, including hers.

“Hello.” She heard Willie exclaim as he ran his fingers through his hair. One would think that Diane was his, Paul’s, and Hank’s sister by their reaction to seeing her.

Melissa had just turned on the television to check out the new styles for this fall when the local news station was covering the lingerie exhibit in Dallas. She was teasing her men about ordering some for herself after the baby was born, once she worked on getting her body back into shape, when she saw Diane.

“We don’t know. Of course we had no idea. No. I’m not lying,” Hank explained as he spoke into the cell phone. It appeared that Willie and Paul were doing the same thing.

Melissa reached for her cell phone and read the text message. It was from Diane asking if she was up and if she saw the show on the local news.

She texted back the word “Yes,” unsure of what else to say. She honestly thought that Diane looked gorgeous. But Diane was shy, reserved, and virginal. She never would have done anything like this.

Just then her cell phone rang and she saw it was Diane. Quickly, she answered it.

“First, let me explain.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to hear this one. I’m in shock. But, you looked gorgeous,” Melissa told her sister, and Melissa’s three husbands turned toward her, instantly disconnecting their phone calls to listen to hers.

As Diane explained about what happened, all Melissa could do was laugh.

“Oh my God, you must have been freaking out.”

“Freaking out? Hell, I thought I was going to trip. Especially when that burst of air landed against my ass cheeks making the flimsy material lift. Oh God, I don’t even want to think about it. Please tell me that no one else saw it.”

“Honey, I can’t lie. Hank, Paul, and Willie were here with me, and well, their cell phones have been ringing nonstop.”

“Shit. What am I going to do?”

“Melissa. Tell her she’d better return Mark’s phone call,” Hank told her.

“Did you hear Hank?”

“Yes, and no freaking way am I calling Mark. They’ll be so upset. I don’t even know what they’ll do.”

“Why, did something happen between you and them before you left?” Melissa asked, hoping that something did. Those men adored Diane. They were just scared to tell her.

“Melissa, I can’t get into it now.”

“Why not. What are you doing now?”

“I’m getting ready for an after-party. I have to go there. Elvira and I were invited by Monique Parrinni.”

“Monique Parrinni!” Melissa exclaimed, nearly jumping from the couch. “You met her? She invited you to her after-party?”

“She was the one who asked me to model because the main model passed out.”

“Holy shit. Well, you did look gorgeous. You display that figure well, sister.”

Diane chuckled. “I’m so glad that you can laugh at this situation. I’m hoping that one day, I will, too. But you see, I’m about to head to a party filled with strangers that saw my bare ass.”

“You were wearing a thong.”

“Same damn thing, Melissa.”

“No, it isn’t. You looked sexy. You’re gorgeous. Just be careful. Monique might ask you to help out again.”

“Well, actually, there are multiple agencies, agents, and other bigwigs in the fashion industry attending. Monique thinks I’ll be getting offers.”

“To model?”

“Yes. Monique mentioned New York and Paris. But I would turn it down. This isn’t for me.”

“New York and Paris! Holy shit.” Melissa raised her voice. She was in shock.

Her men were trying to ask questions and were only hearing bits and pieces of the conversation. They didn’t know what was going on.

“Listen, I need to go. I’ll be home late tomorrow night, so I’ll see you in the shop on Monday.”

“Okay, just text me to let me know that you arrived okay. Be careful at that party and don’t go signing any contracts.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Melissa hung up the phone and smiled.