Mogul (24 page)

Shannon – and even Graham – knew he would win
thousands of new fans the minute it aired, maybe even some who had
dismissed him as an unrepentant playboy in the past.

It was exactly what they had hoped would
happen when they picked him as a judge.

“I say yes,” Vanni voted. “Let’s get her to
the live shows.”

Again Allison pursed her lips. She didn’t
know if she could do that to that poor girl who was so young. But
if she could win over someone like Vanni, surely there would be
those willing to call in week after week to vote her through.
“Okay. I have my reservations,” she clarified. “But you’re right.
There’s something magical about her.”

They turned to Ryder. He wasn’t as easily
convinced. “Put me down for a maybe.” Both Allison and Vanni said
nothing as they gave him the same hard stare. “A strong maybe,” he
clarified.

Vanni gave them a triumphant smile as he rose
from his chair. He sent a salute to Graham and to Shannon who sat
in the audience before he took the stage steps two at a time to
head off to wardrobe.

“Women are going to love him,” Shannon said
to Graham.

“Women already do love him,” he replied
dryly.

“They’re going to love him more,” she said.
“You just saw the ticket to our second season in that
exchange.”

As much as Graham didn’t want to admit it, he
knew she was right. “Looks like he’s finally growing up,” he
said.

She gave Graham a big smile as she patted him
on the arm. “Being a dad will do that to you,” she said before she
gathered her notes and headed toward her office. She knew exactly
which scenes she wanted to edit together for their debut, and there
was a lot of work to do.

They had a show to put on. Thanks to Giovanni
Carnevale and Jordi Hemphill, Shannon had a good feeling that it
was going to be a huge hit.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Burbank, California

May 2, 2011

Shannon McKenna sat in a
wardrobe chair as she chatted with the style consultant for
Fierce
, her dear friend –
and fairy godfather – Jorge Navarro. He was slender but chiseled,
with silky dark hair that fell slightly over his dark eyes. He wore
eyeliner better than any woman, and though some might mistake him
for effeminate, he managed to make lace and silk and Goth makeup
masculine. He wore tattoos and piercings, with a beautiful face
that looked sculpted out of stone. He was more beautiful than most
women, and more attractive than many men, with an unapologetic
androgyny that was so sensual it put most people off their game in
the first moment he walked into a room.

His truest gift was sharing this magical gift
with all those he styled. Stars loved him and he was the life of
any Hollywood party. He had turned Shannon from a frumpy,
forgettable production assistant to a Reality TV superstar who
managed to make all her dreams come true.

When it came to picking a
stylist for all her
Fierce
babies, she trusted no one more. She knew that
he’d shine them all up like a brand new penny. One contestant, in
particular, was why Shannon had hunted him down that particular
morning.

“What are your plans for Jordi?” she asked as
she sat in Jorge’s magic chair.

“One word,” he said with smile.
“Defiant.”

“Need more words, please.”

He laughed. “That girl’s a tiger. She’s got a
fearlessness I don’t usually see in 18-year-olds. Adolescence is an
esteem killer, as I’m sure you remember. But she doesn’t seem to
care what anyone thinks about her. I can do so much with that.”

Shannon chuckled. “I can’t wait to see your
magical transformation.”

He shook his head. “She doesn’t need a
transformation. She needs guidance. She’s trying to fit into this
mold that already exists. She needs to know she can break that
mold. She can be sexy on her own terms.”

Shannon nodded. She liked the sound of that.
And if anyone could do it, it’d be Jorge.

“Excuse me, Shannon?”

Both Jorge and Shannon turned to see who
stood at the door of the wardrobe room. It was Maggie. “Have you
seen Graham?”

Jorge stopped what he was
doing and walked toward Maggie as if he’d seen the
Mona Lisa
for the first
time. Maggie didn’t know what to make of this unusual man circling
her, his hand to his chin, as he inspected her openly and boldly.
He took it all in: the alabaster skin, the fiery red hair, the
endlessly blue eyes – even the dusting of faint freckles across the
bridge of her nose. “Turn around,” he instructed.

“What?” she asked.

Shannon laughed. “I suggest you do what he
says.”

Maggie twirled awkwardly in her mom-jeans and
her button down shirt. It was as nondescript as any anonymous
lackey would hope to be, but Jorge seemed to see something more –
like finding that first glint of a diamond in the heart of an
unimpressive block of coal. He grabbed her hand and dragged her
into the room, sitting her right down on his chair before he
disappeared off into the racks and racks of clothing.

“What’s…?” Maggie tried to ask Shannon, but
she just held up a hand.

Jorge re-emerged with a black dress with a
rhinestone cuff at the neck. “Here,” he said. “Try this on.”

“But… I’m not part of the show…” Maggie tried
to explain.

“So?” Jorge wanted to know.

She sent another helpless glance to Shannon,
who wore a bemused smile. “You don’t question the master,” she
said.

Maggie looked down at the dress. She’d never
worn anything like it and felt rather silly trying it on. But for
some reason she trusted the odd man who was standing to her side,
arms crossed, expecting her to comply with his weird demand.

What else was she going to do with her
afternoon?

She slipped from the chair and disappeared
into a changing room. Jorge hunted around for a pair of heels and
Shannon rather enjoyed watching this process happen to someone else
for a change. After about ten minutes, Maggie hadn’t come out.

“Everything OK in there?” Shannon called.

“I’m not coming out,” Maggie said.

“I’ll come in and get you,” Jorge threatened,
which made Maggie promptly open the door.

Her legs were bare and she was barefoot, but
the dress fit her like a glove. The cuff collar fit snug around her
neck, and the tiny, sparkling rhinestones ran along the trim all
the way down to where it dipped low on her back, right above her
tailbone. The shorter hemline made her long legs look even longer,
and everything about her popped, from the shock of her red hair to
her gleaming pale skin and light blue eyes. Within a moment, Jorge
had erased about ten years off of her appearance.

“I look ridiculous,” she said.

“That’s because I’m not done,” he said as he
took her hand and pulled her back into the chair. He turned her
away from the mirror as he got to work. He pulled out his makeup
case and dug around for the perfect palate. He sent a side glance
to Shannon. “Bring back memories, Shan?”

She laughed. “Indeed. It’s a lot more fun to
see it happen to someone else.”

“He did this to you?” Maggie asked as Jorge
bent toward her and started to apply makeup.

“I had the nerve to appear before him in
ill-fitting clothes,” Shannon explained. “Top was too big, skirt
was too small. And I didn’t have an ounce of makeup on.”

Jorge shuddered. “I still have nightmares,”
he said with a teasing scowl.

“What’d he do to you?” Maggie wanted to know
exactly what she had gotten herself into.

“Waved his magic wand,” Shannon said. “Turned
me from an ugly stepsister into the belle of the ball. He also was
responsible for me being cast on a dating TV show.”

At that, Maggie gripped both handles of the
makeup chair and tried to rise, but Jorge sat her right back down
again. “Don’t worry,” he told her. “We’re not casting for that for
another few months.”

“So why are you doing this?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Why does one open curtains on a
sunny day?” he pondered. “I like to spotlight pretty things.”

Maggie had to laugh at that. “Good luck,” she
said.

Jorge turned to Shan. “No one ever believes
me.”

But within ten minutes, when he finally
turned Maggie back to the mirror, even she was shocked into stunned
disbelief. Unlike he had done with Shan’s mousy locks, Jorge didn’t
touch Maggie’s perfectly scarlet tresses. Instead he had flattened
every unruly curl until it fell into a sleek curtain around her
face, partially covering her face with side-swept bangs. Her eyes
stood out with pale pink, shimmery pearl eye shadow. He used a dark
gray pencil to line her eyes, and filled out her eyelashes. Her
lips had the faintest blush of a pout, and she was surprised how
little she looked “made up” after all the time he’d spent.

She looked natural and youthful… and
undeniably sexy. “You are a magician,” she said softly.

He laughed. “I just polished the
masterpiece,” he said as he handed her a pair of strappy high
heels.

By this time she was giddy with the
playfulness of it all. She stepped into the heels and let Jorge
complete the transformation. “And where am I supposed to go looking
like this? I can’t sing so you can’t cast me on the show.”

Jorge grinned. “Well, I’m taken myself so I
can’t ask you, but I’m pretty sure you’ll have ten dinner
invitations by the time you leave the building.”

Shannon didn’t miss how Maggie’s face fell.
“Maybe she only wants one,” Shannon said softly.

Maggie blushed. “I don’t know what you
mean.”

Before she could head back into the changing
room, Shannon twirled her by the arm and steered her from the
wardrobe department. “You were looking for Graham, right?”

Immediately Maggie balked. “I can’t let him
see me like this,” she said.

“Why not?”

“Because he’s never seen me like this,” she
answered, which made Shannon pick up the pace.

“Then perhaps it’s time he did.”

Graham was on a conference call when the two
women popped into the conference room where he’d been hiding. He
did a double-take when he saw Maggie, as if he hadn’t recognized
her at first. In fact, he thought Shannon was going to introduce
him to another contestant, and his first thought was that she was
much too pretty to be undiscovered.

“I’ll… uh… call you back, Mike,” he said as
he disconnected the call. He turned back to them with his mouth
hanging open. “Mags?” he said, although the endearment seemed
wildly inappropriate for the goddess who stood before him.

She blushed and Shannon had to pull her
further into the room. “I thought you’d want to know what your
money is paying for,” Shannon said. “This is what the show stylist
can do.”

Graham was speechless. He rose and walked
around the table to join them where they stood by the door. “You
look amazing, Maggie,” he said with such genuine warmth she could
barely look him in the eye.

“Thanks,” she finally said. “I guess I should
go wash off all this war paint,” she said, but Shannon didn’t let
go of her arm.

“Nonsense,” she said. “Graham, you should
totally take her on the town and show her off. It’s the least we
can do for her since she indulged Jorge and his fit of
creativity.”

“I agree,” Graham said. “What do you say,
Mags?”

Maggie looked up in his
earnest eyes. Whenever he called her Mags she was putty in his
hands. She nodded and then grabbed his empty food tray from his
desk. It was why she had been looking for him in the first place,
to ensure that he had eaten. He had worked through many lunches
since they started production on
Fierce
, and she was still his nurse,
responsible for his care. “I’ll just take care of this first,” she
said as she scurried from the room, trying not to trip on the
unfamiliar high heels.

Graham stared thoughtfully after her.

“Good woman,” Shannon supplied. “She was
quite the sport when Jorge got the notion to take her under his
wing. He doesn’t do that for just anybody.”

He nodded. “Thank him for me,” he said.

Shannon grinned as she took a seat at the
table. “So what’s the deal with you and Maggie, anyway? If you
don’t mind me asking.”

He shrugged as he sat in the chair next to
her. In the past few months they had worked pretty closely, and he
had come to consider Shannon a friend as well as a colleague. He
had confided in her about the triangle with Andy and Vanni, as well
as all the scandal that surrounded them all. He felt it only fair
since she was investing her brand in his label and Vanni’s image,
not to mention giving Andy a job on the team.

She had always been a sensitive and
nonjudgmental listener, which he desperately needed after that
fight with Andy that had sent him into a drunken stupor. She was
the one who convinced him to release Andy from his own failed
expectations. If he cared about her, truly cared about her, he
couldn’t afford to be selfish. Enough people had been hurt; and
holding onto his anger and resentment was only poisoning him
now.

He knew she was right.

Graham took a deep breath before he answered
her question about Maggie. “She’s my nurse,” he said. “Damn good
one, too. She performed a miracle with me, Shan. The reason I’m
walking today is because she never let me give up. She’s tireless
and devoted and demands nothing but the best from everyone around
her.”

“Sounds like a remarkable person,” Shan said
softly.

He nodded. “She’s the best.”

Shannon leaned forward to put her elbows on
the table. “So what happens when you don’t need a nurse
anymore?”

He looked at her like the thought had never
crossed his mind. “What do you mean?”