Page 27 of When I Picture You

Without thinking, Renee gripped the hem of her polo. She pulled it up high enough to expose the band of her sports bra when Lola let out a faint gasp, the button-up bunched in her hands. Renee paused and waited for Lola to turn around.

But she didn’t.

Renee didn’t either.

The cool, climate-controlled air swept over her skin as Renee pulled the polo over her head. Part of her still expected Lola to be looking away when Renee saw her face again—but she was doing the opposite. Her dark doe eyes widened as they took in Renee’s body, flicking from her sports bra to the black lines of her tattoos to her stomach. Wherever Lola’s gaze traveled, Renee’s skin prickled at the attention. First her nipples tightened, then the feeling gathered between her thighs.

Renee reached for the shirt that Lola was clutching. “Can I have that?”

“Oh! Sorry!” Lola thrust it toward her. Her cheeks were rosy, her breathing a little quick, Renee noticed with satisfaction.

As Renee buttoned the clean shirt—thanks to the oversize cut, it fit—Lola grabbed the dirty polo from the floor. “I’ll take care of this,” she said, brushing by Renee as she walked out of the room. “I should get dressed.”

DOWNSTAIRS, GLORIANA ANDVeronika had arrived and were having additional makeup applied on top of the full faces they were already wearing.

Alejandro eyed Renee’s fresh shirt.

“It’s Lola’s,” Renee explained.

Alejandro’s brows furrowed in confusion. “It is?”

Renee kicked herself. He hadn’t needed to know that.

“Yeah, we’re, um, old friends,” Renee said. Although the way Lola had just eye-fucked her hadn’t feltfriendly. “Now where’s that gimbal?”

They had just finished testing light levels when Lola Gray descended the grand staircase and officially arrived on set. Her hair was out of the rollers, looking gorgeously tousled, the curtain bangs brushing her cheeks. She was dressed simply in jeans and a striped boatneck shirt, her feet bare. Renee bit her lip, watching Lola introduce herself to the whole crew. It was frankly bizarre how perfect Lola looked, like she’d wandered out of a Godard film.

Lola turned to Renee, those big eyes peering up at her through thick lashes. “Where do you want me?”

Renee’s mouth went dry.

Shit, no, she had to concentrate. This was the most important day of her professional career. It wasn’t the time to fantasize.

“Let’s get you answering the door.”

Renee tailed Lola to the front hall. When Lola opened the door,she threw her arms around Jason as if he were her closest friend, then slapped on an awestruck look as she saw the garment rack full of sparkles. “All this, for me? Gosh, I feel like a princess!”

Renee winced. It was campy, but that was okay. Lola would relax once she got used to filming.

“HOW DO YOUthink this is going?” Alejandro whispered to Renee two hours into the shoot. Lola was off with Jason getting into a new dress.

Renee rubbed her temple. “First day jitters.”

Lola had tried on seven dresses, none of which satisfied Gloriana, Veronika, and Jason. Some would upstage Nash—Renee had to suppress a groan at the idea of Lola dimming her light for that sea monkey. Once, to Renee’s horror, Veronika had said a crystal-encrusted number made Lola’s diminutive frame look bulky. Despite their negative comments, Lola’s smile had not left her face for one moment. She had squealed at each new dress, repeated the princess comment, and several times announced how excited she was for Nash’s big premiere. With each look, instead of giving a real opinion, she’d made a comment about how lucky she was to have the chance to wear such a pretty dress by this big-name designer—obviously, they had an arrangement with the brand. Renee was fairly certain that Lola hadn’t liked any of the looks at all.

Jason emerged and presented Lola in a clingy black dress with cutouts exposing the side of her stomach and hip and much of her back, strung together by bits of glittery rope. The dress had so many parts missing that Renee couldn’t figure out how it was staying on.

“What do we say?” Jason cooed. “I say,fabulous.”

“Oh,yessss,” Gloriana purred, as she snapped pictures to send to Nash’s people. “That’s it.”

Renee glared at the dress, trying to see what they saw.

“Completely agree. It’s grown and sexy,” Veronika said. “Mature, but in therightway, you know?”

Renee’s jaw tightened. All the cutouts and sparkles were as mature as a twenty-one-year-old on her first trip to Vegas. And no one had bothered to ask Lola’s opinion. She was smiling stiffly, her hand hovering over the bare skin of her stomach.

“Yes!” Jason chimed in. “Mature but still very, very young and fun.”