The Boss and the Plain Jayne Bride Read online

  Last night hardly counted for Jayne, though. She hadn’t worn the dress because there just weren’t any spare hands to help her into it. Since she wasn’t competing, she just walked out at the end of the show and stood at the end of the runway. Garrett had been there, silent and unsmiling. Well, tomorrow night he’d smile, she’d thought. Tomorrow night, he’d be dazzled. Then she’d executed a turn like the one Sandor had taught Sylvia, only her feet stopped, but her head didn’t. The room spun and Jayne felt herself stumble.

  Strong arms caught her and Garrett’s harsh voice was in her ear.

  “When was the last time you ate?”

  “I just tripped, that’s all,” she protested, irritated. But Garrett had helped her down the stairs and over to the hospitality table where he’d made her drink two glasses of juice.

  Jayne had felt every calorie as it slid down her throat, but she had felt better afterward. She wasn’t going to make the same mistake today, though. She’d eaten breakfast and a light lunch, and had watched the photo sessions. Now it was time for the fashion show.

  The ballroom was full—as full as Magda had predicted. She and Rebecca and James Charles were jointly hosting the evening and introducing the models and the clothes. When they heard the music start, Jayne wished Sylvia luck once more, then went to the room that had been set aside for her.

  There was the dress, hanging against the mirror in all its glittery splendor. Three other people were in the room, apparently to assist her.

  “Go ahead and get into the dress first, then we’ll do your makeup.” That seemed backward to Jayne, and too, she felt funny undressing and standing in her underwear in front of everyone, but they seemed to expect her to do so.

  She gamely stepped into the dress and Diego, himself, zipped her up. Jayne was afraid to breathe, but the zipper closed without a problem. Diego smiled at her in the mirror, and helped her up the pedestal. Then he began twitching the dress and checking the hems of the myriad layers. Jayne felt like a fairy princess. A relieved fairy princess. The dress fit. It had all been worth it.

  She stared at herself in the mirror, hardly able to believe she was the same woman who had spent her twenty-eighth birthday with a calculator. She’d wanted to jazz up her life, and she had. She’d also wanted to be the sort of woman who would be noticed by a man like Garrett. Imagining his face when he saw her walking down that runway made her smile. At first, he’d look thunderstruck, then his smile would grow and his eyes would fill with love. Love. Jayne swallowed. It was okay to admit that she loved Garrett now. She couldn’t before because there was no chance of him loving her back. But after today, he’d finally see how she could fit in with his family. He wouldn’t have to be ashamed of her. When they were out together, women wouldn’t stare and wonder how Jayne had ended up with a handsome man like Garrett.

  Diego straightened and moved around to the back of the dress, arranging the layers of crystals as he went. The doorway was now visible in the mirror. As if her thoughts had conjured him, Jayne noticed Garrett standing there. For a moment, she saw his unguarded expression in the mirror and it was everything she’d hoped to see. The makeup artist swished the cape around her and her eyes met Garrett’s.

  He watched as the artist quickly applied blush and shadow to her face. With each layer of makeup, Garrett’s face grew harder until he finally left. What was wrong? Jayne gazed at herself in the mirror, no longer seeing a fairy princess but a woman who was trying to be something she wasn’t. The eye makeup was exaggerated and her cheeks were too pink.

  “Don’t worry, hon, you’re going to be wearing a veil, so we made you up heavier than usual. Your face wouldn’t have shown up otherwise.”

  The hairstylist attacked her next, randomly pinning her curls so some remained down. Then Diego unwrapped a headpiece that looked like swirls of crystals were suspended in the air, sparkling above her head and showering over her face. Attached to and floating from her nape was a swath of veil so long that Jayne couldn’t see the end of it. With a flourish, they removed the cape.

  Jayne stared at herself. She looked awful. She didn’t look like a fairy princess, she looked like the wicked witch. There was silence in the room. Awful, hideous silence. At least they weren’t laughing at her. But the audience would. That was what Garrett had been trying to tell her. No matter what she did, she would never look good enough, never be accepted by them. She couldn’t go out on that stage and listen to the other models snicker and the audience laugh. She couldn’t.

  With a sob, Jayne jumped off the pedestal.

  “Hey! Where are you going? They haven’t played your cue yet.”

  “I...have to go to the bathroom!”

  Jayne gathered as much of Diego’s carefully arranged layers as she could and ran out the door, ignoring their dumbfounded expressions. The veil streamed behind her. Jayne would have reeled it in, but then she would have had to drop the dress, so she continued to run, hoping no one would follow her.

  She reached the reception area outside the ballroom and panicked when she saw herself in the gilt-framed mirrors. The dress was huge. Enormous. And heavy. The veil must be twenty feet long, and the headpiece... Well, forget it.

  How was she supposed to escape? Riding the escalator was out and she doubted her ability to get all the way inside the elevator.

  “Jayne!” It was Garrett. No. She couldn’t face him. Frantically Jayne looked for someplace to hide, but there wasn’t much around that could conceal the dress. She stepped behind a pillar and covered her face with her hands.

  “Jayne, what are you doing?” His voice sounded next to her.

  “Hiding.”

  He chuckled. “You aren’t doing a very good job.”

  “I’m not doing a good job at anything.”

  “Jayne, look at me.”

  How could she look at him? She felt him tugging at her veil and then lifting the heavy crystal layer away from her face.

  “You’re smearing your makeup.”

  Jayne dropped her hands. If he thought she was smearing it now, just wait until she started crying.

  “What’s wrong?” His voice was strong and tender and concerned all at the same time and it was too much for her. Heedless of his tuxedo, she buried her face against his lapel. “Is it stage fright? You don’t have to go out there, Jayne.”

  “It’s not stage fright...I don’t want to be laughed at.”

  “Laughed at?”

  “Yes. I saw how they looked at me in the dressing room. No one said a word because they were all trying not to laugh. Everyone’s been making fun of me, haven’t they?”

  “No.” He sounded so certain. But...

  “I saw your face, too.” She looked up at him.

  “What did you see?”

  “You—you were disgusted or—or angry.”

  “Or both.”

  Jayne tried to pull away, but Garrett held her fast. “Shall I tell you why?”

  “Because I don’t look good enough? Because I can’t be like your family and the other models?”

  He shook his head. “Because you looked so happy. Happier than I’ve seen you in weeks and all because you’d starved yourself until you’d nearly fainted, and had someone doing your hair and putting on your makeup.”

  “But—”

  “I never wanted you to be like my family! I loved you because you weren’t like them and then you started turning into them and I couldn’t stop you. Tonight, I couldn’t see any of the beautiful Jayne I’d fallen in love with.”

  Love? Jayne’s mouth fell open. Beautiful?

  “I’ve missed her.” Smiling wistfully, Garrett cupped her cheek, echoing his gesture from a week ago.

  This time, his mother didn’t interrupt their kiss. The instant his lips met hers, Jayne shuddered at what she’d nearly lost—and which wasn’t a sure thing even now.

  “You love me?” she asked, when it became obvious that the dress precluded any serious kissing.

  Garrett hesitated. “I love the Jayne
who wore the black suit to Nicky V’s and talked half the night away. I love the Jayne who is passionate about numbers and assumes that I understand everything she tells me. And, I do love the Jayne who learned enough about fashion to snag Darnia and Brynn.”

  “That was an accident,” she confessed in a mumble.

  “A happy accident, except that it seemed to trigger this obsession with your appearance.”

  “Garrett, I’m so sorry. I’ve been a complete idiot. I just—”

  “Couldn’t get past the way I look?” His voice was bitter. “Is that the only reason you’re attracted to me?”

  “No! How could you think that?” Honified, she answered her own question. “Because that’s the way I’ve been acting.”

  She searched his face and saw the endearing need for reassurance. Smiling, she smoothed the hair back from his forehead. “You are incredibly good-looking, but that just became one part of you for me. You’re kind and smart and...and you’re loyal to your family and friends and in your business dealings. People don’t think much about loyalty anymore, but I think it counts for a lot I’m sorry you thought... Oh, Garrett, I love you so much and I was afraid you wouldn’t love me the way I was!”

  “Looks aren’t forever, Jayne, but the qualities we love about each other are. Can you remember that?”

  “After tonight, how could I forget? I can’t believe I’ve been so obsessed with the way I look.”

  “Don’t blame yourself. We do foolish things when we fall in love.”

  “I don’t see that you’ve done any stupid things.”

  “Not telling you the instant I knew I was in love with you and wanted to spend the rest of my life with you wasn’t too bright. I could have saved us a lot of time.”

  Jayne felt dizzy and this time it wasn’t from hunger. “You...you...are your...?”

  “Yes, Jayne, I’m asking you to marry me.” He waved an arm at her dress and his formal attire. “It seems to fit in with the theme.”

  “Oh, Garrett!” And this time when Jayne flung her arms around him, not even the dress could keep them apart.

  Heedless of thousands of crystals, Garrett crushed her to him. Jayne was instantly transported to the night in the parking lot when the kiss was so perfect she thought she’d imagined it. Garrett’s lips moved over hers as he whispered her name, holding her close and murmuring words of love between kisses. The sound of the wedding march broke them apart.

  “My cue!”

  He searched ber face. “Do you still want to model the dress?” .

  “Oh, I have to! I can’t let Diego down.” Jayne took off running. “Watch my veil for me!”

  Breathless, she arrived backstage in time to register Diego’s relieved face. He quickly jerked her headpiece back into place and then he and Garrett stuffed Jayne through the narrow doorway entrance to the runway.

  As Jayne stepped out into the lights, there was a gasp and applause. She was momentarily blinded by the spotlight, then felt a strong arm steady her as Garrett placed her hand in the crook of his elbow. “I’m here. After all, a bride does need a groom.”

  And together, they closed the show.

  ISBN : 978-1-4592-5269-1

  THE BOSS AND THE PLAIN JAYNE BRIDE

  First North American Publication 1999.

  Copyright © 1999 by Heather W. MacAllister.

  All rights reserved Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario. Canada M3B 3K9.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A

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