More than Fashion

12

“Oh, now I’m a complication? You didn’t seem to think that last night when I was between your legs.”

His words sent a rush of unwanted desire through me. “Last night never happened,” I whispered, stabbing a finger into his chest. “And we’re never going to speak of it again.”

He looked like he was about to argue, but then a tall, dark-haired woman swept into the room and stole everyone’s attention. She was in her early fifties and had a delicate, aloof beauty that was only enhanced by her little black sheath dress and long, thin limbs.

Lola Baudin had once been one of the top supermodels in the world, but for the last four years, she’d been the host of Behind The Seams and in the last two seasons had also become one of its judges. I’d watched her on TV, seen her in magazines and on fashion websites, and now she was in front of me, sweeping her eyes over all of us. She clapped her hands sharply, and the entire room dropped into silence. I quickly switched my mic back on and saw Gavin do the same.

“Welcome to season six of Behind The Seams,” she said, with a faint French accent. “Your first challenge begins now.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Some of the other designers groaned or gasped, but I stood up straighter at Lola’s words. I’d expected our first challenge to come quickly, even if I’d been hoping for a little more time to recover first. Judging by his calm expression, Gavin wasn’t surprised either.

Lola led us through a door and into the adjacent design room. Even with my raging hangover, I couldn’t help but speed up as we walked inside. Long white tables had been set up around a large room, and the mint green walls were decorated with portraits of famous fashion designers like Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, and my personal favorite, Alexander McQueen. Cameras were discreetly stationed around the edges of the room, and a few crew members stood along the sidelines, watching us. It was strange to get this behind-the-scenes look at one of my favorite TV shows, but otherwise, the room looked exactly as I’d seen it on previous seasons.

Each workstation had a dress form next to it labelled with our names. I found mine and sighed when I saw Gavin’s name at the table next to me. I’d never be rid of the guy.

It didn’t matter. I wouldn’t allow myself to be distracted by him. I’d dreamed of standing inside the design room of Behind The Seams for years, and now it was my reality. I wasn’t going to screw this up. And definitely not because of some stupid guy.

Even a ridiculously hot stupid guy.

Lola stood at the edge of the room, with a camera focused on her. “Good, you’ve all found your workstations. The room is crowded now, but not for long. There are fourteen of you here—but three of you will be going home today.”

Holy s**t. Three eliminations in the first challenge? They were not f*****g around.

“Your challenge is to make a little black dress,” Lola said, gesturing at her own elegant sheath. “That may sound simple, but you need to find a way to make a dress that is unique and shows us who you are as a designer. And…you only have six hours.” Her voice turned cold, and her eyes narrowed. “Impress us, or you’ll be going home today.”

Hmm. Six hours wasn’t much time, although little black dresses were pretty basic and something all designers should have made before. The trick would be to design something that stood out from all the rest in that amount of time.

“There’s a box under your workstation with fabric and trim for this challenge,” she continued. “You’re not allowed to use anything that wasn’t from inside a box, but you can trade with other designers.”

Crap, I should have socialized with the other designers more. Some of them had already formed connections, which might put them at an advantage in this challenge. The only connection I had was with Gavin, and I was pretty sure that wouldn’t help me one bit.

“The winner of each challenge gets one thousand dollars and a night in the private winner’s suite,” Lola said. “The losers will be sent home. You have six hours, starting now.”

She swooped out the door, leaving the fourteen designers, plus the camera crews filming everything. While others gasped about the room, complained about only having six hours, or laughed about how surreal it all was, I grabbed the black box under my workstation and popped it open without hesitation. Next to me, Gavin did the same. He must have also realized that the clock was ticking and standing around chatting would only cut into our working time.

Inside I found two types of black fabric: a simple cotton-polyester blend that had a nice weight to it and a heavy brocade with an embossed swirly pattern. The brocade was out; it reminded me too much of old lady curtains. Damn, I’d have to find someone to trade it with. The box also had buttons and zippers, along with other supplies like needles and thread, scissors, pins, measuring tape, and a sketch pad and pencils.

Around the room, there were a few murmurs and quiet conversations, but most of the designers were silent, sketching and checking out their fabrics. A few had already left their workstations to start trading with others. If I wanted new fabric, I’d have to act fast.

I caught a glimpse of Gavin’s box and noticed he had some lace and a thick mesh that looked almost like netting. Well, s**t, I wanted one of those fabrics. Nothing to do but swallow my pride and ask him for help.

I leaned across my table. “Psst!”

Gavin glanced up from his sketch pad, where he was drawing something with quick flicks of his wrist. “Yes, love?”