stopped, the door opened, and suddenly, Liz was alone in the Bentley.
So this is what Cinderella felt like, she thought. I bet she threw up in that pumpkin before she made her entrance.
The door opened. Liz was hit by a wave of sound. Parker didn't warn me about the noise! The shouting of the crowd was deafening.
"This way!"
74 T O TA L LY C I N D E R E L L A
"Look here!"
"Parker Devlin!" a photographer screamed. "WHO'S YOUR DATE?"
"You don't have to say anything to them," Parker told Liz. "Hold on to me and keep walking." He slipped her arm through his.
Please don't let me trip, Liz thought.
They walked slowly along the red carpet, flashes flash- ing, digital cameras clicking, video cameras shoved at them.
"WHOSE DRESS IS THAT?" shouted a woman with a microphone.
Oh, my God, Liz thought. They know I'm wearing bor- rowed clothes.
For a moment she froze. Parker patted her hand and smiled. She took in a breath and remembered that "Whose dress is that?" actually translates as "Who designed that?"
Of course, by the time Liz figured this out, she and Parker had made their way farther down the carpet and the paparazzi were hurling questions at the next well-dressed victims.
Inside the lobby, Liz couldn't stop blinking, trying to get the spots out of her eyes from all the flashes.
"How do celebrities handle it?" Liz asked. "It's insane out there."
"You did great," Parker assured her. "And you looked great, too."
75 C O N F E S S I O N S O F A T E E N N A N N Y
Liz gave him a slow, sexy smile. "You, too."
"Yeah?" Parker stepped in closer to her. He slid his hand around her waist. "So you like the formal me? And I thought you were such a down-to-earth kind of girl."
"Oh, I am," Liz said, fingering the lapels of his Armani tux."But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the high life, too."
Parker pressed himself against her. "And I've been trained all my life to know quality when I see it." He leaned his face toward her for a kiss, when his eyes sud- denly flicked away and over her head.
"Is something wrong?" Liz asked.
"Nah," Parker said. "Just spotted some people I know from Palm Beach." He took her hand and led her toward the door. "Let's go find our seats."
They took the elevators up to the main floor and walked through the velvet-walled theater with its crystal chandeliers.The usher showed them to their seats.
Well, tried to. Every few feet they had to stop so Parker could say hello to people whose faces Liz knew from fashion pages, gossip columns, and Teen People.
"Oh, hi, Parker," a glamorous blond girl said as Liz and Parker tried to get around her.The girl gave Parker a quick kiss on the cheek, but her voice was frosty. Liz tried to stop staring: She recognized the girl from the tabloids. She was a socialite who made Cameron look tame.
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"Bella," Parker said. "Beautiful as always." He didn't sound very friendly.
Bella looked at Liz. "I wish you luck," she said, then walked back up the aisle.
"Don't pay any attention to her," Parker said. "We used to go out, and let's just say it wasn't an amiable breakup."
Parker and Bella? He runs in even faster crowds than I realized.
Two guys wearing super baggy pants and backward baseball caps suddenly appeared and pounded Parker on the back. Liz knew them as on-the-rise hip-hop stars. I guess if you're rich and famous enough you can wear denim to even the most formal events.
"Parker!" they hollered.They gave Liz very approving looks.
"What up, son! Who's your girl?" the tall one asked.
Liz blushed as Parker introduced her. "You take good care of her," the shorter one said. "She's choice."
"I know," Parker said, putting his hand around her waist and guiding her down the aisle again. This time, a skinny, dark-haired beauty blocked their path.
"Parker," she said, her eyes completely unfocused. "You having fun? I'm having fun."
She's on something, Liz realized.
"I think you're having a
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