Read Online Have to Have It by Melody Mayer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Melody Mayer
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serapes milled around the red velvet booths, where the young, hip, and beautiful noshed on enchiladas and chimichangas. On the black velvet walls hung gaudy sombreros and candlelit caricatures of iconic celebrities: Elvis, Selena, and Madonna were the ones Kiley could instantly identify. Meanwhile, a deejay in a pink Day-Glo booth suspended from the two-story-high ceiling spun Mexican hip-hop—David Rolas, Crooked Stilo, Control Machete. Tom picked out anumber of the tunes for Kiley as they waited for the maitre d' to seat them.
“How do you know Mexican hip-hop?” Kiley asked over the music.
“My friend La Daga,” Tom explained, a protective hand on the small of Kiley's back, as a raucous, drunken group of guys made their way out of the restaurant. “The Dagger.”
“That's a name?” Kiley asked.
“Exactly,” Tom said. “His real name is Emmanuel, but he models under La Daga. We have the same agent. He's got that hot Latin thing going on; does lots of romance novel covers for Harlequin. Stuff like that. Great guy. Anyway, he does that for the bucks but really he's a rap artist. He's played all this stuff for me. In fact, he's the one who turned me on to this restaur—”
“Tom!”
Kiley squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that the voice she'd just heard calling to her date did not belong to the person she thought it belonged to.
“Tom, sweetheart!”
Damn.
Her ears weren't lying.
Marym was making her way through the crowd toward them. The famous eighteen-year-old, raven-haired Israeli model wore a sandy wraparound sleeveless top over a floor-grazing BCBG cream skirt littered with embroidered golden leaves and looked, as usual, perfect. Kiley felt utterly provincial in her generic jeans and one of the few garments she'd acquired in L.A., a Forever 21 black-and-white-striped scoop-neck tee. She had met Marym when Tom had taken her to Marym's birthday party at her new place right on the beach in Malibu. Then Kiley had definitely gotten on the model's bad side when she'djoined a protest because Marym was not allowing the public access to the beach. Only it had turned out that since Marym had just purchased the house, she hadn't even known she was required to provide access via a path on her property. The protesters, including Kiley had been both premature and wrong.
Even that wouldn't have been so bad if Kiley hadn't known that Marym had been involved with Tom before Kiley had met him. Kiley suspected that they'd had a torrid affair, and that Marym had an interest in picking up wherever it was that she and Tom had left off.
“Imagine running into you!” Marym exclaimed in husky, Israeli-accented English. She kissed Tom softly on the lips, then her gaze went to Kiley. “Oh. Hello, Kiley,” she added coolly. “Nice to see you, too.”
Tom put a protective arm around Kiley's shoulders. “We're celebrating,” he explained. “Kiley thought she was going to have to go back to Wisconsin, but she just found out she's staying in L.A.”
Marym smiled. “Great news. I'm happy for you.”
Kiley tried to smile back, because Marym seemed to mean what she said. Kiley could never quite be sure if the problem between them actually existed, or if she was simply insecure and jealous around the gorgeous It Girl of the moment—the It Girl who knew Tom very, very well.
“Thanks,” she replied. “I'm looking forward to it.”
Marym tugged on Tom's hand. “There's no need for you two to wait. Come sit with us. We're in our booth in back with La Daga”—she put an ironic twist on the name—“and some other models, dishing about FAB. It was insane, wasn't it?”
Tom and Marym had both modeled in FAB and had shared atable at the charity dinner aboard the
Queen Mary
ocean liner that had ended the FAB week festivities. That dinner had been organized by Esme's bosses, Diane in particular. After that dinner, Kiley reminded herself, Tom had come to find
her.
They'd kissed for the very first time on the deck of the
“How do you know Mexican hip-hop?” Kiley asked over the music.
“My friend La Daga,” Tom explained, a protective hand on the small of Kiley's back, as a raucous, drunken group of guys made their way out of the restaurant. “The Dagger.”
“That's a name?” Kiley asked.
“Exactly,” Tom said. “His real name is Emmanuel, but he models under La Daga. We have the same agent. He's got that hot Latin thing going on; does lots of romance novel covers for Harlequin. Stuff like that. Great guy. Anyway, he does that for the bucks but really he's a rap artist. He's played all this stuff for me. In fact, he's the one who turned me on to this restaur—”
“Tom!”
Kiley squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that the voice she'd just heard calling to her date did not belong to the person she thought it belonged to.
“Tom, sweetheart!”
Damn.
Her ears weren't lying.
Marym was making her way through the crowd toward them. The famous eighteen-year-old, raven-haired Israeli model wore a sandy wraparound sleeveless top over a floor-grazing BCBG cream skirt littered with embroidered golden leaves and looked, as usual, perfect. Kiley felt utterly provincial in her generic jeans and one of the few garments she'd acquired in L.A., a Forever 21 black-and-white-striped scoop-neck tee. She had met Marym when Tom had taken her to Marym's birthday party at her new place right on the beach in Malibu. Then Kiley had definitely gotten on the model's bad side when she'djoined a protest because Marym was not allowing the public access to the beach. Only it had turned out that since Marym had just purchased the house, she hadn't even known she was required to provide access via a path on her property. The protesters, including Kiley had been both premature and wrong.
Even that wouldn't have been so bad if Kiley hadn't known that Marym had been involved with Tom before Kiley had met him. Kiley suspected that they'd had a torrid affair, and that Marym had an interest in picking up wherever it was that she and Tom had left off.
“Imagine running into you!” Marym exclaimed in husky, Israeli-accented English. She kissed Tom softly on the lips, then her gaze went to Kiley. “Oh. Hello, Kiley,” she added coolly. “Nice to see you, too.”
Tom put a protective arm around Kiley's shoulders. “We're celebrating,” he explained. “Kiley thought she was going to have to go back to Wisconsin, but she just found out she's staying in L.A.”
Marym smiled. “Great news. I'm happy for you.”
Kiley tried to smile back, because Marym seemed to mean what she said. Kiley could never quite be sure if the problem between them actually existed, or if she was simply insecure and jealous around the gorgeous It Girl of the moment—the It Girl who knew Tom very, very well.
“Thanks,” she replied. “I'm looking forward to it.”
Marym tugged on Tom's hand. “There's no need for you two to wait. Come sit with us. We're in our booth in back with La Daga”—she put an ironic twist on the name—“and some other models, dishing about FAB. It was insane, wasn't it?”
Tom and Marym had both modeled in FAB and had shared atable at the charity dinner aboard the
Queen Mary
ocean liner that had ended the FAB week festivities. That dinner had been organized by Esme's bosses, Diane in particular. After that dinner, Kiley reminded herself, Tom had come to find
her.
They'd kissed for the very first time on the deck of the
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