Filed to story: Once Upon a One Night Mistake Book PDF Free by Simone Shirazi
Taliana’s cheeks already hurt from smiling by the time her mother pulled her in. After squeezing Taliana for a long moment, she held her at arm’s length and put a tender hand to her cheek.
“I missed you so much,” Andrea said, thumb grazing Taliana’s cheek. “I know I sound like a typical mother, but I hate not having you at home with me. It gets so lonely in that big house.”
“I thought you had a harem of male models to keep you company,” Taliana teased, playfully batting her hand away, though she took it in her own once it had dropped from her cheek.
“Aren’t you funny. Now, come on.” She nodded toward the kitchen. “Let’s make a cup of tea and chat for a bit.”
Taliana followed her into the kitchen, and soon her mother was rifling through the cabinets for tea like she still lived there, while Taliana pulled down two mugs.
“Chamomile or Moroccan mint?” Andrea asked.
Taliana shrugged and hoisted her ass up on the counter. “I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
“Mint it is.”
They lapsed into silence as she put the kettle on to boil. When it was settled on the stove, Andrea took up leaning against the island directly across from Taliana.
“I have a favor to ask,” Andrea announced a moment later, toying with the fringe on her wrap. “And it’s a pretty big favor. That’s why I’m here.”
Taliana froze, not even daring to blink as she waited for her to explain. Whatever favor she wanted, Taliana knew it wouldn’t be anything good.
She reached out to take her stiff hands. “Darling,” she began, squeezing Taliana’s fingers gently. “Will you be in my ad campaign again? You were so wonderful last time, and I’d honestly love to have you as the permanent face of my line. You’re perfect for it!”
Taliana could’ve sworn she stopped breathing for a good thirty seconds as she stared at her mother in horror, but once she sucked in a breath, there was no stopping her next words. “Are you out of your mind?”
Andrea shrugged but didn’t seem fazed. “Maybe a little.”
Taliana yanked her hands back. “No way, Mom. I won’t do that again. That was absolute torture.”
“Come on,” she sighed exasperatedly. “It wasn’t that bad.”
“So says you! You weren’t the one being shoved into dress after dress, while someone else yanked at your hair, while another person slathered you with two tons of makeup. It was awful.”
“You’ll get used to it after a while, I promise,” she tried to reason. “Give it one more shot, Taliana. You’ll see it’s not so bad. Not to mention you’re a natural.”
“No .”
She heaved a sigh and ran a hand down her face. “I need you to do this for me. My last two models bailed on me, and now I can’t find anyone who fits the aesthetic I want. You’re the only one.
Please . At least consider it for the sake of your dear old mom.”
Taliana had told herself that she would never do another campaign for her mom, but Andrea looked so exhausted in that moment that she almost went back on her word. However, she had pulled practically the same thing last time, and Taliana wasn’t about to fall for it again.
Well, maybe. “Mom…”
“Please, honey? I am literally begging you. I need your help.”
It wasn’t like her mom to beg for anything, so she must’ve really needed the help. “Fine,” Taliana grudgingly agreed a long moment later. “I’ll do it.”
The next thing she knew, her face was squashed against her mom’s chest as she pulled her into a tight hug. “Thank you, sweetheart. I knew I liked you.”
Taliana rolled her eyes but didn’t pull out of the embrace. Her mother would’ve just pulled her back into another one anyway. “I’m your daughter, you’re supposed to like me.”
“True,” she laughed, loosening her grip slightly, “but I like you even more now.”
Taliana hid her grin, thankful to hear her mother’s jokes again. There was only one more question to be answered now.
“So, when’s the shoot?”
“Saturday. In New York. I knew from the beginning that you’d agree, so I never bothered to cancel it after the other two models left me high and dry.”
Damn her. “You’re the worst mother ever.”
The kiss she dropped on Taliana’s forehead said it all. “Tell me about it.”
34
Beware the Ides of March
It wasn’t love. Really, it wasn’t. At least, that was what Sebastian kept trying to tell himself.
Even as he gazed down at his mother’s copy of
W Magazine, his girlfriend’s face staring up at him from the cover, he still refused to admit it. But he had to say, the longer he stared, the more he was beginning to have doubts about those feelings.
To anyone who casually glanced at the magazine cover, Taliana’s expression may have looked contrived, but Sebastian knew that whatever annoyance she had felt the moment that photo had been snapped was absolutely genuine. In fact, she looked like she desperately wanted to punch someone, and that was one expression he knew all too well.
After two months of fake dating and five months of real dating, Sebastian was proud to say he’d become familiar with the nuances of her face. He knew just by one glance when she was annoyed or amused, barely tolerating him or wanting to kiss him, and even when she was close to tears despite the smile that rarely left her lips. Even in these photographs, without the aid of having her directly in front of him, he could still tell when an emotion was genuine.
The flip of a few pages revealed her face again, this time with eyes glinting deviously and her mouth quirked into a half-smile. Diamonds dripped into her lace-covered cleavage, sparkled at her ears, and gleamed on her dainty wrist. But he barely paid attention to the millions of dollars in jewels she was draped in. No, he was too busy wondering what thought had brought out that dangerous glimmer in her ice-blue eyes.
He was pleasantly surprised fifty pages later when she appeared again, this time occupying an editorial, aptly named
Free Taliana . The ten-page spread revolved around a theme Sebastian was sure she could relate to: a socialite-gone-wild and arrested for something or other. And the fake mug shot? If her real ones looked anything like this, it was honestly no wonder why she’d been pushed toward modeling. Sebastian knew she wanted nothing to do with the fashion scene, but it looked like she had a bright future ahead of her.
Looking at those made him remember what she’d said just minutes before boarding a plane to New York, her ninth trip there in a mere five months.