Lily, who never, ever drank--she was sure she'd say or do something she couldn't take back in the morning if she let her guard down for even one night--knew that she shouldn't drink any of the plentiful alcohol backstage. But she was so nervous that when the makeup artist thrust a glass of champagne into her hands, and ordered, "Drink this or you'll look like a ghost out there with such a white face," all Lily could do was gulp it down. The empty glass was instantly replaced with a full one.
She still couldn't tell if the makeup artist was a he or a she, but as the fizzy liquid made its way down her throat into her flip-flopping belly, Lily hardly cared anymore. She took another large swallow of the sweet, tart champagne and felt infinitely better.
"Luke's here," Janica said after popping her head from between the curtains. "He's on the right side of the stage, four rows back."
Lily smiled and tried to give her sister a thumbs-up, forgetting that she was holding on to the champagne glass. Her head buzzed and she looked at the upside-down empty glass in surprise.
Janica rushed over. "What are you doing? You're not getting drunk are you?"
"No," Lily said, her cheeks flushing. "I didn't even want to drink it," she insisted as she handed the empty glass over, her every move overly precise.
"That's funny, 'cause your glass is empty," Janica said, sarcasm dripping off every word. "You know you can't hold your liquor."
"Oh," was all Lily could say.
Janica looked like she was going to scream with irritation, but instead she threw her arms around Lily, opting for a pep talk instead. "Thanks so much for doing this for me. I know how much you hate being in front of crowds, but you are going to do so great out there tonight. Have I mentioned lately how you're the best big sister in the whole world?"
Lily sobered up a little and put on a brave face. "Don't worry about me, honey. I'm going to do you proud. I promise." She shooed Janica off. "Go on. Your line is up next. Get back to work."
Janica dropped a light kiss on Lily's cheek and scurried off to make sure her lead models were ready to walk. Lily started to rub her eyes wearily, but remembered at the last minute all the makeup she was wearing. A waiter rounded the corner with a tray of champagne and her hand shot out, seemingly of its own accord.
"One more couldn't hurt," she said as she brought the rim of the glass to her lips. Besides, all of a sudden being a runway model for a night didn't seem so bad. She only had to make it down to the end of the plank to pose for pictures. It would take sixty seconds, tops, then she'd go find Luke and they would have a good laugh about it all.
Just so long as he didn't bring his twin brother with him. When Travis gave her one of his disdainful looks, or worse yet, ignored her completely, it made her feel like dirt. Less important than dirt, even.
Lily didn't know how two people could be less alike. It was especially strange considering Luke and Travis were identical twins. Luke was warmhearted, fun, and nonjudgmental. On the other end of the spectrum, there was Travis, with his piercing verdicts. Lily had been watching him from afar for long enough to know that all he cared about was pleasing himself and looking at pretty things. And that, Lily knew, was the crux of the problem between her and Travis.
She wasn't pretty enough for him. Or thin enough. Or perky enough. And none of those things were ever going to change.
As kids, she and Luke and Travis had been inseparable. The three musketeers. But then the boys' mom died when they were ten, and everything changed. No, she thought with a sigh, not everything . She and Luke had remained incredibly close, best friends to this day. But Travis had never been the same after that. And no matter how much she wanted her old relationship with Travis back, no matter how much she tried to let him know she was there for him, Travis kept rejecting her. Turning his back on her. Lily told herself she had given up on him, but in her heart of hearts, she knew it wasn't true.
Could you ever completely give up on someone that you loved? From her painful experience with Travis, Lily didn't think so.
Janica ran back to Lily, breathless, and stuck something in her free hand. "I almost forgot to give you this."
"What is it?" Lily said as she grasped the edge of a purple feather.
"It's your mask. Actually, I should probably put it on for you so that you don't mess up your hair or makeup." Janica slid the mask down over Lily's riot of red curls, gently laying it against her face and tying the ribbon behind her head.
"Wow," Janica breathed. "I thought you looked amazing before, but now you look..." Her words fell away, and Lily's heart raced with renewed panic.
"Like an old lady on Halloween?" Lily said, mocking herself.
Janica shook her head. "God no. Not at all. You look like royalty. Like a queen!"
The words were no sooner out of Janica's mouth than the stage manager grabbed her by the shoulder. "You're on in sixty seconds," he said, and Janica turned and ran to get her first model ready to walk.
I look like royalty? Like a queen?The words swam around in Lily's already muddled-by-bubbly brain. A part of her wanted to turn around and look in a mirror to see if her little sister was telling the truth, but the other bigger part of her that never ever shut up was scornful, like always.
More like queen-size, that part of her said.
On any other night, Lily would have believed the voice. Being beautiful was laughable. She had spent a lifetime with her shoulders hunched to hide her too-big breasts and her hair hanging over her face to hide blue eyes too bright and red lips too big. But suddenly, an unfamiliar feeling of boldness swept through her from the tips of her toes to the feathered mask on her made-up face.
Grabbing another glass of champagne off the tray of a passing waiter, she swallowed it in one gulp, letting the now-familiar warmth and easiness flow through her. Without giving herself another moment to doubt, she turned around to the full-length mirror behind her.
Lily gasped. The woman staring back at her was a stranger.
A beautiful, stunning, sexy stranger.
Her hands flew to her hair, which had been brushed and lacquered until her curls looked better than those in any hair commercial ever did, shiny and glowing as they cascaded past her shoulders. Behind the mask, her eyes shone like the blue of the Caribbean, and her lips looked full and kissable.
She looked just right. Not too big. Not too small. Curvy in all the right places, her large breasts and round hips nicely offset by her waist.
But even as she surveyed herself in the mirror, Lily knew that Janica's dress was responsible for the amazing change. She had always known that her sister was incredibly talented, but to see how Janica's dress had turned Lily from supersize to just right shocked her to the core.
One of the models in Janica's show stepped up behind Lily in the mirror, the model's long, ultrathin limbs showcased by the short, strapless dress she was wearing. "Wow, you look amazing," she said to Lily.
The words "thank you" popped out of Lily's mouth, and she bit her lip in surprise. When was the last time she had actually accepted a compliment?
More to the point, when was the last time she had actuallybelieved a compliment?
The model walked away, and Janica called to Lily from several feet away. "You need to get in line behind Ellen."
Lily took a deep breath and a crazy thought popped into her head. What if she acted like a model while she was out on the runway? What if she decided to be supersexy for a few minutes in her life? Who would it hurt?
Maybe with some help from The Dress she could be invincible.
She had seen the rehearsals and knew that the original plus-sized model had planned on shimmying and swaying to the music as she made her way down the runway. Janica hadn't asked her to try it, knowing that Lily would have definitely said no.
The Dress would really shine if the audience saw how well it moved over the curves and valleys of areal woman's figure.
With only seconds to go before she walked out onto the runway, Lily made up her mind. She would do it.
>
For as long as she had The Dress on she would behave like a queen.
A sexy, take-no-prisoners queen.
And then when the night was over, she would go back to being the same old Lily she had always been, having had a taste of something dangerous and wild to savor for the rest of her life.
2
THE EMCEE ANNOUNCED, "Spring Collection by Janica Ellis," and Travis slid down deeper into his seat. He dreaded the moment when Lily would plod onto the runway, stuffed into a sheer, skin-baring outfit.
He could hardly believe that Lily had let her little sister bully her into taking part in a fashion show. Lily couldn't find her spine if it bit her in the butt, but saving Janica by modeling in a fashion show was pushing things way too far. Even for Lily.
Travis had often wondered how Lily and Janica could have possibly come from the same gene pool. Janica was the perfect opposite of Lily--a tiny little brunette with a big mouth and a sharp wit. She was Lily's fiercest protector, and definitely hated him.
Several models had already made it down the runway, and he was finally getting comfortable when the music fell away and a redhead appeared from behind the curtain, a sparkling mask of feathers and sequins covering the top of her face. Her plump, red lips caught the spotlight. The lights changed from wild greens and blues to a deep, warm red, coating the woman in a sexy haze. Rich melodies from a Spanish guitar and a lilting tenor, promised sex to everyone in the audience.
Hot, slick, pounding sex.
The woman hadn't even moved yet, had made no effort to slink down the runway to showcase her outfit, and yet chatter fell away in a hush. The front of Travis's jeans grew tight, and every nerve came to life as he waited for her to slink down the runway.
She didn't disappoint. The mesh Asian print fabric molded lovingly to her every curve as she made her arousing progression down the catwalk. Her hips swayed side to side, one red-tipped, jeweled hand finding its way past her waist, stopping at the curve of her breasts, while the other caressed the curve of her hip.
Travis was leaning forward in his chair, all of his practiced ease gone. He needed to have this woman. It didn't matter that she was the polar opposite of every woman he had ever been with. Where he craved bones and angled lines, she was lush curves and soft promise. He had thought that small and blond was perfection, but the red-haired, full-bodied goddess consumed him with wanting.
The flamenco guitar grew more and more frantic the closer the beautiful model got to the end of the catwalk. In perfect time to the passionate music, the model began an exotic dance, throwing her head back in delighted laughter. Travis waited for her unveiling, holding his breath for the second time that evening.
The woman stopped dancing and reached for her feathered mask. She brought her tongue out to taste her lips, and a low sound came from deep in Travis's throat.
She threw the mask to the floor, and the applause was ferocious. She was even more magnificent than she had been beneath her disguise.
Travis stopped clapping, unable to trust what he saw.
Lily Ellis, his twin brother's meek best friend, was staring him straight in the eye.
And even though he tried to deny it with every fiber of his being, he wanted her.
THE FASHION SHOW ENDED, and the party began. The music kicked up another notch, and with the chairs put away everyone was moving and dancing. Maybe it was the champagne, maybe it was the daring outfit that made her feel so powerful, so hungry, so restless. For the first time in thirty years, Lily felt in control and ready for action.
As long as she had The Dress on, she could do all of the things she had always wanted to do but had always been too afraid to do.
Travis was out there in the audience. As soon as she stepped onto the runway and looked four rows back to the right, she had known that it was Travis. She had always been able to tell him and Luke apart, even if nobody else could. They were both tall and lean and muscular. They both had thick black hair that fell over their eyes. But Travis made Lily sizzle. Whereas Luke only made her feel warm.
Lily wished she could have fallen in love with Luke. He was so gentle and kind. Knowing that her attraction to Travis was futile from the first stirrings of arousal she'd felt for him, Lily had made a concerted effort to see Luke as sexy, boyfriend material. But it was impossible. She cringed remembering the kiss she'd given Luke in high school, late one night when they were talking under the huge apple tree in her grandmother's front yard. He had been still as a stone, but then, not wanting to hurt her feelings, he had kissed her back.
Luke's kiss was perfectly pleasant, but the awful truth was she hadn't felt anything. No tingles. No shivering with need in his arms. It was yet another thing she couldn't do right. She wasn't even smart enough to fall for the brother who was nice to her. Instead, she had harbored an insane lust for someone who would never return her feelings in a million years. Not unless one day she woke up as a size-two supermodel.
Lily cursed herself up and down for being stupid enough to keep holding out hope that the nice Travis would come back. That the fun-loving boy she had been friends with as a child would one day reemerge from within the cold, distant man he had become.
Her heart raced in her chest, and Lily was more than a little shocked about what she was about to do. She didn't know why Travis had come to the fashion show instead of Luke. On any other night she would have been furious with Luke for doing the twin-switcharoo on her.
But this wasn't any other night. Tonight was special. And even though it was crazy, even though she might as well take a knife and drive it into her heart to save herself time, Lily thanked God that Luke had sent his sexy-as-sin twin brother.
She had wasted thirty years waiting for him to notice her. She wasn't about to waste another second. Not when she and The Dress had plans for him. Big plans that made her heart beat triple time and the vee between her legs pulse with need.
The Dress was going to make Travis want her.
It had to.
A sudden surge of doubt overwhelmed her as she reached out to part the thick red velvet curtain. She couldn't ignore the mighty chance that Travis would take one look at her and laugh. Or worse, turn away as if she were invisible. It was more than a chance, she thought with dismay. A professional gambler would have to be crazy to bet on Lily, not when Travis could have his pick of any skinny, perfect woman in the room.
She closed her eyes and moistened her lips. No, she told herself, you're not going to give in to these fears. It's either now or never. Are you going to take the chance? Or are you going to continue to be a wimp for another thirty years?
That did it. Pushing past the curtains, Lily stepped out onto the dance floor, her eyes trained on what she wanted. Travis stood surrounded by women, each one more gorgeous than the next, all vying desperately to get his attention.
But she knew he was waiting for her.
At least she hoped he was.
On the runway, instead of making her want to dive for cover, Travis's presence had emboldened her. Lily had reached deep inside herself to bring forth the sensual woman she had kept so well hidden.
Finally, she was going to show Travis what he had been turning his back on for so long, what he had been missing.
Pleasure.
Lily knew that most people saw her as mousy and timid. She rarely offered her opinion, and people were always cutting in front of her in line at the movies. It had hurt at first, but once she got used to being overlooked, it almost became a comfort. Lily could always disappear into the background, and she used her invisibility like a suit of armor to protect herself.
So the one thing that no one would have ever guessed in a million years, the secret that she had never shared with anyone else, was how much she liked to touch herself.
And how good it felt.
On cold nights Lily's favorite thing was to lock herself in the bathroom with a hot tub of water and her waterproof vibrator. Lying in the warm rose-scented water, she invented elaborate scenes in he
r head, all of which featured Travis in the starring role.
She often relived her first orgasm, at fourteen, which happened the night after her first high school football game. She had pretended to be watching the game, but all night her eyes never left Travis, who was hanging out with the tough crowd. Every time his fingers brushed across the shoulders of the cheerleader he was with, a shiver shot up Lily's spine. Halfway through the game he disappeared behind the bleachers, the cheerleader in tow. Quietly, Lily slipped away from the crowd. Standing in the shadows, she watched Travis fondle and kiss the girl, finally bringing her to orgasm with his mouth. A warm rush had settled between Lily's legs, and her fingers had found her breasts, sensitive from the slightest brush of her fingers across them.
Since that night, whenever she masturbated, Lily dreamed that Travis's tongue slid across her nipples, drawing circles across her skin. She would slide her fingers between her slick folds, sometimes slipping one finger into her tight canal, all the while picturing Travis's large fingers touching her, caressing her. When she couldn't take it anymore, she would pick up her vibrator and turn it on low, barely pressing the tip of it against the top of her mons. Again and again she would bring herself to the edge, pulling the whirling machine away, gasping for air in the cooling water of the bathtub. Finally, she would switch the machine to high and press it hard against herself as waves and waves of spasms rocked her, Travis's name on her lips.
By the time she had dried off and gotten back into one of her big tent dresses, no one could have ever guessed what she had done to herself in the bathtub. No one could have known how hot she got, how naughty her fantasies were.
Lily could never look beyond her lust for Travis to see herself in love with another man. But even though she wasn't looking for love, she wasn't opposed to having a lover. After exploring all the different and better ways to bring herself to orgasm, she had been overwhelmed with the need to feel a cock deep within her. Yes, she wanted it to belong to Travis--oh how desperately she wanted that--but ever the realist she recognized that she would have to take what she could get. Over the past decade she had shared a bed with several men, and while the experience of a thick penis pumping into her was nice, while the feel of a tongue lapping at her clit was pleasant, none of the men she had dated and slept with had ever taken her to the thrilling place she dreamed of.