Page 31 of High Value Target
“Up on stage with a spotlight on you? Are you kidding me?”
“What did you think was happening?”
“I thought you’d be in the audience.”
Loretta Wyatt approached. “Is there a problem?”
Tinsley gave him a cocky smile and shrugged. “Sorry. Duty calls.” As she walked away, she looked back and winked, then mouthed the words, “Keep your eyes on me, bodyguard. I’ll be walking last.”
Grady followed her down the hall to a room. She stopped him at the door with a hand to his chest. “What are you doing?”
“Protecting you.”
“You can’t go in here. There are ladies changing.”
His jaw tightened, and he exhaled, taking a step back.
The door closed in his face.
He stood with his hands in his pockets, his back to the wall. An assistant looking harried rushed into the hall, yelling in his phone. “You have to stall. The Fellini gown is still en route. No, no. They’re rushing it over from the airport now. Have someone waiting downstairs to escort it up. Yes, yes.” He hung up, grumbling about being short one hairstylist, and went back inside.
Stan came down the hall. “Everything okay, brother?”
“Yeah. They’re dressing for the fashion show. Hey, can you watch here while I check the front?”
“Sure.”
Grady went into the reception hall. He had a view of the front entrance through the plate glass windows. A delivery van pulled to the curb, its flashers flicking on. A driver got out and opened the rear doors, and two young women rushed from the hotel, taking what looked like a garment bag. The thing was big enough to fit a ball gown. They hurried inside, and the van pulled away.
Grady went into the ballroom and found Chris standing in the back. “Everything okay here?”
“Yeah. Nothing suspicious. You?”
“Should be starting any minute.” He glanced to his right where the main door opened. In walked Palmer and his brother Perry. Grady let out a frustrated breath, drawing Chris’s attention.
“That the boyfriend?”
“Yeah, and his brother,” Grady replied.
“I recognize him from his photo.”
“He’s kind of a douche.” As he said the words, the music started, and the first model walked down the runway to the applause of the crowd. There were ten in all, Loretta Wyatt walking the runway last to applause.
The lights dimmed, and the music changed as the daughters began modeling the evening wear. The dresses were haute couture and, as such, the styles were a little out there to Grady’s thinking.
“Do people really wear this stuff?” Chris whispered.
“No idea,” Grady replied, and he froze. Tinsley was the last model to emerge, wearing what must be the Fellini gown they’d all been waiting on. It was a dramatic, form fitting gown of nothing but sheer netting with black lace flowers and twining vines in a strategic pattern that only covered her most private area, leaving her breasts almost entirely exposed. A long train of rows of ruffled lace fanned out behind her as she walked—no,strutted—down the runway.
There were gasps and applause from the audience.
Tinsley paused at the end of the runway, her hand going to her hip, her face a mask of disinterest, her eyes done up with dramatic dark makeup.
Grady’s gaze swept over her. She was something to behold. His jaw tightened, knowing Chris and every man in the room could see her body. Even the waiters stopped pouring wine and clearing dishes to glance up at the stage. She was a stunning sight to behold.
She held the pose for a moment, then turned, flipping her train behind her and swaying her hips as she sashayed up the runway to applause.
Being the last model to walk, she was then joined by the designer himself, along with her mother, the three of them linking arms and walking the runway together. The designer bowed, and Tinsley and Loretta turned to him, joining in the applause.