I jump. “What? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about how this all started.”
Marcus grins. He puts his hand on my thigh, dangerously close to my center and I immediately begin to heat. “I think about that a lot, too.”
“Good,” I giggle while leaning over the center console to kiss Marcus’s cheek. “We should pay tribute to that dildo because it’s what got us started.”
He laughs and squeezes my thigh.
“You’re right. We should call him … I don’t know. Mr. Happy? Mr. Pleasure?”
“Or how about Santa Claus?” I laugh. “For all the gifts he’s delivered our way.”
Marcus grins and squeeze my thigh again.
“Santa Claus it is then. He’s the big man bringing treats.”
I laugh because our rapport is always so easy and contagious, and I’m really looking forward to spending a weekend alone with my man. It’s going to be fun, romantic, and so freeing to be in a city where no one knows us.
When we pull up to the convention center, Marcus turns to me again.
“You ready? You’ve got this, Bella. You’re going to knock everyone’s socks off.”
I smile, warming at his praise.
“I hope so because my manager, Cardine, wants me to schmooze some vendor Crème has been trying to score. I guess the Cherry Bliss brand is very picky about who they’ll work with, seeing that they have the number one selling lipstick in the world right now.”
The pressure is insane. I can’t believe Crème trusts me to get Cherry Bliss to let us sell their products. If I’m unsuccessful … well, I can’t think about that. I have to do what needs to be done because really, it’s the primary reason I’m here.
After Marcus parks the car, I hop out and pat my hair.
“Do I look okay? Do you think we should go up to our hotel room first?”
He merely grins and presses another kiss to my forehead.
“You look perfect, sweetheart. Exactly the type of girl who’s going to be a success.”
My cheeks flush and a happy smile crosses my lips. I already feel more confident, and together, we stride into the convention hall. The space is cavernous, and partitioned into various booths. There’s a cosmetics section, a skin care section, and a hair care section, and everywhere around me are products that I’d love to sample.
“This is incredible!” I gasp. “I don’t know where to begin.”
“Probably at the beginning,” Marcus chuckles. “Honey, I’ll accompany you a bit, but you know me. When I can’t handle it, I’ll just step aside and head to the Starbucks.”
“Of course,” I say with a wink while taking his hand. “I wouldn’t expect you to get into the latest blush techniques.”
With that, we amble up and down the various aisles. There are so many products that I’m overwhelmed. I see sparkle eye glitter in a rainbow of shades, and stop to ooh and ahh over a particularly striking purple. Plus, I’m obsessed with some of the fake eyelashes on display. They’re real mink and look so natural on the model that I’m astonished. Meanwhile, Marcus looms behind me, his big body hulking.
“You could be modeling these products, you know,” he growls in my ear.
I giggle. “No way. I’m too big to be a model.”
Marcus puts an arm around my waist. “Not a chance, sweetheart. Why does it matter what size you are if it’s fake lashes?”
I shrug.
“It shouldn’t but photographers and brands can be really picky. Sometimes, they want a “muse” and not many people envision a woman like me when it comes to muses.”
He frowns while pulling me closer to his form.
“You’re absolutely gorgeous, Bella. Literally the most beautiful woman in the room, and this is a huge conference hall.”
I smile and swoon, feeling heady. Marcus says things like this all the time, and it makes my heart burst with adoration. He knows exactly what to say to make me feel loved, beautiful and cherished. I tap his cheek fondly.
“I know you think so, but I’m really curvy, and in general, models don’t look like me.”
Marcus’s eyes darken. “I adore your curves, honey, and I can’t believe you’re not on magazine covers all over the world.”
I giggle slightly but then my brows come down.
“But have you always been like this? I mean, Faith’s mom is so skinny, and you married her.”
He sighs, a dark look coming over his handsome features. He grips my hand, his mouth going tight.
“One of the many issues Samantha and I had involved her constant diets. We’d go out to eat, and she’d have nothing but a salad, which she didn’t even finish most of the time. At home, we’d make dinner, but she’d push the food around her plate and then say she wasn’t full. It didn’t matter how hard I tried, but Samantha never wanted to eat anything.”
My eyes widen. “I had no idea she had these issues! I just remember seeing pictures that Faith showed me, and Samantha was beautiful.”