Page 79 of Marry Me Not
The photographer removed the memory card with trembling hands and dropped it into Cosimo’s open palm. One of the other men muttered something under his breath, but the second Cosimo’s gaze cut toward him, he went silent.
I glanced around, confused and worried. The red carpet had gone strangely quiet around us. There were still voices calling from farther down, and camera shutters clicking, but the people closest to us had started casting curious looks our way.
My anxiety spiked.
“What’s going on?” I whispered as Cosimo pulled me inside, one hand firm at the small of my back, his body angled to shield me from the rest of the cameras. We didn’t stop for any more photos. That had been the whole point of coming tonight.
A nauseating feeling opened in my stomach. I’d messed something up. Somehow, without even knowing what I’d done, I’d ruined the very thing I was supposed to help accomplish.
The atrium opened up before us, and guests gathered beneath the spiraling ramp with champagne glasses in their hands. Cosimo didn’t slow. He steered me toward a quieter alcove near the coat check and turned me so my back was to the wall.
“What happened?” I demanded.
His gaze moved over my face and then dropped lower. Something dark crossed his expression.
“The fabric photographs differently.”
I stared at him. “Differently how?”
“In the photos, the lining disappears under direct flash.”
“The lining…disappears?”No. No, no, no.
His expression flickered with pity.
“There were flashes going off the entire time.” My voice sounded too thin. Too far away. “From the moment we stepped onto the carpet.”
“Only one of them got a picture, and I already handled it.” The certainty in his voice did nothing to slow the panic clawing up my throat.
How many people saw my dress turn transparent? How many had been looking? I was only wearing a skimpy nude thong underneath and no bra due to the design.
My skin flashed hot with embarrassment beneath his jacket. A drop of sweat rolled down my spine. “I’m so sorry. The reason we’re here is to get pictures taken, and now we can’t.”
Tink.
“Relax. It’s fine.”
Tink, tink.
“It’s not. I can’t believe my bad luck.”
Tink, tink, tink.
Cosimo frowned. “Whatisthat sound?”
He and I glanced down at the same time.
A few rhinestones rested on the ground by my shoes.
“Did those just fall off?” I whispered.
Another appeared beside it. Then another.
“What the fuck?” Cosimo grasped the jacket he’d put on me by the lapels and opened it.
There was a strange sheen to the dress that hadn’t been there before. I ran my fingers over it.Ugh, sticky!Immediately, a dozen more rhinestones shed beneath my hand.
Oh my God. The dress wasn’t just photographing wrong. It was coming apart!
