Perfectly Imperfect by Harper Sloan

  She must have left afterward because she wasn't here when I woke up at eight this morning puking.

  "Willow? You there?"

  "I'm here," I respond quietly. Holding the phone to my ear, I roll over to my back and look up at my ceiling. "I'll be okay. You can't lose anyone who you never had, and Eddie, I never had him or her. Before Mom died, Dominic Logan wasn't the type of 'father' who showed me much love. I was okay with that, taking what I could, but I realize now that I'm better off. And even though Ivy is ... well, Ivy, I gave up the hopes of having a normal sister relationship with her long before she slept with Brad. I guess in a way they did me a favor. I wouldn't have left Logan without being pushed out. Being there reminded me of when I would go to work and spend the day under my mom's desk, my old desk. It was an unhealthy way of keeping her alive."

  Eddie hums in agreement. "You're loved, Will. Just because that bastard and his evil spawn aren't capable of being decent humans isn't a reflection on you. You do know that, right?"

  Smiling, I respond. "Yeah, I do. I would be miserable without you and Kirb."

  "Yeah, you would." He laughs, the somber mood lifting slightly.

  "Did Kirby tell you everything about yesterday?" I question, wondering just how much Eddie heard.

  "I think she hit all the highlights. I got a playback of what she heard and then an even better playback of your imitation of those little 'mine' seagulls from Finding Nemo while you grabbed everything that wasn't nailed down. I've always loved those little seagulls. Let's see, then we went over your impression of its raining men with your computer against the glass wall." He pauses and just when I think maybe Kirby left out the fact that Kane Masters had yet again been witness to my misfortune, he continues. "And she ended her play-by-play with Kane sexy-as-hell Masters."

  I sigh. "Yeah ... that about sums it up."

  "So, Willow, the good friend in me would wait for Kirby to fill you in on what you've missed while you slept off your hangover, but you do know how I love a good juicy story full of dramatic flair."

  Sitting up, I swing my legs out from under the covers and shiver with the chill in my bedroom. "What are you going on about, Eddie? I swear you have the worst ADD."

  "No, no. It's all related and flows with the topic at hand. And that hand is pointing straight toward Kane Masters."

  "There is no way I'm awake enough to deal with this. Let me shower off this hangover and you can come over and gossip until your head falls off."

  I don't give him a chance to continue. I quickly pull the phone from my ear and press the red circle to disconnect the call while his deep voice rumbles through the earpiece. I smile, despite the unease settling in my gut, and make my way to shower and wake up. Knowing Eddie, he'll be walking through my door before I've had a chance to rinse out my shampoo.

  Shockingly, I was able to rinse my shampoo and conditioner before I heard my bathroom door open and Eddie's muffled greeting over the shower spray.

  "Do you even care that I'm in here naked right now?" I ask, bringing my body wash-lathered loofah up my left arm and around my shoulder. "I mean most friends would give someone the privacy they deserve when they're bathing."

  I hear a grunted laugh and the sounds of him rummaging around in my cabinets.

  "What are you looking for?"

  The curtain jerks and I squeal when his head pokes into the steamy confines of my solitude. His eyes light with mirth when I hastily cover my breasts with one arm and my crotch with the loofah.

  "Relax, Will! It's not as if you're working with the right stuff to stir little Eddie from his nap. Where's that hemorrhoid cream you had from that one time you--" I cut him off by picking up the closest thing I could find--my shampoo bottle--and throw it at his head. He squeals, like a girl, and jumps back. "What the hell was that for?"

  "You know damn well I've never had hemorrhoids, Edward!"

  He laughs and sticks his head back into the stall.

  "Nice tits, Will." He smirks. "If I didn't love a good dick so much, you might be able to convince me to give a woman a run."

  "Get. Out!" I scream.

  "Right, well, since you asked nicely, I will. But only because I don't want it to go to your head that I'm so impressed by your girls. First, where's that cream?"

  "You're such a jerk. It's in the bottom of the facial mask basket in the right side of the cabinet directly under the sink. Now, go!"

  I make quick work of rinsing off and wrapping a towel around my body. Eddie isn't one for personal boundaries so it wouldn't surprise me if he barged back in.

  Throwing on some sweatpants and an old college sweater, I grab my brush and pull it through my long tresses as I make my way into my living room slash kitchen slash dining room.

  Stopping dead in my tracks, I openly gape at Eddie. "What in the world are you doing?"

  He doesn't look at me, his focus directed at my toaster pulled to the edge of the bar that separates my kitchen area from the rest of the room, while he coats the skin under his eyes with none other than hemorrhoid cream.

  "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm fixing the luggage I've been carrying around under my eyes. It's not easy being this hot, Willow."

  I laugh. "Yeah, I'm sure it isn't. Care to explain why you're using up all my cream? I'm going to take it out on you when my period acne hits and all of that powerful stuff is gone."

  "Pfft." He grunts and continues to dab more and more cream under his eyes.

  "I bet you would go blind if you slipped and got that in your eye."

  "Everyone does it, Willow. You act like I'm the only person who uses a little ass cream on my face." He stops what he's doing when he realized what he said, a slight frown between his brows. "Don't--"

  "Don't what? Point out the fact you're probably used to butt cream in other places?"

  "Don't be disgusting, Willow," he complains with a slight blush, which only causes me to laugh harder. "Fine. I was going to wait until I finished." He pauses to recap the cream then wipes his finger on the towel next to his makeshift mirror and turns from the toaster to focus on me. "Let's finish talking about Kane Masters."

  Well, that's sobering.

  "Word has it that things got heated after you lost your marbles yesterday, marbles I will stress you were justified in spilling, but that wasn't even the good part. I heard from Mary who heard it from Amanda who heard it from Stephanie that Kane gave both Dominic and Ivy one hell of a verbal slap before storming out of the office. Not only that, but Kirby had to stuff her resignation under his door this morning seeing as he refused to open it once. She said there was a big, ugly piece of plywood blocking that hole you so gracefully created too. I bet he loves that."

  "What?" I gasp.

  "Yup. And it gets better."

  "I'm not sure it ever started getting better, Eddie. God, how humiliating."

  "Whatever, Will! You had the hottest man alive--aside from yours truly, obviously--taking your back yesterday. How is that not a good thing?"

  "Eddie ..."

  "Don't Eddie me. I let it go when you got all red faced the first time you crossed paths with him. After you finally told me the whole story, that is. I didn't point out the fact he was clearly trying to flirt, but you were too blind to see it. I kept my mouth shut. But I won't let this go. He stuck up for you to a man who most wouldn't dream of crossing. You know what that means?"

  I shake my head. Not in affirmation of his comments, but because I'm not sure I want him to continue talking. The fear of knowing where he's going with this is overtaking my false calm.

  "Kane Masters was staking a claim. On you. Willow, you might have been able to brush off the first meeting with him, but he obviously wasn't. You don't act like a big bad white knight over someone you know nothing about unless you plan to make it a point to learn more."

  I continue to shake my head, this time in denial. "Don't be ridiculous, Eddie. He was just being a gentleman in the unfortunate situation in which he found himself."

  "You'
re wrong, again. What do you think the tabloids would do with the story of him all but throwing a punch at Dominic Logan? No way he would risk that, not to be a gentleman about one fucked-up situation. No, if that is the case, he would have made his gentlemanly move silently to keep that risk down."

  "You're being absurd. He knows nothing about me. There isn't some grand serendipitous force in place here, Eddie. End of story."

  His eyes light up, highlighted by the white cream under his tawny eyes. "That, sweetheart, is where you're dead wrong. But the rest can wait for Kirby to get here. She's on the way."

  "What? Why isn't she at work?"

  He looks at me as if I've lost my mind. "Did you miss the whole 'Kirby pushed her resignation under Dominic's door' part of my story?"

  "What?"

  "Good Lord, did you lose your brain in that bottle of Jack last night?"

  "Why would she quit?" I implore.

  He opens his mouth, but closes it when my front door opens and Kirby walks in. She's left her blond hair pulled back into a sloppy bun, and her face is free of makeup. She enters the living room area and pulls her sweater over her head, leaving her in form-fitting yoga pants and a tank top.

  "I swear, it's getting cooler than normal out there for October." She plops down on the couch and looks over at Eddie. "Hemorrhoid cream bag treatment?" she questions him.

  "What? Seriously! How am I the only one who didn't know about this?"

  She laughs. "It's my job to know all the tricks I can about improving the face. Half the models I get stuck with need all the help they can get when makeup isn't applied and Photoshop isn't working wonders."

  Who would have thought? Making a mental note to remember that tip, I look from Eddie's face to Kirby. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the middle of a workday?"

  "You suck at playing dumb, Will. I'm sure Chatty Cathy here filled you in. I quit. No way would I stay working at Logan Agency after yesterday. Rob was one hundred percent behind me when I told him what happened."

  "You can't just quit, Kirb! You loved working there."

  She leans forward on the couch and gives me a soft look. "No, I loved working with my two best friends while I did something I enjoyed. With Eddie gone and after the way you were treated and fired, there was no way I could have stayed another day. Plus, we already have a new job."

  "Get ready for it," Eddie whispers loudly.

  "Ready for what? We? What do you mean we have a new job? You two are exhausting."

  "Did you tell her everything?" Kirby questions Eddie with a devious smirk.

  "Nope. I saved the best part for you."

  "I got a call late last night from none other than Kane Masters' personal assistant. He was very nice and forthcoming about the current conditions on set for the film Kane is directing. Apparently, a few unfortunate situations have him reevaluating his current crew. One of them being the lead makeup artist for the whole cast. Something about her sexually harassing Kane, which, by the way, I find hilarious."

  Kirby's pause gives my mind a second to process all of this and a big smile to form. This is huge for Kirby. I know she never planned to leave the Logan Agency, but something like this falling into her lap is a large stepping-stone for her career.

  "That's great, Kirb! Holy crap! You're going to do makeup for a major motion picture?"

  "It's a huge deal, but because of the magnitude of this project, Kane has requested I bring an assistant who can help me keep up the pace of such a demanding role."

  "Well, that shouldn't be hard. You know a ton of people in the industry, Kirby. Anyone would be ecstatic to have that chance. I'm so proud of you."

  "That's nice that you think so since you're coming with me and all."

  "Uh, what?"

  "Kane requested that you be my assistant."

  "Very funny." I laugh, pulling my wet hair back and tying it in a bun to prevent a frizzy mess. I walk away from Kirby and into the kitchen for a glass of water, pulling my sweatpants up as they start to sag. When did these get so loose? "You had me going for a second there."

  "I'm not joking, Willow."

  "You expect me to believe that Kane Masters asked for me to come?"

  "I do, but I knew you would have issues believing me, so I told the PA, Sam, to call back and leave me a message with the offer. That was after I told him we would be on a plane to Georgia first thing next Monday."

  "What?!" I scream and drop my full cup of water, shattering the fragile glass. "Crap."

  Eddie, laughing under his breath, moves from his perch on my barstool and walks past me to get the broom and dustpan. Shock holds me immobile while I lock eyes with Kirby. She smirks and brings her phone out. After fiddling with it for a few moments, a voice I would recognize anywhere fills the room.

  "Kirby, this is Kane. Sam told me that you requested a little verification to further aid in your assistant hopefully joining our team. First, let me express my gratitude that you have decided to accept the job offer. I'm sure you will fit in with the cast of Impenetrable and find this new career venture to your liking. Secondly, Sam expressed your need to be home as much as the filming schedule would allow, and you have my assurance that we will do everything we can so you're not away from your home and family more than necessary."

  The deep rumble of his disembodied voice pauses, and I imagine him taking a long sip from the glass you can hear ice clinking in before his sexy, gravelly tones are making love to my senses again. I bet he would even sound unbelievable with that smoky voice gruffly speaking the alphabet.

  Ignoring the tightness coiling in my gut, I focus back on his voice. "--my understanding is that you believe Willow wouldn't believe you when you told her that her presence was personally requested. By me. So, Willow, it would be my utmost pleasure if you were on that plane to Georgia as well. And so there isn't anything misconstrued here, yes, I hope you're able to come so Kirby is less overwhelmed with the magnitude of what's expected of her, but I also hope you'll come because I want you here. I imagine at this point you either are shocked or rolling those gorgeous brown eyes, but be sure, Willow, I most definitely have ulterior motives. Kirby, Sam will email you the travel instructions and all the other information you'll need. Thank you for getting the contract back to me so quickly. I look forward to seeing you. Both of you."

  "Close your mouth, Willow," Eddie rumbles from his crouched position on the floor as he sweeps up the shattered glass.

  My wide eyes follow Kirby's movements as she moves her phone from where she had been holding it in the air. With my mouth still slack with shock, I meet her confident regard. Of course, the woman has the most devious smirk on her face.

  "Now, do you believe me?"

  I nod.

  "Are you shocked stupid?" Her smirk grows to a full-blown smile.

  I nod.

  "Planning on freaking out?" Her smile goes wonky.

  I nod.

  "Okay, I'll give you that. But can we freak out while we talk about what you'll be packing? I'm already halfway packed, and since Alli is on fall break next week, she and Rob will be coming down to spend the week and weekend with us while we settle in."

  I shake my head.

  "What are you protesting to? The packing or my family joining us?"

  "I love your family," I tell her honestly.

  "Ah, so it's the packing."

  I nod.

  "You're going to turn into a bobble head if you keep that up," Eddie smarts.

  "I can't go to Georgia," I tell her, ignoring Eddie.

  "Yes, you can, and you will," he snaps. "You have nothing keeping you here, Willow. I'm about to leave for London, and Kirby's going to need you. I'm not even going to touch that whole sexual fantasy come to life that Kane just delivered, but I swear to God, Will, if you ignore this, then you're one stupid woman."

  "Hey!" I object. "I can't just leave! I need to find a job. Sure, I have enough savings for a while, but I can't just run off. Plus, I have ... uh, I have plants?"
r />   "You don't have plants, Willow. Nice try. You killed the last one a month ago. Anyway, I'm glad you mentioned that. I'm going to need your account information. It's in my contract for my assistant to be paid. So, your job slash income slash whatever the next excuse will be in that aspect is null and void. I'll be back in the city every chance I get, and we can have Rob keep an eye on your place too. Come on, Willow. I need you."

  Knowing she has me with that, I pick a different line of protesting.

  "What did he even mean?" I whisper, hearing the words crack with my lack of confidence and honest fear for what his message to me meant. "He doesn't even know me. Why on earth would he make those demands?"

  "I think it's pretty clear what he means. He wants you."

  I drop to the couch next to Kirby and roll my neck against the back of the cushion to look at her. "There's no way," I demand with conviction. "There's just no way."

  "What is it that shocks you so much about Kane Masters wanting you?" Eddie questions as he comes to sit on my other side. "What is so damn shocking that a beautiful man wouldn't want an equally beautiful woman?"

  I snort. Full-out graceless snort. Like a pig.

  Eddie's eyes narrow and Kirby sighs.

  "Don't you think it's a little bizarre he would want me? I mean, come on! You see his image in every tabloid magazine each week. There is always a stunning Amazon of perfection at his side. Eddie, you were watching the television with me when that damn entertainment reporter said he was in a relationship! Spotted leaving a baby doctor! A man in a relationship that serious wouldn't act like that."

  "You can't believe everything you read in those papers, Willow. We know this. Hell, I see it often enough with the models in and out of my chair. They claim this about someone he's gone on record, numerous times I should add, saying she is just a close friend of his."

  "You don't know if it's a lie made up by the tabloids or not, Eddie."

  He looks at me then over to Kirby and back at me. "So, ask him."

  "Yeah, right. Ignoring all of that, why me?"