The Proposal Plan by Charlotte Phillips Read Free Book Online Page B

check his emails, but also to avoid conversing with Amanda, who drifted back to him on a cloud of her own perfume every time she left Lucy to change into some new item. Attractive as she was, he had no time for a fling right now. Another assistant had briefly appeared and deposited a tray of sparkling wine and nibbles to one side of him.
    He looked up at the swish of the curtain as Lucy walked self-consciously out into the centre of the mirrors. She was wearing a long black skirt and a flowing blouse over it with a busy floral print. He could tell just by looking at her that she liked it. Of course she did. It could have been from her own wardrobe.
    Amanda was shaking her head. ‘Pretty, but it totally drowns your figure, there’s no definitionthere.’ She deftly grabbed a handful of blouse and held it against the small of Lucy’s back. ‘See how much better it would look if it was nipped in at the waist? I’d like to see you in something a bit more eye-catching, too.’
    ‘Amanda’s totally right,’ Gabriel piped up, and the stylist flushed with pleasure. Two birds with one stone, he congratulated himself. Look interested and keep Amanda on side at the same time.
    There was a ratcheting sound as Amanda expertly flipped through the clothes on the rail. ‘Something a bit more tailored,’ she was saying. ‘You’re so tiny you just look swamped in these floaty designs.’
    Lucy disappeared back behind the curtain. Gabriel absently flipped through an email about a case he’d just taken on. It looked as if it might be more complicated than he’d first thought, he’d better request some more information. Then, glancing briefly back up, he froze, the phone held aloft. When had Lucy got legs like that?
    Lucy had a fragile silhouette, making a mockery of the fact that her life revolved around the creation of cakes and pastries. But rather than make her look skinny as looseclothes often did, the scarlet shirt she wore now clung in all the right places. The nipped-in cut showed off her tiny waist and with it she was wearing a pair of figure-hugging black cigarette pants. His mouth felt suddenly dry, as if it were full of sawdust, and he automatically took a swig of the very inferior sparkling wine.
    ‘Those trousers aren’t really Lucy’s style,’ he heard himself say. ‘Tell her, Lu, you run a bakery. That kind of thing isn’t practical.’
    Both women totally ignored him. ‘Try them with these, Lucy,’ Amanda said. ‘More definition and height.’
    Lucy stepped into the nude platform heels and he inadvertently pressed ‘Send’ on the email he’d only half written. The extra height from the shoes made her legs go on for ever. She was looking at him for approval and he floundered to get the words out.
    ‘Very nice,’ was the best he could manage.
    ‘Perhaps some evening wear next…’ Amanda said and held a gold satin dress up against Lucy. Even on its hanger he could see it fell a good three inches above the knee and his heart lurched involuntarily in his chest.
    ‘That’ll never work,’ he remarked.
    Amanda turned to him in exasperation. ‘Abit more positive input wouldn’t go amiss, Gabriel. Know a lot about styling someone, do you?’
    ‘It’s all because he likes to go out with stereotypes, Amanda,’ Lucy said loudly, making sure Gabriel could hear her. ‘“Arm candy” is the phrase, I think. He likes his women to wear killer heels and fitted tops and skinny jeans, don’t you, Gabe?’ she teased him. ‘I’m the polar opposite of your type, aren’t I? How could I ever look good in something your exes would wear?’
    She turned to Amanda. ‘I’m not really a woman in Gabriel’s eyes,’ she said. ‘More of a female-yet-one-of-the-lads hybrid.’
    ‘A ladette?’ Amanda grinned, glancing smugly at her own very satisfactory feminine reflection in the mirror behind Lucy’s.
    ‘Yes, a ladette! Exactly!’ Lucy laughed at him from across the room. ‘You’d no sooner put me in that