Bride by Design 2: Manchala on the Mind (2 page)

Connor was all business. "What do you think she needs done, and how fast can you do it?"

Jared began to lift my hair and run his hands through it. "Well, Lisa, your hair is absolutely gorgeous, completely virgin I can tell. Have you ever dyed it?"

I shook my head no, suddenly wondering if Colin planned to turn me into a blonde bimbo. "
No,
I like my hair dark,
and
I don’t plan on dying it."

"Hmm. Well, the coloring does suit your skin
tone, but a few highlights and lowlights would really make your skin glow, and it would look ab-so-lutely gorgeous!"

"I'm not about to dye my hair."

Colin interjected snidely, "Lisa, the expert has spoken."

I narrowed my eyes and held myself back from stomping my foot.
"I'm not about to dye it."

"Why not?" Jared was serious and his concern seemed genuine.

I blushed, wishing I didn't have to expose my financial situation in
front of Jared, wishing I could pretend to be one of his typical rich clients. But Jared was my only hope - if I could convince him, he wouldn't let Colin completely change the way I looked.

"I can't afford to keep up the dye job," I admitted
softly
, "And I can't afford the special shampoos you need to make your hair stay nice after dying it."

Jared nodded. "Hmm, ok. If you can't maintain it then there's no point doing it, it'll just ruin your hair."

I saw the look of annoyance on Colin's face and he
said
brusquely, "It's just for a week. She needs to stay in good shape for a week, and then she can do whatever."

"I'm not ruining my hair for you, Colin."

Jared nodded sympathetically. "We can't do this, it'll just ruin her beautiful hair if she doesn't maintain the dye job."

Colin's eyes were flashing and I could tell he felt impotent
in
his total lack of feminine hair knowledge. "Well, what can we do to her hair then?"

Jared turned to me. "I can give you a gorgeous haircut. Your hair's a bit flat now, that's why it looks so dull and thin. I'll give you layers, that'll add volume. And I'll use a brightening treatment to make your hair look more lustrous and beautiful. What do you think, gorgeous?"

I smiled at him in the mirror. He was so sweet, and his passion about hair was adorable.

I nodded happily. "Ok."

Colin exhaled, but I could tell he wasn't entirely happy. "How long will this take?"

"An hour or two. Why don't I make you coffee, you can read some magazines while you wait?"

"Yes to the coffee, no the
rags
."

Colin went and sat on the couch, pulling out his phone and calling someone.

I let Jared drag me over to the
hair washing station, where he washed my hair with something and gave me a relaxing scalp massage. "Don't let a man get to you," he said. "Just enjoy the time and your great new hair."

I nodded, wondering just how much Jared knew about my relationship with Colin. Probably not much, I decided, but he never once asked me what was going on. Instead, he straightened my hair and cut it, all while talking about the latest movies and movie gossip.

Alice, the blonde assistant, helped him to straighten and cut my hair, and at the end of it, they did something with rollers and hairdryers and I started at myself amazed. I had soft, shiny hair that framed my face
, and it had volume without being too puffy. It was amazing - wh
at had they done to my old hair?

Jared and Alice both laughed at my expression, and Jared told me to use rollers on the top part of my hair when it was drying, and to blow dry it if I could. I nodded dutifully and they led me out to show Colin.

He was in the middle of a phone call and hung up abruptly and stood up.

"You look gorgeous," he said, staring at me with obvious wonder.

"
And
y
ou
look surprised," I teased, wondering if I had really looked that bad before.

Colin smiled and we both thanked Jared and Alice and walked out. I felt surprising pleased and happy at how things had turned out.
Since my parents died,
I've never had a chance to pamper myself, and my time with Jared had been lovely.

As we sat in the limo, Colin was smiling at me, looking pleased. I knew he wanted to say something but was holding himself back.

I tried not to touch my hair or flip it around like I wanted to.
I smiled at him, enjoying his obvious admiration.
"Where are we going now?"

"Maxine's. She does skincare and stuff, and I've arranged for her to give you a makeup tutorial."

I nodded silently. A part of me wanted to protest that I didn’t wear much makeup
and I knew how to apply it anyway, but my hairdressing experience had been so nice that I didn't have the heart to protest.

We pulled up in front of a nondescript building with no signs.

Colin jerked his head towards the door, "You go ahead, I'll stay in here and work on my laptop. It's all been paid for, so do whatever you want."

He was fiddling with his laptop and didn't seem to care what I did. I stepped out and knocked on the door gingerly. Was this really Maxine's?

Nobody was answering, so I tuned the knob and walked in. The place was decked out like a professional salon. A
blue
-haired lady was chatting with short Asian man at the counter. They both turned to look at me disdainfully.

"We're closed," said the man.

I glanced from one to the other. "I thought this was Maxine's? I was told to come here… I'm Lisa?"

Immediately their expressions changed.

"Lisa! Why didn't you say so before?"

They came forward and embraced me.

"I'm
Shane, and this is Maxine."

Maxine peered at me and asked, "You're not wearing any makeup now, are you?"

"Um… I'm wearing
tinted
sunscreen and mascara?"

She handed me makeup remover and directed me to the basin, where there were expensive skin-care products. I wiped off the mascara and washed my face clean, using one of the towels provided and tossing it into the bin marked "used towels" after I was done.

After a brief discussion with Maxine, my skin was cleansed with a tiny vibrating wand and I was given some kind of nourishing facial. Afterwards, she handed me a bag full of tiny, expensive products, and told me how to use them.

Next, Shane gave me a quick lesson on how to make my eyes and cheekbones "pop", how to make my skin glow and other tricks. I nodded dutifully, not sure how much I'd remember, but he gave me a list of things to buy - "I've matched them to your skin coloring," he said and I smiled and nodded
and finally left.

Colin looked up when I came into the limo.

"You've been gone for ages," he said drily.

I smiled and handed him the shopping list.
"Are we done yet?"

"Not quite."

The limo sped along and finally stopped in front of an expensive boutique with the "closed" sign hanging
on the door.

I sighed. "Why do you insist on closing everyone down for us? I'm sure we could
just
shop normally."

Colin looked at me coldly. "I didn't expect you to understand. But I like to keep everything within my control - every little thing should be in the right place, with nothing to mess us up. If you miss a single beat, life will screw you over."

My heart thumped and I remembered my parents' deaths. "You can't control everything in life."

"No. But I damn well intend to control everything I can. I'm not going to get screwed over again because I forgot a tiny detail or was too polite to insist on something."

"Again? When was the last time you got screwed over?" I could barely contain my surprise
and
curiosity. Colin Anderson
was man of complete self-possession and ruthless ability. I couldn't imagine anyone messing with him.

But he ignored me entirely, and we stepped out and entered the boutique.

"Monsieur Colin, Mademoiselle."

The thin, grey-haired lady came forward to shake our hands, and her plump blonde assistant smiled at us nervously.
"How can we help you today?"

Colin eyed the boutique, racks of clothes hanging on one side, sexy lingerie on the other. "She'll get fitted first, and w
e'l
l get some bridal lingerie and whatever matches the dresses we get."

I blushed and hissed at Colin, "Nobody's going to be checking out my underwear there!"

He looked at me, and
I wondered if he was imagining me in the lingerie. I blushed at the thought.

"I leave nothing to chance," he said lightly, and nodded at the plump blonde, who led me off into a dressing room large enough for ten people, complete with small sofa and mirrors on three sides.

I took off my top and allowed her to measure me, before she stepped out and came back with a beige padded bra. She looked away while I tried it on, and
once I was done she nodded, pleased with the fit.

She went away again and came back with a bridal lingerie set. "Why don't you try it on and let me know when you're done? I'll wait out here."

She stepped out and
I eyed the l
ingerie nervously, and finally tried it on. There was a lacy white bra, low-cut and leaving nothing to the imagination. The white panties, garter belt and tights added to the virginal look, while simultaneously making my body look like I should be in a men's magazine.

"How are you going in there?" called the assistant.

"Um, I'm fine, it fits ok."

"Would you like to come out and show us?"

"No, it's fine, thanks." I blushed at the thought of walking out in front of everyone like this, and I was glad Colin had closed down the store. It was a relief to hear the assistant walk away again, and I took a moment to look at myself.

So this was what expensive lingerie looked like. My breasts looked perkier than usual, and the straps of the garter belt somehow made my legs and ass look incredibly sexy.

I gasped out loud when Colin pulled the curtain aside and walked in.

I crossed my arms over my chest quickly, burning with embarrassment. "What are you doing in here?"