Sugar and Spice_ An L.A. Candy Novel - Lauren Conrad [43]
“Sophia, this is the guy I was telling you about. He’s the producer of my show,” Madison said.
My show? Trevor suppressed a smile. “Are you in town for a visit, Sophia?” he asked, indicating for the two girls to sit down.
“I was. But now I’m thinking of moving here, you know, permanently. L.A.’s pretty cool,” Sophie replied, casting a quick sideways glance at Madison.
Madison nodded. “Yeah, she’s staying with me for a while, until she finds her own place. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, Trevor. Do you think it would be okay if she lived with me? I mean, could she be on the show, or . . .” Her voice trailed off uncertainly.
Trevor leaned back in his chair and regarded Madison, then Sophia, all the while keeping his face neutral. This was a totally unexpected surprise—Madison wanting to add her sister to the show, a sister he never knew existed, a sister whose looks were sure to boost ratings (at least with the eighteen to thirty-five male viewership). It would also be helpful to have someone for Madison to recap scenes with other than Gaby.
But why now? Why hadn’t Madison brought Sophia in to meet him before or at least mentioned the fact that she had a sister? Come to think of it, he didn’t know a lot about her family or her background.
“Well, what do you think, Trevor?” Madison sounded anxious, on edge. What was up with her today?
“I think it’s a great idea,” Trevor said finally, and he could actually see Madison’s entire body grow slack with relief. Had she seriously been worried that he wouldn’t let Sophia be on the show? Sophia, on the other hand, looked less relieved than smug. Her mouth curled up in a scornful half grin as she sat back in her chair, throwing her shoulders back and displaying her assets more prominently. The girl was intriguing.
“Isn’t this awesome, Sophia?” Madison said, turning to her sister. “We’re gonna be on TV together!” Her voice cracked with tension.
“Yeah, awesome,” Sophia replied, picking at her manicure. “Hey, Trev? How much am I gonna get paid? I’m assuming it’s a lot, cuz when I used to do modeling they paid me, like, ten thousand dollars a day.”
Madison shot Sophia a furious look. Sophia smirked at her. Hmm, more intriguing by the minute. Trevor wasn’t positive, but he was pretty sure that Sophia had never modeled: She was a little too short, and a little too well-endowed, and besides, wouldn’t he have heard of her or seen her somewhere if she commanded that kind of daily rate? So Sophia was a liar on top of everything else. And her dynamic with Madison was fascinating, too. Maybe there was a Season 2 story line there?
“Have you ever been on TV before, Sophia?” Trevor asked her.
Sophia shrugged, which Trevor took to mean no.
“Well, it’s not a big deal. It’s reality, so you just have to be yourself.”
Sophia began playing with her bottom lip—was that a nervous habit, or a gesture she used to get a guy’s attention?—then smirked at Madison again. “Be myself. Yeah, that’s what Madison does. I’m sure I can do it, too.”
Madison looked away.
Definitely intriguing, Trevor thought.
Chapter 16
Or Maybe You’re Just Being Delusional, as Usual
“And . . . that is a wrap! You are très, très belle, ma chérie! I could take pictures of you forever!”
Scarlett smiled politely at the Maxim photographer, an overly energetic French guy named Maurice, as she rose up from the round, silk-comforter-covered bed. The view out the window of their hotel suite was stunning, although Scarlett was so exhausted from the nearly day-long shoot that she could barely appreciate it.
One of the nameless wardrobe assistants handed Scarlett a terry-cloth robe, which she slipped on over her “outfit”: black lace La Perla lingerie and nude lace-up stilettos. Actually, this was one of many outfits she’d worn over the course of the shoot. First, they had shot her by the hotel pool in various bikinis (the stylist