CHAPTER 3

         Dominic watched Samaire with growing concern. She shoved her hands in her long light brown hair. Her golden eyes were dull and her full lips were pinched. Her fair skin had gone white. The woman had always been uptight but he had never seen her this upset before. He glanced at the message on her phone.

“‘Transform’?” he asked as he curled his arm around her shoulders.

          She felt soft and delicate against him.

“What is he talking about, Sam?”

“Nothing… Never mind…” she whispered.

“You are white a sheet, so stop with the nothing nonsense and tell me what the hell is going on.”

          Samaire sighed and shrugged.

“Brian Connolly helps celebrities manage their public image on social media. He is a big deal and he’s interviewing me for a job.”

          She covered her face with her hands.

“But I have to pass a test… It has to do with me reinventing myself into a wild party girl.”

          Samaire Grainger… a party girl? He couldn’t wrap his head around the idea. This Brian Connolly knew how to test her. Samaire didn’t have the attitude to be a wild girl. She was quiet and gentle. Serious and intense. Always had been.

          At times, it turned into anxiety. When that happened, Dominic tried to distract her until she calmed down. He wasn’t always successful. But this test was something else.

          Samaire didn’t like revealing anything about herself, but he discovered something new every time he saw her. Like when she had unintentionally shown her deep romantic streak when she gathered the love stories of his grandparents and parents for a Valentine’s Day feature on the website.

          She had tried to act as if it was all to emphasize the family aspect of the winery, but she couldn’t hide her true interest from him.

“Are you going to do the interview?”

“Dominic, I really want this job.”

          Samaire stumbled to the barstool, then sat down and flopped her arms and head onto the bar.

“Everyone in my industry would kill to be Brian Connolly’s protégé. I want to be the one. Just for once in my life, I want everyone to envy ME. Have my colleagues know my name and listen to what I have to say.”

          Dominic was missing something.

“Then what is stopping you?”

“Is not that easy, Dom… It means I have to appear... bolder than I am.”

          Bold? No, that wasn’t Samaire Grainger. She was like his favorite dry wine, a balanced contrast of sharp and sweet. He would have added flowery, considering her secret romantic side, but now he wondered if there was an underlying hint of spice.

“You know what? From my point of view, this interview technique is questionable,” Dominic said. “Are you sure he’s not one of those creeps who uses his position to get women into bed? Does he use job openings as a casting couch?”

“Dominic, please.”

          Her voice was muffled.

“Now is not the time to share your paranoid theories that I’m walking into danger or something…”

“Paranoid theories?” he repeated.

          Dominic had pulled Samaire and his sister, Lena, out of one bad situation after another for as long as he could remember. He didn’t ask for the role as their protector but he couldn’t stop being concerned. Especially about Samaire. She seemed more vulnerable and more trusting than his sister.

“You didn’t answer my question, Samaire. What do you know about this guy?”

          Samaire sighed.

“He’s a legend and has launched the career of many influential people in the field. Brian can make you a star or he can send you back into obscurity. He gets thousands of résumés in a week and he approached me for a job. ME!”

          He realized Samaire had been seduced simply by the way she was offered the position.

“Am I to understand that this is your dream job?”

          She rocked her head from side to side.

“I never allowed myself to dream about it, Dom. I didn’t think it was possible for someone like me to even be considered…”

          Dominic sat down next to her.

“What about your business? You built it from scratch. You are the boss.”

“I know,” Samaire said and lifted her head. “I love my work. I love being in charge. But this offer... I could be more. I could be a star in my industry. I could do things I never dreamed I could, meet people I never thought I could meet…”

          He watched her silently. He didn’t think that accolades would have been important to Samaire. She didn’t seek the spotlight. She rested her head against her hand.

“You know, the thing is, I’m sure I could do this assignment. I can create an image and maintain it. Make it feel authentic. I’ve done it many times for my clients. It’s my job. But the question is… Can I do it to myself?”

          Dominic shrugged.

“How is it different than working with one of your clients?”

          Samaire smiled at his suggestion.

“I can be a different person online. That’s what’s so great about social media,” she said as she splayed her hands in the air. “With the right strategy, you can appear more successful, more popular, and more interesting than you are in real life. But face-to-face? Forget it.”

“It’s not that hard to do something wild and crazy. Take my word for it. All you need is poor judgment and witnesses. The problem is living it down for the rest of your life.”

“Not you, Dominic! You’re the golden boy. You could do anything and it doesn’t stick to you. In fact…”

          Samaire slowly pushed her hair from her face and sat up straight. Dominic could see the wheels turning in her brain.

“In fact… what?”

“In fact, you’re an expert on… this. You could help me reinvent myself.”

          Dominic’s eyes widened.

“Excuse me? I don’t know anything about transformations or changing an image. That’s why I hired you to promote this place, remember?”

“But I don’t have a personal image.”

          She pulled at the lapels of her blazer and smoothed her hands over the pink blouse she wore underneath.

“And it’s time to work on that. With your help.”

“No way, Samaire! Forget it! I’m not doing this! No, sir! No, ma’am!”

“Dom… please… I need help! Your help.”

          He wasn’t sure what all it would entail, but his imagination was going wild. Dominic didn’t like that determined look in Samaire’s eyes. He raised his hands as if he could stop her.

“If this guy is making you do weird assignments for an interview, what is he going to make you do once you get the job? Listen, I’m not so sure about this Brian Connolly guy.”

          Samaire slapped her hand against the bar.

“Dominic Weston, I’m calling in a favor!”

“No…”

          Dominic stood up and crossed his arms.

“Look, when I said I owe you one, I meant something like a reference or a free case of wine… but not some strange makeover… or whatever this is…”

          She slowly rose from her seat and met his gaze. She had a spark in her eye that he hadn’t seen before.

“Do you know how many favors I’ve done for you? How many times did I make your project my top priority? You wouldn’t want that to stop now, would you?”

“What are you saying? That you’ll stop working for me?”

          He couldn’t let that happen. Samaire’s work was critical to his success. Not only that, but she made his work life easier.

“No… No, I won’t because I’m a professional. I will continue to work for you because we have a contract.”

          Samaire copied his stance and crossed her arms.

“But… I won’t break my neck trying to meet your insane deadlines and emergencies.”

“You wouldn’t!”

          She couldn’t. Samaire never said no to him. He hadn’t realized that until now.

“Well… let’s hope it doesn’t go that far. I’m calling in all my favors!” she said and pointed at him. “If you help me transform into a party girl for one week, I promise to wipe the slate clean. You won’t owe me anything. You have my word.”

          Dominic paused. Anything? That was a generous offer.

“Seriously?”

“I swear it!”

          He believed her, but that didn’t mean he should agree.

“I’m telling you… This is going to blow up in our faces.”

          Her golden eyes twinkled when she realized he was weakening.

“No one will know, Dom. Not a soul!”

          Dominic scoffed at her prediction.

“You are transforming yourself into a wild party girl. Someone is going to notice.”

“It’ll only be temporary.”

          She clasped her hands together, silently begging him to agree.

“Please…. You can spare a week.”

“There is no such thing as a temporary reputation.”

          He’d been labeled as the ‘golden boy’ in middle school and everyone in town still expected him to succeed in everything he did.

“I got it!”

          Her eyes grew round as the excitement built inside her.

“I’ll tell everyone I went off the rails and you pulled me back from the brink of self-destruction. You’ll be the hero in the story. The Golden Boy saving the Wallflower!”

          Samaire loved storytelling in her social media campaigns but this was different.

“No one is going to believe that.”

“Please, I can spin a story,” Samaire said with quiet confidence. “Brian doesn’t agree with some of my methods or my emphasis on storytelling. This is my chance to show him that I know what I’m talking about. So, what do you say? Are you in?”

          Dominic sighed and ran his hand through his hair. It was clearly important to Samaire to show her expertise to this so-called legend. But Dominic didn’t trust the guy’s motives. He doubted there was a legitimate job offer at the end of the test.

          Samaire was naive and her ambitions were blinding her to the risks. He needed to watch over Samaire and make sure she didn’t do something that could hurt her in the long run.

“All right! I’m in,” Dominic replied with great reluctance. “Tell me everything this guy wants you to do. Start from the beginning.”