"Hey, Birdie?" Teddy called. "Just got a text from Matthew. He wants to know if we want to stay at the hotel tonight. What do you think?"

"Isn't it too late to get a room anyway?" I asked, sitting up in bed, yawning. "I mean, it's fucking New Year's Eve, for Christ's sake."

"He's got the Presidential Suite," Teddy explained, coming into the room. "It's half the whole fucking floor, four bedrooms. His sister Tildy decided not to come, so he has an open room." He looked at me.

"Oh." I thought about it. "That might be fun. Who's in the other rooms?"

"The other lads," he responded. "Like old times."

"You want to, then," I smiled.

"I wouldn't mind, but if you'd rather not, it's only a car ride to come back here, so either way, whatever," he shrugged, coming over to sit on the bed.

"What about Janelle, what's she doing?" I asked.

"Dunno. Probably going back to her apartment. Geth always makes sure she's taken care of, so don't worry about her." He smiled at me.

"How do you wake up looking so perfect?" he asked, leaning forward to kiss my neck.

"Do you practice these lines in the mirror, Theodore Shelley?" I asked, bending my neck and smiling. "You're so smooth, aren't you, hmm?" I laughed.

"And besides, I look like five kinds of shit in the morning, you're the one who wakes up looking dreamy," I proclaimed. "With your hair all swooshy and perfect, and your eyes all bedroomy and your voice all hoarse and sexy, it takes all my willpower not to just jump on you and fuck your brains out."

He pulled back from my neck.

"Who asked you to use any willpower, hmm?" he laughed. "Feel free to do whatever takes your fancy, young lady, please. I'm all yours, okay?

"So what should I tell Matthew about the room?" he asked.

"Tell him yes," I said. "It'll save us screwing in the car, anyway." I ran my finger down his chest.

"First of all, what's wrong with screwing in the car?" he asked, grabbing my finger and kissing it. "And second, all that means is that we'll end up screwing in the elevator," he murmured, kissing my neck again, laughing.

"Not where there are cameras," I responded, as he pushed me down on the bed, trying to pull my night shirt off.

"Wait wait wait!" I laughed. "Did you send Matty the text?" We rolled around, making happy sounds.

"Oh, fuck, the text, yeah," said Teddy, sitting up.

While he was busy with his phone, I jumped out of bed and slipped off to the kitchen.

"Wait!" he shouted. "Come back, you! No fair, you cheated!" he called after me.

"I need coffee," I called blithely over my shoulder.

The day was hectic. Teddy had failed to inform me that Melanie had arranged for a manicurist and a masseuse, which was lovely, but unexpected. I was making lunch for us when they showed up, so I had to drop everything and let them minister to me.

Teddy finished making lunch, but waited to eat until the ladies were gone. He did sit and "keep me company" while I got my massage, though, which Mischa, the masseuse, didn't seem to think was strange, but I found a little awkward. He knew it, too, and kept grinning at my discomfiture.

"Dude, it's considered polite, less pervy, if you make eye contact with the person you're talking to, you know?" I finally told him. "And my eyes, which you profess to love so much, are up here. On my face, for which you have also expressed affection."

He dragged his gaze up from my body, which was strategically covered by a towel as I lay on the massage table.

"Please don't ever doubt my adoration for your enchanting eyes," he said. "But I see them all the time. The sight of you supine on a table in our living room, covered in naught but a very small towel, I might add, is kind of, um, novel, for lack of a better term, you understand?" He grinned. "Plus, someone is rubbing stuff all over your body," he added.

I laughed at him. "Well, I am not 'supine', since that means 'to lie on one's back'; the word you're looking for is 'prostrate', I believe, as that word means 'to lie facedown'." I cocked my eyebrow at him, earning a head shake in return.

Mischa laughed. "You two make cute couple," she said. "If I may say."

I rolled my eyes at Teddy and resolutely closed them. Looking into his amazing eyes as he watched was doing things to me that I didn't think Mischa needed to see.

Later, the manicurist asked if my shoes were open or closed toe, and when I told her that they were open, she offered to do my toes, too. Somehow she knew the color of my dress, and covered my fingers and toes with beautiful, sparkly magenta polish.

"Oh, wait, I was thinking of wearing black tights," I exclaimed. "I completely forgot. So the nail polish on the toes was pointless, I'm so sorry," I said contrite.

"It's okay," said Margo, the manicurist, "they can look nice for after, when you're alone with your fella." She looked up at me, smiling. "Right?"

"I suppose so," I said noncommittally, smiling back at her. This was the kind of thing I had to be careful about now.

She finished up, and I saw her out, finally sitting down to lunch.

"Thank god, I'm starving," I said, as Teddy brought the sandwiches to the coffee table in the living room.

Teddy watched me as I tore into the sandwich. I looked at him inquiringly.

"No offense, but you eat like a horse," he observed. "How can you eat so much? And still be so tiny?"

"No offense taken," I returned, "and I have a high metabolism, from all those years of swimming. Besides, you boys eat way more than I do. And I'm many things, but 'tiny' isn't one of them."

I'd just picked up my sandwich for another bite when the buzzer for the front gate rang.

"You're fucking kidding me," I said.

"I'll get it, you just eat," he said, rubbing my arm.

"Thank you," I said, taking another huge bite of my sandwich and smiling at him with my mouth full.

He returned moments later carrying a garment bag. "It's your dress," he said. "I'll go hang it up in the closet, yeah?"

"Thanks. No peeking!" I called.

"Got it!" he called back.

Melanie had just finished my hair and make-up, having declared both "absolutely perfect." She had banished Teddy to another bedroom for his toilette, giving us the run of the master bedroom, closet and bathroom.

The dress hung in all its glory from a hanger in the bathroom. Other than remarking when she'd arrived that I looked thinner, she hadn't said anything about my weight loss, but when the robe came off she exclaimed, "Tink! My goodness, lovey, what's happened to you? You're half wasted away, you are!"

"I told you, I got really sick last month. I lost over twenty pounds, and I've only gained back about five of it," I explained again. "It's fine, they fitted the dress to me two days ago, so it fits, don't worry,"I reassured her.

I put on my garter and black tights. Mel raised her eyebrows. "This something new for you?" she asked me. I shook my head.

"All my life," I told her. "One of my mother's secrets, for feminine health issues," I explained.

"Smart lady," she said, smiling. "And I'm sure Theo likes it, too," she added.

I just grinned at her.

"Okay, let's get this dress on you, miss," she said, removing it from the hanger. She slipped it on me, and pulled the zip. I was shocked at how tight it was when she pulled it up.

"Oh my god, Melanie!" I said. I looked over my shoulder at her. "Is this right? It shouldn't be this tight, should it?"

I looked at myself in the mirror. She looked over my shoulder.

"I don't know, love. It looks smashing, I think," she said.

"But it's so, um, tight," I repeated. "It wasn't this tight in the store," I said helplessly.

"Well, one thing I do know is that Janelle Wren, Geth's sister? She went in yesterday to the shop and took over the alterations herself, so maybe you want to give her a ring?" Melanie suggested.

"What?" I grabbed my phone and called Janelle. She must have been expecting my call, because she picked up on the first ring.

"Hullo, Tink, what's up, love?" I could hear the smile in her voice.

"Janelle, did you alter my dress yourself?" I asked her.

"Yes, I did. Surprise!" she laughed.

"But, um, Janelle, I think there's been a mistake. It's a little tight, and a little short," I said, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. The car was coming in an hour, there was no time to fix it.

"No, no mistake. I measured you myself, and I did the alterations according to the measurements I took. I know they're right. I went over them with the shopkeeper, too, and she checked.

"Listen, you remember the conversation we had in the car? About how you have to get used to being looked at and admired? Well, that time has come. You're stepping out with the most eligible and famous man in the world, and everyone will be looking at you. You need to own this, and get used to being admired. And you will be. You're stacked, your legs are gorgeous, your face is stunning, and you'll be with Theo, who loves you more than anything, not to mention my brother and Ronan and Matthew, who are also crazy about you. You have more support than the first violinist at the London Philharmonic, do you understand?" Her voice was strong and confident. "Do you? I'm waiting to hear a response, Tink."

"Okay," I said.

"That dress is perfect on you, do you hear me? You own it, you wear it, you be proud in it. Send me a picture when you have it on. I'll be waiting."

"Okay," I said. "Thank you, Janelle, so much. Send you a pic in a minute."

I looked at myself in the mirror again. The dress was crazy. First of all, the plunging neckline exposed my cleavage nearly down to where it ended, pushing my breasts up and together in an almost ridiculous display. This was insane. To quote Benny in Circle of Friends, I looked like I belonged on the prow of a ship. Why hadn't I lost any weight in my boobs? How could I step outside like this? And Janelle had taken the hem up by a good inch. I'd never exposed this much leg in my life, even in tights. Luckily the garters were at least two inches higher, so there was no risk of them showing, but still. And the waist had been pinched into my new waistline, so the hourglass cut was extreme, to say the least. I looked like I was trying to "display my assets", which I most definitely was not.

I looked back at Melanie. "Please tell me the truth, Mel. Would you go out like this? Honestly."

She walked up to me, putting her hands on my shoulders. "Tinker Bell? Tinker Bell. I mean this from the bottom of my heart. If I looked exactly like you do now, I would absofuckinlutely go out on Theo Shelley's arm tonight, and party my tits off. Truly, I would. You look so, so gorgeous. But you have to look confident. You can't step out of the car tonight with that frightened look on your face. You have to look happy, like you love the way you look, like you want more than anything to be there and to be admired, like you're the happiest woman in the world to be Theo's girl, or it won't work, understand?"

I bit my lip and nodded.

"Now, shall I send him in? If I know him, he's skulking about in the corridor, waiting for a summons."

I nodded again, slipping on my sparkly heels. "No, wait, wait, I told Janelle I'd send her a picture. Would you?" I handed her my phone.

She snapped one off, and I sent it, after looking at it. As long as I pretended it wasn't me, I had to admit it looked pretty damned good.

She opened the door, calling him, and slipping out behind him.