Gem in the Rough

Chapter 3

"Hey, Anthony. I'm heading out. Need anything before I go?" I peek my head into the tech room, looking for his approval. In doing so, my face ends up hitting something hard in front of the door. "Ouch." I rub my forehead while I hear a groan in response.

I look up and it's Kieran, who is now rubbing his chest slightly. "You okay?"

I'm staring at him and don't fully comprehend that he's actually speaking to me.

"Gemma, do you have a concussion?" Anthony comes up behind Kieran, laughing at my expense. "Looks like you hit your head on his chest here," he says as he taps on Kieran, "and it's definitely hard." Anthony throws a wink to me. I stare at the two of them in a daze.

"Dude, stop," Kieran grins slightly, looking towards me. His smile fades and he asks if I'm okay again, the stare becoming a little too intense, like he's trying to read me.

"Oh yeah, completely fine. I've had harder." His eyes open slightly in surprise. "I mean, my head has had harder. No, my head has hit harder things." I continue to stumble over my words and then throw my hands up. "I'm done talking. I'm fine. My head is fine. Your chest is....fine." It really is fine.

The green tech shirts usually don't do anything for the guys here, but his is slightly tight and hugs him in all the right places.

Anthony smirks at my embarrassment, holding his hand to his face attempting to keep a laugh in. I look towards him again with a semi-desperate expression.

"Can I leave now?"

"Yes. See you next week. Feel free to take tomorrow off, seems like your head needs a rest."

I huff and roll my eyes, turning on my heel to leave the office. Anthony already knows I asked for the day off. It was last minute because of Alice's invitation to go out tonight, but he didn't seem to mind. Plus, he just used it as another way to rub in my humiliation, so I don't feel the slightest bit bad anymore.

The burning I feel on my back reminds me that there is a pair of eyes on me as I go out the door.

I send a text off to Alice letting her know I'm on my way back to the apartment. She responds right away saying she was picking out my outfit and that I have to look "sultry and sexy". I laugh and start my walk towards home, continuing to think about Kieran's chest and how my head wanted to return to it, even if it was just for a second.

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"Alice, I don't want to wear this. You know I don't like to show all this skin." I turn to the full-length mirror, scrutinizing the dress she picked out for me. It's one she forced me to buy last year and never wore because I've just never had anywhere to wear it. This dress really shows a lot more than I'm used to. My typical "going out" outfit consists of skinny jeans and a cute top, usually one that shows off my freckled shoulders.

This dress is a red floral pattern on top of black fabric. It hits me mid-thigh and is just form-fitting enough that you can tell I have curves, some even in not the greatest places. It plunges down between my girls, showing way too much cleavage in my opinion. Either way, I feel good in it, but it just isn't something I would typically wear. I don't like too much attention on me.

"That's the point. You know you're hot, but you never show it! Please just let me dress you up like my doll tonight. Makeup, hair, outfit, everything. I've been looking forward to this all day."

I gripe at her in response and sag my shoulders in defeat. I mumble a "fine" while she continues to fuss over my look. I take the dress off, leaving me in my black pantie set, so I can get ready. I sit in a chair facing the mirror while Alice begins curling my hair.