Plain Return (The Plain Fame Series Book 4) by Sarah Price Page B

All she wanted was to get away from these people and their false compliments. Whenever the photographer asked her to do something, to move a certain way, Amanda had tried to comply—at least in the beginning. But her willingness to participate had dwindled with each outfit change and hour that had passed.
    Off to the side of the white backdrop and just beyond the glare of the bright lights, Dali stood watching. In her hands, she held a planner that Amanda knew contained a schedule, her schedule of events and appointments, for every day between now and when the Viper Tour left the United States and headed to South America. Earlier, during a coffee break—for everyone here lived off coffee, and not food, she had observed—Amanda had reviewed the schedule. To her dismay, every day was crammed with lists of places where she needed to make an appearance. And not one day included time with Alejandro. That realization had done little to improve her mood.
    “This cannot be right,” Amanda had said, handing the schedule back to her personal assistant. She was disappointed with what she’d seen: a visit to a local Latino community school to read stories to children, a luncheon for foster children, interviews with four women’s magazines, a ribbon cutting at a new shopping center. The schedule was filled with an endless stream of appointments of that nature. The only thing that was missing was the one thing she longed for. “Not any time with Alejandro?”
    Dali hadn’t even blinked.
    “Dali, please.” Amanda hated that she sounded as if she were pleading with her assistant. “Tell me this is wrong.”
    But Dali responded only with silence.
    “And who are these people? Why would they want to see me?” She pointed at the list. “What’s a ribbon cutting?”
    “A grand opening. You stand there and cut a ribbon while they take photos,” Dali explained drily. “And they want you in order to get to Viper.”
    That had sounded ridiculous to Amanda. She understood what the marketing machine behind Viper was doing: making her the unspoken ambassador of the Latinos in Miami on behalf of her husband, Viper. Attending functions that helped those who were downtrodden or in need of assistance was not in itself a distasteful idea to Amanda. In fact, she remembered fondly her visit with Alejandro to the children’s cancer hospital after a concert in Kansas City. The experience had moved Amanda. She’d hated seeing those sick children, lying in cold hospital beds during their treatment for cancer. When Alejandro had visited the cancer ward, Amanda had been touched by the children’s reactions. So she didn’t mind standing in for him at some of these types of events, thus freeing up his time to continue recording, practicing, and meeting with his team.
    She was, however, mindful of the need to schedule time with her husband.
    Dali crossed the room and motioned to someone. Because of the glaring lights, Amanda couldn’t see who it was.
    “Turn to the left, Amanda,” the photographer shouted, still snapping photos.
    Obediently, she did as instructed, despite her discomfort level, which was increasing by the minute.
    Jeremy had picked out her outfits for the photo shoot, and, as usual, the dresses and evening gowns, all of which covered her legs, still revealed too much for Amanda’s taste. She hated the feeling of exposed skin on her shoulders and, even worse, the way that Jeremy designed her more formal clothing so that the backs draped down. Still, Alejandro had explained the purpose of this photo shoot: marketing. Since he had asked, she would not say no.
    But to smile and pose ? That was something Amanda simply could not do. Throughout her Amish childhood, she had been raised to believe that exposing herself to picture taking was an expression of vanity, something that was totally in opposition to the values of subservience to God and community—values anchored deep in her faith. Allowing someone to take her picture as a