“Thank God. I didn’t want to shower either.”
I spent most days sitting in front of my computer or running errands. Most of the time, I didn’t even bother with makeup, doing my hair, or putting my contacts in. My outfit of choice was a T-shirt and yoga pants.
So, when it came to book signings, I always liked to look a little more professional. But I really didn’t feel like doing all of that before seven in the morning if I didn’t have to. Besides, I didn’t have time.
I brushed my hair and my teeth and put my hair up in a ponytail. I put on clean clothes, and, yes, I decided to go with yoga pants because I wanted to be comfortable.
“We’d better go. I don’t want to be one of the last ones there and have to sit with people we don’t know.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Harper asked.
She could make friends with a wall.
“Nothing, except that I hate imposing on people.” I grabbed my name tag and my key card.
“But you’re an author. People want to meet you.”
“I’m a non-famous author,” I reminded her.
Harper grabbed her things and looped her arm with mine. “Then, let’s go make them want to meet you.”
We went and got large lattes first before we headed to the area where we were supposed to meet for breakfast. There weren’t that many people around, but there also weren’t many tables.
“See, it’s a good thing we came early.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Harper said with a smile.
After the food was rolled out, we filled up our plates and brought them back to our table. I wasn’t a health food nut, but I did try to eat well most of the time to keep myself from gaining too much weight. But I was on vacation, and I was eating as much breakfast as I wanted.
“Oh my God,” Harper said with a moan. “These are the best muffins.”
“Crap. And I didn’t get one.”
She broke off a huge piece. “Here, try some.”
I opened my mouth, intending to take a bite, but she shoved the whole thing in my mouth. Both of us started laughing, and I had to turn my face toward the wall behind me. If I kept looking at Harper, I wouldn’t stop giggling, and I didn’t want the room to stare at my chipmunk cheeks.
A close female voice said, “Do you mind if we take your other two chairs?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Harper wave her arm at our empty chairs. “Go ahead. Those seats are free.”
“Thank you,” a male voice said.
I finally managed to chew half of the food in my mouth and swallow it. “You bitch,” I told Harper as I turned around.
She laughed again, and I probably would have, too, except I was stopped dead when I saw who was about to take the seat across from me.
It was Travis Zehler, and holy shit, but the few pictures I had seen online did nothing to prepare me for him in real life.
He was tall with broad shoulders and a trim waist, and when he turned to point to something, talking to the woman beside him, I noticed he had a gorgeous ass, too. I wouldn’t have even needed to look up his picture to know this was him. He carried himself in such a way that there was no other word for it than modelesque.
Now, I remembered how I’d thought he wasn’t the cutest guy I’d ever seen. His hair was shorter than the few pictures I’d seen, and he had a trim beard. When he smiled at us, I knew I wanted to have his babies.
Why did I decide not to look pretty this morning again?
Harper kicked me under the table, and I realized I’d been staring. With my mouth open. With food in it.
Travis shook his head and laughed.
I was going to kill Harper later.
The woman to my right had on a purple name tag like me and was probably about my age. She had shoulder-length auburn hair and pretty brown eyes. “Hi, I’m Angela Devlin.”
I swallowed my food, composed myself, and smiled. “I’m Sydney Hart.” I’d seen her name around on social media, but I hadn’t read any of her books yet.
“I’m Harper, I’m Sydney’s assistant.”
“This is Travis,” Angela said, pointing to him. “He’s my assistant-slash-model.”
“So, when did you two get in?” Harper asked. “We saw your name tag still on the table last night,” she said to Travis.
He smiled, but Angela was the one who said, “We got here about midnight.”
Harper winced. “Ouch. And you both got up so early?”
“I slept almost the whole way here from Minneapolis, so I had plenty of rest. But I did just throw on some clothes this morning,” Angela said.
“Us, too,” I said with a laugh. “That’s where we’re both from.”
Although Travis looked great for someone who had driven for hours and gotten no more than six hours of sleep.
“Are you both from Minneapolis?” I asked. I thought I had read Travis was from somewhere farther away, but maybe I was wrong. I hadn’t given his bio my full attention the night I looked him up.
“I’m from Michigan,” Angela said. “I flew into Minneapolis and drove here with Travis.”
“But you’re from Minnesota?” I asked Travis.
“Yep. Born and raised.” He grinned, and not one, but two dimples appeared. Figures. “I grew up in a small town, moved to the Cities in high school, and stayed.”
I couldn’t believe he was from the same place I lived. Despite just meeting him, he gave off this aura. I didn’t know how to explain it, and it was kind of like finding out a famous actor lived near me.
“That’s so cool that you decided to attend,” Harper said.
“Yeah, Ang convinced me,” he said, and I noticed the nickname he used for her. They must be close.
“How did you do that?” I asked Angela, half-joking, half-serious. “I think he’s the only model to attend this weekend.”
She laughed. “I did a lot of begging and pleading.”
Travis shook his head, but he was smiling.
“Truthfully, he’s just a really nice guy.”
Travis shook his head again, and mouthed, No, I’m not.
Harper and I both laughed.
Angela put her hand up to her mouth, so Travis couldn’t see what she was saying, but then she proceeded to speak loud enough for him to hear. “He’s also a big softy.”
“Shh … don’t tell anyone.” Travis shoved a forkful of food in his mouth and grinned.
I mentally sighed. God, he’s beautiful.
Harper leaned over to me and whispered, “Just a guy, huh?”
A couple of hours later, Harper and I were showered, dressed, and prettied up. Now, we needed to haul all my book stuff down to the banquet hall where the book signing was taking place.
My stuff was all packed into a couple of rolling carts to make everything easier to take everywhere. We pulled the two carts into the elevator and let the doors shut.
“So … are we going to talk about you drooling over the male model?”
“I did not drool.”
Harper snorted.
“I didn’t. But I totally admit, he’s hot.”
She grinned. “I know, right?”
“His pictures don’t do him justice.”
Harper’s brow wrinkled. “I think you’ve been looking at the wrong pictures.”
I shrugged. “Maybe.” But I made a mental note to check him out later.
The elevator doors opened, so the conversation was over.
“How long does it take you to set up?” Harper asked after we found my table in the large room.
“Always longer than I think it’s going to. Hopefully, after I do this a few more times, I’ll get the process down.”
While it did take a while, I always enjoyed this part. It was fun to see an empty table turn into my display with all my books and swag. Harper mostly unpacked everything while I put stuff in their places. There were a couple of things I told her to wait on until the event start
ed.
I took a step back to get a larger view, and then I stepped forward again and moved a couple of things around.
“This is why I didn’t try to help.”
I looked up at Harper. “Huh?”
She gave me a look. “Because I put your bookmarks there, and you just moved them.”
I laughed embarrassingly. “I’m sorry. I’m kind of a perfectionist sometimes.”
“Noooo,” she said teasingly. “You don’t say.”
I stuck my tongue out at her, and she laughed.
“I can’t help it. I want it to look great.”
“You’re an Aries, right?”
“Yeah. So?”
She shook her head. “Figures.” She looked around.
Our table was at the end, and the table next to us was still empty with the name of an author on it I didn’t recognize. The table behind us was also vacant.
“Is your banner okay where it is? That’s something I did all by myself.”
I patted her shoulder. “I know, and I’m so proud of you.”
It was her turn to stick her tongue out at me.
“It’s fine, I think.” It was behind the outside chair and off to the side. “I don’t think it’ll bother whoever is sitting behind us, but we can ask when they show up.” I looked down at my Fitbit. “But we should maybe go get something for lunch. I have to meet up for the group picture at twelve thirty, and the doors open at one.” It was a few minutes after noon now.
The hotel had a restaurant, but they also had a bar area in the front where we could order food with a lounge area for people to sit. We decided on an appetizer to split since we’d had a big breakfast.
“Sydney?”
I turned around from my seat at the bar to see who’d spoken my name. It was a fellow author I had met once in the past. He was average height, probably around five-ten or five-eleven, with brown hair and hazel eyes. He was probably a little older than me, maybe about five years, and he was cute.
“Oh, hey, Derek.” I smiled. “I didn’t know you were going to be here.”
“I got a spot at the last minute.”
Harper raised her brow.
“Derek, this is my friend and assistant, Harper.”
She held out her hand.
“This is Derek. He’s a male romance author from the Twin Cities, too. We met at my first book signing.”
Derek took her hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you. You’re a little different from her last assistant.”
He was referring to my sixteen-year-old niece, Lexie. My first book signing had been at the last minute too, and she had been the only one available. We’d both had fun, but it was hard when I wouldn’t allow her to read my books. Too much sex. She had to wait until she was eighteen, and even then, my brother would probably kill me.
Harper laughed. “Yeah, she asked me to go, but my husband had to work, and I couldn’t find a babysitter.”
“Bummer.”
“Yeah, but I’m here now.” She smiled. “And I’ve always wanted to read a book by a male romance author, but I’ve never known where to start.”
“Now, you can start with mine.” Derek grinned.
I nodded. “I read one. It was good.”
Derek turned to me, surprised. “You did?”
“Heck yeah. I was curious, too. I’d probably read more, but you know how hard it is to get reading time in when you’re writing all the time.”
Derek’s cheeks might have turned a slight shade of pink, but I wasn’t sure. “Thank you.” He looked down. “I’m embarrassed to say, I haven’t read yours yet.”
“What?” I pretended to be offended. “How dare you.”
“Uh …” His eyes got huge.
I touched his arm. “I’m kidding.”
His shoulders sagged, and he smiled. “Put me on the spot, why don’t you?”
“Hey, Derek,” someone called from a few feet away.
I pointed behind Derek. “Is that Eric?”
Derek looked behind him. “Yeah.”
“Eric is Derek’s assistant,” I told Harper.
“You’re joking. Your name is Derek, and his name is Eric?”
Derek threw his hands up in the air and laughed. “I know. But we can’t help what our mamas named us.” He put his hand on my bicep. “I’ll talk to you later, okay? I wanted to tell you about a writer group that meets once a month.”
This piqued my interest. “Ooh. Yes, please do.”
Derek walked away just as our food came, and Harper and I dug in since we now only had about fifteen minutes to spare.
“I think you should go for him,” Harper said.
“What?” I looked in the direction Derek had gone, but he was nowhere to be seen. “I don’t know about that.”
She nodded. “I do. What would you think if he was interested in you? Would you be interested, too?”
I swallowed my food. “I don’t know. He’s cute, but he doesn’t really do anything for me.” I tilted my head to the side. “Of course, I haven’t gotten laid in a long time, so there’s also that.”
Harper laughed. “How are his sex scenes? I’ve always wondered how a man would write them.”
“Good,” I said. “They’re not the hottest I’ve ever read, but they are better than some.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Bummer.”
I held up a finger. “But his hero was definitely on the giving end of things and not always receiving.”
Harper grinned. “Well then, you might have something to work with after all.” She set her food down and moved her hands around. “Maybe you can mold him into the perfect lover.”
I laughed. “You’re horrible.”
She shrugged. “He’s probably better than Travis Zehler.”
This comment surprised me. “Really? Why would you say that?” I bet Travis could make a woman come with just his smile.
“Because he’s hot. He probably doesn’t have to work for it. Women are so grateful that he’ll sleep with them; they do all the work and give him all the pleasure.” She tilted her head back and forth. “Not that I would complain too much if I got to see that man naked. I’d probably do all the work, too. But it does get old.”
“Hmm.”
She shoved her last bite of food in her mouth. “There is something to be said about having an average-looking guy in your bed. He wants to make you happy and will do everything he can to ensure that.” She bit her lip and lifted her eyebrows. “Trust me; I know.”
My jaw dropped. “You hardly ever say anything about your and Ian’s sex life.”
And this was someone who had told me every little detail about past lovers.
She smiled. “That’s because Ian’s special.”
“Aww.”
She elbowed me. “Knock it off. That’s why I didn’t tell you.”
I laughed. She tried to be tough, but inside, she was a softy.
We all huddled in a group to get our author picture taken, and I tried to hide toward the back. I was five-six, and I tried to sneak behind some other people who were taller than me, but the photographer wasn’t having it.
“You, in the black-and-white shirt,” the photographer called out, looking in my direction.
I looked around, hoping someone else had a black-and-white shirt on, but no luck. I pointed to myself, and he nodded. Rats. I already knew what he was going to tell me.
“Come forward a little. I can’t see you back there.”
I reluctantly stepped forward, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Harper laughing. She knew my revulsion to my picture being taken. She was probably enjoying this.
After about a million pictures were snapped and my face hurt from smiling, we were allowed to go.
“You should have seen your face when the guy called you out. Pure panic.”
“Ugh. I hate pictures. No matter what I do, I don’t look good in them.”
“You are wa
y too hard on yourself.”
I disagreed. “I don’t think so. I look in the mirror, and I think, Damn, girl, you look nice today. But then, when I see my pictures, I’m like, Damn, who is that imposter who took my place?” I wrinkled up my nose.
Harper laughed. “You crack me up.”
We headed to my author table. On the way, we said hi to the author and her assistant who was next to us. She had baked goods at her table.
We took our seats, and Harper said, “That is a good idea.”
“What is?”
“The food. I saw some other authors who had candy and chocolate.”
I smiled devilishly at her. “Oh, I have something even better.” I pulled up the long tablecloth and pulled out a box I’d told Harper to leave alone earlier.
“Ooh … what is it?”
I opened the box and grinned.
“Holy shit.” She looked up at me. “Are those penis pops?”
“Hell yeah. They give a whole new meaning to cocksucker.”
Harper pulled one out. “I wanted these for my bachelor party, but Wendy said no.” She curled her lip.
Wendy was her sister-in-law and the person who’d been in charge of Harper’s bachelorette party after Ian begged her to let his sister do it. Harper had regretted it ever since.
I pulled out a handful and set them on the table. “It’s not the same, but now, you can have a little fun with them.” I wiggled my eyebrows and sat back in my chair.
“Hold that thought. I’m going to run to the restroom real quick,” Harper said. “I drank too much Diet Pepsi.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll be right back,” she said before sprinting out of the room.
I felt the chair behind me tap mine.
“Penis suckers, huh?” a smooth voice said.
A shiver went down my spine, and I slowly turned my head to see Travis. He smelled amazing. Like man with a hint of cologne.
His eyes were on my table, so I took the opportunity to study him. Even up close, he was gorgeous. Barely any skin imperfections. This guy must have great genes.
His gaze met mine, and he smiled, his lips full and his dimples popping out. I wanted to touch one for some crazy reason.
He raised an eyebrow, and I realized that he had just asked me a question.
Object of My Desire Page 2