“Who ordered the salad?” Lexie asked with her nose wrinkled up.
“Oh, that’s me,” Travis said.
Lexie handed it to Travis as he sat down next to me at the table.
“Why are you having salad on pizza night?” Lexie asked him.
“I like to balance my meals out. It helps me stay in shape.”
Ryan and Grace sat across from Travis and me, and I saw both of them study Travis at his words.
Grace pointed her fork at Travis. “You’re the cover model, right? On Sydney’s book?”
Travis blushed, and I thought it was adorable that he was embarrassed.
“That’s me,” he said.
“So, is that all you do?” my brother asked.
“Ryan, don’t be rude.”
Ugh. Sometimes, my brother was a snob.
Travis cleared his throat. “Uh, no. I am also a personal trainer. Someday, I’d love to own my own gym, but that won’t happen for a long time.”
I hadn’t realized Travis wanted to be his own boss. Of course, we hadn’t known each other that long.
I put my hand on his leg. “You’ll do it.”
“It’s hard work,” my brother said.
“I’m sure Travis knows that, Ryan.”
Ryan shrugged. “I’m just sayin’.”
I looked at Travis. “Ignore my brother. He’s a pompous asshole who thinks his shit don’t stink.”
“Sydney,” my father said.
“What?”
“We don’t swear at the table.”
I laughed. “Don’t swear, but I can call Ryan names?”
“Only if they’re true.” My dad winked at me.
The table laughed, and Ryan threw wadded-up napkins at our dad and me. “I’m just looking out for my sister. Knowing you, you only made sure he followed your favorite sports teams.”
My father shrugged. “So?” he said and shoved a big bite of pizza in his mouth.
“Thank you, Ryan, but I can take care of myself. Besides, Travis and I just started dating.” I quickly glanced at Travis out of the corner of my eye to see if there was any reaction to my dating comment. He didn’t look uncomfortable, and I was pleased. “It’s not like we’re getting married. You can lay off the third degree.”
Grace patted my brother’s arm. “Syd’s a big girl.”
My brother rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’m sorry,” he said, sounding only half-sincere.
Travis smiled. “I understand. I have a sister.”
“Oh?” Grace said. “Younger?”
“No. Older. But I still grilled her husband when they started dating.”
“That’s so sweet,” I said.
Ryan set his pizza down. “Wait. So, Travis is sweet, but I’m a pompous asshole?”
“Ryan, language,” our dad said.
“Yes,” I told my brother with a grin.
“That’s not fair.”
“Dad, you always say life’s not fair,” eleven-year-old Gretchen said from the end of the table.
“It’s true, Dad; you do,” Ben added.
Lexie laughed. “Ha-ha. She got you there.”
Ryan went for Lexie’s head to ruffle her hair, something he’d done a thousand times, but she dodged him.
“What do you do to work out?” Brendan asked as he looked at Travis’s arms and then his own.
“I’ll tell you after we eat, so we don’t bore the whole table with gym talk.”
Brendan grinned. “Thanks, man.”
“No problem.”
The following Friday, I went to Travis’s gym where he worked.
“How can I help you?” the buff young guy behind the counter asked.
“I’m here to meet Travis Zehler.”
The man looked down at his big book and slid his finger over to Travis’s name and down the bottom of the page. He looked up at me with an uncertain expression on his face. “I’m sorry, but it looks like Travis is off here in a few minutes. Perhaps he gave you the wrong day?”
“Oh, no, I’m not a client. I’m here to meet him, so we can go to dinner.”
The guy breathed a sigh of relief. “You had me worried there for a second. Travis is probably back in the office. Let me call him for you.” He picked up the phone.
“That’s okay. I can take her back.”
I turned to see a young blonde woman behind me. She was fit and had on workout clothing.
I smiled. “Thank you.”
She didn’t smile back. “This way.” She was all business.
“Thanks, Christy,” the guy behind the desk said.
Feeling uncomfortable, I quickly followed her. Even though she had offered to take me, I felt like I was putting her out.
“So, how do you know Travis?” the woman, apparently named Christy, asked after we walked through the main part of the gym.
We were now past the locker rooms in an empty hallway.
I didn’t know how to answer. Christy was Travis’s coworker and not a client, but I didn’t know how well he knew her. And I had no idea how much personal stuff Travis liked to share with the people he worked with. But I also didn’t want to be rude.
“I’m an author, and I met him at a book signing.”
Christy stopped so quickly that I almost ran into her. She turned to me. “But you’re dating him now?”
“Uh …” was all I managed to say at first, having been caught off guard. “I don’t know if that’s any of your business.”
“Word of advice: the modeling thing is sexy in the beginning, but it gets old after a while. You might as well get out now because Travis isn’t going to change.”
An uneasy feeling went through me. It sounded like this woman had dated Travis at one point, and I looked at her through a whole new set of lenses. She was stunning in a way I never would be. Even though she was dressed for exercise, her hair was up in a cute ponytail, and her makeup was on point. Her clothes were tight and stylish. My workout clothes were baggy and comfortable and forget about the makeup. I went to the gym to sweat.
I didn’t like the way I felt less than around her. But her beauty seemed to be only skin deep, and I wasn’t going to let her make me feel like I wasn’t as good as her.
I also didn’t like the way she’d put down Travis. I didn’t feel comfortable talking about him without him present, but I also couldn’t let her mean comments go.
I straightened my back. “I don’t want Travis to change. And I think he can do whatever he wants to. His body is his business, and his career is his business.”
“You say that now when you can brag that you’re dating a cover model. But you just wait until you get sick of seeing him in intimate poses with other women. And the way they all drool over him when they meet him in person. And, when you ask him to quit, he won’t. He likes that attention too much.”
I put my hand up. “I’m going to have you stop right there.”
I had seen Travis at book signings, and even as a single man, he’d never given me the impression of an attention-seeker, so I highly doubted he was worse when he was in a relationship. And, yes, readers liked him, but Christy was being very disrespectful to his fans.
“I am proud of Travis for doing what he does, and that is all I’m going to say on the subject. I don’t feel comfortable talking about him behind his back. Now, will you please take me to him?”
Travis had been about to come out of the office to meet Sydney at the front when he heard Christy talking in the hall. He should’ve gone out there and called a halt to the conversation, but his feet had lost their will to move as he froze up.
Hearing Christy talk about all the things she didn’t like about him had brought up some ugly memories. But, when Sydney had stood up for him, he’d felt humbled and awed. And that gave him the kick in the ass he needed to get his feet moving again.
He marched out of the office to see the two women facing each other.
“Ch
risty, that’s enough.”
Sydney turned when she heard his voice. Her face was a mixture of happy and guilty. He had to make sure to reassure her that she’d done nothing wrong.
He held out his hand to her. “Hey, sexy.”
Sydney stepped toward him and took his hand.
He hauled her close and kissed her deep. Not because he was showing off or trying to prove anything to Christy, but because he plain old wanted to.
“What was that for?” Sydney asked, breathless.
“I’ll tell you later.”
“You two make me sick,” Christy said and stomped away.
“I take it, that’s your ex?” Sydney asked.
“Unfortunately. I apologize for the way she talked to you.”
Sydney put a hand on his chest. “Don’t be. You have no control over others’ actions, and she obviously has a lot going on with herself, inside.” She arched up and kissed him. “I don’t know what you heard, but I hope she didn’t make you feel bad. It seems like she has issues she needs to deal with.”
Travis was in awe of the woman in front of him. He was the one who was supposed to be telling her not to feel bad. “She used to make me feel guilty and like crap, but that’s over now.”
“Good. You deserve better than her.”
Travis grinned. “Someone like you.”
She snorted. “I don’t know about that.” She tried to play off his compliment, but her cheeks turned pink.
“I do.” He was lucky to have found her. “You ready to go to dinner?”
“Yes. I’m starving.”
Travis took her hand and led her back toward the locker rooms, so he could grab his bag. “Didn’t you eat lunch?”
“I did but not much.”
It was probably because they’d just gotten done talking about Christy, but alarm bells began to go off in his head. He remembered the first time Christy had begun to drastically cut her calories. It had been the beginning of the end of their relationship. The less she’d eaten, the more she’d become obsessed with what she ate or didn’t eat.
“Why’s that?” he asked carefully.
“Don’t judge, but I haven’t made it to the grocery store yet.”
Travis laughed with relief. “You still haven’t gone?”
“No. I keep saying I’m going to go every day, but I start working and don’t stop. I’ve been eating a lot of mismatched meals. But I’ve gotten a lot of writing done.”
They stopped in front of the men’s locker room.
“We’re going out to dinner, and then we’re going grocery shopping.”
“Ugh. You need to work on your dating skills.”
Travis laughed and pushed open the locker room door.
I knocked and pushed open the door to Travis’s townhome. We’d been dating a little over a month, and we were to the point where we walked into each other’s homes.
“Travis?” I called out when I didn’t see him right away.
He didn’t answer, but I heard him talking in his main-floor bedroom. I walked in there to see he was on the phone. He smiled when he saw me and held up a finger.
“Yes.” He nodded. “Yes, that sounds good.”
I stepped away and went to the kitchen. From the way he had been talking, I could tell he was not on a personal call.
I’d stayed at Travis’s last night, but this morning, I had gotten up to go to my monthly writer group meetup. Then, I had stopped at the store on the way back to Travis’s. I put my bag of groceries on the counter and unpacked them.
After I was finished, I pulled my phone out of my purse and curled up on the recliner to do what most people did when they were bored. I checked my social media. Since dating Travis, I had started to use Instagram more, so I went there first. I clicked on Travis’s stories before even checking my notifications.
The first was an inspirational quote. But the next was a picture of me sleeping with the caption, This girl. I had my mouth halfway open, and my hair looked like a wild animal had had its way with it. Only half of my face was buried in the pillow, so you couldn’t see it was me. Except the man had tagged me in it.
“Okay. I will see you then. Good-bye,” I heard Travis say from the other room.
When he walked into the living room, I turned my phone around to show him the screenshot I’d taken and said, “I’m never spending the night with you again.”
He had the audacity to laugh. “Come on. You looked so cute. I couldn’t resist.” He strode over to me, picked me up so that he could sit down, and set me on his lap.
“You’d better hope no one else took a screenshot of that.”
He kissed my neck. “Or what?” He kissed it again and sucked on my skin.
A shiver went through me. “Stop trying to distract me.”
He cupped the other side of my face and drew me closer as he pulled the top of my shirt off my shoulder. “I can’t help it. You taste so good.” More kissing and sucking and licking ensued.
“You’re too good at that,” I whined but didn’t stop him because I loved when he kissed and touched me.
“Let’s get naked.”
“No way.”
He pulled back to look at me. “What do you mean, no way?”
“That’s your punishment.”
His brow furrowed. “You’re not really mad, are you? That wasn’t my intention.”
I ran my fingers through his hair. “No, I’m not really mad. A little embarrassed but not mad.”
“I’m sorry, sexy.”
I kissed him. “Apology accepted.”
He grinned, and I knew he was going to kiss my neck again.
“Who was on the phone?” I quickly asked before he could make his move.
“Do you know who Robert Hahn is?”
“Does a bear shit in the woods? Of course I know who he is.”
“That was him on the phone. He asked if I would fly out to do a photo shoot.”
My mouth dropped open. “Shut up. That is awesome.”
Travis grinned. “I take it, you’re a fan?”
“Yes. He takes stunning photos. I love his work.”
Travis was overcome by the joy in Sydney’s face that he opened his mouth and said, “Do you want to come with and watch?” before he actually thought about what he said. He usually had a better brain-to-mouth filter.
But, when she jumped off his lap and shouted, “Are you fricking kidding me? I will clear my calendar to go with you. I don’t care if it’s someone’s wedding. I will be there,” he really couldn’t regret asking her.
He laughed. “Okay then. I’ll make sure to book you a ticket.”
“Ooh, we’re flying? Where are we going? California? Florida? New York?”
He laughed. “Sorry to burst your bubble. We’re going to Denver.”
“Colorado? I guess that works.” She sat back down in his lap and threw her arms around him. “I’m still excited. Thank you for asking me.”
Travis squeezed her tight. “You’re welcome. But you’re going to have to put up with me while I prepare for my shoot.”
Sydney leaned back. “What does that mean?”
“Working out every day for longer than I do now. And eating a lot of boring food. No cheat days from now until then.”
She ran her hands over his chest and stomach. “I think you look great now, but I understand. When is then?”
“The end of July.” It was June, so he had a little over a month to prepare.
“I’ll make sure and eat the yummy food for you.”
He laughed. “Thanks.”
“I can’t wait. It’ll be fun.”
He hoped so.
Later, as Sydney lay beside him, fast asleep, he couldn’t help but remember the last time he’d let someone he dated go with him. He really hated how his mind always went back to the time he’d dated Christy, but he’d been told it was natural since they’d dated for some time. She’d obviously
left an impact on him.
He’d taken his ex to a local photo shoot, thinking she would have fun and enjoy watching him work. She pouted and acted bored the whole time he took his solo shots. And then, when he teamed up with another model to take a couple of pictures, Christy freaked out. She yelled at the photographer for even suggesting Travis pose with someone. And then she yelled at him for not refusing to do the couple photos. The photographer ended up kicking her out, and Travis felt embarrassed and guilty for bringing her along.
Later, after the shoot was over, Christy apologized. She explained that she had been jealous. Travis understood where she was coming from. Everyone got jealous of something or someone sometime. It was a natural human emotion, and emotions couldn’t be controlled. Otherwise, everyone would be happy all the time. But what Christy had chosen to do with that emotion was something she could have controlled.
So far, Sydney had been nothing but supportive of his career. Maybe because, as an author, she understood the business a little. But, more likely, it was because she was a completely different person than Christy.
Travis rolled over and gently pulled Sydney into his arms. “You’re not going to disappoint me, right?”
She hummed in her sleep, and he took it as a promise that she wouldn’t.
Travis pulled into a parking spot at the bar where they were meeting his friends for the Fourth of July. Since the holiday was on a Thursday, Lilah had suggested that they go to Stillwater for the day. It was a scenic town east of the Cities on the St. Croix River. It had bars that were in walking distance to each other and a fireworks show to watch after dark.
It was hopefully going to be a fun and relaxing day. Sydney had yet to meet his friends, so he was excited and nervous for them all to meet. Barry had told him, as long as he didn’t bring Christy, he approved, so maybe Travis was worrying too much.
The first stop was the Freight House. It had a lot of deck space and was a perfect place to sit outside to eat and drink.
Travis pulled out his phone and checked his messages. “They’re already here.”
Sydney took a deep breath. “Great.” She sounded like she didn’t quite mean it.
“Are you nervous?”
Object of My Desire Page 16