The Write Stuff (9 page)

I watched f
rom the corner of my eye as Alec finished assembling the stand in no time at all. It didn't escape my notice when his shirt pulled up slightly, hinting at the full set of abs I had run my hands over intimately. Glancing around the room, it became evident I wasn't the only one who had noticed him.

Alec was clearly the topic of conversation
among several women who suddenly seemed more concerned with his ass than finishing the setup of their displays. I didn't know whether to laugh or flip them off. Actually, I couldn't blame them. I had firsthand experience with how sexy he was. I'd felt his hands and lips on my body. My legs had wrapped around his narrow waist, feeling every glorious hard inch of him. 

"
I'll be right back," I said, rising abruptly from the table.

Olivia looked surprised, holding a handful of bookmarks.
"Wait, what about your table?"

"
Just put the finishing touches on it. I trust you. I'll only be a minute anyway." I had to get away to collect myself. The very body that I was sitting there lustfully reminiscing about was the same one that had left me hanging high and dry and practically humiliated. Several people tried to get my attention as I walked by, probably to ask about Alec, but I dodged them with the excuse of a bladder emergency as I quickly made my way into the main hallway.

T
hankfully, I found the bathroom empty. As it turned out, I hadn't lied after all. I really did have to pee. Once I finished, I deliberately stayed in the bathroom washing my hands as long as possible before I knew I absolutely had to get back to my table.

Walking through the lobby
on the way back to the banquet room, I spotted the long line of readers waiting to get into the signing. Their excited chatter echoed down the hallway, making the butterflies in my stomach flutter. Picking up my pace, I entered the banquet room and saw everyone at their tables, ready to go.

"
Two minutes," a voice announced over the loud speaker.

I waved to a few more of my frie
nds in passing before finally reaching my table, which looked fantastic. Olivia had outdone herself again. My books were creatively stacked and prominently displayed on one side of the table while my bookmarks were fanned out on the other. She had even laid out my two favorite signing pens along with a fresh can of Coke. "Thank you," I said, giving her a quick hug. "I'm sorry for acting like a freak."

"
It's cool. You know I'm here for you. Just remember what you're here for. This is your chance to shine." She squeezed my hand and collected the empty boxes to stack under the table and out of sight.

Olivia was right and I knew that. I just needed to suck it up and do my job.
Alec stepped out from behind the banner he had been moving into place. In my absence he had removed his shirt, which shouldn't have been shocking considering it was part of the plan. He looked amazing, which was why he was here. Now all I had to do was avoid any physical contact with him and I'd be fine.

As I made my way around the table to my chair, my foot caught on the leg of the table next to me and
I stumbled forward. I would have landed face first if not for Alec's firm hand reaching out to grasp my upper arm. He had saved me from possibly a bloody lip or a case of rug burn on my face, but my plan to avoid physical contact with him had lasted all of thirty seconds. That had to be a world record.

His hand re
mained on my bicep even after I had found my footing. Our eyes met as I waited for him to release me. I was powerless to pull away. We both acted like we had something to say, but the time wasn't right. Not here.

The buzzing of voices entered the room as
the doors opened and the line of people that had been waiting poured in. Something in my eyes must have clicked with Alec because he abruptly dropped my arm. I scooted around him, sinking into my chair as he took his spot, standing at the front of the table. Olivia raised her eyebrows at me, but I shook her off. I could barely figure out my behavior, let alone explain it to her.

It didn
't take long for Alec to attract the attention he was brought here to get as clusters of women began converging on my table. Surprisingly, many of them were not shy about expressing their feelings for him.

One woman in particular even asked for
my opinion as she waited for her turn to get close to him. "Have you ever seen a set of abs like that?"

"
Of course. Right here," I replied meekly, handing her a
Wicked Lovely
bookmark. I wasn't ready for this kind of attention so quickly.

"
That's him? I think I've died and gone to hunk-a-luscious heaven." She fanned herself with the program she was handed at the door.

"
Oh sweet decadence," the woman with her said, snatching up one of the bookmarks for herself. "It doesn't come out till July? I need to read this now," she whined. "Will you at least sign these for us?"

"
My pleasure," I said, removing the cap from my silver pen.

As they waited, one of them reached for one of my older titles.
"And these are your other books?"

"
Yes. Do you read historical romance?"

"
Girl, I read anything steamy," she said, turning the book over to read the synopsis. "Wait. I've seen this on Amazon. I've actually had it on my to-be-read list. I might as well get it now so I can add it to my autographed book collection."

"
Me too," her friend added.

Olivia handled the transaction while I finished signing and personalizing the copies of their books. The rest of the
day progressed in much the same manner. The crowd never thinned out. I had to hand it to Alec and the way he'd handled the attention like a pro. He'd taken endless pictures, been touched countless times, tolerated pecks on the cheek and even a couple butt pinches. He had even been propositioned more than once and simply ogled more times than I could count. All the
Wicked Lovely
swag I had brought was gone, and the excitement for its release seemed tangible. It was a mentally draining day, but I couldn't help responding to the enthusiasm of everyone I met. My family showed up midway through the signing, and even they were excited to see that I was too busy to do more than give them a quick hug before returning to my table.

"
Holy fuck. That was insane," Alec stated, sinking into Olivia's chair when she abandoned it to go to the bathroom. The last attendee had been shuttled out the door a few minutes prior and the majority of the authors were packing up. I needed to decompress for a few minutes before I could think about leaving.

I shot him a wea
k smile. I was tired, but I couldn't imagine how tough it must have been on him. At least I had a table to hide behind. "You did great. I appreciate you handling it so well," I said, speaking to him for the first time in four hours.

"
It was fun." He laughed when I raised my eyebrows skeptically. "Really. I'm being serious. It's not every day a guy has hundreds of women waiting in line just to take a picture with him. Well, unless you're Channing Tatum, I guess."

I rolled my eyes.
"I'm sure it didn't hurt your overly inflated ego. Of course, you're more a tease than anything else."

He laughed.
"Tease? That's the first time I've been called a tease."

I looked away
, afraid he would see through the shabby wall I had built.

"
Look, about the other night—"

I cut him off.
"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not talk about it, okay? You had your reasons, and I don't see why we need to rehash things. I got it. Loud and clear." I stood up, making busywork of packing up my stuff.

"
Nicole." He reached out to touch my hand, but I jerked it back like it was a venomous snake.

"
Alec, please don't," I pleaded as Olivia joined us.

It was clear she knew she had walked in at a bad moment. Her
eyes moved from Alec to me, but I looked away. My nerves were frazzled and I was just ready to be done. I'd never been a glutton for punishment anyway, so today had definitely tested me.

Knowing when to give me space, Olivia
remained silent as she helped me clear off the rest of my table. Alec took down my banner without being asked, and I grudgingly thanked him. 

We carried my belongings out to the car, saying more goodbyes to
some of the authors I knew. My family would be meeting us at a local Italian restaurant not too far up the road from the hotel. I would have just as soon bowed out of dinner, but I knew tonight was supposed to be a bit of a celebration since it had been the first time they had seen me in action at a signing.

I could have done
without Alec tagging along, but Olivia had already mentioned it and I saw no graceful way of taking back the invite. Plus, I would have looked like a mega-bitch after all his help during the event. To say he'd been a trouper would be putting it mildly.

The dinner rush was in full
force when the three of us arrived as the line of waiting customers overflowed out the front door. Luckily, Olivia had made a reservation. We shuffled through the crowd to get inside, spotting Mom, Dad and Ashley sharing a loveseat off to the side of the hostess stand.

"
Honey, you were amazing," Mom gushed, standing to give me a big hug. "I can't believe how many people came out to see you. You're famous."

"
Mom, really? You're attracting attention. Look at those people staring," I said, ducking my head in embarrassment.

"
What? Sweetie, it's my job to brag over you." She turned to the young couple standing to her right. "My daughter is a famous author."

"
Oh lord. Shoot me now," I groaned as Olivia stifled a chuckle.

Mom couldn
't have made more of a spectacle of me unless she had pulled out a bullhorn and shouted to the entire restaurant. My brothers returned from the bathroom, thumping me enthusiastically on the back. Tony took my hazing a step further by rubbing the top of my head with his knuckles, earning him an elbow in the ribs. "Knock it off, ass—" My voice trailed off when Mom tugged at my shirt, shooting me her famous glare. Alec looked on in amusement, getting a firsthand look at what I had grown up with. This dinner was going to be so much fun. Not.

"
Nicole, why don't you introduce us to your friend," my mom said, taking note of Alec, who stood quietly at my side.

"
Friend" wasn't the word I would have used to describe him. "Well, he's…" I stood like an idiot, searching for the right way to introduce him. I looked to Olivia for help. She shook her head, smiling.

"
It's all you," she giggled. 

Zachary jumped in when I still couldn
't manage to put a sentence together. "For Pete's sake. You're Alec, right? You were kind of busy at the signing today, otherwise we would have said hello there. I'm Zachary. This is my girlfriend, Ashley." They shook hands with Alec as Zachary continued with the introductions. "Over here is our brother Tony, and that's the other one, Riley."

"
We already saw the cover, so you don't have to take your shirt off here," Riley joked, patting Alec on the back.

"
Good thing," he laughed. "I've spent the whole day shirtless. I'm due for a break."

Alec handled the ribbing in stride, laughing with my brothers like they had been friends for years. Zachary finished up by int
roducing him to my parents as I practically hid myself behind Olivia. Luckily, Taylor showed up to save me from once again becoming a bullseye for any further humiliation.

Tony
's good mood suddenly slipped as he eyed his competition disdainfully. The hostess showed us to our table with Taylor leading Olivia by the small of her back. Zachary, Riley and I exchanged knowing looks. My fear was that Tony would say something stupid and make the dinner even more unbearable. As everyone began to sit, I quickly snagged the chair next to Olivia before Tony could take it. Only part of my intention had been to make sure he behaved. Really, I didn't want to be stuck next to Alec. With my chair angled just the right way, I didn't even have to make eye contact with him. He and Riley had seemed to hit it off anyway and pretty much stayed in constant conversation the entire time.

Dinner turned out
not to be the horror show I had anticipated. Tony managed to leave the Olivia-and-Taylor situation alone and the book event became the main topic of conversation for most of the meal. The rest of my family seemed as impressed as my mom with the bevy of activity they had witnessed at my table. I was just glad readers and bloggers had taken the time to stop by to see me. It would have sucked if I'd been sitting there twiddling my thumbs when my family showed up.

Eventually
, we exhausted all conversation about the signing and Mom turned her attention to Alec at the far end of the table. I wanted badly to hear what they were saying, but the guys had gotten into a heated debate over the baseball game from the night before. Knowing my luck, she was probably trying to play the dating game and set me up. I could have spared her the trouble. That ship had sailed.