"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 weak 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 introducing 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.
Chapter Nine
"I don't know why you're even arguing. You know as well as I do it's a good idea," Olivia stated, pausing the movie we had been watching.
"Liv, you know releases are stressful enough for me. The fact that I'm doing three back-to-back events is already freaking me out. I have no idea how I'm supposed to keep up with the blog tour and all the other promo stuff you set up while I'm gone for three whole weeks. There's no way in hell I'm going to add Alec into the mix."
Olivia sighed. "Seriously, Nicole, you need to grow up. This isn't high school. Haven't we moved past the whole he doesn't like me, therefore I'll never speak to him again phase? The next three weeks are bigger than the silliness you're still holding on to. I'm not just saying this because you're my best friend. I truly believe in you, and Wicked Lovely is your best book yet. Don't get me wrong. You know I adore your writing like a mommy elephant loves her two-ton baby, but this book is special. It's like you dug down deep and wrote from your gut. It's raw, beautiful and true love at its finest."
"Did you steal that from a review for another book?"
"I'm serious, whore. You owe it to this book to give it your all. If that means biting the bullet to bring your cover model along, so be it." I tried to interrupt again, but she held up her hand. "You need to do this."
I mulled over her words, gnawing on my bottom lip. I knew she was right. There was stiff competition in the book market and if I wanted Wicked Lovely to get the launch it deserved, I needed an advantage. I hated being boxed in a corner, but Alec provided that advantage. "I can't believe I agreed to all of this," I sighed. "Three signings back to back. I hope you'll miss me when all this kills me. Good luck finding another best friend who watches polygamy shows obsessively with you like I do."
"I know you said before if you die I get all your stuff, but do I have to take Severus?" She glared at my cat, who took a swipe at her hand when she reached out to pet him. They had never been terribly close. "Keep it up, fleabag, and I'll turn you into a rug."
I laughed when Severus turned his back in response, making me think cats were the superior species.
Olivia took another sip of her wine. "That little shit just basically gave me the cat version of the finger, didn't he? All right, if you accepted your fate, I'll book Alec's side of the trip, okay?"
"Are you sure we have enough cash in the marketing budget?" I already knew the answer, but I was grasping for one last out.
"More than enough. Putting aside twenty percent of your earnings has given you a nice nest egg. If this book does what I'm hoping it will, that nest egg will become a dozen. This trip couldn't have come at a better time."
I raised my own glass of wine but didn't take a sip right away. I absently ran my thumb over the stem. I wished I were as optimistic as she was. The entire trip had the makings of a nightmare as far as I was concerned.
"Doughnut?" Alec opened the wax-covered paper bag and held it out to me.
I sat back in my seat at the airport, crossing my arms over my chest. "No, thanks. I'm not hungry." My rumbling stomach said otherwise, but I felt too nervous to eat.
"You sure?" He gave me a sideways look after hearing the evidence of my empty stomach.
"I'm sure. I can't believe you eat those anyway. I would have pegged you for a healthier eater."
"Usually, but I love me some Krispy Kreme."
I looked out the large floor-to-ceiling window. The sun hadn't come up yet, so it was still too dark outside to see anything but my reflection staring back at me. Our flight to Nashville was due to leave in forty-five minutes and everyone at our gate seemed eager to start boarding. A fluttering of panic settled in my stomach, which increased in intensity as the minutes clanked by. If I left now I could go back to my nice, safe apartment. It wasn't that I was afraid of flying. It was the idea of spending the next twenty-one days with someone I couldn't connect with that had my mood as black as the sky outside.
Alec, on the other hand, was like the freaking sun. "You know, we don't have to be enemies," he said, taking a large bite of his dreamy glazed breakfast. My mouth watered. Krispy Kreme doughnuts were one of my weaknesses.
I tore my eyes away from the enticing glistening pastry. "We're not enemies. I don't even know you well enough to be your enemy. I don't want to know you well enough to be enemies, or anything else for that matter." I hated being mean. That wasn't my personality. Everyone who knew me would say the same thing. Most of the time I would bend over backward to make sure everyone was happy. My mom said I was a born people pleaser. She liked to joke that nice ran through my DNA like fleas on a dog.
Alec didn't reply right away, but his eyes bore into me as he rolled up his paper bag. "Nicole, shouldn't you be happy I wasn't willing to take things further? That you weren't wasting yourself on a one-night stand?"
I couldn't help looking around in embarrassment. It wasn't like we were sitting at an empty gate. "What do you want, a thank you?" I hissed through gritted teeth.
"I'm just saying you should be glad I wasn't a dick. I'm not saying you have to thank me, but surely you realize I did us both a favor."
Laughter erupted out of me. He had to be kidding. "A favor? Of course. Why hadn't I seen it before? Rejecting me was like getting an extra slice of birthday cake. I'm so glad you stopped things when you did." I stood up angrily, no longer worried about the people sitting around us.
Gripping the handle of my carry-on suitcase, I stomped away, much like a child threatening to run away. What a bullshit way to justify what happened between us that night. He basically told me I wasn't worthy of having sex with and then wanted to tell me he did me a favor. I walked past the filled rows of seats to stand by the window. In the reflection of the glass, I saw that someone had taken the empty seat I had vacated next to Alec.
Stubbornly, I remained by the window until the boarding of our flight was announced. The first rays of the sun were beginning to peek through the horizon, filling the sky with delicate shades of pink and creamsicle orange. My actions felt more and more childish the longer I stood there. Regardless of our history, I had to figure out a way to make it through this trip. Olivia had been right. This wasn't high school.
Thirty minutes later, I probably would have jumped from the plane without a parachute if given the chance. A hard thump hit the back of my seat, jolting me for about the hundredth time since we had taken off.
"Johnny, please stop kicking the poor lady's seat."
"Nooooooooo," Johnny bellowed, making several passengers turn to look at the offending row where he was currently tormenting his mother.
"Sorry. He's just excited to be flying," Johnny the Kicker's mom said, peeking between our seats.
"It's fine," I said, flashing her a tight-lipped smile. Alec shook with silent laughter. Without thinking, I swung my foot out bringing it smartly against his shin.
"Damn, woman," he said, rubbing his shin. The way Johnny's mom gasped, it sounded like she may have thought Alec was talking to her. Regardless, it was enough to make me smile.
Alec leaned in conspiratorially to whisper into my ear. "You know you could tell her it's not okay?"
"Or you could just switch seats with me," I said out of the corner of my mouth.
"Not on your life. Johnny might find himself strapped to the wing of the plane if we did that."
I couldn't help snorting with laughter, nearly losing my iPad from my lap.
"What are you working on?"
"Nothing much. I planned on starting the sequel to Wicked Lovely, but my brain is refusing to cooperate. I'm never very productive when I have a lot going on. I should probably resign myself to the fact that I won't get any writing done for the next few weeks," I said, closing my iPad.