convinced me to read one of his books. I had no clue who he was. I read it and was floored. I cried at the end. Silver Stars, that’s the book I read. I’ll never forget that book. I had no idea what he looked like until I looked him up to friend him.”
Dimitri’s shocked expression made Jac laugh, unaware of his preconceived notions about readers. After five hours of this, there was no way he could say his readers only cared about what he looked like.
The event coordinator called time for the event to open, and Jac wasted no time in grabbing a picture with Dimitri before hightailing it back to her table. She was sponsoring the event and had a table set up for her blog.
Dimitri barely had time to blink before the readers poured into the room, heading straight for him. He looked at Becca, his eyes wide, and she smiled. Poor guy. She wasn’t budging out from behind the table, though. Not a chance.
The people swarmed, and thanks to the planning she and Sheila had done, Dimitri’s table kept an orderly line. Becca had taken the chair behind the book rack, which partially hid her from view. Between that and the wall of banners, her anxiety wasn’t as bad as she feared. She blocked out the sounds of the crowd, focusing instead on handling cash, credit cards, and pre-orders. A few people talked to her, but for the most part, Dimitri was the star of the show.
He flirted, he thanked people, and he took pictures, always listening when Becca asked a reader what they loved about his books. Slowly but surely, he started to let himself really hear them. None of them gushed about him, except for his ability to tell a story. They read his books because they loved his words. It blew him away how many people stood and talked about their favorite book or series and spoke like they cared about the characters the same way he did. So, maybe Becca was right, and it wasn’t only about his face or his money. It was about his books.
There were still plenty who stopped just to get a picture with the hot guy, but Becca always nudged him to give them a bookmark. Why, he didn’t know. Not like they were interested in his books, anyway. She rolled her eyes when he got irritated.
He was exceptionally proud of Becca. She hadn’t let her anxiety get the best of her. Two hours of constant readers, and she’d held her ground. He could see the strain in her eyes, though. It was more than she was used to, but she was handling it.
His legs, though, were not only burning like he was standing in a pit of acid, but the pain started about half an hour ago. It raced up and down his legs, settling as a dull ache in the small of his back. He needed to sit, but there were so many people swarming, and he’d have to get right back up for photos.
When they called lunch a few minutes later, he had never been so grateful for anything in his life. The chair wasn’t exactly comfortable, but he was glad for the small relief it provided.
“You okay?” Becca handed him a cold bottle of water.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” He winced when he tried to rub a particularly sore spot on his leg.
“I’m not good, but I think I’m doing better than you are.” She gave him a wry smile. “You need to sit down and finish this signing. If you keep standing, I don’t know if you’ll be able to walk later.”
“No. People will know…”
“Haven’t you figured it out yet, D?” Becca resisted the urge to smack him. “People don’t care about your physique or if you’re the sexiest eye candy ever. They care about the books, about the words, and in turn, they care about you. If you let them in, no one is going to judge you. That’s the best thing about this community of readers. They rally around their favorite authors. Give them a chance.”
“I don’t know…”
Becca took his hand. “Trust me, Dimitri. If you keep this up, you might do some real damage to your legs. You haven’t had PT in almost a week. Don’t screw up your recovery because of your own insecurities.”
“Recovery?”
They both saw Sara Jane frowning down at them. “Sorry, I wasn’t eavesdropping—well, I was, but it was accidental eavesdropping. Are you sick or