My Cover Model (A Love Like That #1) - R.L. Kenderson Page 0,5
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.”