thought I was past the age of feeling boy-crazy, but he just did something for me. And my body. I wanted the man.
I put Harper’s phone down. “I’d better stop looking, or I’ll be the one who’s going to need a restroom.”
Harper frowned for a second until she got my joke. She laughed until the first reader walked up to our table.
Six
Travis
I sat back in my seat as the readers started coming into the room. This part of a book signing always got me a little excited. I really enjoyed interacting with fans, whether it was fans of mine or fans of the author I was with.
“Okay, Trav, it’s time for you to smile that beautiful smile of yours and lure some readers in,” Angela said.
I laughed because I knew she was joking, but she was also serious.
Angela was one of my favorite authors to attend signings with. I’d met her a few years earlier at an event like today’s, and we’d hit it off. I considered her and her husband, Dave, close friends despite living a state and a Great Lake apart.
I plastered the cheesiest smile I could on my face. “How’s this?”
“Perfect. You’ll have them all running to the table.”
At that moment, a reader did approach Angela’s table. “Hi.”
“Hello.” Angela always greeted readers with enthusiasm. “How are you today?”
“Good,” the reader said a little shyly.
“Have you ever read anything of mine before?”
The reader shook her head.
Angela had her books in piles in front of her, and she pointed to the one on the reader’s left. “My books are part of a series, and this is book one.” She guided her hand down the row of all four piles. “Book two, three, and four. They are sports romance. All the characters are on the same NFL team.”
The reader picked up book one and looked at the back and then the front. She looked up at me. “Is this you?” She pointed to the cover where I stood with a blonde woman in my arms.
I smiled. I was always a little embarrassed when someone asked me that. I’d been taught to be humble, so I always felt like I was bragging a little when I said yes. “That’s me.”
“That’s so cool,” the reader whispered as another approached.
“Actually, Travis is on all the covers. Each book is about a different couple, so that’s why you really see his face on book one and why each book has a different female model. It also helps that he has different hairstyles in a couple of them.”
“Wow. You get around, don’t you?” reader number two said.
They all laughed, but her comment bugged me a bit.
I shrugged. “They’re just pictures. It’s all part of the job. It’s not like I dated any of them.” I made sure to smile as I said this.
I had only really dated one fellow model, and it had been bad from the start. I much preferred seeing someone who didn’t work in the industry.
“I just hate to see Travis starve, so I buy his photos.”
I bit my cheek, so I wouldn’t laugh too hard.
But reader number two was unfazed by their comments. “I’ll definitely buy book one. Will you both sign it?”
“Of course,” Angela said. Then, she looked out of the corner of her eye at me. “Maybe.”
I laughed again and grabbed the book first, so the reader could pay while I signed. Sometimes, I put little quotes or lines in with my signature, but nothing came to me, so I just wrote my name this time.
“I’ll take the first two books,” reader number one said after number two was gone.
“Thank you,” Angela said.
The reader paid, and we both signed the insides.
After number one was gone, Angela pushed her shoulder into mine. “Thanks for helping me sell books.”
“That’s why you brought me.”
“That, and your charming personality. Sorry about that reader’s comment.”
I smiled. “It’s not your fault. And, yeah, it irked me a little, but it’s really not that big of a deal.” I lifted my brow. “Now, if she starts stalking me, then I’m going to blame you for bringing me here.”
Angela laughed.
“You joke, but if I get any naked pics, I’m forwarding them to you.”
Angela just continued to laugh.
The signing went on, and readers came and went. Some of them didn’t pay much attention to me, and some were fascinated by me. I never really understood that because I was just a person like them. I wasn’t anything special, no more than anyone else anyway.
The table was empty for