On Paper (5 page)

"I love your books. They are so good," she started. I glanced back to Quinn, but she was already walking away. Shit. "Oh my gosh, this is
End Game.
Are you giving these out? I have been dying waiting for this book," she said. I glanced over to see Quinn's book still lying on the table. She hadn't even taken it with her. I sighed and picked it up, putting it back into the box.

"Sorry, I'm just a tease," I smiled, regrouping.

She was gone and I hated the disappointment that settled in chest at her sudden absence.

I WASN'T QUITE
sure what to make of Keaton Harris. The fact that I was spending any time trying to figure it out at all was annoying. I hated guys like him. Cocky and arrogant. I'd met my share of them. They thought they could just smile or throw you a sexy smirk and your panties would just melt right off of your body. And most of the time, with guys that looked like that, they would. But I wasn’t most girls. I didn’t fall for most things.

That’s not to say I was completely immune. Even I could appreciate the fact that Keaton Harris was stunningly attractive. I just preferred guys who didn’t know they were stunningly attractive. It took the fun out of it. Besides, I tended to like my sexy with a side of nerd. I wanted someone who was going to stimulate my brain before going down on me…or at least afterwards. That was the fun part of a relationship, the peeling back of layers and getting to know what was underneath. That's not to say that the panty droppers didn't have depth, I'm sure that some of them did. But it hadn't been my experience and honestly, I just didn't have the energy to give them the benefit of the doubt. It just wasn't my thing. They weren't my type.

Keaton Harris was no different. I could have spotted him a mile away even if he hadn't been preceded by his reputation. He was a walking sex pot, his gaze leering around him looking for a new conquest. He was a constant predator. A place like this was like fishing in a bucket. He didn't have to work for anything. It was like an unlimited pass to the buffet of whore. He provided the fantasy and they provided a distraction. I'd heard the ladies talk about him. He was known to sleep around; I guess any guy would in his situation, but I avoided guys like that.

I could have killed Lily for leaving me at that table the night before. I hadn't even wanted to go up there with her. Not after she had asked him about writing sex scenes. There was no telling what would come out of her mouth. I had fully expected her to go through on her threat and ask to feel up his abs. I did not want to be a part of it. But she had dragged me along anyway, just like she always did. She couldn’t be trusted.

Looking back, I think I’d rather her have asked about the abs. It would have saved me the awkwardness of standing there with him once she’d left. I hadn’t meant to be a bitch to him or imply that he was trying to pick me up, but it had all slipped out in horrifying slow motion. I blamed the grin. As much as I wanted to be immune to it, up close and personal it was hard to deflect. Thank God that group of girls had come up so I could escape. If I could avoid him the rest of this trip I was going to. It was bad enough the whole ugly scene had been replaying over and over in my head all morning; I didn’t want to have to see him again in person.

Lily and I joined the crowds shuffling down the hallways between meeting rooms. I glanced down at the well-worn piece of paper in my hand that held the room numbers and times of all of the day’s events.

"Hey, I'll meet you in there. I just need to go to the ladies room. You go and save us a seat," Lily said. Lily always had to pee. I was used to this. I waved her off and moved down the hall. I glanced down at my schedule, looking for the room number.

"Hi, Quinn." A deep voice stopped me in my tracks and I looked up, way up, into the soft blue eyes of Keaton Harris. He was standing just off the hallway in a little alcove. Lurking in the shadows.

"Oh, um, hi," I said surprised. Surprised that he was standing here, surprised that he was stopping to talk to me, and surprised that he actually remembered my name.

"I was hoping I would run into you today," he smiled.

That took me aback. "You were?" I asked suspiciously. Why on earth would he want to see me again? I'd spoken to him for only a few minutes and I hadn't even been that nice to him.

"You left your book at the party last night." His voice was smooth and warm and I hated the way it left goose bumps on my flesh. He probably practiced that voice in his spare time.

I walked over to him reluctantly, just to get out from the flow of traffic. I shook my head, "I didn't have any books with me last night. I’m pretty sure Lily got her's back to the room," I said. I could see that he was holding the copy of his latest book, the one that hadn't been released and everyone was desperate to get their hands on. The one that I'd intentionally left on his table last night. He wanted me to want it and for that reason I didn't. I'd actually been looking forward to reading it. I'd even pre-ordered a copy. But he didn't need to know that.

For whatever reason I didn’t feel the same pull to read his words that I’d had before. It was weird. I was having trouble connecting the amazing words in his books to the arrogant, fake ones that he seemed to use in real life. When I’d read his stuff I’d always felt a real honesty and a vulnerability that I could connect to and I’d always thought it was weird that people called him a player, because he’d always written with real depth. That was until I’d seen him saunter into that panel like sex on legs. His intense presence was overwhelming and the reality of him left me disconnected to the emotions he put on paper. Maybe you couldn’t judge a book by its cover, but could you judge a book by its author? I wasn’t sure anymore.

"Oh, but you did leave something behind. See, I turned around and found this sitting on the table. I tried to find you, but you were already gone," he said. He opened the cover and nodded as if to confirm what he was telling me. "Yep, this is yours. I put a special message in it. It says right here . . . To Quinn. That's you." He gave me that sexy little smirk that he was known for. He was a complete flirt. It was no wonder he had a group of ladies scouring this hotel for him at all times. He was a fiction rock star.

"You didn't have to do that," I said politely. I didn't want to be rude to him. I just didn't want him to think that he could win me over.

"But I wanted to. I wanted to talk to you last night too," he admitted and for a second I saw something new flash across his features. As if the cool, suave mask had slipped just a little. It slid back into place just as quickly though, so I was sure that I had imagined it.

"From what I saw you weren't lacking for attention or conversation," I laughed.

He shrugged. "I would have liked to talk to you though," he said. Again, it was as if the arrogant shield had slipped a little. He held out the book to me and waited.

"Thank you for the book," I said finally, taking it from his grasp. He smiled, and this time it felt genuine.

"You are welcome." He made no move to leave and I didn't know what to do to get him to go away.

"Um, okay, well thanks again." I stepped to the side to head the opposite direction.

"Wait. Where are you going?" he asked, his step mirroring mine and blocking my path. I sighed.

"I have a panel that I'm late for," I said.

"Anything interesting?" he asked curiously. Well, he pretended to be curious. I had no doubt that he was anything but. I put his book in my bag and shifted it on my shoulder.

"Yes, actually," I said crossing my arms against my chest. If he thought I was going to tell him so he could show up he was wrong.

He smiled, amused at my vagueness. "Okay. Well, go to your panel then. I hope I see you again soon," he said.

I gave him a noncommittal nod and then stepped back into hall. I swear I could feel his eyes locked on me as I walked away. I didn't want to turn around to see him, but I did. He was leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets, smile in place as if he had been sure that I would look back. I hated that he'd been right.

After an afternoon apart, me to a lecture on publishing and Lily to cover model Bingo, we met back up to converge on the goody room and gorge out on free books and swag. We moved down the rows of tables covered with lollipops and bookmarks. I even got a pizza cutter with a hot model on it. A pizza cutter. Unique. I wondered if the hot model would make me feel guilty when I was eating my frozen pizza.

"We're going to need an extra bag for the plane ride home," Lily pointed out as we both filled our bags with free stuff. She was right; I had so much to carry. And I hadn't even gone to the signing yet where I planned to drop a pretty penny on books. It was worth the extra baggage fee. My bookcase at home was going to look amazing.

"So do you really want to go to that bar hop thing tonight or do you want to go and see the city. I don't want to miss out on doing a little sight seeing while we are here," I said.

"Actually, I was going to talk to you about that," she said. She was using that sweet, sugary voice that she pulled out when she wanted to convince me to do something she was pretty sure I wouldn't want to do. I braced myself.

"What?" I asked throwing her a stern look. I had known Lily since the first grade and I knew how she worked. She was up to something and the moment I declined any part of it she would poke and prod and guilt me until she got her way. She was such a bully.

"Well, you know that guy I met last night, Miles? He asked me out to dinner," she said. Oh. Well, that wasn't what I expected. I briefly wondered if I was brave enough to explore the city on my own or if I should wait.

"Oh, he seemed nice," I smiled as I threw some lip balm into my goody bag.

"He is. And he's not bad on the eyes either," she arched a knowing eyebrow making me laugh. "Anyway, so I told him we'd have dinner with him and his brother tonight," she said quickly.

"Whoa. Hold up. You told him what?" I asked. She shrugged and grabbed up a penis shaped sucker to examine.

"He has a meeting with his brother and asked if I wanted to meet him for dinner. I told him while I would love to go to dinner with him that I was here with my best friend in the whole wide world and I couldn't possibly think of deserting her on our vacation," she said eyeing me with a sweet innocent pout. I scowled at her. "And since he had that meeting I suggested that we could all go together. That way everyone was happy."

"I'm not happy," I pointed out. She waved her hand dismissively.

"It'll be fun, Quinny. I mean, you've seen Miles. You know his brother has to be good looking too. And what's the worst that could happen? You get a free dinner and look at handsome men. There are worse things, friend," she said matter-of-factly.

"And I assume this has all been confirmed?" I asked.

"We're meeting them at the restaurant at seven," she smiled sweetly.

"I hate you," I growled.

"You love me," she challenged.

"That's up for debate." She was my best friend and I did love her, but sometimes her whimsy was like living on a merry-go-round at top speed and never knowing how to jump off. I usually just held on and tried not to get sick. God love her.

"Trust me, Quinn. We're on vacation. Let's go out and make the most of it. It'll be fun."

Famous last words.

"I CANNOT BELIEVE
that you are dragging me on a blind double date in a strange city. Only you would do this," I grimaced as we made our way down the crowded street.

"Quinn, you gotta trust me. This Miles guy is hot. And he seems really nice. If I had to guess his brother is going to be hot too," she said.

"I don't care if he is or not. I'm not here to meet guys. This is supposed to be our girls’ week," I pointed out.

"Seriously? What is wrong with you? Where is your sense of fun and adventure? It's just dinner. Two hours of the night. If it goes badly you can go back to the hotel and read or something. But for now, you are going to flash that sexy smile of yours and pretend to have fun," she ordered.