Chapter Five

If there was ever a time Wes welcomed the ego boost, it was now. The applause, the whistles, the flirting looks from those whose eyes met his—this is what made it easier to breathe when the rest of the week had felt like holding his breath.

He’d been in town three days and had yet to churn out the fifty pages Max was expecting by Monday.

It was Thursday.

“Wow,” he said, leaning casually against the table and setting down the motorcycle helmet he still held. “Thanks. I—uh—haven’t been back to Chicago in a while, so this is quite the homecoming.”

He shrugged off the leather jacket, and someone in the crowd yelled, “How about the shirt, too?”

He laughed as he hung the jacket on the back of the chair and looked down at his plain black T-shirt and jeans. Then he shook his head. “Annie runs a respectable business, folks. Pretty sure there’s a sign somewhere that requires a shirt for service.” Laughter—they warmed up to him easily, but he still felt a chill in the air. Then he realized Annie was nearby, her back to him as she walked toward the rear of the crowd.

“You know,” he said, leaning forward as if about to tell the audience a secret. “This is just between us, but I had a mad crush on our bookshop owner in high school.”

There were gasps and awws, and he watched as Annie stopped in her tracks and hesitated before turning in his direction. He knew what she’d think, that he was just trying to get on her good side—and maybe that of the readers, too. So she hated his book. That was a strike against him. But he wasn’t lying about that high school crush. The truth was always in the words he wrote—and the ones he spoke as well.

“She was right, though. I was this obnoxious kid when she was already—well, look at her. She’s gorgeous, and she was a decade ago, too.”

Even from the distance he could see her cheeks go pink, and he smiled. She, however, glared at him and crossed her arms. Annie Denning was having none of it.

“But enough about me and my unrequited crush—or maybe I should write about it someday…” More laughter, but he decided to let Annie off the hook. “How about we start with a Q&A? Then I’ll do a couple of readings, and then sign?”

The crowd nodded in agreement.

Then the questions started rolling in.

“When will we hear about book two?” a woman asked.

“When my publisher lets me say more about it,” he said, which wasn’t really a lie. Joanna wouldn’t let him share what didn’t exist.

“What about movie rights?”

He scrubbed a hand across his jaw. “Nothing is in stone yet, but I should have some news on that front soon.”

One of the men in the front raised a hand, and Wes nodded to him.

“I’m sure you get asked this all the time, but I’ve scoured interviews to find the answer and have never seen you address it in print. Are all of Ethan’s lovers based on your own experience?”

Ah, yes. There it was again. The age-old question, and the one he never gave a straight answer to. He’d talked around the issue well enough in New York last week, but Annie was still watching him, and something in her stare made him want to come clean, even if he wasn’t entirely direct.

He scratched the back of his neck and held Annie’s gaze even though the question came from the front row.

“The story started as my senior thesis. I was young.” Quiet laughter rang out. “Younger than I am now.” He saw the ghost of a smile on Annie Denning’s lips. “So—yeah,” he added. “There was research involved. It was supposed to be an exploration of the male/female relationship, and it just sort of morphed into a book, I guess.”

Her smile faded, and he wondered what he’d said wrong. That was the most up-front he’d ever been about where the material for his story came from.

His eyes dropped back to the man in the front row who wore his own satisfied grin.

“And are you—researching book two?”

The whole crowd erupted, and he used it as his segue to move to the chair behind the table where he read a couple of excerpts before promising to sign and take photos no matter how long the line was. He’d stay until everyone was taken care of, and then he’d stay some more and get to know the store’s owner—if she’d let him.

It was the two men from the front—Doug and Dan, he learned—who were the last to get their books signed. Annie and Brynn were clearing away boxes from the books they’d sold when the blond—Doug—grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her next to him, right in front of the signing table.

“He should be your plus one,” Doug said, and Annie shook her head violently.

Wes leaned back and crossed his arms.

“I can attend a wedding without a date,” she protested.

“You replied with a plus one,” Dan added, and Annie rolled her eyes.

“Well, tell that to the guy who thought attending a wedding was too serious of a commitment. As if every woman who goes to a wedding wants to marry her date.”

Dan stage-whispered to Doug, “She always chooses the commitment-phobes. Why do you think that is?”

“Maybe because she doesn’t really want to commit,” Doug whispered back while Wes watched, amusement on his face.

“Not until she finds someone who holds a candle to her romance heroes.”

Wes laughed while Annie scoffed.

“Standing right here, guys,” she said. “And I still have to buy you two a wedding gift, so you better watch what you say before I go off registry and pick out something myself.”

Dan gasped while Doug waved her off. “She’s bluffing.”

“She better be,” Dan said.

“When’s the wedding?” Wes asked.

“Saturday,” both men said in unison. “In this darling Central Illinois town called Bliss. Everything—I mean everything there is wedding.”

Wes shrugged. “I’m free.”

Again Annie shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m good without a pity date.”

Doug crossed his arms. “The extra plate is already paid for. You don’t want us having a table with an unused setting, do you?” He batted his dark lashes at her, and Annie groaned.

“You’re not worried about an unused place setting.”

Doug gave her a pointed look.

“Okay, maybe you are. Just a little. But I think you’re more interested in showing off a famous author to your guests.”

They both nodded.

“Guilty,” Doug said.

“Totally guilty,” Dan echoed.

“I feel like a piece of meat,” Wes said, but he was grinning. “But I don’t know. Annie sounds like she doesn’t want to be seen with a—how did she put it? Famous author.”

Taking Annie to a wedding? He’d change her opinion of the book—and him—by giving her a night to remember.

Annie rolled her eyes and let out a breath. “Fine,” she said, then turned to Wes. “You can come.”

“Best invitation I’ve ever received,” he said, then stood so he could lean over the table to kiss her on the cheek. He whispered in her ear, “I wasn’t lying about that teenage crush.”

When he pulled away, he could have sworn he saw her shiver.

“Okay,” he said to Doug and Dan. “Whose book am I signing first?”

But all he could think about was two nights from now—and spending the evening with the fiery redhead who tried to remain cool as ice in his presence.

She had already turned and was following Brynn out a side door with her share of the empty boxes.

“Looking forward to our date,” he called after her. “You can tell me about all your favorite romance heroes!”

She glanced over her shoulder and glowered but said nothing in response.

“All you have to do is give her a happily ever after,” Dan said.

At that Wes let out a breath and went to work signing the books.

He couldn’t give any woman what he didn’t believe in. He’d never seen himself as the hero type anyway, but for one night he could play the part.

If it meant a night with Annie Denning.