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“I’ll be sure to give it a read,” I said. “Besides, it is Zoe Maxwell, after all.”
Sara left, and I felt the book being lifted from my hands. Zoe sat down and quickly started scribbling her name on the front page.
“You did really well,” I said, bending down a bit to try and meet her eye.
She smiled, but kept her eyes fixated on the page. “Thanks,” she said. “Your segment was really great, too. I didn’t know you had become this successful.”
“I guess we’re both full of surprises,” I said as she handed me the book.
Her eyes finally looked up at mine, and I found myself in that same messed up place I had always been whenever she looked at me. For a second I was thrown back to when we were in college, a rush of emotions bursting through me, a shitload of stuff that I had forgotten and was suddenly making me very uneasy.
I tried my best to keep my cool. “So how have you been?” I asked.
“Good,” she said, attempting another smile that didn’t work. She was obviously nervous. “Busy.”
“I can see that,” I said, holding the book up again. “Pleasing Him. Interesting title.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah,” I echoed. There was a sudden awkward silence as we both just looked at each other. “So, I tried calling you last night, didn’t know if you were still in town.”
“Oh, right, sorry about that,” Zoe replied, beginning to gather her things again. She stood up and slung her purse over her shoulder. “I must have missed it.”
“Well, I’m in town for a few days,” I said. “Setting up for the new studio. I could really do with the company of a familiar face. I don’t know anyone in town, not anymore.”
Zoe smiled, a genuine smile this time. “I’m glad you thought of me.”
If only you had any idea.
“So how about dinner?” I asked. “If you’re free tonight, I’d love to catch up.”
She fidgeted, her eyes squinting at me for a second, before she finally said, “Sure. I have a few errands to run. Later tonight?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
She nodded, then struck out her hand. “Tonight it is.”
I stepped past her hand and gave her a tight hug, feeling her breasts push up against my chest. “I’ll call you,” I whispered, then stepped back.
She stood in frozen shock for a few seconds while I turned and walked away. I raised the book above my head and shook it. “I’ll have to read this before we meet.”
Yeah. Like I was going to waste my time doing that.
CHAPTER NINE: Zoe
“You did great!”
My hands were shaking as I held the cellphone to my ear. Graham’s voice on the other line was supposed to make me feel better, calmer, but all it did was make me more anxious. Chad’s cologne still filled my sense, and the feeling of his arms wrapped around me in that tight hug was a lingering reminder that I had, in fact, not been dreaming. Ever since I walked out of the studio, I couldn’t stop shaking. How he still had that effect on me, after a
ll these years, I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
I had tried to find Graham everywhere, but Sara told me he had left right after my segment. Which was just as well. I knew I had been a blabbering mess on the show, and I didn’t want him to see me like this. I didn’t feel like trying to explain anything to him. Not now.
“I messed up,” I said, catching the driver’s eyes in the rearview mirror before he quickly looked away.
“You did great,” Graham said in his usual assuring tone. “It was a big hit. And those free books, totally worth it. I’m telling you, Zoe, you had them eating out of the palm of your hands. I see big things for your next release.” He paused. “Sorry I couldn’t be there for the whole thing.”
“It’s okay,” I replied. “I was signing books, not fighting a zombie apocalypse.” Although, in my head, it was pretty much the same thing.
