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“Ohhh. Right. I thought he looked familiar.” She looked from him to me and back again. “Your, uh… Mr. Davenport said he would only be a few minutes. I’ll let him know where you are when he comes back.” Her gaze dipped down to where Loïc was now clutching my hand, staking an obvious claim.
“Thank you.”
God…the rumors were going to fly about this.
This was the first time anything even remotely embarrassing had happened to me at a talk show, other than the one time I’d had to sit on a tall chair in a short skirt, which didn’t even compare.
We headed backstage with Loïc still stuck to me like a sexy, protective lamprey eel.
“I’ll see you when you’re done.” He dropped a kiss on my cheek. The crew, of course, noticed his familiarity with me. Part of me wanted to hide my face, but I didn’t want Loïc to think I was embarrassed to be seen with him.
What were people going to think?
No, Tarryn. Stop it. That’s your father talking.
Hopefully, Valor wouldn’t be too upset that people had seen me with another man, but things with Loïc were an actual relationship now, not a fling we could, or even should, hide from the world.
The queasiness and butterflies in my stomach were warring for top billing, and as I heard them announce me, I felt like I might puke.
I walked out, making sure my back was straight, and gave a practiced smile to the audience—bright, but not showing an annoyingnumber of teeth. I waved, and then greeted the hosts, grasping their hands, and kissing their cheeks.
The show was relatively well-established, but one of the hosts was new. We managed to get some banter in, amusing the studio audience. Interviews like this were a whole different type of acting, where people wanted you to be real, but also perfect and charming. Unfortunately, I could be awkward as fuck in person. I did much better with a script.
“Tarryn—is it true one of your costars is here with you today?” Alicia asked brightly, veering off from the questions I’d been prepared for.
“Oh—yes. I didn’t even know he was in town.”
“Do you think he would come out and talk to us for a few minutes?”
Oh, crap. I pasted on a sanguine smile and shrugged. “Anything is possible.”
With Loïc, quite literally anything.
Without a moment of hesitation, Loïc strode on stage, and the audience erupted in applause that didn’t require a teleprompter. Then again, most of the audience members were women, and Loïc was Loïc. Even if they hadn’t seen the show, they’d be happy to look at him.
I couldn’t help but laugh as he smiled and waved like an experienced actor, charming the crowd before making his way to the empty chair next to me. He slid onto the chair, not even needing to step up to reach the high seat and smoothly took my hand. Surreptitiously, I tried to disengage myself, but he wouldn’t allow it, and I wasn’t about to make a scene.
The man was an absolute brat.
“So, Loïc, you’re a relatively new addition to the show,” Alicia said to him, not missing the grip he had on my hand. “Is it true you had no acting experience before this?”
“None at all,” he said, his French accent thicker than usual. “I was in the right place at the right time.” The corner of his mouth curled with hisself-satisfied smirk. His gaze slid to mine, and I wanted to kick him. Was he trying to insinuate that the ‘right place’ he’d been in was my bed? Maybe it was true, but I wasn't ready to announce it on national television.
“Your on-screen chemistry with Tarryn has taken an already popular show and catapulted it into the number one spot over the past few episodes. What’s your secret?”
His smile turned a bit wolfish. “I have many secrets, Alicia. I’m not sure what’s appropriate for daytime television.”
Anne, the more established host, chuckled. “Tarryn, your poor husband must be averyunderstanding man.”
Shit. Fuck. The entire interview had gone off the rails. What the hell was I supposed to do with this?
“Oh, he’s very understanding,” Loïc practically purred, ignoring the quelling frown I aimed his way.
I watched as he scanned the room. His eyes locked on something. When I looked past the lights, I could see Valor, standing frozen at the back of the tiers of theater seating, his lips slightly parted in shock. No doubt, he was as surprised to see Loïc as I’d been.
“What he doesn’t know is that I plan to marry her.”
I was about to give him a joking verbal smackdown, but he twisted toward me. For a terrifying moment, I thought he was going to kiss me right there on national television. But no—not Loïc.
