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“Be sure to check back later to see your picture on his page!” I call to Reece as the guy leaves. “Who knows? He might even make it his profile pic!”
The guy returns a giant grin.
“I’m serious,” I say to Jarvis, angling the screen toward him. “It’s a good one. You look divine. So, who’s next?”
“Actually, I think that’s plenty of photos. Thanks,” he grumbles, motioning for his phone.
“Oh, you sure? I really don’t mind. You were right, as always. I’m so good at this. Wait until you see the magic I captured on the curtain frame behind you.”
I’m no expert, but in my opinion his current expression does not seem very camera friendly.
He shoots out his hand, and I approach with a sigh.
“Well, let me know if you need my help again. It was fun,” I say with the brightest smile I can muster.
Larinda is holding back a laugh, and a burst of warmth shoots through me when our eyes meet. There’s no doubt she caught what just went down. She has a reputation for being shallow and clueless, but that’s just one of the many ways in which she’s misunderstood. This woman is deep and complex, and peeling back her layers this past year to find the intelligent, creative person inside has been an honor and aphrodisiac. There’s nothing sexier than brushing the secrets of someone’s soul for the first time.
But my efforts to dramatically return Jarvis’ phone are thwarted by her sudden squeal.
Alarmed, I follow her excited jog-jump toward… Nash and Paige? Guess they made it. I probably have a message on my phone that I missed since I was so busy with Jarvis’.
“Hey, Larinda,” Nash says with a huge grin. “Surprise.”
She’s still “squeeing” as she throws her arms around him and does an adorable hug-hop thing. Even his girlfriend (AKA my uptight sister) looks on in amusement.
“You’re here!” Larinda cries. “How did you get here? Wait, why are you here?”
She’s still bouncing as she steps back to hold him at arm’s length and scan him. Forget protecting her from Jarvis’ plot. I’m glad we surprised her for this moment alone. She could use a win.
“We were in town and thought we’d stop by,” Nash says. “Steve was able to get us in.”
Larinda laughs and shoves him. “Whatever, rockstar. Like you needed to be on a list to get through the door.”
He shrugs. “Hey, you’re the rockstar. I’m just?—”
“A soon-to-be Oscar-nominated artist, blah blah blah. Yeah, we know,” Paige mumbles. Nash tosses her a grin that draws an eye roll from my sister.
“Hi, Larinda. It’s great to see you,” she says. “Sorry for interrupting. Nash insisted on crashing your meet and greet.”
“It’s fine! I’m just so glad?—"
“Actually, we really do need to be getting back to it, baby,” Jarvis says, coming up beside Larinda.
Wow. Talk about a superpower. His ability to sour every drop of positivity is remarkable. If Jarvis earned a spot in comic book lore, he’d be The Rancid Wrangler. Wait, no. That’s too cool of a name. The Curdler. Yeah, that’s it.
Nash’s expression is what mine must look like whenever Jarvis is in visual range.
“Of course,” Paige says, taking Nash’s hand to calm him before there’s an epic clash of celebrity forces. Bike Boy versus The Curdler. Coming to a meet and greet near you!
(I still don’t understand why Nash jokes about being called Bike Boy, but even Paige calls him that when she’s feeling particularly annoyed… or frisky. Ew. Back to the present nightmare.)
“We’ll catch up with you later,” she says to Larinda. “Let us know when you have some downtime. Maybe after the show tonight?”
“That would be great!” Larinda says. “We should have plenty of time to catch up before we roll out.”
Her gaze brushes me, and I wilt under the silent message. My secret girlfriend is available since I won’t be taking up her downtime anymore.
We need to resolve this mess quickly. I’m not sure how much longer I can take this tension between us. It’s been two hours and I’m ready to fold.
