The entertainment was endless. Someone sang, there was some ballroom dancing, a comedian. Someone else sang. Everyone clapped politely and ate their dinner as it was served up in courses. The final announcement of the winner of the Golden Kiss Award would be given just before dessert was served.
Garrett barely touched his wine. He barely touched his food. All he wanted was to get Kendra and himself and Tess out of this place as soon as possible before the vultures could descend again. It was Kendra curling her fingers around his that drew his attention back to the present as some man on stage crooned a medley of love songs. She leaned close to him. ‘You’re supposed to be enjoying yourself. You’re the date of the most mysterious, most exciting woman in the whole room. This is Tess’s moment.’ She moved her hand down to rest on his thigh. If she hadn’t had his full attention before, she did now. ‘Kiss me on the ear,’ she whispered. ‘And slip your arm around me. You’re supposed to be into me, remember?’
Doing as she asked was no hardship, and it helped take his mind off the position in which they now found themselves. The fact that doing so not only made her smile, but made her blush and giggle softly went a long way to focus him on things far removed from what was happening onstage. He could feel Blessing’s gaze boring into the back of his head, but that didn’t matter quite so much as he dropped a kiss on Kendra’s ear, then another on the glorious expanse of her neck laid bare by the off-the-shoulder dress.
And then it was time. The two MCs stood before the microphone and read the names and recent achievements of the five novelists. A big deal was made out of the fact that this was Tess’s first ever public appearance. The camera zoomed in on her, where she sat smiling demurely next to him, and suddenly Kendra’s lovely face filled the big display screens that had been placed so everyone could get a good view of what was going on. Garrett felt the muscles in his shoulders knot even tighter.
The reassuring squeeze of her hand against his was just beginning to calm him when the MC said, ‘And the winner of this year’s coveted Golden Kiss Award is … Tess Delaney!’
Chapter Nine
The crowd went wild. Garrett nearly catapulted from his chair, an act that Kendra turned into an exuberant winner’s kiss for her date followed by a reassuring caress of his biceps. Then she made her way up the aisle toward the stage, and Don did his best to subtly ease Garrett back into his seat. Not that it mattered; all cameras were on Tess Delaney, all adoring eyes were on her, and Garrett wasn’t entirely sure he wasn’t going to throw up. He felt hot all over, he felt like his chest was about to explode and his stomach was about to implode. He wanted to run up to the stage and whisk Kendra away before she could open her mouth. Dear God, surely this was expecting too much of even her.
‘Calm down,’ Don hissed in Garrett’s ear. ‘Let her take care of it. Just smile like the adoring lover. That’s right. Tess won, Garrett, Tess Delaney won the Golden Kiss. You know what that means?’
‘Shut up, Don,’ Garrett hissed between barely parted lips.
‘Then sit down and behave yourself.’ Don made no effort to disguise the warning in his voice. Garrett was sure the man would have put him in a stranglehold if he felt it necessary. Well he was certainly welcome to try, Garrett thought.
On stage, Tess took possession of the golden trophy topped with its replica of Rodin’s sculpture, The Kiss. She graciously gave each of the two presenters a peck on the cheek to a roar of applause. Then she stood, smiling brightly in front of the microphone, till the room quieted. She waited for a second, then the smile broadened and became contagious. Garrett couldn’t help noticing that everyone was smiling back at her. Even he was smiling back at her.
‘This is such a wonderful surprise.’ She looked down at the trophy. ‘I can’t tell you how honored I am even to have been nominated for this award, to be in the company of such esteemed writers, writers who are my heroes in the romance world. But to actually win – well, I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. I don’t mind saying that I was a little bit nervous when my publicist suggested that the Golden Kiss Awards might be the time to make my first ever public appearance. I mean –’ she leaned close to the microphone ‘– it’s just so very public, isn’t it?’
Her captivated audience laughed their appreciation.
‘As I’m sure you can imagine, I’ve always felt more at home behind the laptop than I do in the public eye. I guess most writers probably feel that way. I’m guessing I’m not the only one who finds myself a lot more comfortable talking with my characters than with real people, a lot more at home with the people I’ve created in my novels than I am with, well, people in the real world. I’ve always found them a bit scary, a bit intimidating. But, well –’ she offered the audience a dazzling smile