Identity Crisis(44)

He’d been pacing the floor of the living room dressed in his best jeans and a blue cotton shirt she had insisted he iron. When he’d hinted that he wasn’t very good at ironing, she only glared at him and nodded to the ironing board. He’d had help to do that sort of thing in New York, but he’d not gotten around to hiring anyone yet. He paced once more and then suddenly found himself looking up at her descending the stairs, and his full attention was riveted to her luscious long legs leading the way from underneath a sundress that hugged her body in shades of turquoise and gold. And how she could even walk in the shoes with the nosebleed heels was beyond him. But she wasn’t just walking, she was practically floating.

She wore her hair loose around her shoulders and the fact she was actually smiling at him rather than growling, as had been the order of the day so far, went a long way toward easing the discomfort he felt at having to face the press. The whole damn lot of them had once again rudely made themselves at home on his front lawn after they discovered that the sighting of Tess Delaney at the Heathman was a false lead.

‘It’s just that I worry,’ he said, nodding toward the kitchen and the laptop with the email.

‘Don’t,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry. These things happen.’ A lovely blush crawled up her throat and onto her cheeks. ‘I overreacted, that’s all. I’m just neurotic; something you should be warned about if we’re going to be spending time in close proximity.’

But it was more than that. He was sure of it. Way more. And that’s what really frightened him. He was pretty sure that whatever had driven Kendra Davis to her knees was not likely to be something easy. Now wasn’t the time to approach the subject. But he would approach it. There was too much at stake not to.

He returned his attention to what she was saying. ‘There was no press conference last night at the Golden Kiss Awards. We cheated them. That’s not a wise thing to do to the press. If we want to pull this off and get Tess back, first into their good graces, and then back to her solitude, we’ve got to give them what was promised, and we’ve got to do it graciously.’

‘I didn’t promise anything,’ he grumped.

‘Yes, you did, Garrett,’ She reached up and brushed an unruly lock of hair out of his eyes. ‘You did when you – when Tess penned the very first Tess Delaney novel.’ She nodded to the front door, out to the crowd camped on the lawn. ‘You promised them romance, and you’ve always delivered it. Now’s no different. Now’s even more important in a lot of ways. They get to meet their heroine. No one wants to be disappointed by those they look up to. So let’s give them something worthy of looking up to, shall we?’

It was crazy, but suddenly he wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her, just kiss her, and hold her there. How could someone who could be such a bitch see into his heart so easily?

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, not taking his eyes off her edible smile. ‘Then let’s do it,’ he said.

They walked arm in arm to the front door. On the other side they could hear the chatter and shuffling of the reporters. She offered his arm a reassuring squeeze, which he figured also served as a reminder of just how hard she would pinch him if he fucked up, but suddenly it didn’t matter. Suddenly he knew he wouldn’t fuck up, because at that moment, there was nothing he wanted more than to please Kendra Davis. He wasn’t sure why that was, but it just was. She gave him a nod, and he opened the front door.

As usual, the annoying Mr. Pittman was the first to lunge at the couple. But this time, it was Garrett who stepped forward, forcing the man back – gently and politely, but forcing him back nonetheless. He could feel Kendra bristle next to him, but he offered her his warmest smile, then he turned his attention back to the reporters.

‘If I could just get you all to step back off the porch and give Ms. Delaney and me a little breathing room, we’d be happy to answer your questions.’

Kendra offered him a quick glance of surprise as the reporters, mumbling quietly amongst themselves, did as Garrett asked.

When they’d all settled, he offered his brightest smile – for her; not for them – but they didn’t have to know that, did they? ‘I believe that I robbed you all of a press conference last night, and who can really blame me for wanting the stunning woman of the hour all to myself.’ He offered Kendra an adoring look.

The women all smiled that wistful smile women got when they were wishing their guys were so romantic to them. And the men all nodded their agreement – that they would certainly feel the same way as Garrett if they had Tess Delaney on their arm. All the men, that is, except for Mr. Pittman, who seemed completely focused on getting a story.