"Secondly," he says, ignoring me, "I had no idea where you were this morning. You didn't even text."
"Uh, neither did you." Are we really having this conversation? "I read the schedule, I read the emails, I knew where I had to go."
"I shouldn't have to check in," he hisses. "You're here working for me. Don't forget it."
Oh my God, he's acting like a child. But at least this version of Adrian, I know how to deal with.
"I'll make sure to keep that in mind." I test out one of my pens.
A bubbly, smiling blonde takes her seat at the table a few feet from mine. Her name tag says Isabella Duncan, Paranormal Romance.
"Hey!" She sticks out her hand to me. "Natalie McBride, wow. It's so great to meet you! I'm Izzy. I'm actually moderating your panel tomorrow."
"Call me Nat," I tell her, almost solely because I feel like it'll annoy Adrian. "That's great - it's nice to meet you."
"Is this your first rodeo?" she asks me.
"Kind of. I did one signing before. A small one. Not like this." I can already hear the echo of many voices as the line starts to get rambunctious.
"Oh, you're gonna love it. Everyone's just so happy to see you. But don't let it go to your head." She winks at me.
Oh, if only you knew.
***
I think my hand might be permanently cramped into a claw.
The crowds have dissipated, and I'm trying to forcibly remind myself that I am Not. Natalie. McBride. In spite of everything, Izzy was right to warn me. It's hard to see that many people so excited to meet you, without letting it go to your head a little bit.
Adrian's stepped away to mutter on his phone to someone, most likely Kara, so I turn back to Izzy with a rueful smile. "Well, we survived."
"See? Wasn't it great?" She's shaking some feeling back into her hand. "So are you going to the party tonight?"
"There's a party?"
She nods vigorously. "Oh, yeah. My publisher's sponsoring it, but it's open to everybody. There's going to be some cover models there taking pictures, and you can even get custom poses done. Super hot guys, free booze, it's a win all around. Everybody's gonna be there."
"Um, I don't know." I clear my throat, and reach for one of the cough drops Siobhan left for me. "I do have that panel…"
"Not until the afternoon." She rolls her eyes. "Come on, you can have a few drinks."
"Okay. I guess."
"Great!" She bounces to her feet. "I'll see you there. I gotta run - I have to meet someone for lunch."
Adrian's missed all this conversation, which I'm grateful for. I know, without having to ask, he'll have some choice words if he finds out that I'm planning on attending. It's none of his business, really, I'm doing everything he's told me to do, and I'm doing it well. But he's already irritated over something else, so this is almost guaranteed to become a thing.
Just once, I want to have a little fun without Adrian somehow ruining it. Is that too much to ask?
***
The last panel session of the day has just ended. It's not quite dinnertime, so I'm having wine and tapas with Adrian, at the overcrowded hotel bar that seems incredibly ill-prepared for this event, like someone just reminded them about it yesterday. We haven't managed to get table service once, but Adrian doesn't seem to mind going up and flirting with the bartender to get things. Doesn't even have to wave his wallet around for special treatment, that one. It would be impressive if it wasn't so disgusting.
I watch Adrian spear an olive on a toothpick and chew it thoughtfully. I haven't mentioned that I'm going to the party; I keep telling myself it's not important, but I know that's not the reason why.
We're still talking about a workshop we sat through earlier, with one of the rare male romance authors who will actually show his face at these events and own up to his gender. Most of the women swooned over him, but I found his viewpoints on the genre to be pretty off-base.
"I mean, seriously, I'm so sick of hearing that thing about how 'women can just get sex whenever they want.'" I polish off my wine and grab the bottle. "It's not even close to true."
"You have to admit he has a point," Adrian says. "I'm sure he doesn't mean it literally, but the average woman can go out and find casual sex much more easily than the average man. Are you really suggesting that's not the case?"
I just snort. "Yeah. Right. I'm pretty sure he could go out and have sex any time he wants, too. It's just not the sex he'd prefer to have, with the person he'd prefer to have it with. And that's an experience all of us are familiar with." I glance over my drink, at Adrian's stormy eyes. "Except you, of course."
He laughs a little, shaking his head. "You have a lot of strange ideas about my life."
"Please. Are you telling me you can't get any woman you want, any time you want?" I'm rolling my eyes, aware that I'm being hyperbolic and also maybe a little bit too revealing of my personal feelings about Adrian and his tight abs. Oh, well. It's too late to turn back now.
He quirks an eyebrow and I realize, too late, that I'm about to regret having this conversation. "All right, then," he says smoothly. "You and me. Right now. Let's go."
I'm blushing so deep red, I can practically feel it glowing off of my skin. "That doesn't count!" I insist.
"Why not?" As he takes a swallow of his whiskey, I notice the playful glint in his eyes. I'm just not quite sure what it means. "Because it's you?"
"Because you're not trying."
His eyes crinkle at the corners. "Do you want me to try?"
"God, no," I mutter, into the rim of my glass. "Don't embarrass yourself."
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch someone waving at me. It's Izzy, I realize, letting me know the party is about to get started. I take another sip of my drink and stand up.
"Well, I'm supposed to go hang out with Izzy from the signing," I tell him, but I can already tell he's not buying it. The back of my neck starts to get hot, and I take a deep breath. "So, I'll see you in the morning, bright and early. We can go over the panel stuff."
"Hang out with Izzy?" he echoes. "This wouldn't happen to be at the topless man mixer, would it?"
"I dunno." I shrug, even as my face turns bright red. "What mixer?"
His fingers are drumming on the table.
"Fine." I roll my eyes. "I'm going to the damn mixer. With the cover models. Everybody is going to be there, it seems stupid to miss out on it."