Heart Shaped Spotlight

Trisha sat back, laughing. “I’m fine to take the streetcar.”

“Come on, I can charge it to this room,” I begged. “Let me feel decadent and fancy, like I’m spoiling you. Please?”

“Alright. Sure.”

“Can I take you out tomorrow night? Dinner and drinks, on a real date?”

Her beautiful face froze. “What if people recognize you?”

Dammit. “I hadn’t even thought of that.”

“How could you not think of that? You just won a TV show on a major network. Millions of people saw it. Some of them are going to be walking around in every city.”

Her voice was strained. I’d upset her already. “We’ll figure it out,” I said gently. “We could go to a little diner somewhere, with very few people. Or we could have dinner here.”

“Here. Alone,” she blurted. “If that’s okay?”

“Anything you want.”

She followed me as I stood up, throwing my hotel card in my pocket and walking her to the elevator. The second we were inside with the doors closed, I pulled her entire body against mine, kissing her with that deep heat that seemed to spark through both of us. Her soft moan against my lips made my heart gallop as if I'd run a marathon.

I finally pulled away seconds before the door opened, wrapping an arm around her to guide her through the lobby. "Do you have any plans tomorrow?" I asked.

Trisha grinned up at me, looking slightly dazed. "Housework, groceries, reading about a few new networking protocols. The usual Saturday. And you?"

I waited while we both took our turn in the huge revolving door. "I have a bunch of interviews, most of them set up through some TV studio so they can run the live feed to the States. I think. Dave will tell me what I’m doing."

Trisha's bright laugh was enchanting. "Thank goodness you have Dave to keep an eye on you," she said. "That must have been the guy in the suit who held your phone?"

"Exactly. He's a manager, big brother, idiot wrangler… Whatever services I require at the moment. I'll find out in the morning what's going on, and what time I'll be done. Probably by six or seven. Then we could have dinner here?"

"Sure," she nodded.

Trisha could obviously tell that I wanted to kiss her again, but there were people around us, and a few of them were definitely glancing in my direction. I opened the back door of a black town car, giving the driver my hotel code so that he could charge me.

"I can't wait to see you again tomorrow," I said, reaching out to brush her elbow for just a second.

She smiled, giving me a little wave as she got into the car, and I couldn't stop staring until it disappeared around the corner.

As I went back to my room, nodding to a few girls who were waving wildly, I wondered if I would ever be able to help Trisha get over her shy, timid nature. Even just a little bit. I would love to take her out and show her the world, but she could only handle things on her terms.

Maybe once she realized that my fans were never a screaming mob, just a tiny handful of people who wanted a photo, she would relax. Maybe once we were officially together again, it would give her the strength to be a bit more outgoing.

I would never want to change my darling girl, but I was reminded all over again that it was a bit of a challenge to be with her.

Chapter Eleven ~ Trisha

* A Real Date *

Saturday evening at six pm, my bare feet were practically wearing a groove in the threadbare carpet of my living room. What the ever-living hell does a girl wear on a first date with her long lost boyfriend?

Before I could figure out what to wear, I needed to know what message I should be sending. Nate genuinely seemed like he expected us to start dating immediately as if that were perfectly normal. Since I’d never dated anyone else, I didn't know whether that was normal or not.

My mind was split in two directions. I had never clicked with any other guy, so I should take a chance and see what happened. On the other hand, it was obvious that his lifestyle was far more than I could handle. Being uncomfortable was something I had to deal with daily, but this seemed a bit too extreme.

My body was having a completely different conversation, telling me to wear something sexy and throw myself at him.

Even if nothing became of our second chance at a relationship, there was no one else in the world I could imagine sharing my first time with. Nate really listened to me. He truly cared about me. The thought of having sex was exhilarating and terrifying and intriguing, but with him, I knew I could make it through the awkward bits.