His seemed confused until he took in the dimness of the room. "Are you sure?"
I stepped closer to him. "I've never been more certain." I looped my arms around his neck so my body was pressed against him. He placed his hands around my waist, anchoring me in place. The contact made me tremble. It had been so long since I had felt his embrace.
"I wasn't done winning your heart back," he said huskily, running his hands up and down my side.
"My heart is already yours," I whispered, placing my lips on my favorite spot on his neck that I had first licked so long ago. This time it was his turn to tremble in my arms.
"And mine is yours," he said as his lips claimed mine. "I have something for you."
"I know, let's go to the bedroom and you can give it to me." I grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the hallway.
"No, well, I want that for sure, but I want to give you this first." He reached behind his back, into his pocket. "I was going to give it to you at the restaurant, but this works too." He brought his hand around holding out a single, perfect peacock feather. "I'm hoping this will be our new beginning."
His hand moved to the back of my neck, massaging me gently. "Nicole, I love you." His voice was deep and husky, but more importantly, sincere.
"I love you," I echoed a moment before his lips crashed to mine.
Chapter Twenty-One
"Are you ready for this?"
I shook my head. "Not on your life. I can't believe I allowed you and Olivia to talk me into this."
"Interview phobia?" Alec teased, reminding me of a conversation we had long ago.
I ignored his question as I sat on the edge of the loveseat in the green room of the local news station. Fear didn't even begin to cover how I was feeling at the moment. Maybe when I tossed my cookies, Alec wouldn't think it was so funny. I'm sure when the morning wake-up talk show asked to do an interview with me, they thought I would be more sophisticated and put together. Not a jittery mess. I wished I would have taken Olivia's suggestion and downed a bottle of wine, but it was too late now.
Thomas, one of the producers we had been introduced to, entered the room. "Ms. Blake, Mr. Petropoulos? This is Lisa Shaw," he said, introducing us to a tall, leggy beauty I recognized from watching the show.
I stood up to shake her hand, trying to control the shaking in my knees. "It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise," she said, beaming at me. "I have to say, I read your book and I absolutely adored it. I'm a little awestruck at the moment, so you may have to excuse me if I start fangirling too much."
A warm feeling spread through me as some of my tension left. "I'm so happy to hear that. I enjoyed writing it, and I'm so glad readers were able to connect with it."
"Oh, I connected all right," she laughed. "I can barely wait for book two to come out. Have you picked a date yet?"
I nodded. "Hopefully soon. That's all I can say at the moment."
"I can't wait," she gushed. Thomas cleared his throat. "Oops, that's our cue to get rolling," she said as an assistant attached a microphone to my shirt and then Alec's. "This will be a short segment. Just keep your focus on me and forget about the audience."
"Sounds great," Alec said, placing a warm hand on my knee that had started bouncing nervously.
We followed the assistant into the studio where a small audience sat waiting for the show to return from commercial break. Two empty plush chairs sat next to Lisa, separated by a small round table. Thomas counted us down and Lisa turned directly into the camera as the audience applauded. "Welcome back, everyone. You all know how I love me some romance," she said, making the audience roar with laughter. "Fortunately, we have one of the hottest authors in the business right now living in our own backyard. Here to talk about her latest book, Wicked Lovely, is New York Times bestselling author, N.S. Blake, and for an extra treat, the cover model—yeah, this is him right here—Alec Petropoulos." She held up the book, pointing to the cover as the audience applauded loudly.
Alec and I both waved, although I wanted to disappear into my chair.
"So, Nicole, your book burned up the industry charts almost overnight, making it an instant sensation. Did you expect to be so openly embraced?" Lisa asked, holding up a copy of the book again.
I laughed lightly. "No, it was definitely a surprise. As a self-published author, I'd seen some moderate success with my previous books. I knew when I started writing Wicked Lovely that it was going to be entirely different than my Pirate Nights series. A bit darker, more angst and sexier. My hope was that my readers would come to love it like I had."
Lisa laughed with delight. "That we did." She fanned herself with her hand. "I can imagine becoming a New York Times bestseller at your age must have been a surreal experience. Just so viewers know, you celebrated your twenty-second birthday earlier this year, right?"
I nodded. "Yes, in March," I answered, blushing slightly. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would hit a list, let alone the most respected. That title belongs to real writers."
"I hate to break it to you, Nicole, but you're as real as they come. Wicked Lovely has quickly become my favorite book."
"Thank you," I said, blushing again. "I think with every book a writer releases, they hope the story will resonate with the readers. I'm so grateful Wicked Lovely is that story for me. I credit it to my great cover model," I teased, trying to shed some of the attention on Alec.