When he finishes, he glances toward me with a quirked eyebrow. I want to pause time and snap a photo of him looking like this, eyeing me with that exact look. “How do I look?”
He knows how he looks. He’s likely been told by hundreds of women throughout his life, but he’s asking me now, and for some reason I’m scared to inflate his ego any more—probably because I’m still currently sporting a sweatshirt and yoga pants. I curse my laziness. The man is Adonis, and I am Sloth.
I nod curtly. “Looks good. I like the suit.”
It’s as much as I can do without making a simpering fool of myself.
His smile tells me he sees right through my defenses.
“As soon as we land, I’ll need to head straight to the conference. There’s a welcome breakfast and then a full day of panels.”
“Are you excited?”
He shrugs. “It’s rare to have so many tech giants gathered together. I think anyone in the industry would get excited by that amount of brain power in one room, not to mention I went to school with quite a few of them at Caltech. It feels like a college reunion every year.”
“Is everyone staying at the same hotel?”
“Unfortunately for you, yes.”
I smile. “Why unfortunately?”
His gaze meets mine as he chuckles. “You’ll see.”
…
When we arrive outside the swanky hotel, it’s a complete madhouse. Our driver hurries around the back of James’ hired car and as soon as we step out, the whispers start. James’ name is repeated like a game of telephone so all eyes are on us as we pass through the front doors. Techies overflow every corner of the foyer and lobby, and the line for check-in winds back and forth like a coiled snake. Overheard conversations confirm that they’ve been waiting there for hours.
The hotel’s decor, usually sleek and modern, is hidden behind colorful banners and signs welcoming us to the conference. In fact, the first thing I see as we walk inside is James’ headshot waving on a banner overhead.
“You’re the keynote speaker?” I ask, pointing up.
He nods and pushes us forward without glancing at it. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’s embarrassed to see himself blown up to epic proportions. The concept makes me smile.
A petite redhead comes barreling out of the crowd, beelining straight for us.
“Mr. Ashwood!” she says with a wide smile. A nametag on her black blazer explains that she’s the lead coordinator for the conference. “If you’ll follow me, we can get you checked in as quickly as possible.”
I expected to have to wait in the winding line, but instead, the coordinator leads us to a secluded corner of the lobby hidden behind heavy black drapes. Here, a young man sits behind a computer, typing away. When he sees us walk up, he stops immediately and stands to shake James’ hand.
“Good morning, Mr. Ashwood. We have your suite set up exactly as you requested.”
James nods. “Good. I’ll need you to escort Ms. Davenport there. I don’t have time to head up.”
The young man turns to me and nods, and just like that, James’ power and influence is passed on to me. It’s a heady feeling.
“Of course. Let me just get your room keys ready.”
I turn to James with a quirked brow. “I didn’t think there would be so many people here.”
He shrugs. “This is the largest annual tech conference in the United States. SXSW is popular too, but here the events aren’t combined with film and music. It’s three days focused strictly on innovations in the tech community.”
“I saw on that banner back there that your keynote speech will be broadcasted as a TED talk.”
He glances over my shoulder and sighs. “Don’t remind me. Public speaking isn’t my strong suit.”
I reach out and squeeze his arm for reassurance. “I think you’ll be fine. Did you see the way people reacted to you when we walked in?”
He wraps his hand around my lower back and leans down to press a chaste kiss to my lips. Before he pulls away, he whispers, “No, I didn’t notice.”
A shiver runs down my spine as he stands back to his full height, and if I wasn’t sure of his feelings, they’re made perfectly clear by the way he’s staring down at me. His dark eyes are unnerving. His hand lingers on my lower back, drawing me closer. I press a hand against the soft material of his suit and offer an easy smile to ease the tension.
“I’m sorry I can’t spend the day with you,” he says.
“Are you kidding? I’m going to head upstairs and put on a fluffy hotel robe and slippers, maybe order room service.”
His half-smile tells me he’s imagining me in the fluffy robe.
I flush and look away.
“Brooke,” he says, drawing my attention back to him with his soft tone. “I’m glad you came.”