Page 51 of Mother Clucker

Him? I laughed. “Self centered much?”

“You should be happy.”

“That’s what everyone keeps saying. I’m really not sure why.” I was about to scroll through and see what new and horrible comments the past hour had yielded when the cell in my hand rang.

“Oh, look. An actual business call.” I’d kind of forgotten I used to get those. Back before Hermosa Beach and Heather had turned my life upside down. “Hello, this is David Strickland.”

“So, when do I get a video? I could use the press. It’s John Martinez, by the way.”

I mouthed a curse. “John. Sorry. I was supposed to be there this past week, wasn’t I?”

I knew the answer to that without asking. I’d planned to meet with Anna, spend a night or two max with Drew, and then head directly to John’s place on my drive back to Texas.

Those plans had changed. Heather had changed them.

“It’s all right. I’ll be here whenever you get here. Just figured I’d check in.”

“You were perfectly right to do so. I’m, uh, easily waylaid nowadays.”

“Going viral will do that to you, I guess.”

“I guess. This is my first time so . . .” There had been plenty of bad press from the mainstream news when the China thing happened, but it hadn’t been on social media, as far as I knew.

“But seriously, you need me for the next video, I’m your man,” John said.

“You got it. I’ll tell my PR girl.” I saw Drew react to that with a raised brow.

I didn’t care about his judgment as much as I should. I liked the idea of Heather being my girl in any manner. PR girl. Girlfriend . . .

Damn. This thing between us was going to get tricky fast. The proof I had to get back to work and to Texas was right in my face with this phone call. I’d been shirking my responsibilities. It couldn’t continue for much longer.

“So how about I give you a call when I know my schedule better?” I said. “But plan on next week for my visit. Yeah?”

“Sounds good, boss. I look forward to it.”

I hung up with John and laid the cell down. I didn’t like planning my departure.

Judging by the look on Drew’s face, he didn’t love it either.

“You do know next weekend is that big adoption thing at the shelter. I figured you’d want to be there for that since you’re a benefactor and all,” he said.

“Shit.” I’d forgotten. The question was, why the fuck did Drew remember or even know about it? “How do you know about that anyway?”

“The girls were talking about it last night. Remember? Heather was talking about trying to get a bunch of the cast from New Millennia’s reality shows to come and promote it.”

Ah. That explained Drew’s interest.

“From your bikini show?” I asked.

“Cold Feet. And yes. Plus a couple of other shows too. But they were talking about ordering a big banner with Strickland’s name and logo printed on it.”

“Really?” Where the fuck had I been for all this?

Drew shook his head. “I had a feeling you weren’t really listening. You were just kind of staring at Heather and nodding.”

“Hey, it was loud in there. I couldn’t hear anything.”

“Yeah, that must have been it.” Drew snorted. “But don’t you want to be there for it? Should be a good press opportunity.”

---