Page 30 of The Wiener Across the Way

My team exchanged glances, unsure of how to react. Skeeter stepped forward, shaking her head. “Kelsey has a strict schedule today, we can’t just?—”

Declan raised a hand, his movement gentle but firm. “I know, and I respect that. But she deserves a break. She works harder than anyone I’ve ever met.”

His words weren’t just flattery. They were spoken with a sincerity that made my stomach flutter. Must be the smoothie.

Declan looked at me, his gaze soft but unwavering. “Only if you want to, Kelsey. I don’t want to overstep. But you need a little time off, so you don’t crash and burn later.”

I took another sip, waited for the brain freeze to pass, and then gave him my best faux quizzical look. “What is this time off you speak of?”

Penelope gave me a small nod and a smile. “Maybe a short break wouldn’t hurt? The show isn’t until Friday, and we can easily handle the rest of today’s checklist.”

I knew that checklist up one way and down the other, and so did the rest of the crew. We always power loaded the front of the week in case there were any problems along the way. But we were ahead of schedule. It looked like Skeeter was going to protest again, but Penelope made a face at her, and mouthed “Pee Arr.”

Skeeter rolled her eyes but looked own at her phone and started typing something, which I decided was her approval. Not that I needed it, but I liked having everyone on the same page.

“Okay, let’s do it.” I said but wagged my finger at him. “But just for today.”

Declan’s smile widened, and he took my free hand to lead me away. Pooh trotted along right at his heels as if she’d been trained to do exactly that. She absolutely never did that for me unless I had a treat in my hand, and even then, she was usually jumping and barking.

“How did you get her to do that?”

He looked down at Pooh and then gave me a wink. “That’s between me and my girl, Pooh.”

I looked down to where Pooh was licking his shoe again and noticed a blob of light brown goo. So he’d won over both our hearts with peanut butter. Smart man.

Wait. I didn’t mean my actual heart like I was in love with him.

He obviously had plans. I hoped he understood I couldn’t just go hang out in a coffee shop or a restaurant. Not without security and advanced notice to the staff that I was coming. Otherwise we’d completely disrupt their day and their business. He should get that, he was a bit of a celebrity himself. I’m sure his sports fans were crazy about him too.

Or was that just me?

“Wait, one sec.” I stopped and turned to address my team. “Thank you, everyone. And why don’t you all take a break too? I’m sure you could use it.”

There were murmurs of surprise and gratitude as my staff realized what I’d just said. We never did this. But they worked just as hard as I did. I gave them all a little wave, and Penelope gave me a thumbs-up. If this was what fake dating Declan Kingman was like, I was going to enjoy it way more than real dating anyone else.

He led me to a big black SUV, where some of my security people were waiting. One of them opened the back seat for us to get in. Declan gave him a light slap on the back, in a sort of “I got this” way, and shut it, then opened the front passenger door for me. His demeanor protective but not overbearing. It was clear he was looking out for me.

“We’re good, ladies and gents. Take the rest of the day off.”

No security? Well, if anyone could pull that off, it was Declan. Just that air of confidence he had about him would keep most people at bay. His six-foot-something wall of muscles didn’t hurt either.

Looked like he’d thought of everything, because there was even a fluffy sheepskin lined box in the backseat, strapped in with the seatbelt for Pooh. I showed it to her, and she immediately claimed it for her own with a little bark, three turns around and around, and then she sat looking forward expectantly like she was just waiting for us to get on the road.

“Where are we going?” I kind of hoped it was that picnic he’d described, but unless he’d hidden the blanket, basket, and a guitar in the back, probably not.

“Somewhere a little less flashy, and where the papps and fans aren’t going to look for us.” He steered us out the main part of town and I was surprised to see we were getting on the highway.

Did a place like that even exist? “So not in Aspen?”

“Aspen’s fine, but a little too posh for my tastes. We’re going to head over to Bear Claw Valley. They’ve got a nice ski resort with all the amenities, but the actual town is full of regular joes who refuse to let the place get all gentrified.”

Sounded too good to be true. “How did they do that?”

He shrugged and looked over at me a little sheepishly. “The Kingmans own most of the land up here. My dad didn’t want to see his hometown get turned into some kind of place only richy rich people could afford to live in like some of the other mountain towns. So he... invested.”

I should do that. My dad handled most of my money and a lot of it was just invested. I did pay off my parents’ house in San Diego and bought the strip mall my mom’s shop was in with my first big advance. But other than my apartment in New York, that I hardly spent any time in, I didn’t actually own very much.

The drive to Bear Claw Valley was tranquil. But I kept catching Declan sneaking peeks at me. There was something in those looks that made me wonder more than once what he was thinking about. Like his glances were hungry. We had skipped lunch.

---