Page 53 of Loved Out Loud
My hand aches by the time I’m done signing at the third bookstore, and I feel like we’ve driven all over Detroit. Meeting readers is amazing, and I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to even be on a book tour, but as someone who isn’t an extrovert, it’s mentally taxing. Being able to just answer a few questions and film a video or two at each store has been a great refresh for me.
“Do you know what you’re doing tonight?” Jade asks as we settle in for the ride back to the hotel.
“No. I should probably ask him so I know what to wear.”
“Let me, so it can stay a surprise.” She pulls out her phone and sends a text.
“I really appreciate you coming today. Especially for taking videos and photos for me the whole day. All of my socials are doing so well now because of your help.”
She waves me off. “Don’t even mention it. You’re infinitely easier to work with than the guys.”
“Speaking of the band.” I lower my voice. “What’s up with you and Xander? I feel like you argue all the time.”
“We do. We always have.” She looks out the window for a moment. “Our relationship has been tense since we were teenagers.” She looks down as her phone lights up with a text alert. “Stone said he’s taking you somewhere very casual and that you don’t need to dress up at all.”
“Okay. I like casual.”
With that pressure off I sink back into the seat and let my muscles relax. No thinking about work, or the book. I’m just going to focus on the fact that I’m on a date with a rock star.
Stone’s stunning blue eyes rake over my body when I take his offered hand to get out of the car. We’re standing in front of a diner that looks as though it hasn’t changed since the 1950s when it probably opened. As soon as he opens the door, the scent of grilled onions and fried food fills my nostrils.
No one looks up as we walk up to the host, in fact, he doesn’t even do a double take, just grabs two menus for us like we’re just a normal couple. Stone keeps his hat down low until he sits with his back to the restaurant as we slide into a corner booth. Dan and Adam take a table that conveniently blocks us from view for the most part.
I take a sticky, laminated menu from Stone and look through the offerings. After a few minutes I look up to find him watching me without a menu in his hands. When I look at him quizzically, he just smiles at me.
“Are you not getting anything?”
“I always get the same thing at every diner.”
“Really?”
“Yep.” He drums his fingers on the table to the beat of the song coming through the speakers. “Burger, fries, chocolate milkshake, and a slice of pie.”
“A milkshake and pie?”
“Life is for living, little Archer. Eat all the dessert you want.”
Before I respond our server comes by. This time we’re not so lucky, and she recognizes him right away. Her eyes widen comically, and she drops her pen before she even utters a word.
“Hi there,” Stone glances at her name tag, “Anna. I’m taking this beautiful lady out for a relaxed dinner tonight. Do you think you could keep our presence here low key? My bodyguard has two tickets to tomorrow night’s show as a thank you.”
“Yes.” She nods. “Absolutely. But I love you. Your music I mean. You’re great, too, though.”
I can’t stop the smile from blooming across my face at the interaction. He’s so gentle and polite in the face of her excitement. He’s a good man. I’ve known it from the moment he interrupted my interview, but seeing this, his kindness directed at someone else, it’s so incredibly attractive.
He orders his food, and then I follow, ordering almost the same thing except with a Diet Coke instead of a milkshake. As soon as we’re alone again, he throws his arm over the back of the booth and stretches his legs out, intertwining one of them with mine. The heat of his leg seeps into my skin, even with the denim barrier of his jeans between us.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“I like touching you.”
I lose the battle and smile at him. Fuck if that response doesn’t have me giddy like a teenager with her first crush. By the grin he gives right back, I know he knows it, too.
The conversation ebbs and flows through a myriad of topics as the meal progresses. Everything from having creative control of our intellectual property to favorite television shows. I’m shocked to learn that Stone is a reality TV junkie, everything from Survivor to Real Housewives to Love Island. He, on the other hand, is completely unsurprised that I loved period dramas with a heavy romance plot.
“You said your father has two other kids last night. Do you have a relationship with them?” he asks, changing the subject from light to heavy over two slices of pie.
“I don’t, but I wish I did. I don’t care to know my father, but I’d like to know them. The only information I have about them are their ages and names. Sara, who is twenty, and Nate, who is seventeen.”
