Page 64 of House of Desire

“Hi, it’s so nice to meet you. Thank you so much for coming tonight,” Charlie says, reaching out her hand, House of Deceit persona firmly in place. “I love your dress.”

Bypassing the hand shake entirely, Anya lurches forward and envelopes Charlie in a one-armed hug. I’ve never been more jealous of Charlie. Ever.

“Lorelei loaned me your book and I loved it. It was so funny and cute and loving. I couldn’t put it down. And the scene in the library? Whew. That was so hot.” She says the words so fast they all run together and I almost have to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

I’ve watched people fawn over Charlie before, but this was by far the cutest instance.

“That’s so kind of you to say,” Charlie says, pulling back. “And that moment was even hotter in real life,” she says, winking.

“Oh my God,” Alec mumbles, dragging his hand down his face at his soon-to-be wife’s antics.

“So. Did you win sweet Parker’s heart at House of Desire?” my best friend asks, giving me a once over and I can see she is putting the pieces together of what might have happened on the show. I shouldn’t have given Anya the option of meeting her. I should have taken her right to the bar. “I was considering not watching the show when it starts next week in deference to my friend here,” she says, turning her gaze to me, “but sorry, bud. I’m watching every damn second of it.”

“Cool. Sounds great,” I say, mortified.

“I can keep a secret, I know about the NDA,” she says, turning back to Anya. “You made it to the end, didn’t you?”

“Okay!” I say, as Anya opens her mouth to respond, nervousness and trepidation on her face. “That’s enough of that. We don’t want to spoil the show for you.”

And I don’t want our last time together to be in her mind for the evening.

“You’re a killjoy and I’m going to replace you as my male best friend. I think it’s time for Keith to get a promotion.”

“Keith locked you in the barn to get some peace and quiet the last time you visited,” I remind her. The old rancher from House of Deceit loves Charlie like a daughter, no matter how much she pushes his buttons.

She waves away my comment. “I could say five words to that man and you’d think I tied him to a chair and forced him to listen to me read The Odyssey or something.”

“He said you talked for three hours straight!” I say, laughing.

“He’s dramatic. Don’t worry about it. He’ll be happy to replace you at the top spot. I just know it.” She turns back to Anastasia, clapping her hands together. “Do you want to sit by me for the movie? I can tell you all the good secrets.”

“Yes, please!” Anya says. taking the hand Charlie offers her, my friend leads her to seats in the front. Alec moves closer to me, both of us watching the women get settled in the chairs.

“She’s the one, then?” he asks.

“Yeah. She’s the one.”

“I heard it didn’t go well from one of my old co-workers on the show. I didn’t tell Charlie anything,” Alec says.

I look at him out of the corner of my eye before turning my attention back to the women.

“I don’t think it could have gone worse.”

He claps me on the shoulder, giving me a squeeze. That’s about as affectionate Alec and I get, even though I consider him to be like family for loving Charlie.

“Whatever you two need to work through? I promise, it’ll be worth it.” He pats me on the back once more before following Charlie’s path, kissing her on the cheek as he joins her.

Charlie doesn’t stop talking to Anya, but she reaches back and takes Alec’s hand all the same.

I walk out the back door for a moment and pull out my phone to dial the most important number I have in my contacts.

“Sharon? It’s Parker. I need to set up a session.”

The line goes out the door of the bakery and the thought I might not have made enough for today worries me. Ever since the season of House of Desire started airing two weeks ago, we have been busier than usual. While, luckily, most people found my fall out of the limo to be charming and not humiliating, I know I would be willing to sacrifice my dignity all over again to have this amount of people in line.

“Anya! Girl, this is insane! Do you need any help?” Lorelei says, pushing through the door.

“Hey, there’s a line!” one disgruntled customer shouts as Lorelei moved to stand at the end of the counter near me.

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