Page 18 of Her Cover Model Daddy
For the next hour they walked around the hotel several times, both inside the building and around the grounds. They found a half dozen spaces that would work well as backdrops.
Finally, Lacy’s stomach began to rumble loud enough that she blushed as she covered her belly with one hand, hoping to dim the sound. Drake gave her a concerned expression, then smiled gently.
“I think it’s time to feed your belly before it breaks out and eats me.”
“I’m sorry.”
That earned her a frown. “Why are you sorry? For getting hungry at dinnertime? There’s no reason to apologize. A grumbly tummy just tells me that it’s past time I feed you. Doyou want to eat here in the restaurant, go out and find someplace to eat, or call for delivery?”
They had returned to the lobby and she looked over at the empty bar slash restaurant area just across the way. There was a man at the bar and two ladies sitting at a table.
“It would probably be faster if we just ate here,” she pointed out.
“Then that’s what we’ll do. Afterward, we’ll go upstairs and deal with the rest of the evening’s agenda.”
Though he would have preferred to have something delivered to their room, the nearly empty restaurant area would allow them to eat quickly. Then they could retire to their rooms and spend some quality alone time.
The other models and authors would begin arriving the next day, and the convention would start late in the afternoon. They had the next eighteen hours alone and he planned to take full advantage of them. He also needed to make sure his little girl got enough rest to get her through the convention. During one of their discussions about vacations and meeting somewhere between their two homes, she admitted that she did not sleep well in strange beds. She then went on to tell him that she did not sleep all that well at home either. Her brain was too busy, always thinking and making plans and worrying about all sorts of things she really should not be worrying about.
After dinner, he planned to help her release the worries and not think about anything but being Little. Looking over the menu, he quickly chose his meal then put down his menu and watch Lacy as she looked over the menu three times, growing more anxious with each reading.
“Do you want Daddy to choose something?” He reached across the table and laid his hand over the one that was tracing lines on the menu.
She looked up with wide eyes and nodded. “Please?”
“Anything you don’t like?”
“Green vegetables and melon.”
“How about getting the grilled chicken salad?”
Her face scrunched up and she whispered, “It has lettuce.”
“So we’ll get it without lettuce.”
“You can do that?”
He smiled at her innocence. She really had not done much traveling. “Lacy-girl, it’s your salad, you should be able to get it the way you want it.”
That had her blinking as she thought about his words. “Okay, yes, that works.”
When the waitress arrived a few minutes later, Drake ordered the grilled chicken salad sans lettuce, which had the woman smiling at Lacy.
“I don’t like lettuce either,” she said as she wrote down the order. “And for you, sir?”
“I’d like the club sandwich with a side of the fruit salad and two glasses of water, please.”
A moment later, she was heading to the kitchen and they were alone again. At least for a few minutes.
“You’re Drake Snow.” An older woman approached, but stood several feet away, as if afraid to move any closer.
“Yes, I am,” he said with a smile. “Are you here for the convention?”
The woman nodded. “Yes, I am. But I see you’re having dinner, so I’ll go away. I just wanted to say I love you, and I think I’ve got every book you’ve ever been on.”
Drake smiled and stood. “Thank you so much. Would you like a hug before you go?”
The woman agreed to a hug and a selfie to prove to her friends back home that she’d actually met the cover model they all loved. Once she wandered away, Drake sat down and looked at Lacy. The woman was smiling, but it wasn’t the smile that he was used to seeing. This was her polite public smile, very similar to the one he would be wearing during most of the next few days. The one that did not reach his eyes.
