Page 18 of The Hero I Can't Resist
I’m smiling as we’re led to a table with four other people. I give them a wave. “Hey, everyone. I’m Skyler with Sweet Temptations.”
Zach puts a hand at my waist. “And I’m Zach, her boyfriend.”
I tense but keep smiling as we sit down.
The woman next to me introduces herself and her husband. “Hi y’all! I’m Cindy, and this is my husband, Mark. We own Southern Food.”
I nod real big. “Yes, the food blog. I love that. It’s so nice to meet you both.”
I look to the two women next to Zach, and they’re both staring at him. My voice is strained, but I give them a little wave. “Hello.”
The one looks at me, but the other keeps staring at Zach. I glance at him, and he’s oblivious to it all because his eyes are completely trained on me.
The woman that can’t seem to take her eyes off Zach says, “Hello. I’m Patty, and I own Patty’s Pudding. This is my best friend, Kathy.”
Clueless, I keep a smile on my face. “It’s really nice to meet you both.”
Finally, the woman looks at me. “You know, Patty’s Pudding. It’s on TrueFans. I do live recordings of me making pudding nude.”
I had mistakenly taken that moment to drink some water, and when she says it, I start to choke.
Zach is on me instantly, patting my back, asking me if I’m okay.
I barely recover before Patty is shoving her business card and her cleavage into Zach’s face. “Here you go. There’s a QR code if you want to check it out.”
He doesn’t even reach for the business card. With a smirk on his face, he shakes his head. “No thank you. The only baking I watch is Sky’s.”
My whole body goes hot. I don’t know if it’s the fact that he’s turning down an obvious flirt or the way he says my name or what it is, but I feel it all over. For the rest of the evening, Zach turns in his seat so his back is to the voluptuous blonde.
The dinner and the show are amazing. I am amazed by all the cookware and utensils and ecstatic when they announce that everyone has a package waiting in our rooms.
We barely get up from dinner and say bye to Cindy and Mark when I’m racing back to the room. I’m bouncing from foot to foot waiting for Zach to open the door, but as soon as we’re inside, he halts me. “Wait here. I’m going to check the package.”
My eyes almost bug out of my head. “Check thepackage? What does that even mean? Check the package?”
He pulls a tool from his bag, and I point at it. “What is that?”
He shrugs. “Bomb detector.”
My eyes widen. “Bomb detector? I know this guy is a little crazy, but not like that. He’s not going to blow me up.”
For just a second, Zach looks regretful. “He’s escalating. Since that first night when I was on camera, asking you to be my girlfriend, he’s escalated.”
I hold a hand up. “Wait. How did I not know that? I haven’t seen any messages from him. No emails, nothing.”
He juts his chin at me. “I’ve intercepted them.”
I take a step back. “You intercepted them?”
He nods. “Yeah, I don’t want you to worry.”
I blurt out a laugh. “You don’t want me to worry? You’re holding a bomb detector in your hand and think that’s perfectly reasonable. Yeah, I’m going to worry.”
He curses. “Fuck, I’m doing this all wrong. Nothing is going to happen to you, Sky. I promise, I’m going to take care of you.”
He turns to walk to the huge box in the middle of the room. I rush to his side. “Wait.”
He patiently turns to me.
