Page 6 of Room 1212

As if I would ever forget.

3

Jordan

Sean’s blond hair was pulled up into a man bun, with wisps framing his face. His large blue eyes, sculpted eyebrows, and high cheekbones usually gave him an angelic look, but absolutely none of that mattered when he wore such a sour expression.

“Seriously, Jordan. How hard is it to dress nicely?” His lips were puckered like he’d eaten a lemon. “I offered to send you my personal dresser.”

I looked down at my khakis and dress shirt. “I thought this looked good.”

He sighed deeply then gave me a patronizing smile, as if I were a child who’d made a huge mess that he would now have to clean up. “Too late to fix it now. Best you get out there or we’ll have a mob on our hands. Just… smile, I guess, and we’ll hope no one notices… this,” he said, gesturing to the rest of my body in general.

How was I supposed to smile when he’d just delivered a blow to my ego?

When I stepped into the ballroom-turned-book-signing, though, the sight of my fans brought it all home. They didn’t care what I looked like. They loved me for my words. The grin I offered them was genuine.

A woman by the entrance caught sight of me, and she shrieked, “There he is! Jordan! Over here!”

I made eye contact with her and waved, while the rest of the crowd turned to look, and the cacophony of excited squeals and clapping echoed around the open space.

This. This right here was why I loved being an author. The writing itself was lonely work, and it was easy to get buried under the words and the emotions, not to mention the depression and anxiety, but when I saw the joy I brought to my readers, that was what made it all truly worth it.

I shook a few hands on my way over to the table set up for me at the back. I was extremely grateful there was a comfortable-looking chair for me to sit in, as I intended to remain here until I had seen every single one of my fans and signed every book. It didn’t matter how long it took; they’d taken time out of their day to come see me, and I wanted to make sure they all left happy. Without them, I was just a guy sitting at a computer making shit up.

I lowered myself into the chair, the cushion hugging my ass. “Can I get you something to drink, sir?” a voice said over my shoulder. There was a hotel employee there, wearing a uniform with The Scarlet Hotel’s signature red blazer.

“Uh, yes, just some water would be great, thanks. Probably a whole pitcher, if you don’t mind.” I knew all too well how parched my throat would get with all this socializing.

After a deep breath, I gestured for the man who was first in line to come forward. It was going to be a long day.

I tried my best to make each experience unique and memorable, but in all honesty, I probably wouldn’t recognize these people if I saw them again. After the first few dozen, they all started to blend together a bit. I asked for their names and signed their books, they told me about the first book of mine they read—or often told me about their own book I’d inspired them to write—and I posed for a picture. I could see Sean observing from the other side of the room, analyzing my every move. I had no doubt that he would scold me later for whatever author etiquette rules I’d broken.

As I took a brief break for a sip of water, I panned my eyes across the crowd which hadn’t seemed to diminish in the least, and suddenly, my eyes caught a glimpse of a man through a gap in the crowd. He was taller than everyone else here, which was why he stood out at first, but I found my attention coming back to him again and again.

Regardless of what I portrayed in the books I wrote, I didn’t believe in love at first sight. But lust, that was something I understood well. And this man was worthy of some intense lusting, followed by the lead role in my fantasies for the next year.

I watched as he progressed forward in the line, and a few times, I caught him looking right back, and our eyes locked. Even across the distance, it felt like I’d been shocked with static, a prickling sensation traveling up my neck. He was probably the most gorgeous man I’d ever laid eyes on. His hair was dark and thick, and I couldn’t wait to see what color his eyes were. At first, I thought they were blue, then maybe green, or even light brown.

I tried to focus my attention on the woman in front of me. She was giddy, her hands clasped over her heart. “You write the most swoony alphas, and those sex scenes. Woo! So. Hot.” She fanned her face with both hands. “Where do you get your inspiration? You must have a sexy man to call your own.”

My throat got tighter as I tried to smile. “Uh, nope, no alpha at present,” I said. I never knew how to answer these questions. Everyone liked to believe I was living out my own stories, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, it had been ages since I’d even had a boyfriend, and certainly nothing serious. I wasn’t even in the market. I just didn’t have the time to invest a bunch of energy into a relationship that would inevitably fail anyway. But when I glanced over the woman’s shoulder and caught sight of the sexy man in line behind her, I smiled wider and said, “You know, I find inspiration wherever I can. Maybe even at a book signing.”

As the line moved along, the closer the man got, and the faster my pulse seemed to race. Until finally, he was there, gazing down at me.

He had a bag slung over his shoulder, and as he approached the table, he gave me an embarrassed grin. I decided his eyes were hazel. “I’m really sorry about this,” he said, plonking the heavy bag on the table. He then began to pull out an entire stack of books.

“Wow! I’ve never seen such an avid fan,” I said, trying my best to sound casual, while simultaneously blushing right up to the roots of my hair. “And an alpha too!” Then I did something I’d never done in my life. I winked.

I fucking winked! What the hell was wrong with me!

The alpha froze for a second, seemingly just as shocked as I was by my gesture.

Shit!I needed to make this go away. Like,now. “I-I’m just surprised, most of my readers are omegas,” I said in an attempt to reason away the wink, but then I realized that probably wasn’t making things better. I quickly backtracked, “Not that there’s anything wrong with an alpha reading romance. In fact, I encourage it.”Shit. “Err, not that alphas need advice in the romance department.”Fuck. Shut up.

I pinched my lips shut and simply held out my hand for the first book.

“They’re not mine,” he said.

---