“You’re crazy!”
He set the framed poster down and hauled her into his arms. “I’m crazy about you, Amber. Every little thing about you, from your ruffled socks to your love of acorns.”
She buried her face in his chest. “I saw your acorn post. I figured I was the nut you were referring to.”
“That sexy little brain of yours shouldn’t go straight to the negative. I couldn’t stop thinking about you, so I posted the acorn. I know you don’t like drama, so I kept everything about us off social media. That acorn was my secret message to my secret sexy reader.”
“But I told you I only wanted to be friends that night, so the nut made sense.”
He shook his head. “It’s not about the words; it’s about symbolism. You said you wanted to be friends, but your eyes told me otherwise. I was hoping you’d see the symbolism of looking deeper and seeing the start of something new between us. I guess I really do suck at doing romantic stuff.”
“No, you definitely do not. I just stink at interpreting it.”
“Maybe we can both work on that. A couple of weeks ago I posted about the signing, and I’ll do that again to bring exposure to your store. But this. You and me?” He touched his forehead to hers and lowered his voice. “This is ours. It’s private and special, and while we figure out what it all means, I’d like to keep it out of the gossip magazines. Please don’t think that I’m not posting about the amazing woman I met in Oak Falls because of anything other than wanting to protect what I hope will become the most important thing to both of us.”
She had a feeling it was already well on the way.
Chapter Eight
“HI. THANK YOU for returning my call,” Andi said into the phone. “I’ve been trying to reach you. Hold on just a second, please.”
It was late Thursday afternoon, and Dash was in LA. He’d called his sister to check in while getting a quick workout in the hotel gym before meeting Shea for dinner. Through his earbuds, he heard Andi telling someone she needed to take his call and would be back in a few minutes. He pumped out another set of curls as he waited.
“I’m sorry to keep you holding.” Andi sounded overly professional.
“No worries.” Dash could tell by the cadence of her voice that she was walking. He pictured her in one of her many proper business outfits, stick-straight posture, long dirty-blond hair hanging down her back, and black-framed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, so different from bubbly Dawn, who lived life on the fringe.
“You are a godsend,” Andi said in a hushed tone.
Dash bristled. “What is going on? Is someone giving you trouble? I can get Troy’s old man there in two minutes flat.” He’d grown up with Joey and Troy Stewart in Port Hudson. Joey had gone on to play for the Jets and Troy had been Dash’s teammate on the Giants, but their father still coached football at Boyer University.
“I’m on a date with a guy Becca knows, but his idea of good reading material is a comic book.”
Becca was a co-worker of Andi’s at LWW who dressed like a pinup girl and could give Sable a run for her money in the sass department. Dash liked her, save for her constantly setting up his sisters on dates. “She should know better.”
“No kidding, but you know Bec. She refuses to believe that I like brains over brawn.”
“That’s just one more reason you should get into your field instead of wasting your talents as a research assistant to a woman who’s faking her way through her career.”
“Sutton’s learning the ropes, not faking her way, and you know I love my job. Besides, not all of us need to plow into our careers headfirst like you. It’s not like I’ll ever leave Port Hudson.”
Same conversation, different day. His sister wanted a family and a career, but more than anything, she wanted to remain in their hometown. The trouble was, she would never have the career she wanted if she stayed there. His thoughts turned to Amber and how much she loved Oak Falls. “I’m not saying you have to go far, but you’ll never find the career you want there.”
“Calm down, Mr. Motivation. I’ve heard it a million times, and I know you want what’s best for me, but even I don’t know what that is right now.”
“Yes, you do. You’ve wanted to be out there saving sea turtles since you were a kid. I told you I can have Clay put a good word in for you with his brother Noah or his cousin Dane. That’s one phone call and two great options. They could probably hook you up with something at the Real DEAL or with Brave.” His ex-teammate and buddy Clay Braden’s brother Noah and their cousin Dane were co-owners of the Real DEAL, a total immersion exploratory park for kids that included educational exhibits and hands-on activities, in Colorado. Noah ran the marine biology lab, and Dane, the founder of the Brave Foundation, which used education and advocacy programs to protect sharks and the world’s oceans, ran the marine activities and exhibits.
He heard his sister sigh as he set down the weights he was using and began doing push-ups.
“I’ll think about it,” Andi said.
“Mm-hm.” He knew she was appeasing him. “I just don’t want you to lose sight of your dreams. If you wait too long to gain the experience you need to get your foot in the door, you’ll get locked out of your field. You’ll get a rep as the girl who played it safe for too long.”
“Says the guy who is currently trending on Twitter as hashtag Dash Pennington Reads Porn. Do you really want to talk about reps?”
“What?” Dash snapped.
She giggled. “I guess you haven’t been on social media since your flight. Some guy got a picture of you on the plane reading an erotic romance novel and posted it.”
“Shit.” He’d wanted to see what Amber was into and had been reading the novel he’d bought from her. “It’s not porn. It’s a love story.” Those were words he never thought he’d say.
“I read hot romance. I know what it is. I just have two questions. Why is my badass brother reading it? In public, no less. And why are you breathing so hard? You’re not reading it now, are you? Ew.”
He uttered a curse as he pushed to his feet and wiped his face with a towel. “I’m in the hotel gym, getting my workout in before I meet Shea for dinner.”
“And the answer to my other question?”
“Research.”
“Research? Did you get a complaint in the bedroom? Don’t tell Damon, or you’ll never hear the end of it.”
“I didn’t get a complaint. Jesus, Andi.”
“Just making sure you’re up to par on all the latest moves?” she teased.
He gritted his teeth. “Listen, how are things with you? I wanted to check in, but I don’t have much time. I need to call Dawn before I hit the shower.”
“I’m fine, except for my loser date.”
“Good. Get rid of him fast. Tell him you have to take care of something for work.”
“Yes, Dad,” she teased. “Why were you really reading that book?”
“Goodbye, Andi.”
“Wait! If you really want to impress women, check out Crazy, Sexy, Sinful by Charlotte Sterling—”