The Write Stuff (15 page)

Laughing as hard as I had made not only my side ache, but m
y lip throbbed painfully. I ignored it, not wanting to ruin our happy bubble. "At least I know what the theme for your birthday will be this year," I joked. "Oh, and
Poltergeist
. Thanks for reminding me. Now I know what to get you too."

"
You wouldn't dare." Anyone who had seen the movie,
Poltergeist,
remembered the iconic scene where the possessed clown puppet jumps from under the bed to choke the poor frightened kid.

"
What, you don't want a clown puppet? Don't worry. I'll wrap it and not just stick it under your bed or anything creepy like that," I said with a mischievous smile.

"
You are just plain evil." He wagged a finger at me, downing the rest of his coffee. "Oh, by the way. You might want to call your parents. I guess they're freaking out too."

Shit. My smile dropped.

"Did they call?" I asked, patting around the bed for my phone.

Alec
pulled it from his pocket. "At six, seven, and again at eight. Judging by the pattern, I'd say your mom will be calling in approximately thirteen minutes," he said, checking the time on my phone.

"
Oh lord. Have you talked to her?"

"
Only to reassure her that you're fine and that I was standing guard over you while you slept. Her demand, not mine."

"
I'm sorry. Both my parents can be a wee bit overprotective. For that matter, my brothers are too. That's why I planned on keeping this from them for now. I knew I should have called Olivia last night. She probably told them," I grumbled, jumping out of bed. "I'm sorry you had to hang around here all night. My mom wouldn't have known if you had gone to your own room." I paced back and forth, tapping my phone against my head. "Okay, should I call her or wait for her to call me back? If I wait any longer she could work herself up even more. For all I know, she's already jumped on a plane to rescue me."

"
Are you talking to me or yourself?" Alec watched me in amusement while I paced the floor. "You know it's just a call, not the Spanish Inquisition."

I stopped mid
-step and turned toward him incredulously. "I would prefer the inquisition. Once my mom gets started, you're in for the long haul."

"
She sounded understandably concerned but very sweet."

"
Oh, she's sweet all right, but she's a worrywart. Even when I assure her that I'm fine, she'll probably still insist on flying here to be with me. I wouldn't be surprised if she and my brothers are in a taxi on the way here. It's the curse of being not only the baby of the family, but the only girl."

My phone rang in the middle of my tirade. Much to
Alec's delight, the conversation went much like I had anticipated. It didn't help that Mom had me on speakerphone, so my entire family fired questions at me. It took nearly forty-five minutes to convince them they didn't need to attend the rest of my events to watch over me. I assured them having Alec around was enough to keep me safe. Of course, much to my continued mortification, once I mentioned his name, they all insisted I put him on the phone. I had to hand it to Alec. He handled the onslaught of questions like a pro. He agreed with my brothers that I would no longer wander any halls at any hotel by myself, and that I would be escorted everywhere I went. My attempts to protest were dismissed like I didn't have a say in the matter.

By the time Alec finished talking with my brothers, they had
worked out a security plan that rivaled any A-list celebrity. I felt bad that Alec was pressured into their demands, but once we hung up, I would let him off the hook.

Chapter Fourteen

As it turned out
, it was Alec who wouldn't let
me
off the hook, claiming he had given my family his word. I tried to argue that my mom would never know, but he countered that he would never be able to face them, let alone forgive himself if anything happened now that he had promised to keep an eye on me.

After speaking with my family, I decided to get the inevitable call with Olivia out of the way next. Our conversation went much the same way it had gone with my mom.
Alec had already given her the details of what he knew, so she basically just wanted to hear from me that I was okay. That and to tell me not to go anywhere alone again. After telling her about the elaborate security plan Alec had hatched with my brothers, she felt better and made me promise to call her again later.

I
found everyone's concern for my well-being touching, even though it bordered on overkill. One isolated incident didn't mean I would be in danger everywhere I went. Still, I would have been lying if I said having Alec playing the role of knight in shining armor was unpleasant in the slightest.

Looking at the time on my phone, I gathered my clothes for the day and walked to the bathroom to get ready for an author brunch that was scheduled to begin in less than thirty minutes. My initial instinct was to skip it, especially after realizing the news of the incident
had spread in my social media circles. The last thing I wanted was to become the center of attention and be asked to recount the details of something I just wanted to put behind me.

Walking out o
f my room felt like an act of will. Even though the drunken slob who attacked me was gone and in jail, I still had to walk by the door of his room. The room he had nearly dragged me into. As we approached from the far end of the hallway, my pace slowed. I felt like a small child, expecting the boogeyman to jump out at any moment.

Alec
must have sensed my reluctance because he grabbed me by the hand and guided me to his left side, so he stood between me and the door of the room that had nearly changed my life forever. As I looked at his face, he smiled and squeezed my hand gently to let me know everything would be okay. We continued forward. Alec's long fingers laced through mine, stroking the back of my hand. Our palms, pressed together, provided the best distraction I could have asked for.

Alec
held my hand until we entered the elevator, letting go when we heard the faint sound of a train whistle coming from my purse. "Oh yeah. I forgot about that. I hope you don't mind, but that's why your phone was on silent mode this morning. That noise wouldn't stop. I felt like we were at a train station," Alec said, pushing the button for the lobby.

I felt bereft, releasing his hand.
"Sorry. That's my Facebook notifications." I pulled out my phone and clicked on the app for the first time since waking that morning. For a minute I thought my account had been hacked. I had missed more than a hundred comments and messages since midnight. I'd never been so popular on social media.

"
Oh god," I said, clicking on my timeline to see all the well wishes. Obviously, the events from the night before had spread more than I had anticipated. Reading through several of the messages, I saw that not only had the news spread like wildfire, but it had also been embellished to the point that some people were convinced I was on my deathbed.

I didn
't know whether to laugh or cry as I read some of the comments. It was a poignant feeling to know so many people cared about my well-being, and clearly I would have to do a status update. So much for not thinking about it.

I clicked out of Facebook
for the time being. It would take hours to respond to all the messages that were continuing to post. I decided instead to wait until Alec and I sat down for breakfast and then make my own simple post, reassuring everyone that I was okay and thanking them for their concern. My hope was that everyone's attention would move to other things and that I would be old news by the end of the day.

Walki
ng into the author brunch a minute later, I realized maybe I'd been a tad bit naïve to think it would blow over. Every single person pivoted toward Alec and me when we entered the double doors of the ballroom. It felt like I was the guest of honor of some demented bereavement party, which was ironic considering I wanted to drop dead. I had been hoping to gain some visibility by doing the bigger signing events, but not become infamous. What happened wasn't my fault, but I still felt stupid for putting myself in the position in the first place.

Jennifer
offered the respite I needed by waving me over to her table where she had two extra chairs. I focused on her like an oasis in a desert, ignoring everyone else in the room as we made our way to our seats.

"
You okay?" she asked, giving me a quick hug before I sat down.

I nodded, smiling meekly. The other five people sitting
at the table looked at me with a mixture of concern and curiosity. Luckily, none of them were brave enough to say anything. It was only human nature. We were drawn to anything dramatic. I actually felt as writers, we were naturally more curious and possessed a thirst for drama flowing through our blood that the average person didn't have. A writer's curiosity definitely rivaled that of a cat.

Thankfully
, the keynote speaker was introduced, taking the spotlight from me for the time being. She was a worldwide bestseller who had hit the
New York Times
list more times than she probably could count. I'd been looking forward to hearing her address, but I found myself having a hard time focusing on her words as I unfolded my napkin and smoothed it over my lap. I felt like I had a load of bricks in my stomach, making it difficult to breathe.

A
lec reached over, covering my hand that was nervously fidgeting with my napkin. His touch was warm and soothing against my skin. I looked up from my lap to find Alec smiling subtly. Grateful that he seemed to sense what I needed, the corners of my mouth raised slightly as my nerves instantly settled. I took a sip of water from the glass in front of me, waiting for my stomach to return to normal.

Of course when
Alec decided to lightly trace patterns on the palm of my hand with his finger, it didn't help my erratic breathing. I was appreciative to have him caring so intently, but his touch made my body react in ways that were equally as distracting as everyone watching me.

Only when everyone
in the room began clapping had I realized the keynote speech had ended. For the sake of my own sanity, I pulled my hand from Alec's, glaring at him when he chuckled. He knew exactly was he was doing. Maybe he was onto the little seduction plan I had been working on before the craptastic events of the night before pushed them to the back burner. Having him now acting so attentive and quite frankly, like a boyfriend, had me seriously wondering if Alec had his own agenda for us or if he was just really good at being the hero.

The noise level in the large dining hall rose a
fter the keynote address and the servers began coming out with trays of food. "How you doing, hun?" Jennifer asked quietly.

I pasted
on a bright smile, nearly shrieking when I felt the cut on the inside of my lip reopen. I ran my tongue over it, capturing a drop of blood. "Okay," I said ruefully, wiping my napkin across my mouth. Despite my efforts to the contrary, it was clear I wasn't my normal self. "I was shaken up last night, but I feel much better this morning."

Jennifer
scooted her chair to face me, turning away from the others seated at the table. "Is it true he dragged you in his room?" She asked her question carefully, but I knew she wasn't trying to be intrusive. She was truly concerned.

I directed my answer at her
even though I knew everyone at the table had one ear on me and the other on their own conversations. Alec slung his arm across the back of my chair, providing moral support. I sighed before continuing, but I figured the sooner I spread the word about what had really happened, the quicker things would die down.

"
He tried, but I fought him off," I finally answered.

Jennifer
gasped. "And you didn't know who he was?"

"
No. He was just some asshat who had too much to drink. He was pretty convinced I would want to join him in his partying."

"
God. So he was drunk?"

I nodded.
"Plastered. I'd like to think if he would have been sober he wouldn't have tried to force me into his room."

Alec
shook his head next to me, growling in disagreement.

I turned to him
in surprise. Even through my river of tears the night before and his phone conversation with Mom and Dad, Alec and I had skirted around talking about what had happened. He hadn't asked for any more details beyond what he had heard while I gave my statement to the police. "Obviously, you disagree," I said, raising my eyebrow.

"
From what I saw when the cops dragged him away, the guy was a serial asshole who wasn't afraid to try and throw his weight around. Drunk or not, you don't try to handle a woman against her will unless you're a perverted fuck to begin with. Hopefully, they give him more than a slap on the wrist and then he gets what he deserves in jail."

I was shocked at the venom in his vo
ice. He seemed adamant about his opinions, speaking like he had some type of previous experience with something similar.

"
What a freaking scum," Jennifer piped in, patting my hand. "How did you get away from him? I would have been so scared. You're so brave, Nicole."

I shrugged. I didn
't feel brave. I felt foolish and dumb. "My brothers drilled self-defense into my head when I was younger. I actually panicked at first and forgot some of what they taught me. I was more shocked than anything when the guy grabbed me and started pulling me toward his room." Alec stiffened beside me, and I paused for a split second before continuing. Describing the details felt like pulling off a Band-Aid—the quicker the better. "It wasn't until he wrapped his arm around my neck and placed a hand over my mouth that was I able to recall what my brothers had taught me. I guess I took him by surprise."

Jennifer
looked horrified by the time I finished. Looking around the table, I saw she wasn't the only one. I guess I couldn't blame them. If I was a sitting in their seats, listening to someone else recount how they had been attacked, I would have probably reacted the same way. You hear similar stories all the time on the news, but when it happens to someone you know, or worst yet, when it happens to you, things become more surreal.

Jennifer
leaned in, giving me a one-armed hug. "I'm so proud of you. Thank god you kept your wits. It gives me the creeps to think about what that asshole would have done to you."

"
French toast?" Alec held out a serving dish to me. His blatant move to change the subject wasn't lost on me or anyone else at the table. Jennifer and the others took the hint and let the subject drop. We began passing around serving dishes filled with breakfast foods that had been served family style. I was thankful for his interference and grateful to finally be done talking about the unfortunate incident for now.

As the day wore on
though, I was asked to retell the story over and over again. I found it funny and sad at the same time how news of such a horrible occurrence could spread like wildfire on social media and then so many people still had no qualms about wanting to hear the nitty-gritty straight from the horse's mouth.

By the time of the massive
signing later that evening, the real reason for the whole event, my teeth were on edge. I had to paste a smile on my face for something that should have been a joy. I handed out
Wicked Lovely
swag to everyone who came by my table, acting as if everything was okay, but truthfully, I needed a break from people. More to the point, I needed them to stop asking about the incident. I just wanted to interact with readers and book lovers like me, and talk about romance and swoon-worthy male characters. More than two thousand tickets had been sold to the signing alone. It was important that I get swag into the hands of as many readers as I could. That was the point of the trip.

Alec
acted as a major buffer during the signing. The many women waiting had no idea of knowing, but I could tell that although charming as always, he seemed to be on edge also. He posed for pictures and tolerated all the groping and touching he had become used to, but beneath the surface, I sensed Alec was functioning on a slow boil.

Eventually
, the three-hour signing came to a close. The smile I'd pasted on my face the entire time slipped as I slumped into my chair. Alec immediately began breaking down my banner and I jumped up to help him. Neither of us spoke as we packed away my belongings. Plans for late dinners were being thrown around and several people asked us to join them, but Alec politely declined each one, speaking for the both of us. Our attempt to leave the ballroom was a slow process, as everyone seemed to want to say goodbye or at least offer some type of condolence.