Penny tosses the Henley at me, still attached to the hanger. “Black Henley it is. I can attest to how damn fine you look in it.”
“You’re not being supportive,” I growl, tossing the shirt on the duvet and climbing out.
“I’m being a very supportive girlfriend,” she says, turning to put the other shirt back in the closet so she doesn’t see the smile she elicited by calling herself my girlfriend. “I’m preventing potential embarrassment on national TV.”
I’m across the room and meeting her in all my naked glory by the time she comes back out. Her mouth drops open when she sees me, and I don’t waste time pulling her into my arms. I kiss her softly, but there’s no mistaking what I really want by the bulge pressing into her stomach. “I’m going to make an official request we get you naked.”
“You’ll be late,” she murmurs against my mouth. “Derek willbe here soon.”
I glance at the table clock. “We’ve got an hour. Plenty of time to wring an orgasm out of you, shower and have coffee. Deal?”
“Deal,” she murmurs and jumps into my arms, where I carry her back to bed.
♦
Almost an hourlater, on the dot, Penny has a tumbler of hot coffee, and I’m walking her to the front door. When I lean in to kiss her, she tastes like cinnamon from Larkin’s sweet rolls we polished off. “You’ll do great,” she says against my mouth. “Be yourself. Maybe don’t cuss.”
“No promises.”
She laughs, grabs her keys, and heads for her car. “Knock ’em dead, hot stuff. Text me when you’re done.”
I stand in the doorway long after she disappears down the gravel drive. Every instinct in me wants to run after her.
Instead, I take another sip of coffee and tell myself the truth—wanting her here forever doesn’t mean I get to keep her.
The crunch of tires in my driveway pulls me back to the present. A silver sedan slows to a stop. Out of the passenger side steps a blond woman in her forties, sleek and polished. She stares at my house, then around the front yard. From the driver’s seat, a man steps out casually dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, and at the sametime, Derek unfurls from the back seat.
All three move my way and I come down the three steps to greet them.
“Caroline Marks,” the woman says, extending her hand. “And this is my cameraman, Chris. Thank you for having us, Mr. Rochelle.”
“Please, call me Sam.” We shake, and I give a nod and smile to Chris, who reciprocates. “And thanks for swinging through town to pick up Derek.”
She glances at my agent. “It was no problem, plus we wanted to get a feel for Whynot before we shoot some footage. Such a charming town.”
“Would you like to come in for coffee?” I ask, a way to be genial, but honestly, I just want to get this done.
“Thank you for the offer,” she replies with a smile. “But we’ve got an afternoon flight out of Raleigh, so I’d like to get started.”
I take another sip from my mug. “And what exactly are we doing?”
Derek answers, as he apparently got the rundown on the way over. “Today is all about B-roll footage and getting background information for the actual interview.”
“It’s going to be very casual,” Caroline assures me with a reassuring smile.
I deadpan. “So just stand there and look pretty?”
Caroline chuckles. “If you can manage,that’d be great.”
“Um… all right,” I say, looking around. “Are we doing it here at my house?”
“Actually,” she drawls with a coy smile, “I was hoping maybe you could show us around the area. Maybe we could hop in your truck and head back into town?”
“Ah,” I say with a knowing nod. “You’re going to lean into the country-boy aspect.”
“It’s why we want you,” she replies with no apology in her voice. “The fact that you’re a small-town guy is what makes you marketable.” She waves at my house. “Your place is beautiful, but we don’t want that to be the focus.”
“Fair enough,” I reply. “But I make no apologies for Floyd if we run into him.”
