“Sorry.” She gave a shaky smile to Al, who apparently liked to hunt.
“No problem.” He picked it up and she tried to concentrate over the whispers that screamed a warning.
Rubi Walsh is here.
Rubi Walsh is here.
A line formed and Rubi placed herself behind the table of shirts, needing space to breathe. She always had an out—an exit strategy. Bobby, her agent, made sure she had at least one bodyguard. Her throat squeezed and she gasped for breath, waiting for someone to protest the table she’d put between them.
The line continued to grow, curving around the corner and out of sight. The next person in line, a man with a fish hook through his nose, waited for Rubi to wave him forward. Rubi took a deep breath, not quite ready. She rubbed her forehead again and then pretended to be busy with things she couldn’t even see because her mind was spinning. Bobby would kill her for doing this without a contract.
Cash sidled up to her and put his hand on the small of her back. Something strange happened at his touch. All of Rubi’s muscles thawed and her fear faded to someplace off screen. At the same time, her heart rate picked up and pounded through her neck and wrists.
“RubiWalsh?” he asked quietly. She couldn’t tell if he was astonished that it was her or that he hadn’t known it was her.
“Did you just Google me?” she whispered before taking the tan Sweet Birch hat from the guy with the fish hook. Cash stared at her. She signed her name on the hat with a flourish and posed for a picture before handing it over.
Cash lifted his hat and ran his hand through his hair before setting it back in place. “I had no idea.”
“Would you have been nicer to me if you’d known?” she teased. Now that he was here, she wasn’t as worried about all the people. His presence, while unnerving on a conscious level, was calming on a subconscious one.
He paused for a minute, probably thinking about all the little fights and how annoying she’d been. He laughed. “Nope.”
She smiled in return. “Good.”
“Cash!” called Major. “We’re gonna need more shirts.”
Cash grinned. “You good here?”
Rubi bit her lip. “As long as everyone behaves.”
His hand went to her lower back and she was once again warm and gooey. “I’ll be quick.”
He was gone and Rubi missed the contact immediately. She turned her attention to the woman at the front of the line. “Hi.”
“Hi. Oh my gosh! I was so in love with Camron. What was it like to kiss him?” she asked, her whole face turning red as a tomato.
Rubi giggled. “Kind of slimy.”
“What?” she shrieked.
“But he got better.”
They laughed together. “Here, I’m getting this for me and this is for my husband. But you don’t have to sign his.”
“Great. Do you guys fish?”
“I like hiking more than fishing, but if we head to the mountain lakes, we get both.”
“Ooooh. You should check out the packs. They’re the best.” Rubi nodded towards the display of colorful hiking gear. She had no idea what it was all for, but the thought didn’t bother her. Heidi Klum and Paris Hilton didn’t actually ate the cheeseburgers they made kissy faces at in commercials. Just because she didn’t try it out, didn’t mean she couldn’t recommend it.,
“I will. Thanks!” The woman took the merchandise and headed straight for a bright red backpack with metal bars and a hip brace. A sense of accomplishment prickled Rubi’s skin. She hoped Cash would sell out and be able to do all the things he wanted to with his company. And it wouldn’t hurt if his cousin wanted to crawl under a rock.
“How y’all doing?” she asked the family of four who stepped up to the table. The dad turned bright red and the mom giggled.
“We watchSchool dayson Netflix,” stuttered the mom.
Rubi encouraged the shy youngsters with a smile and said, “Why, thank you! Thanks for watching!” They chatted for a few minutes, Rubi asking about their school and what they liked best about the show. In the middle of their conversation, she flashed back to the appearances she’d done when she was a teen. There were lots of screaming fans and long lines and organizers who hurried people through the line without allowing for small talk. She’d felt like a giraffe at the zoo, her legs too long, her face covered in spots, and always bumping into things.
