Page 28 of The Nicest Thing

Rose was acting odd.

It was the little things. Like when our eyes met a second ago, she quickly looked away.

When I accidentally brushed my hand against hers as I reached into the trunk for a box of books, she jumped as if I'd shocked her.

That never happened before. To test if I was imagining it, I looked at her with a smile.

"Told you we'd make it," I said.

Rose nodded. "You did."

"Are you excited for Romance or Die?"

"Yeah," she mumbled, "I just hope I don't, you know, die."

"You won't."

"Says you. We still have to unload all these."

"Hey," I said, waiting until she met my gaze, "I've got the books. And you've got this."

She smiled, but when I went to wrap her up in a hug, Rose dodged to the left, laughing awkwardly. My lips turned down. Rose always welcomed my hugs. Always. Something was definitely up.

"I should go check us in," she said, pointing vaguely over her shoulder at the hotel entrance. "You okay? Need any help with the boxes?"

"All good here," I said.

She threw me a quick smile then turned and walked inside.

Could've been my imagination, but I swore it looked like she was going faster than usual. Like she was running away.

From me.

My mind went back to this morning in the cabin, instantly reliving every detail.

How we woke up.

In bed.

Together.

Rose tight against me, my arm around her waist, hand splayed low on her stomach. My nose in her hair. One leg resting between hers.

Her delicious ass pressed to my front.

Directly over where I was painfully hard.

She must've noticed. I woke up first, and realizing my predicament, I didn't know what to do—but I figured it was only a natural reaction.

Rose would understand. Unable to help myself, I nuzzled my nose further into her hair, breathing in her vanilla and mint scent.

My eyes rolled back in my head when she pushed her hips back unconsciously.

I released a quiet groan. And then…she stilled; her breath caught, and as I waited for her to pull away, I felt her relax instead.

Her body turned liquid. She moved her hips once more, and I pulled her tighter to my body, too selfish to let her go.

I assumed maybe she didn't feel my reaction to her.

But maybe she did.

Damn. There was nothing for it. I needed to apologize.

But first, I had to get everything loaded on the luggage cart. Only five more boxes to go.

As I lifted another from the trunk and turned, I caught sight of three women not-so-discreetly staring. People flowed in and out of the hotel. A good bit of them were wearing Romance or Die badges, like these three, so I guessed they were writers.

They giggled when I lifted my chin in their direction.

"Here for the conference?" I asked.

"Yeah," the one with blonde hair said then lifted a brow. The name on her lanyard read Keely Starr. "Do you offer your services to everyone or…?"

"Nah, I'm only here for one woman. I'm her book husband/assistant."

"Too bad."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"With those arms and looks, I bet you'd make a lot of money," she replied and shot me a smile.

I shrugged, uncomfortable with the attention but amused by their brazen appraisal.

"A killing," the brunette next to her put in. The name on her tag was Lorelai Lasso. "It's Romance or Die, so yeah, a killing."

"Clever," I said.

She blushed then looked away. "Thanks."

"Lorelai's not the brightest crayon in the box, but she has her moments," Keely said with a laugh. The others laughed too, but I didn't. What a shitty thing to say. "Anyway, if you want to meet up, we'll be at the author dinner later. Who'd you say you're here with?"

"I didn't," I said.

She opened her mouth to speak again, but Rose came through the doors, looking like a vision as the wind caught her hair and blew it all over. God, she was gorgeous. I wanted to run my fingers through that hair, wrap it around my fist and—

"Sorry, Finn," she said. "The line was forever long. I think everyone's checking in right now."

"That's okay," I murmured. "I'd wait as long as it takes for you."

She didn't catch my double meaning, but that was okay. I meant what I said. I would wait. For her. For as long as it takes. As Rose brushed the hair out of her face and caught sight of the women, her smile dropped.

"Oh, didn't realize you have company," she said.

Keely pasted on a bright smile. "Liv! I didn't know you'd be here," she said. "It's good to see you!"

"Is it?" Rose mumbled, but I heard.

"How did a small indie author like you get an invite?"

I narrowed my gaze at the slight, but my girl shrugged. "The same as everyone else, I guess. I got an email. I accepted the invitation."

Keely Starr shook her head. "Well, that's just amazing for you. This is your first time here, correct?"

"Yep."

"It's my third, so yeah. No big deal."

"I think Romance or Die is always a big deal," Rose said.

Keely tilted her head, smile widening. "Well, isn't that sweet."

Lorelai stood there shifting from foot to foot, but the other woman—Tessa—sighed.

"Keely, stop," she said.

The blonde gave her an innocent look. "Stop what?"

"Let's just go inside already and leave Liv and her book husband be."

"Fine," Keely said with a sniff. She looked to Rose and said, "You know, they sent out the final author list weeks ago. I didn't see your name on there. But I guess something changed."

"Guess so," Rose said.

"Hmmm"—Keely Starr's eyes moved to me and gave me a once-over—"nice meeting you, Liv's assistant."

"Was it though?" I said, and she laughed it off.

But I wasn't joking.

This woman obviously had history with Rose. Bad history. I hoped we wouldn't run into her again. After they left, Rose's frown remained. It didn't dim an inch, and I wanted to put a smile back on her face.

"So, they were…nice," I said sarcastically.

Rose's lips twitched. "They're not so bad. Tessa's amazing, and Lorelai's a sweetheart."

"Yeah well, that Keely woman was shady as fuck."

She laughed, and it eased something in my heart.

"That's my favorite sound. You laughing."

Rose looked away. "Ah well, I like it when you curse."

"Why?"

"Because you're so nice, Finn. It's unexpected."

"Well damn, I'll curse more then."

"Not necessary. I like you just as you are," she said which made my chest tight.

"We better get these books inside. I have our room keys and directions to the death table—that's what they call the Romance or Die registration desk.

It's where I pick up our badges, itinerary, conference map, all the things. "

"Got it," I said.

As she went to walk past me, I put a hand on her arm. She jumped at the contact, looked down, then back at me with an expression I couldn't read.

"Did I do something last night?" I asked.

Her eyes went round. "Last night?"

"Or this morning?"

"No, why would you ask that?"

I ran a hand across my neck. "I don't know. I was getting a vibe."

Rose lifted a brow. "What vibe?"

"You're acting standoffish is all. I wanted to make sure I didn't make you uncomfortable. I mean, when we slept together."

"You didn't," she said, throwing me a smile.

"You sure?" I repeated. "Because I tried to keep my hands to myself, but if you felt like I took advantage or—"

"Finn, I was the one who wrapped my leg around you."

I grinned. "I remember. You fell asleep on me too."

Her eyes flitted away. "You didn't do anything to make me uncomfortable."

"Good."

Rose crossed her arms. "It is alarming how fast you managed to attract a harem of women."

I nearly choked. "Excuse me?"

"I left for like 10 minutes and come back to find you flirting—"

"I wasn't!"

"—with a whole group of women while others looked on."

"No idea what you're talking about," I said.

"Look around, Finn," she said. As I did, I noticed several other women, sneaking glances at us, whispering, throwing smirks our way. "They're not checking me out."

My cheeks flushed, and Rose rolled her eyes, gripping my hand in hers.

"That blush is sure to make them feral," she said. "Let's go before someone else hits on my book husband."

I smiled as she tugged me away and into the elevator. Couldn't help it.

Once we were riding up to our floor, Rose glanced sideways at me. "Why are you smiling so hard?" she asked. "Did you like their attention that much?"

"No," I said, "but I like having yours."

"Oh?"

"Love it when you lay claim to me."

Rose bit back a smile as we walked off the elevator, found the right hall, and located our room. We opened the door, and she released my hand as we went inside.

"This will work," I said.

"Finn," she groaned.

"What?"

"They put us in the honeymoon suite."

"Yeah, so?"

Rose shook her head, muttering, "When the lady at the desk mentioned an upgrade, I didn't think she meant this."

Looking around, I took it in. The room was a lot. But it was nice.

I pushed my hands into my pockets. "Still not seeing the problem."

"The atmosphere is over-the-top romantic," she said. "Look at that fireplace. The pillows say 'His' and 'Hers.' There's a vase of roses on the table, and are those…wow. They even put rose petals on the bed. Nice touch."

I lifted my chin. "At least it's a king-size this time."

Rose just shook her head.

"So, what's the game plan?"

"Do we need one?" she asked with a sigh. "We play the happy couple, totally smitten, madly in love."

I raised my brows as her voice quieted at the end. "Easy."

"Yeah…do you have your ring?"

"Of course," I said, lifting the chain from my shirt and sliding the ring on my finger before reattaching the necklace. "What about you?"

Rose nodded and raised her hand.

Seeing that ring on her finger would never get old.

"Finn, I…" she trailed off.

"What?" I said, but Rose just shook her head.

"We should go down, sign in at registration."

"Okay, I'm with you."

"I know you are," she said softly.

Again, I got the sense that I was missing something, but Rose said we were alright, so I took that as the truth. The woman at registration smiled when she saw us approach.

"Hi," she said, "name?"

"Liv Lamoreaux," Rose said, "and there should also be a badge for Finn, my assistant."

Her eyes sparkled. "Ah yes, the happy couple."

She reached into the box at her side, producing two lanyards with badges attached as well as a black folder with Romance or Die's logo on the cover.

"Thank you," Rose said. "We're so excited to be here."

"Oh, no thanks needed," she said. "After we had a popular author and influencer duo cancel on us at the last minute, a spot opened up. Isla was very taken with you and your husband. You fit the bill perfectly."

"Sorry, what do you mean by that?"

"Rain and her husband Ransom are darlings of the romance world," she added with a smile.

"I'm sure you've heard of their love affair.

Everyone knows them. Everyone loves them.

We needed a couple with that same swoony pull.

Isla read and loved a couple of your books.

You're currently blowing up on socials, so yeah. Isla said we had to have you two."

"Ah, I see," Rose said faintly.

"We've got hors d'oeuvres and drinks in the main ballroom for your guys, all themed, of course. Welcome to Romance or Die," she finished then moved on to help someone else.

I walked with Rose to the other side of the hall, but she didn't look up from her badge.

"Rose, you okay?" I asked.

"Not really."

She shook her head.

"They only wanted me if you came too," she said quietly. "I can't believe I thought…never mind."

"No, tell me."

Rose looked at me with a half-embarrassed expression. "Keely was right. I'm a small indie romance author. There are tons of those, Finn. I just feel stupid for not seeing it before. They wanted us—not me."

I shook my head. "That's not true. She said Isla loved your books. That's good. Isn't it?"

"Yeah, but I feel like I lied my way here. I don't feel awesome about that. You know?"

"I do. But I also know how amazing your stories are."

"Guess I'm good at telling stories in real life too," she mumbled then scoffed. "Maybe I really don't belong here."

Going on instinct, I lifted her hand to my lips and placed a lingering kiss there.

Rose's breath caught, and her eyes shot to mine, giving me her full attention just like I'd hoped.

"You're brilliant, beautiful, a goddess among mortals," I said.

"Finn," she said self-consciously.

"I mean it, Rose. You just have to know it too."

"You see me differently than I see myself."

"I see you. Period."

She swallowed thickly then tilted her head toward the open doors, "Want to go work the room?"

I grinned then put her arm in mine. "Only if you're with me."

Rose's smile was small but there. "I'm with you, Finn."

That was all I needed to hear.