Page 8 of Modern Persuasion

As one of the largest publishing companies in the world, we didn't have a small booth on the exhibit floor. We took over three rows of space with our smaller imprints clustered around the core autographing and meeting area. When my father sold our company, it became one of those imprints, which was why I had to sit at the booth for the entire hour of Fredrick's signing. He sat directly across from me, greeting the attendees who had lined up so he could autograph his book. It was surreal to watch women rush the booth. Some just wanted to take a picture of him, some with him, and others fought to get in line. I watched him as he smiled, talked, and signed copies of his book for each of them. Christi and Louisa kept things moving the entire time. Nobody was allowed time to chat with him, but Fredrick would look over and catch my eye every few minutes. I couldn't do anything but watch. The crowds made it impossible for anyone else to get over to the side tables where the imprints promoted their books. Each time Fredrick looked at me, I felt the tightness in my stomach that I hadn't felt in eight years.

I remembered going to parties with him and splitting up to talk to our friends. We would catch each other's eyes and smile every so often. It was our pact to help each other deal with our anxiety in large groups. I wondered if he was doing that now. I tested my theory towards the end of the hour by smiling at him when he looked over at me. He smiled back, and I saw his shoulders fall and his face relax. For the next fifteen minutes, I continued to smile at him when I saw him look over at me, and each time, he smiled back.

"What was that look?" Karen asked, returning after her lunch meeting.

I hadn't noticed she'd arrived, and I felt like a teenager caught not paying attention in class. "Testing a theory."

"What theory?" she asked, looking back and forth between Fredrick and me.

His smile faltered for a moment when he saw Karen. I sighed and focused on my boss. "Something I know about him that I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to share with Christi for his book tour."

"Emma, you made the right decision when you graduated. You do know that? If you have any regrets, it was not my intent."

I shook my head. "I don't regret my choices."

Even as I spoke the words, I was fully committed to the lie.

Chapter Six

Dinner plans have changed," Mary said when she opened her hotel room door. "Tommy is here!"

I walked into the room to see my boyishly handsome brother-in-law sitting on the edge of the bed watching a baseball game. He was dressed in a polo shirt and khakis. He didn't look away from the game but lifted a hand to greet me.

"If you two want a romantic dinner in the city, I am happy to leave," I said, happy for an excuse to go home for a quiet night alone.

"Oh, no," Mary said before going back into the bathroom, where she applied her makeup. "I talked to Louisa, and she invited us to join them for dinner."

"Them?" I asked.

Mary didn't break eye contact with her mirror self. "Christi, Louisa, and Fredrick! Isn't that awesome? We are going to have dinner with a famous person! My friends are going to be so jealous."

"You know tons of famous writers," I reminded her and went to sit in the armchair across the room.

Mary poked her head out of the bathroom door. "Writers aren't famous, EMMA!"

"Fredrick is a writer."

"But in Hollywood."

I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath. Twenty-four hours ago, Fredrick Wentworth had been a memory. Now my sister was latching onto him like he was the second coming. It was like I was trying to manifest the end. I knew this would be over once PubCon ended, and I focused on getting through the next couple of days.

This wasn't the worst dinner of my life, but it was up there on the list. The worst dinner of my life was technically the first after my mother died. The second worst was the big family dinner the night of graduation, days after Fredrick had proposed, when I realized I was going to say no. This dinner wasn't nearly as bad as those two. I'm sure it was because I drank more wine than I should have. Wine typically makes me more aggressive and talkative. I find myself oversharing. It was challenging to get a word between Mary, Louisa, and Christi, even if I had something to say.

"I wish I could go on a book tour," Mary said.

"Oh, we normally don't go with authors," Christi said, waving her hand to dismiss Mary. "I mean, we usually advise their publicists about what to do, and we coordinate from our offices. Fredrick is a rare case because he's a celebrity."

Mary met my eye and raised her eyebrow as if this had proven her earlier point.

"Did you know that Emma is the queen of book tours?" Christi continued without noticing the look my sister gave me. "She often plans them, even if she doesn't go on them. If someone needs to go with a famous author, she typically does. I think I went with you one time, Emma. I remember being really bored and exhausted."

I thought about the time we had gone to Boston with a celebrity author who had been anxious about what to expect. After that first stop, she sent us back to New York. It was rarely exciting since most bookstores and publicists knew what they were doing.

"Why?" Louisa asked. She had always wanted to go to a book event with me, and now she was going to find out why I never invited her.

Christi smirked. "You basically spend all your time preparing for the reading and signing. You're exhausted from travel to the point where you just want to go to bed when the signing is over. The next day you repeat it all over again in a new town or city and bookstore. Fredrick, be ready," Christi said.

"Is this true, Emma?" Louisa asked me.