Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 142976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
Cade hid his grin at her words when he realized that the awe he’d seen in Fern’s eyes had been for Iris and not Trystan Abbot. Which was pretty much the most Fern reaction to the situation ever.
“I’m Fern Hawthorne. This is my husband, Cade.”
Cade exchanged nods with the other couple.
“Good to meet you,” he said, dropping a nonchalant arm around Fern’s narrow shoulders. She was still clutching the partially eaten granola bar in one hand and he leaned toward her and nuzzled her hair aside with his nose to whisper his next words directly into her ear. “Finish your snack, Fern.”
She shot him an irritated look, before pointedly setting the bar on the arm of the couch. Cade bit back a grin at the defiant gesture, but left it at that.
Tim’s head popped around the door.
“Mr. and Mrs. uh…” He consulted his tablet. “Hawthorne, five minutes before we take you backstage to get mic’ed.”
He disappeared again, and Fern moaned before dropping her face in her hands.
“Oh, I think I’m going to be sick,” she murmured.
Cade’s arm tightened around her shoulders.
“Take a couple of deep breaths, okay?” he whispered urgently, but she kept her hands over her face.
“I don’t think I can do this,” she cried.
Chapter
Twenty-One
Cade was startled when Iris Abbott sat down on the sofa next to Fern, her pretty, round face alight with sympathy.
“Hey, Fern?” she said, her voice quiet but authoritative. “C’mon, look at me, love…”
Fern lifted her head, to meet the other woman’s warm gaze. Iris handed her a glass of water.
“You’ll be fine. Honestly? This is mostly new to me as well. And I can’t say I love it, but it’s not all that bad. Mike will make you feel right at home, and you’ll have Cade there to pick up the slack if you find yourself nervous or freezing up.”
“Yes. Anacondas and great whites,” Fern muttered half to herself, and Cade grinned. Iris looked confused but nodded nonetheless.
“If that’s what gets you through it, picture everyone in there as anacondas and great whites, by all means. Mike’s huge, gleaming teeth alone would put him in the great white category.” Fern snickered at the other woman’s words. “You don’t even see the audience, I promise you. The studio is too brightly lit and the audience isn’t. Your segment will fly by and before you know it the focus will shift to Trystan and his new movie.”
“This interview’s supposed to be about promoting your new book,” Trystan said, mild protest in his voice and Iris rolled her eyes.
“Please, all anybody ever wants to talk about is whatever new movie you’re working on. Mike’ll devote two minutes to my book before it becomes the Trystan Abbott show.”
“You’re writing a new book?” Fern asked, the information seemingly dragging her out of her panic.
“Yep.” She popped the P before adding, “But nobody’s going to care about that with Mr. Hottest Man on the Planet in studio.”
“I care,” Fern said, a frown marring her brow as her disapproving gaze flitted to Trystan Abbott.
He saw the look and grinned before holding his hands up in surrender.
“Hey, I care as well,” he said. “And I’ll be steering the conversation back to that anytime it strays off the point.”
“Don’t worry, okay?” Iris reiterated. “You’ll be fine.”
It wasn’t great. But it wasn’t terrible either. All Fern was aware of was Cade’s hand tightly enfolded around hers for the duration of the interview.
Mike Holmes was a warm, welcoming host and had a way of making one feel at ease.
His questions were quiet and designed to encourage further discussion. It was different from the other interviews they’d done. Those had mostly been about financial repercussions, with very few questions aimed at Fern. This was more intimate, and a lot of it was focused on her.
After a few establishing questions about who they were, and what was happening with Granger, he dove into the more personal stuff.
“One of your stepfather’s main accusations, of course, was that Niall somehow manipulated you, Fern. Could you tell us, in your own words about your first meeting?”
Fern licked her lips and sent a quick panicked glance at Cade before saying in a quiet rush, “I thought he was the most dangerously beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my life.”
The audience laughed almost gently and the unexpected sound made her jump nervously.
“He is rather easy on the eyes,” Mike Holmes agreed with a laugh, effortlessly diverting her attention back to him. “In fact, you two make a rather striking couple. Night and day almost. What about you, Niall, what were your first impressions of Fern?”
Cade shifted easily beside her, hiking an ankle onto his knee and sprawling out comfortably on Mike Holmes’s famous—massive—dark blue crushed velvet Chesterfield sofa. Always so at home in his own skin.
His eyes raked over her face with what looked like affection—who knew he was such a good actor?—and he smiled.