Free I Heart Geeks by Aria Glazki, Stephanie Kayne, Kristyn F. Brunson, Layla Kelly, Leslie Ann Brown, Bella James, Rae Lori

she was going to be a difficult interviewee. Her demeanor was stiff and cold, Natalie was a veritable ice queen. At first Will had been knocked off balance, wondering if she had unwittingly criticized the actress in the past. No. The starlet it seemed was mad at the
special
attention Jack was giving Willow.
    Jack was a handsome man. Talented, smart, funny… No!
    Suffice it to say, the catty blonde… shrew was uncooperative unless it was to suggest that she and Jake were working
very
close with one another.
Very close
. Not that it mattered to Willow. She could have him. It’s not like Jack is serious about any of this flirting. It was just Jack being Jack. If he had wanted to be with her he wouldn’t have run out on her after screwing her. Literally.
    Even the memory of those days still flooded her with anger. The sadness. The despair was gone. She’d gotten over that. Watching show after show, marathon after marathon of
GoldStar
—their show—without him had helped. It had reminded her about right and wrong and how the relationships between people should be. For a cheesy cartoon it had depths. It taught lessons to kids that weren’t obvious and gave a teenage Willow an understanding that what Jack had done was wrong and it wasn’t her fault. He failed to live up the “Gold Standard” as the show termed its views on chivalry and deportment. Watching it alone also made her realize that she didn’t need him. She didn’t need anyone to enjoy
GoldStar
or anything else. She could be self-reliant, self-assured, and not be dependent upon someone else to be happy.
    The elevator dinged, announcing its eminent arrival and reminding Willow that she was in her hotel’s lobby. The convention was still raging at the Indianapolis Convention Center and in some of the hotels that ringed it. Luckily the crowd was thin at the Marriott during lunch time.
    On the doors of the elevator was some poster advertising another sequel to an overblown action franchise that needed to retire two movies ago. As the doors opened—which also made it look like the hero was leaping away from the explosion—clever—Willow came face-to-face with Jack Kendrick.
    Crap.
    Shooing him away, she said, “I’ll catch the next—”
    Jack smiled, grabbed her arm, and pulled her in before the doors slid close.
    “Jack,” she screeched, as she fell into him. His hard body prevented her from falling.
    His arms circled her waist as he whispered, “Exactly, who I was looking for.”
    She pathetically pushed and slapped at his shoulders and chest. “Let go of me you…you brute!”
    “Never.” One arm slid up her back, dragging along her shirt. He buried his fingers in her brown hair as he nipped her chin.
    “Jack,” she whimpered.
    She could feel him smiled against her skin. Her nose brushed his hair and his woodsy scent reminded her of the forests near their childhood homes. It was where they first kissed, really kissed. Not the first fumbling “how did that quick mouth-to-mouth touch between best friends happen” peck. No. The woods were their first “I think I love you” kiss and it changed everything for the better for one sublime, glorious summer week until reality and abandonment burst her adolescent bubble.
    But his woodsy, pine and maple scent still filled her core with tingles and sweet, warm wetness that she’d hadn’t felt in a long, long time.
    He pulled her closer and she could feel him, hard and ready for her. The fact that all these years later she could still make him hot was heady.
    “Willow.”
    She opened her eyes, he was staring at her, a small smile caressing his lips. He gently swept a lock of hair away from her face. His touch all too fleeting. Slowly, Willow let her hand rest on his t-shirt covered abs and let it travel up to his chest, feeling the rigid muscle underneath the soft cotton. Her hand absorbed his heat as she felt him gasp. She felt thrilled to her core that she affected him. Her touch could make him twitch,