Free Lovers Premiere (Kimani Romance) by Adrianne Byrd

Stewart and get her day going.
    When the list of things that she needed to get done before the pre-awards gala started scrolling through her mind, Sofia crammed food into her mouth as fast as she possibly could.
    â€œMind if I join you?”
    Sofia glanced up with a sausage poking out of her mouth.
    Ramell smiled. “You know, you could’ve woken me up. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
    Cheeks crammed with pancakes, Sofia gave him a half apology but then felt a wave of panic when he took a seat.
    â€œNow that’s an interesting look,” he chuckled. “The chipmunk cheeks look good on you.”
    The waitress returned and sat his breakfast of French toast and scrambled eggs down in front of him.
    â€œSo how did you sleep last night?”
    Sofia’s eyes narrowed. She had a sneaky suspicion that he knew damn well that she hadn’t slept a wink. Whenhe continued to wait for an answer, she lied. “I slept like a log.” She smiled animatedly.
    His eyes twinkled. “Glad to hear it.”
    You’re playing with fire. Sofia tried to swallow her food but suddenly realized that she needed help.
    â€œHere. Have some of my orange juice.” He pushed his glass toward her.
    â€œThanks,” she murmured around the breakfast that was clogging her throat. She quickly gulped down half the glass and then panted when she finally managed to clear her pipes.
    â€œBetter?” His neatly groomed brow stretched over his forehead.
    She nodded and dabbed the corners of her mouth with her napkin.
    â€œAre you in some kind of hurry or do you usually eat like a starved animal?”
    â€œHa. Ha. Very funny.”
    â€œWell it was either those two options or…you’re trying to avoid me so that we don’t have to talk about that kiss we shared yesterday.”
    Sofia shoveled in another hardy helping of pancake into her mouth so that she wouldn’t have to respond.
    Ram laughed so hard his head nearly rocked off his shoulders. A few curious gazes drifted toward their table and Sofia suddenly wished that she could shrink down to about two inches.
    â€œDo I really make you that nervous?”
    â€œDon’t be ridiculous,” she barked and then started to choke.
    Tears practically brimmed his eyes as he watched her weak performance.
    â€œActually, I don’t have much time to eat. There’s a lot I have to do before the party and the award show.”
    He sobered up a bit. “Anything I can help you with?”
    â€œNo. I have everything under control. Or maybe I should ask whether you need any help with the party. I know things can—”
    â€œNope. Everything is fine and going according to schedule.”
    She frowned. “Nothing ever goes according to schedule.”
    â€œThey do if I’m handling it,” he said confidently.
    â€œRight.” She tossed down the rest of his juice and then scrambled up from the table. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
    â€œLooking forward to it.”
    Â 
    For the next few hours Sofia remained busy, with Stewart getting some of her clients to press junkets, and answering emails on her iPad. Most of her workload was difficult without her phone, but she lacked the courage to ask Ramell for it back. She didn’t have a stack of pancakes on hand to help her through another round of questions about that kiss.
    Of course that kiss never stopped looping in her mind, either. It happened so much, in fact, that people were constantly snapping their fingers in front of her face and asking if she was all right. A little after noon, Stewart reminded her that her hair and make-up artist was scheduled to meet with her in the suite so she rushed up to go get ready for the afternoon festivities. Everything was running smooth until the Armani representative, Robyn, showed up.
    â€œThat’s not the dressed I ordered,” Sofia said frowning. “I requested the white ball gown