“Okay, now I’m really dying to know what this guy is about. I’ve never heard of a celebrity not wanting any images of them floating around. I mean, what’s it gonna hurt if people see pictures of him?” Juliana says.

As the group ponders the answer to the question, I feel a sudden shift in the room as the crowd seems to grow restless. Whispers bounce between the bodies in the crowd, and we can feel the energy shift within the group of women. Someone in the front seems to notice something, then the next person, and the next, before the entire audience is looking up to the second floor of the giant bookstore. The room becomes frantic as everyone’s gaze shifts upward, and I turn to find Nathan Booker’s assistant, Keisha, standing at the top of the escalator.

“What’s going on?” DeShaun asks, looking at me.

“Umm, I think someone saw him,” Shay replies. When we turn to look at her, she nods toward a woman standing in the very front of the long line waiting to get their books signed first. The woman is wearing a black skirt and heavy makeup, and she’s fanning herself like she’s about to overheat.

“Oh, my god,” she says to her friend, who’s leaning from side to side to see whatever her friend has seen. “He’s so hot. Oh, shit. Here he comes. Look!”

Every eye in the room turns to the top of the escalator, and that’s when it happens. The air in the store is suddenly sucked out. Every eye widens, and all of the lungs in the place seem to stop functioning as a man with caramel skin steps to the top of the escalator at Keisha’s side. He’s wearing an all-black suit with a black undershirt adorned with dark silver buttons, no tie. The beard that traces his jawline is cropped close to his face. The hair on his head is faded low on the sides and just a bit higher on top, and his mustache is thin over his plump lips. A jaw as strong as granite morphs into a heart-stopping smile as Keisha whispers something in his ear, and the two of them step onto the escalator together like the world’s hottest power couple. As they glide down like two angels, I could swear he looks at me. I even glance away for a moment and look back, and his eyes still look like they’re staring at me, but halfway down the escalator his gaze switches to the crowd.

“What the fuck?” DeShaun says as he stares.

“Oh, my fucking god,” whispers, Shay.

“Holy shit,” Juliana exclaims.