31. Chapter 31
Chapter 31
“Hey, Lisa!” I said, walking into the office on Friday morning. “Do you have those papers Shark needed?”
“Right here,” she replied, giving me a smile along with the manila folder she handed over. Her dark-brown hair swung to the side when she tilted her head. “I have a huge favor to ask.”
“Sure, what’s up?”
She pulled a book from her desk and slid it across the counter to me. “While you’re at the convention, would you please get AK Landow to sign this? I didn’t realize I could order signed copies from her website, so I got this one on Amazon. I’d really like her signature though.”
“Of course,” I said, taking the copy of Double Play , which had a baseball and softball player on the front cover. I flipped it over and skimmed the blurb on the back. “Ooh, this looks good. I haven’t read this author before.”
“Girl, you need to, if you like rom-coms. Actually, they call her the Queen of Raunch-Com because she’s both hilarious and dirty.”
“Sounds right up my alley. ”
“This is the start of a new series, but she has two other complete series before this one. Her books make me laugh so hard, and… let’s just say my hubby loves when I read her books and get inspired .” She bobbed her eyebrows up and down, and I laughed.
“She sounds like a hoot. I can’t wait to meet her.”
Lisa’s lips twisted into a sad smile. “I’m so damn jealous. Shark offered me a ticket to this event, but I told him I would work the office today. That was before I knew my favorite author was going to be there.”
“Got ya covered. I’ll ask her to write you a personal message in there.”
Lisa grinned. “That would be awesome. I hope she’s as personable as she seems online. I follow her on all her social media accounts. She’s got a great rack too,” she said ruefully, staring down at her own small chest.
“Well, now I’m intimidated,” I said with a laugh, though I really wasn’t. Hawk had complimented my tits profusely last night while he had his big cock between them, and I was feeling quite confident this morning.
“Don’t be. You look amazing today,” Lisa said, giving me a once-over. “That outfit is hot.”
I’d decided on a bright-pink fitted V-neck top with Book Girlies Do It Better imprinted across the chest in white glitter. My look was completed by a white skirt and white lace-up boots with a flat heel since I anticipated walking so much today.
“Thanks. It’s not too much, is it?” I asked, smoothing down the skirt. “This is shorter than what I’d normally wear to work, but since I’m not actually on duty today, I thought it would be okay. I mean, besides picking up these papers Shark asked me to bring.”
“Not at all. You’re so petite, you can pull it off. Also, I need to know how to get leg muscles like yours.”
I laughed. “Basically, two decades of dance training.” Tucking the folder and Lisa’s book into my backpack, I said, “I need to scoot before Shark gets pissed.”
“Bye, Mal, and thanks for getting my book signed.”
After swinging by to get Megan, who I’d found out was also a romance reader, I drove to the convention center. “I can’t believe you brought a cart,” I said, getting out of the car in the parking garage. “I feel woefully unprepared.”
Megan opened the back door and pulled out her foldable cart. “No big deal. Not everyone brings one. I just tend to buy a lot at these things.” She had it assembled in about five seconds and pulled up the handle so she could wheel it toward the elevator.
“You go to book signings a lot?”
“Every chance I get, as long as they’re within driving distance. I tried to get tickets to this one, but by the time I heard about it, they were sold out. Thank you so much for inviting me.”
“I’m glad you were able to come. What kind of books do you read?” I had her pegged as a small-town romance reader.
“I like the dark shit.”
“Really?” I asked, unable to hide my surprise.
“Yep. Mafia. Dom/sub. Reverse harem. Sometimes shifters if the mood strikes me. The filthier the better.” She winked at me behind her thick glasses. “What were you expecting me to say? Small-town romance? ”
I couldn’t help my laugh. “Yes, actually.”
“That’s why they say don’t judge a book by its cover,” she teased. “I like to say nerdy likes it dirty.”
As soon as we walked into the enormous event room, my jaw dropped to the floor. Long tables lined the walls and were arranged in straight rows across the floor. Large banners beside the tables announced the author’s name and logo.
And the people… oh my god, so many people. Many of them were dragging carts behind them like Megan and others had bags and backpacks laden with books. The crowd consisted of mostly women, but there were a few men milling about too.
“This is amazing,” I breathed, taking in the stacks of books on all the tables. “It’s like book heaven.” I inhaled the alluring scent of paper and ink.
“There’s another event near here that takes place during our Christmas break. It’s much smaller and more intimate, but they serve wine. You’re welcome to come with me.”
“That sounds awesome. I might take you up on it if I haven’t already left to go home for the holidays.” My eyes scanned the crowd and finally spotted Shark’s brown hair as he wound his way through the tables. “There’s my boss. I need to get some papers to him.”
Megan’s gaze followed mine. “Damn, I’d let him boss me around any day.”
I laughed and patted her arm. “He’s very married.”
“She’s a lucky woman. I’m gonna head over that direction,” she said, pointing across the room. “That’s where most of the darker authors are set up. ”
“Okay, I’ll see you in a bit. Just text me if I haven’t found you before lunch.”
“Will do,” she called over her shoulder.
Following Shark’s head, which stuck up above most of the other people in the room, I jogged up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned, and I handed over the folder.
“Here’s your paperwork,” I said before blowing out a low whistle. “Dang boss, you clean up pretty nice.” He was wearing a black suit, a white shirt, and a dark-blue tie. His name tag read DFW Security Force.
He chuckled. “Thanks, Mal. We try to look semi-classy sometimes. Charli said to tell you she would be here in just a bit. She had to take the kids to her mother.”
“Oh good. Maybe she’ll want to have lunch with me and my friend.”
“I’m sure she will.” His sharp green eyes darted over my shoulder, and I turned to see a harried woman with frizzy brown hair rushing toward us.
“Mr. Atwood,” she called.
When she approached, Shark handed over the folder to her. “Here’s the paperwork I promised you, Ms. Ferro. Are there any problems so far that I need to address?”
“No, everything is fine security-wise. You and your men are doing an excellent job, but the caterers are driving me crazy.”
“Can’t help you with that,” my boss said with a professional smile before gesturing at me. “This is one of my employees, Mallori Fitz. I believe this is her first book event. Mallori, this is Ms. Ferro, the event coordinator. ”
The woman offered her hand for a shake. “Ah, a signing virgin. I’m so happy you’ve chosen Dallas Love Con for your first,” she said warmly.
I laughed. “Thank you. I’m so excited.”
“I hope you have fun. I need to go check on the five hundred cookies they’re supposed to have ready,” she checked her watch, “in twenty minutes. Christ, give me strength.”
She dashed off, long hair flying behind her.
“I couldn’t even imagine putting on an event of this size,” I said, looking around in awe.
“She’s got a great staff, and she obviously hired the best for security purposes,” he teased, pretending to dust off his shoulder.
“Agreed.”
“Hey, I know you’re not on the clock or anything, but would you do me one more favor?”
“Sure.”
“I’m supposed to relieve Hawk in five minutes, but I need to go check on something in the other room. Would you tell him I’m going to be a few minutes late and to stay at his post for now?”
The sound of his name brought a flush to my cheeks, and I hoped my boss didn’t notice. “Sure thing.”
“He’s in sector two. Do you remember where that is from the map?”
“Yep. Over that way.” I gestured to the right a little and found the hulking figure of my roommate standing in front of the wall, hands crossed in front of him.
His dark gaze was trained directly on me. My heart skipped about two beats. He was so fucking intense, even more so in his black suit. It was perfectly tailored and should have made him appear genteel, but there was an indefinable edgy quality to Hawk that lent an air of danger to his appearance. I barely heard Shark say a quick thank you as my feet carried me toward my roommate.
“Hey,” I said when I got near enough for him to hear me over the din of the crowd. “You look nice.”
“Nice, huh?” he asked in a near growl.
“Okay, your suit looks nice. You look scary and intimidating.”
“That’s what I was going for.” His eyes scanned the room before coming back to me. They dragged down my body, and I was surprised there wasn’t a trail of steam following his heated gaze. “Nice shirt, though it’s covering a couple of my favorite body parts,” he said in his low, seductive voice.
Whew! Is it getting hot in here? Memories of last night with Hawk on top of me, grunting as he fucked my tits, assailed my thoughts.
“You’re blushing, Bee.”
“Shut up,” I retorted. “I’m here on official business. Shark said he had to check on something and would be a few minutes late relieving you.”
He nodded, doing another sweep of the room with his dark eyes. “Okay, I’m on rover duty next.”
“So that means you just rove around the room and look for trouble?”
“Yep.” His beard twitched. “Though I think I’ve already found it.”
I tossed my hair over my shoulder. “I think you must have me confused with someone else. ”
Our flirty banter was interrupted when two young women ran up, the blonde one tapping Hawk on his huge bicep. “Hey, are you one of the cover models?”
His face remained impassive, though I thought he looked a little amused. “No, I’m working security.”
“Ooh, will you take a picture with us anyway?”
“Sorry, I’m on duty.”
“It’s okay,” the leggy brunette said. “Just stand there and look hot. We’ll do all the work.”
They posed in front of him and took a few selfies with a stoic Hawk in the background.
“All right, Fabio,” I said after they skittered off giggling. “Looks like you have some fans.”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t you have someone else you can annoy?”
Tilting my head, I pretended to think about it. “No, I don’t think so.”
A group of four women, all young and gorgeous, approached Hawk like I wasn’t even standing there. “Are you the cover model from Dirty Billionaire? ” one of them asked, her voice bordering on pornographic.
He huffed out a sigh. “No, I’m security.” Then his face took on a mischievous gleam. “You know who is a cover model though? You see that dude down there with the man bun?” He pointed toward where Bode was standing, also in a matching suit, about a hundred feet away.
There were squeals all around as the women moved as a group toward their next victim .
“That was mean,” I said, though I was laughing. “You’re going to get Bode in trouble with Landree.”
“Meh, he’ll survive.” He glanced down at me. “You remember I have to stay here at the hotel tonight, right? We have to be on duty for one of the evening events and then up at the crack of dawn tomorrow.”
“I remember.” I patted my backpack. “I’ll let you get back to work. I have a book I need to get signed for Lisa.”
As I was standing in line to see AK Landow, Charli and Taz found me, and we exchanged hugs.
“I love her books,” Taz said, nodding toward the pretty author who had light-brown hair, and a huge, welcoming smile. “She has the most irreverent sense of humor of anyone I know. Well, except for me,” she said with an unapologetic shrug.
“She is funny,” Charli agreed. “Bode got me started on her books.”
“Bode reads romance?” I asked incredulously.
“Oh yeah. Landree swears he’s the ultimate book husband.”
“Like he needs any help,” Taz added. “The charming bastard.”
We all laughed, and then the two women left to say hello to their husbands. I finally reached the front of the line, and the author was amazing. She recognized Lisa’s name from interacting with her on Instagram, and after signing her book, she insisted on videoing a hilarious personal message I could send to her.
I ended up buying all five books in her first series, and I walked away feeling like I’d just made a new friend. Stopping at another table with two black guitars on the logo, I chatted for a few minutes with the wavy-haired author and learned she wrote rock star romance before buying one of her books as well .
“You can have your picture taken with the cover model, Xander,” she told me. I noticed a tall man with long, artfully messy hair and two full sleeves of tattoos standing in front of a backdrop, so I got in line. People really seemed to be into the cover models at this convention.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Xander said after I’d handed my phone to the assistant and taken my place in front of the backdrop. “What’s your name?” He had a voice full of soul and gravel, and I wondered if he was a singer in real life.
“Mallori.”
“Well, Mallori, aren’t you gorgeous? Let’s get some pics.” He wrapped a long arm around my shoulders, and we both gave the rock and roll hand sign as the assistant snapped photos on my phone.
“Thanks, Xander,” I told him, and he winked. This guy was a huge flirt.
“Hey, if you’re not busy next weekend, you should come hear my band play down in the West End. I’m the lead singer.” He smoothly pulled a card from his pocket, but before I could take it, it disappeared.
“Mallori is busy next weekend,” a voice snapped, and I turned to see Hawk crumpling the card in his fist. With his huge frame and glittering black eyes, he looked like the epitome of tall, dark, and dangerous.
Xander laughed nervously and held up both hands. “Hey, dude. No offense. I just wanted to see if she wanted to hang out.”
“She doesn’t,” Hawk said flatly, crossing his arms over his broad chest .
And because my roommate was acting like a huge douche, I hugged Xander and thanked him. He looked like it made him nervous, but I guessed he had a right to be. Though the two men were around the same height, Hawk had at least thirty pounds on the singer.
“Did you have to act like such a brute?” I demanded as we walked away.
“Yes, it’s kind of my job, Bee,” he replied, looking somewhat pleased with himself and not at all remorseful.
“It’s your job to be nosy and interrupt conversations?”
“It’s my job to make sure people I… know are safe.” He hesitated in the middle of the sentence like he was searching for the correct word. “He could be dangerous, and you were just going to go meet him.”
I sighed. “I wasn’t actually going to go. I was taking the card to be polite.”
“Oh.”
“And I know how to take care of myself. I once took down a guy twice my size with pepper spray.”
Hawk barked out a laugh. “Touché.”
“Are you done being overbearing now? I’m supposed to meet some dude in the alley.” I jerked a thumb over my shoulder. “He said he has something important to show me. I hope it’s either candy or another kitten.”
Hawk’s eyes rounded in horror. “Mallori, you—” He cut himself off when he noticed my wide grin. “You’re a huge pain in my ass.”
“Right back atcha,” I replied, patting him on the arm. “Oh, there’s Megan.”
My friend wheeled her overflowing cart down the aisle toward me. “Hey, Mal. Can I get your car keys so I can empty my cart? Oh, and look at this crocheted dick I bought.”
She pulled out a giant brown dong and waved it at me before noticing the man beside me. Making a little squeaking noise in her throat, she thrust the penis behind her. The damn thing was almost two feet long.
“Sorry, hi. I’m Megan.”
“Hawk,” he said, a smile crooking one side of his lips up. “I’m Mallori’s roommate.”
“Nice to meet you.” Meg held out a hand to shake, but unfortunately, it was the hand still holding the crocheted peen. “Dammit, sorry. I can’t seem to control this thing,” she said, sticking it behind her back again.
“Yeah, welcome to my world. Dicks can be impossible to control sometimes.”
Megan’s mouth gaped open, and I snorted out a laugh as Hawk winked at me. “See you later, Mal. You ladies try to stay out of trouble.”
He strolled away, and we both watched him go. Damn, the man looked good in a suit. As soon as he was out of earshot, Meg swatted me with the big dick.
“Oh. My. God. Why didn’t you tell me you were living with a guy that looks like he could star in a mafia novel?” She whacked me once more. “Please tell me you’re hitting that.”
“Would you stop cock-banging me?” I complained, pulling the crocheted phallus away from her. “And no, I’m not. ”
Okay, it wasn’t a total lie. Hawk and I had done a lot of things the past few days, but we hadn’t actually had sex.
“I would be. He looks like a total zaddy in that suit. And with those shoulders? It has to be custom.”
“I guess it probably is,” I mused, casting one more glance at his retreating back. “This is the first time I’ve seen him dressed up like that, but yeah, he’s definitely wearing the hell out of it.”
She took her penis back and propped it on top of her cart. “I need to go empty this cart so I can buy more books. You want to grab something to eat and then come back this afternoon?”
“Sounds good. Let me text Charli and Taz to see if they’re hungry.”
After a fun lunch at a local taqueria, we all headed back to the book con. By the time it was done at four, I’d purchased a few more books, and Megan had filled her cart twice.
“They love to see me coming,” she said. “I’m going to the restroom. Will you watch my stuff?”
“Of course. I’m just going to find my cousin.”
“Ooh, he’s a hot one too,” Meg said dreamily. “Those blue eyes.”
I dragged her heavy cart toward the front doors where I found Cam and Woody standing on either side as the attendees filed out of the signing room. The other guys were sweeping the room to make sure there weren’t any stragglers.
“Did you have fun today?” Cam asked, giving me a quick hug once everyone was outside .
“Yes! It was a blast. I met a bunch of people, and I hope to check out the rest of the authors tomorrow.”
Done with their tasks, the other members of the DFW Security Force approached. “All right,” Shark said, “everyone go get some food and rest before tonight’s event. Here are your room keys.”
He started passing them out. “Woody and Taz, room 324. Bode and Tank, you’re in 326. Cam and I are in 328, and Hawk, your room is 330. I thought you might want a room to yourself in case you have any extracurricular activities planned.” He winked.
My stomach dipped as Hawk took his key, his eyes darting toward me.
“Thank god,” Woody mumbled. “No one wants to be a witness to all that .”
“I’m working,” Hawk said curtly.
“You’re not on overnight duty though,” Bode said with a smirk. “I’m sure you have something fun lined up. Or two somethings? I’m betting it’s those two brunettes who were following you around all day. The ones with the…” He held cupped hands in front of his chest to indicate big boobs.
My stomach was now somewhere in the vicinity of my big toe.
“Ah, yes. Hawk does love his multiples. What was that you used to call it?” Cam asked, nudging my roommate with his elbow. “Multi-tasking?”
I was staring at the floor trying not to feel sick at the images those words conjured up in my brain when Megan returned from the restroom. “All done. You ready to go, Mallori? ”
I could feel Hawk’s steady, burning gaze on my face as I avoided his eyes. “Yep, let’s go,” I replied, trying to sound chipper but overshooting the mark by about a thousand percent.
“I’ll walk you two to your car,” Hawk said, but I was already moving out the door.
“No need. I have my pepper spray if I need it.”
My mind barely processed Megan’s excited chatter as I drove out of the parking garage and got on the interstate. I think I replied with oh yeah and uh-huh at the appropriate times. Enough to keep her from being suspicious, anyway.
But all I could think of was Hawk as I wondered how many women he would take back to his hotel room tonight.
Fuck.