Chapter 37
Brody
From the corner of his eye, he watched his babygirl shift in her seat yet again, and he couldn’t help but smile.
She’d had some very strong opinions about the security he’d asked Killian to put in place for her event, and he’d settled the argument that morning by bending her over the bed they shared so he could paddle her ass to a brilliant pink that nearly matched her “signature outfit” before putting a nice fat plug between her colorful cheeks.
“Nervous?” he asked, and had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing when she glared at him.
“You know that’s not the problem, you sadist.”
“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about, menace.”
As he’d hoped, the quip made her laugh. Because despite her assertions to the contrary, he could feel the nerves rolling off her.
Whether it was simply her regular reaction to a signing or it was because he was with her, he couldn’t be sure.
Either way, he was determined to help calm her anxiety before they arrived.
“Whatever. Jerk.” Huffing loudly with feigned annoyance, she turned her head, but not before he caught her smile.
Reaching over, he threaded his fingers through the short strands of her hair, giving them a gentle tug that had her inhaling sharply. “Careful, menace. Keep calling me names and I’ll find a nice secluded spot to put you on your knees and remind you how good girls use their mouths.”
“It’s a bookstore, Brody. There’s no hidden sex rooms.”
“Any room can be a sex room if you’re creative enough,” he shot back with a grin.
“But I’m a patient man. If I have to wait to punish you, then I’ll just edge you for that same amount of time when we get home.
So if you’re going to act up, you should probably save it for the end of your signing unless you want to be begging for your pleasure for three hours. ”
“You wouldn’t!”
“Didn’t you accuse me of being a sadist not two minutes ago? Might want to reconsider what I will and won’t do, menace.”
Unfortunately for his little brat, she didn’t have time to do more than grumble about what an asshole he was before they were pulling into a parking spot in front of the bookstore.
A woman popped out of the hot-pink SUV beside them, her dark hair cropped short in what he thought was called a bob and streaked with a rainbow of colors.
“Hi! You must be mystery man,” she greeted him brightly before he’d even climbed out of his car. “I’m Zoe, aka the keeper of Goldie’s sanity. You’re really fucking hot, by the way. Good job, Goldie. I wouldn’t have thought she’d end up with a ginger, but she’s always been full of surprises.”
His head was spinning, and he could only stare while she rambled.
“Zoe, you’re scaring my man. I’m gonna need you to take it down to eleven.”
Turning, he frowned at Goldie over the roof of the car. “You’re supposed to wait for me.”
Nose tilting in the air, she pinned him with a regal glare worthy of Reagan. “See if I rescue you again.”
“I didn’t need rescuing.”
“That’s not what it looked like from where I was sitting.”
“I’m starting to think I didn’t spank you nearly hard enough.”
Red flooded his babygirl’s cheeks, and from his other side Zoe giggled. When he turned to glare at her, he found her watching them with rapt interest, her eyes practically glowing with curiosity.
“Okay, that is totally as hot as it is in the books. And as soon as I’m home for more than forty-eight hours, we’re going to have ourselves a proper girls’ night so you can tell me all about your ginger hottie here with the itchy palm.
In the meantime,” she continued before he could do more than open his mouth to respond, “we need to get you set up inside. Mystery man, make yourself useful and help me get these boxes out of the car.”
He looked over at Goldie, who only shrugged.
Biting back a sigh, he made his way to the back of Zoe’s SUV, where she stood tapping on her phone at approximately the speed of light.
The tapping didn’t so much as slow when she looked up and flashed him another terrifyingly bright smile.
“Swag is in those containers there. The store ordered a bunch of her books, but we’ll probably need help hauling them over to the table for Goldie.
Last I heard they’d ordered a few dozen copies of her current series, which is five books so far. ”
Jesus. That was a not insignificant investment, which spoke to how much this particular store believed in his menace’s ability to sell books. Even with the faith he had in her, it filled him with pride to see her success in such a tangible way. “All right.”
It was far more physical labor than he’d expected, and once again he was left a bit in awe of the fact that Goldie did this on a regular basis. Not only was she smart, she worked harder than he imagined anyone gave her credit for.
Making a mental note to talk to Reagan about scheduling a massage for Goldie at the spa she frequented, he went to work unloading boxes from the car, hauling them into the store, and watching as Zoe and Goldie transformed the simple folding table into a masterpiece of sparkles and pink that somehow didn’t detract from the books displayed in carefully arranged racks on top of the table.
All the while, the owners of the bookstore beamed at his girl like she was the best damn thing that had ever happened to them.
He knew the feeling well.
“Okay!” Still grinning her too-bright smile, Zoe clapped her hands. “Goldie, I need you behind the table for photos.”
The hairs on the back of Brody’s neck stood on end. “What do you need photos for?”
“Social media. Need to remind Goldie’s fans she’ll be here today.”
Without thinking twice, he reached over and plucked the phone from Zoe’s hand. Her head snapped up, shock flickering over her face for a moment before she smoothed her expression back into a polite smile. “Please give me my phone back.”
“No. I don’t want her photo blasted all over the place, letting people know where she is.”
Goldie rolled her eyes. “Brody, you’re being ridiculous.”
“Protecting you is not ridiculous, menace.”
Still holding her hand out, Zoe waggled her fingers, not backing down even an inch.
“Friend, I don’t know how to tell you this, but her photo is all over the place already and we’ve been advertising this event for months.
If I’ve done my job well—and I always do my job very fucking well—everyone within a hundred-mile radius who has a smartphone knows she’s here today. ”
Fuck. He should have asked Killian for more security. “Then you don’t need more advertising.”
Eyes narrowing, Zoe studied him, and while he’d faced his own death at the hands of men who enjoyed causing their victims as much pain as possible, the woman in front of him put them all to shame. “Brody. Is my friend in danger?”
“Yes.” There wasn’t, as far as he was concerned, any point in lying to her, especially if telling the truth could protect Goldie even a little bit.
Zoe nodded slowly. “All right. We don’t have time to get into a pissing match about it, but if you say she’s in danger, I believe you. May I please have my phone back if I promise not to post any photos until after the event?”
Knowing his babygirl’s face would be plastered everywhere still didn’t sit right, but he could admit Zoe had a point about her face already being all over the internet.
At least if they waited until after the event, she wouldn’t be waving a giant neon sign giving out her location to the people who wanted to do her harm. “All right.”
“Thank you,” Zoe answered him primly as he placed the phone into her outstretched palm.
He stood to the side, watching as Goldie posed for photo after photo. She was always a source of light in his life, but seeing her in her element, she was… radiant was the only word that came to mind. So bright and shiny it was nearly painful to look at her.
“All right, that should do it for now.” Glancing over her shoulder, Zoe grinned and Brody looked back to find a line of people already waiting outside the doors. “Ready, Goldie?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
Zoe gave some kind of signal and the owners opened the door.
And chaos descended upon him.