Page 105 of Damaged Protector

“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.

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