Page 33 of Sealed in Ink

Thankfully, Brad is used to my silence. Parking, we step out of the car, and immediately, our mistake is made evident. Three separate people turn and gape at me, then one of them—a man this time, wearing a pink hat with anI Heart Violencetag on it—takes out his phone and walks quickly toward me. “Oh my God. Rust Hadley!”

The other two seem a bit more respectful, a man and a woman, waiting just behind the man with the camera. More people are turning toward us, like zombies, probably not even spotting me. They see people gathering, want to know why, and have a piece of the celebrity. They’re like parasites, but not all of them. Not the two waiting respectfully. Soon, there are ten or twenty people, just like that.

“Crap,” Brad says. “Guess dinner’s out.”

“Sorry, man,” I tell him.

“It’s all good.”

“Rust,” the first man yells, waving his phone at me. “What do you think about Maddie Maddox’s tease at making an OnlyFans account?”

I shake my head. “That’s completely meaningless information to me.”

“You don’t care about your ex making a porn account?”

“She’s not my ex,” I tell them.

Brad jabs me on the arm. “Come on. Leave them.”

“To all my real fans,” I say, looking through the crowd and spotting a few of them. “I wish I could hang around and take some photos with you, but as you can see, this fame-hungry world won’t let that happen.”

“Hear that, folks?” The man talks into the phone, presumably in selfie mode now. “That’s what Rust Hadley thinks of hisfans.”

“Didn’t you hear him?”

Suddenly, my woman strides forward like a firecracker, ready to explode. She glares at the man with her fists bunched at her sides, looking so angry, cute, and beautiful simultaneously. It’s a miracle I don’t reach out, wrap my arms around her, and kiss her for standing up for me.

“He’s grateful for his fans,” she says, glaring at the man. Several cameras are aimed at her now. “But you’re not a fan. You just want to leech onto him like Maddie did.”

“Ooh, somebody’s jealous,” the man taunts.

It’s a mindless insult thrown out there to piss my woman off, but the fame leech has no idea which nail he’s just hit on the head. Suddenly, my woman surges toward him. I don’t know what her intention is. I bet she doesn’t even know, but I won’t let her get close to those vultures.

I rush forward, sweeping my arms around her. She gasps, and I can’t help but look at her for a moment too long before I drag her back. I can feel her perfect body against me—no, no,no. Fuck. I have to let her go quickly.

“In the car,” Brad snaps at her. “Let’s go.”

The crowd converges on us as we all quickly get in the car. When Brad pulls away, it’s like a riot scene. They swarm toward the car with their cameras aimed.

“That’s my bad,” Brad says. “Billboards are all over the city, and I suggest going for lunch in public.”

“I wasn’t thinking either,” I say. “Don’t beat yourself up.”

“Andyouclearly weren’t thinking, Mary,” Brad sighs darkly. “You had no idea how that crowd was going to react. That was very, very silly.”

“They’re just so shameless about it.”

“I don’t care how shameless they are. You’re lucky Rust was there and got his hands on you when he did. Anything could’ve happened.”

I swallow, my body still burning from the contact. I know hers is, too. I know if I reached back and grabbed onto the gorgeous thickness of her thigh, I’d feel the heat tempting me to take her someplace secret. I’d want to own every curve and every kiss.

“You good?” Brad asks me.

“Yeah,” I say, my voice flat, telling another lie.

“Shall we get some room service at the hotel? Or go to your apartment?”

“The hotel would be better,” I tell him. “I had paparazzi outside the apartment earlier.”

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