Page 3 of Lust & Lollipops

I held my fork up in warning again, and he took a large step back. His hands were still raised.

There was a knock at the door, and I sighed.

“Just take the plate with you. I’ll handle cleaning this up and making sure your things get to the right place,” Cameron said, striding toward the door.

“The right place, meaning, my future mate’s house?” I drawled.

I hadn’t been told much, but I had been told that. No fae in his right mind would move into a small apartment with me.

Except Cam.

But he was the exception. And he was getting paid by the Society to live there, I was sure.

“Yup.” He opened the front door and greeted the man on the doorstep. The newcomer was tall, with light brown skin and loose, curly black hair. “Hey, Rhett.”

The man grunted in response.

“Good luck, Lollipop,” Cam said, stepping back and opening the door wider.

I didn’t consider hugging him.

We weren’t close like that.

And even if we had been, it was illegal for an unmated fae to touch a compatible human until he was trying to woo her during the game show. I’d never been told why, but it was considered a big deal.

If I’d ever been in real physical danger and he had to touch me in some way to protect me, that would be allowed. Everything else was off limits.

“Thanks. Nice knowing you.” I saluted him as I walked out the door, leaving all of my stuff with Cameron. The paperwork I’d received a week earlier made it clear that I wasn’t bringing any of my own stuff to the game show.

I followed Rhett down the hall. After we stepped into the elevator, I turned for one last look at the door to my old apartment.

My eyebrows lifted when I saw Cam standing in the doorway, watching me go.

He lifted his hand in a small wave, but the door closed before I could wave back.

“How far is it to the Bachelorette mansion?” I asked.

“You’re not going to the mansion,” Rhett said, his voice gravelly.

My eyebrows shot upward. “What? Where am I going, then?”

“I’m not authorized to say.”

My stomach clenched. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and dialed Cameron’s number, because I couldn’t see any other option.

“Miss me already?”

“Rhett’s not taking me to the mansion,” I said quickly. “He won’t tell me where I’m going. Is this safe? Are you sure he’s from the Society?”

“Rhett is like a brother to me. I’ve known him a lot longer than you’ve been alive. I trust him. The Society trusts him. Whatever the plans have changed to, he’s telling the truth.”

I let out a long breath. “You’re positive?”

“I wouldn’t have let you walk away with him if I wasn’t.”

As much as I didn’t want to, I believed him.

“Alright. Sorry to bother you, I guess.”

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