Page 31 of Property of Fox

“You can keep your romantic nonsense at your own table with your fiancé.”

“It's actually kind of sweet,” he smiles, glancing back at Hallie as she takes a photo with one of her fans.

"I'm sure it is, but no thanks. Tell me why you’re really over here. It’s not just to bust my balls. Hallie sent you to ask about the girl, didn't she?"

“Might have,” he shrugs. “Noticed you came back alone.”

“Look, it’s nothing,” I say, brushing off the question like a stubborn fly buzzing around my head. “I helped her out, she got over her panic attack and?—”

“And?” Azrael presses with that knowing look of his. The man can smell a secret from across a crowded room.

“We parted ways after,” I reply too quickly. “No big deal.”

He narrows his eyes at me for just long enough to make the hairs on my neck prickle uncomfortably before shrugging again. A subtle shift in posture gives away that he’s not fully buying what I'm selling but respecting that boundary nonetheless…for now.

I find myself drifting back into thoughts about Brea, those curly strands framing playful green eyes filled with fire, passion replaced by fear when anxiety gripped her so tightly moments before. It wasn’t supposed to be anything more than lending support.

“What are you thinking about?” Az asks, suddenly jolting me back into reality.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“But it does," he argues softly but firmly while fixated intensely on me. Az has his bullshit meter fine-tuned to me because he always seems to know shit about me before I do. It feels invasive despite being heartwarming. “Hallie remembers seeing the same girl with you at the bar last night. Seems a little too coincidental to me.”

“Hallie needs to mind her own business.”

“Be careful how you talk about my fiancé, Fox,” he frowns. “She’s just looking out for Eden.”

“The last person on Earth that needs looking out for is Eden. I’m pretty sure a nuclear holocaust could happen right now, and Eden will be partying it up with Keith Richards, a truck full of Twinkies, and cockroaches, while the rest of us turn to ash.”

“Not what I meant, jackass. She meant you not being able to control yourself in public and hurting her book tour.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t exactly sign up for this circus,” I mutter, glancing back at Eden, who’s lost in a haze of fans and flashing cameras. “I’m just here to play the part.”

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Fox,” Azrael warns, leaning in closer so the crowd's whispers don’t hear us. “You have a weakness for women, and sometimes you forget that it bites you in the ass.”

“Spare me the lecture, Az,” I shoot back, crossing my arms defensively. “You’re the one who forced me into this, remember? You reap what you sow, Prez.”

“And the girl?”

“None of your concern.”

“Make sure it stays that way.”

I watch him stride back toward Hallie's table. Az has always been protective, too much for someone who’s supposed to have his own hands full with wedding plans and running a motorcycle club, but I know it comes from a place of love. He’s the papa bear I didn’t want nor need but I am stuck with so long as I wear the Bastard Boilers colors and work for his construction company.

I turn my attention back to Eden and her adoring fans, forcing a fake smile while secretly counting down the minutes until this signing is over and I can escape. I promised Brea a date and I need to find a way to slip away without Az or Eden catching on.

BREA

I just madeout with a complete freaking stranger in his hotel room. Me. Brea Quinn. Queen of a boring, sheltered life. Girl on the run from her crazy biker stepdad. I kissed him like one of the heroines in my books. Is this real life or is this all a figment of my imagination? Maybe instead of making out with Fox, I am, in fact, passed out on the floor outside of the book signing with reader’s stepping over my limp body.

I pinch myself to confirm that it's not a dream, but the sharp pain tells me otherwise. I actually kissed him, and not only that,but I agreed to go on a date with him. Me? A date? Whoever took over my body in that room must be fearless because now that reality has hit me, I have no idea what to do next. I barely remember leaving his hotel room, and now that I am back down at the signing, I am at an utter loss at what to do next.

“Brea! Where did you go? You just disappeared!” Keira’s voice cuts through the murmurs surrounding us.

I hesitate for just half a second before plastering on what I hope comes across as an innocent grin while keeping Fox’s hotel room escapade firmly tucked away where no one else can find it—not even Keira.

“I...got overwhelmed.”

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