Page 18 of Jameson: Mayhem Makers

“We just drove here from New Orleans. We’re on a road trip,” Elise added.

“Is that so? Is that where you’re from?” the man asked.

Elise shook her head. “No, we’re from Miami.”

“Oh, a Florida girl.” He leaned against the bar, angling himself toward Elise. “No wonder you’re so beautiful.”

Elise giggled as I rolled my eyes. “Are you staying here?”

The man nodded. “Yep, my buddies and I are here for a bachelor party. The groom is a huge Dallas Cowboys fan.”

“How fun,” Elise replied, taking a sip of her drink. She was doing her doe eye thing that always hooked the guys. “Should you be getting back to your friends?”

He glanced over his shoulder. “Nah, they’ll be okay without me for a little while. Can I buy you another drink?”

“Sure,” Elise said. “Dirty martini.”

He grinned. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Olivia,” my best friend answered, using her fake name again.

“I’m Tom.”

“Nice to meet you, Tom.”

After a few more drinks and a ton of flirting, Elise and Tom decided it was time to take things to his room. She insisted on walking me back to ours first, though.

“See you in the morning,” Elise said, kissing me on the cheek.

“Use protection,” I reminded as I opened our door.

She giggled, linking her hand with Tom’s. “We will.”

I shook my head as the door closed behind me. I climbed into my bed and passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

The following morning, I buzzed with energy even though I’d barely slept. I’d went to bed around ten, but I’d woken up around four in the morning, unable to go back to sleep. I was too worried about being one of the first people in line because I wanted to make sure I met all the authors, especially my favorites.

Elise was dragging, too, of course, since she stayed up most of the night with Tom.

After we got in line, Elise said, “I need coffee. I’ll be right back. You want something?”

I shook my head. “I’m already jittery enough.”

“Suit yourself.” She shrugged before walking away.

We were about fifth in line and still had a couple of hours before the doors opened for us to enter. I decided to sit against the wall and play on my phone until Elise returned.

When Elise finally came back, we went over the layout of the author tables and formed our game plan. “Definitely Sapphire first, then we should just continue around the outer tables before we hit the inside ones,” I suggested.

“Sounds good to me,” Elise said as she sipped her coffee.

Once the doors opened, the line quickly filed inside, and we made a beeline for Sapphire. “Hi,” she greeted with a bright smile.

“Hi,” I replied, handing her a canvas to sign. “It’s so great to meet you.”

“You are our favorite author,” Elise added, placing a stack of books on Sapphire’s table.

“Oh, thank you so much,” Sapphire said as she signed my canvas.

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