Page 70 of Don't Game Me
A colorful crowd of raptly attentive superhero and alien spectators surrounded them.
Oh my.Was that a Stormtrooper giving her the thumbs-up?
“Bye, guys.” She twisted to move away to Booth 416.
Jake caught her hand in his. He leaned in and whispered, “Big fuss if you don’t stay with me.”
“You already did a big fuss. Now piss off and let me go.”
“I will toss you over my shoulder if you don’t walk. Now,” he ordered.
Becca struggled to keep up with his bruising pace to the ballroom. Her foot screamed. Jake cast her a concerned glance several times. She sucked it up and glared whenever he glanced her way, fearful he’d make good on his threat if she uttered even a single pain complaint. All she wanted to do was find a chair and take the boots off.
Emma led to the side entrance down near the front of the overflowing ballrooms, behind the stage and out the door on the opposite side. She gripped both Becca’s and Jake’s arms tightly and steered them to the Green Room where several people milled around outside. Jake smiled and waved at the people she assumed were his employees.
Emma slammed the door. “Jake! I need your head here, on the talk. Right now. I don’t care that Becca reappeared despite the FBI’s best efforts to find her. I don’t care whatever the hell happened between the two of you last weekend.” She leaned over to Becca and said in a side tone, “I’m thrilled you’re okay. Bad timing, but glad you’re safe, honey.”
Jake’s gaze darted to Becca. This wasn’t the self-assured, super cool, NJ Legacy CEO. This was her fault.
A man poked his head in the door. “Emma, there’s an issue with the floor lights. Moderator arguing they should be up, Ted arguing they should be down.”
“On my way.” She pointed at each of them. “Behave. Be quiet. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Don’t leave this room. Either of you.”
Becca stared at the shut door, realizing she was alone in a room with Jake. “I shouldn’t be in here.”
“If you’re not here then I’m going wherever you’re going.” He leaned toward her and jerked off her mask.
His eyes narrowed, and there was a subtle shift in him that she sensed rather than saw.
She gave her arm a tug to free it from his grip, but it was halfhearted. She wasn’t all that interested in freedom at the moment.
He slowly raised his hand. A caress moved down her neck until his fingertips rested on her collarbone.
“Answer one question. Did you sleep with me because someone told you to, or because you wanted to?”
Becca swallowed through a tight throat as she felt his fingertips on her chin. He tilted her face up with the slightest of pressure.
The safe answer, the one that got her freedom from everything deep and heavy that drowned her in the essence of this man, was to answer because someone told her to do it.
But he would sense her lie.
Kiss me.Oh, no…don’t. What insanity hijacked her brain around Jake? A thousand emotions battled for prominence in her brain. Sure, she was pissed Jake kidnapped her, but not as much as she should be when she was within sniffing distance of the only contact that might get her free of Symphis’s tentacles. Stronger than anger was a burning need that wouldn’t go away. No matter how much she pushed it down, it came back brighter and hotter every time she so much as thought about him.
It was burning so hot right now, she bet if she looked in a mirror her face would be flushed, her feelings out there on display for everyone to see. She still wanted him, even more after his mention of them not being over.
He leaned toward her. “When they ordered you hack into our system with some sort of invasive technology, you didn’t plan on tacking on a little horizontal action, did you?”
She jabbed a finger into him. “Didn’t hear you complaining.”
His lips came down hard on hers, and she met them with equal force. She grabbed onto his shoulders, pulling herself against him while his arms came around her.
Groaning, he broke off from her mouth, burying his face in her neck as if he were battling himself for control.
Through a haze, she recognized the sound of the door opening. Her mind was fuzzy as she tried to remember where she was.
“Shit.” Emma grabbed Jake and pulled him away from her. “Two minutes and I come back to this? There are at least a thousand people out there in front of the stage. You two are a serious mess. Thank God Noah isn’t here to make this a catastrophe. Guarantee when he finds out that you two got together at his wedding while his sister was under duress he’s going to blow up.” She attached a cordless clip-microphone to Jake’s shirt. “Pull it together. Both of you.” Then she turned to Becca, “You’ll sit with me, so people think you’re part of his team, even if you are the only one in costume. Do not remove the mask or wig. It’ll be a miracle if what happened out there on the main floor stays out of the press tomorrow.” She turned back to Jake. “She’s not leaving. I’ll make sure of it. You need to do your stage magic. You’re on.”
“I need water,” Jake said.
