Page 20 of Hidden Shadows
“When Beth showed me your social media channels and the engagement you got, I knew we needed you on the team. Have you always wanted to be an influencer?”
Her eyes twitched to look behind her at Nixon. She wasn’t sure why. Hell, she didn’t understand the pull toward him at all. “I like to think of myself as an event marketer. I studied marketing in college. It was while I was at school that I started my social media accounts, and they just kind of took off.”
“And you enjoy it?”
“I love it. I’m my own boss. I can take or leave jobs, so my time is my own. More than that, though, my business is my baby. Something I’ve built from the ground up.”
He nodded, staring at her mouth for a second before lifting his eyes again. “Well, I’m very glad you took this job.”
“Me too. So, the content ideas?”
He frowned and nodded. “Right, the content ideas.”
CHAPTER8
Nixon’s fingers tightened around his glass of beer. The fucking guy was touching heragain. Light grazes on the arm or shoulder when she spoke. She pulled away every time, but he always touched her in some seemingly innocent way again.
She’d removed her jacket, so the asshole was touching bare skin. He’d been doing that kind of shit all goddamn night, and every time he did, it took every scrap of self-restraint Nixon possessed to remain where he was. To not cross the space between them and rip his hand off.
He ground his teeth as he kept an eye on everyone in the bar. He was a professional, but right now, he was distracted. He’d never had to work so damn hard to focus on his job.
When his phone vibrated in his pocket, he pulled it out to see it was Nate.
Nate: Hey. I’m leaving for a mission tomorrow so will be offline for a few days. Just wanted to check that everything’s okay before I become unreachable.
Okay? Nothing felt like it was in the vicinity of okay.
Nixon: The asshole left a comment on her latest post, but other than that, there’s been nothing.
Nate: What did it say?
Nixon: Shit about how he can’t wait to meet her.
Nate: Fuck, that makes me angry! I’m glad you’re there to watch her back.
He looked up to see Rad leaning too far into her space.
Nixon’s muscles vibrated, and he had to remind himself that punching the guy would lead to assault charges.
Nixon: She’s safe with me.
It was a half-truth. She was safe fromothers. Like this asshole, Rad. But Nixon wasn’t so sure she was safe from him. Because right now, he was a step away from throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her back to her room.
He was just lowering his phone when a tall blonde woman approached his table. “Hey. Couldn’t help but notice that you’re all alone over here.”
“I prefer to drink alone.”
The woman didn’t seem deterred by his words. She leaned forward, her low-cut top revealing a hell of a lot of cleavage. “Maybe that’s because you haven’t had the right company before.”
“I’m not interested in company.”
Either his words didn’t compute or she didn’t care, because instead of walking away, she slipped around the table to touch his shoulder. “You seem tense. Maybe I can buy you a drink and—”
He stopped listening to the woman when he saw Rad’s hand touch Finley’s back…again.
Finley visibly tensed, her spine straightening as her hand went to his shoulder to push him away.
But the asshole didn’t budge.
