Page 51 of Lucky Shot (Moonshot Hockey #1)

“Fine.” His lips curve up. “I bribed a nice woman in the lobby to borrow her badge. He flips the tag attached to his neck lanyard around. It says Debbie. “I had to give her my ID in exchange so she knew I wouldn’t take off with it. And I thought hockey fans were intense.”

“Speaking of hockey, shouldn’t you be at camp?”

“We have today off, but I have to get back tonight for a meeting.”

“You came all this way for the day?” My heart squeezes.

“Hello!” Molly chirps as she pops up next to us. “You must be Nick Galaxy.”

“Yes, ma’am. And you must be the wonder agent.”

“That’s right.” Molly grins at him, then switches to business mode. “We need to get you to the signing room.”

“Yeah. Okay.” I glance at Nick.

“Go. I don’t want to get in the way.”

“Can he come with me?” I ask Molly, then to Nick I say, “I guess I should have asked you first. Do you want to come?”

“Definitely,” he says quickly.

Molly thinks for a second. “Yeah. I can probably swing that. Give me five minutes to clear it and get him a badge. In the meantime, you two get to the signing room.”

I take Debbie’s badge from Nick. “Can you also return this? She’s in the lobby.”

With a nod, she reaches for the badge and then turns on her heel and power walks away.

Nick’s smile slowly builds as he looks at me. “She’s something.”

“Right? I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

His hand finds mine and intertwines our fingers.

All around us, people are moving and talking, but I focus on Nick.

I still can’t believe he’s here. It’s odd seeing him outside of Moonshot.

We were in such a bubble this summer and it crossed my mind once or twice since then that maybe our fling was a product of proximity and nothing else. I can easily cross that theory off now.

“I don’t want to get in the way or interrupt. I just had to see you. I couldn’t wait to see you again.”

“Me too. I was seriously considering flying out to see you tomorrow.”

“Really?” His grin is back and though I can’t see them, I know his dimples are buried under that beard.

“Yeah. I wasn’t sure if you’d think it was charming or clingy.”

“Hopefully my presence clears that up.” He chuckles.

“Clingy, right?” I lean into him.

His head dips and he brushes his lips against mine. When he pulls back, I can see the same emotion and questions in his expression that I’ve felt all week.

“We better get you to your fans.” He opens up his stance.

I know he’s right, but I want more time alone with him.

The signing room is a huge space with two entrances and hundreds of authors and vendors set up in booths with tables and backdrops.

I’m sitting at my publisher’s table with three other authors.

There’s a nameplate in front of my spot and behind me is a banner for the upcoming book.

I know the second Nick has seen it. He glances at me, mouth pulling up higher on one side.

“This is so cool.” He walks around the table to get closer to it, then pulls out his phone and takes a selfie with it.

“Want an ARC?” I grab one off the stack and hold it up for him. “They had to rush print these for the event, but they turned out pretty good.”

He takes it, then poses with it for another photo.

“I’m so fucking proud of you.”

My face heats with the compliment.

“I loved the ending. It was perfect.”

“You already read it?” I sent it out before I left for the conference, but I figured with hockey camp starting he’d be too busy to get to it anytime soon.

“In one sitting.” He sets the book on the table and closes the distance between us. With one hand, he brushes my hair away from my face and lets his fingers linger at my neck. “It was funny and sweet. Sexy.”

“I had some inspiration on that front.” I beam up at him.

All I want to do is kiss him and talk about what we’re going to do next.

When am I going to see him again? How will this work?

I want him to be in my life every day instead of waiting months between weekend visits.

But the other authors are coming in and I know the doors will open soon for readers.

Nick looks around. “Where do you want me so I’m not in the way?”

Molly shows up with a badge for him, a bottle of water, and an extra chair.

“Wow. You’re good,” he tells her.

“Obviously.” She winks.

Minutes later, it’s chaos. Readers speed walk across the room, dragging their carts of books behind them. Nick’s brows shoot up as he watches it unfold. I don’t have long to capture his reaction before there’s a line of people waiting with my books.

I smile and sign each one, sometimes adding a personalization or a quote, other times I get pulled into conversations about the characters. I love hearing their perspective. It takes me back to when I was a kid and Olivia would read those first stories and tell me what she thought.

Several people recognize Nick. He’s polite when they ask him for a photo or signature, but he waves it off and tells them he’s just here to support me. Word must get around pretty fast because pretty soon I have a line that gets so unwieldy the event staff start turning people away.

“Your fans are coming to see me just to get a glimpse of you,” I whisper to him between people in line.

“Those aren’t my fans, baby. Those are all yours.

” He sits off to the side, a foot behind me.

He hands me fresh Sharpies when mine run out and reminds me to drink water by silently setting water in front of me, but otherwise, he just sits and watches, taking it all in with this proud look that I will remember forever.

We run out of early copies of the book well before the signing is over, but the line just keeps going. After the last person has left my table, I sit back and sigh.

“You did it!” Molly is giddy as she dances in front of my table.

“Now can I nap?” I ask hopefully. And by nap, I mean take Nick up to my room and get naked.

“You have thirty minutes.” She waggles a finger between me and Nick like she knows exactly where my head was at. “Then we’re meeting Doreen for dinner.”

“That wasn’t on the schedule.”

“I know. She requested it an hour ago.”

“Is that bad? It feels bad.” My stomach dips with unease.

“Relax. Everything is fine. The promotions for the book went so well this weekend, she probably wants to talk about the tour schedule. We need to lean into the excitement.”

“All right.” I’m not convinced but I have other priorities right this minute.

Nick and I start to walk off and she calls after us, “Twenty-nine minutes!”

In the hallway, people are sitting along the walls, resting and recharging before the next event. There’s a final party tonight, karaoke and dancing.

Nick takes my hand as we move quickly.

“Want to come see my room?” I ask.

“I want to be wherever you are.”

“Me too.” I stop, prepared to tell him exactly how I’m feeling.

He takes a step, then pauses and glances back at me. “Everything okay?”

Before I can answer him, Matt approaches us from the side, smiling like we’re old friends. “Ruby, hey.”

Nick tenses beside me, then steps closer.

“Who’s your friend?” Matt asks, though I’m ninety-nine percent sure he already knows.

Instead of giving him any information, I cut to the chase. “What do you want, Matt?”

“Just being friendly.” He holds up both hands defensively and shoots a befuddled expression like he can’t imagine why I’m being so sharp.

“We’re not friends.”

Matt’s gaze slides from me to Nick.

He holds a hand out between them for Nick to shake. “You’re that hockey guy, right?”

Nick’s jaw flexes as he glares at my ex-boyfriend.

Matt pulls his hand back, still somehow looking smug. He looks to me. “Genius move having him show up here. Did you come up with that or Molly?”

My stare narrows on him. “Not everything is a marketing ploy.”

“No?” He shrugs. “Anyway, nice to meet you. I’m Matthew Rose.”

“I know who you are.” Nick’s voice is low and gritty.

“Oh cool. Do you want me to sign something for you?”

“Why would I want that?”

“I’m kind of a big deal.” Matt’s brows pinch together, then he laughs it off. “I wrote a little book you might have heard of, Becoming Alaric .”

“Oh, I’ve heard of it,” Nick says. “And I also know you stole the idea from Ruby.”

For only a second, guilt flashes on Matt’s face but he recovers quickly. “You can’t steal ideas.”

“Can and should are two different things.”

Once again Matt laughs. He turns his attention back to me. “I wrote the biggest book of the year, maybe the century. Do you really think you could have said the same if you’d written it?”

I hate to admit that I’ve had that thought. Maybe the magic wasn’t in the idea but in him. Either way, it was a shitty thing to do.

“What the fuck did you say to her?” Nick asks, grip tightening on my hand.

Matt hesitates, jaw moving back and forth as he considers us.

Slowly, that sly grin returns. “You should be thanking me. Do you know how many people would kill to have me write their concept? I did you a favor. You would have turned it into some cheesy, chick lit crap that only sells to women who want a one-hand read.”

He no sooner than gets the final word out, then Nick is lunging forward and punching him. Matt crumples to the ground, catching himself on one knee. He looks up, blood in his mouth and sneers. There are a few gasps and wide-eyed looks, but no one comes forward.

“We have to go.” I grab Nick’s arm and pull him with me down the hall.

No one comes running after us, so when we turn a corner, I slow and face him. Then start laughing.

Nick’s jaw is tight but slowly loosens and as a smile finally stretches across his face, he laughs too.

“Fuck, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Are you kidding? That was the highlight of my entire year.”

“I don’t know how you kept your cool all this time, knowing damn well he stole it from you.” His jaw returns to stone.