Page 13

Chapter Twelve

Vivienne

“I can’t believe it’s finally the day,” Angie says as we walk into the suite assigned to us.

“Right? I mean, it’s taken forever,” I reply, heading to one of the bedroom doors. Since Angie and Popeye are still dancing around each other even though they both know they’re mates, she’s sharing with me and Fox, while Popeye and several of the other single brothers bunk together.

“Do we have a plan of attack for the signing?” she asks from the doorway.

“I know the four of us will be together and we have the seating chart color-coded thanks to Nini,” I reply, snickering. “We’ll go in and basically hit every author’s table, pick up any preorders we have, then move on. Once we have all of our books, then we can go back through and meet new-to-us authors.”

“We’ll run out of time,” she laments, wringing her hands.

“No, from what Tressa said, Sapphire won’t just kick us all out when the signing is over if there are readers still in the room. Not only that, but the authors will want to meet as many of us as they can.”

She squeals which has me rolling my eyes. “So… what’s going on with you and Popeye?” I ask, deciding to take the bull by the horns.

Her face falls and she murmurs, “Vivi, you know what it was like for me growing up. I know he’s my mate, but my trust has been broken so badly, I can’t rely on it any longer.”

I move to her and pull her into a hug. “I think he’d move mountains for you, Ang,” I whisper in her ear. “Why don’t you let him slay those dragons? They can’t hurt you now, and he’s got brothers who’ll have his back in all things.”

“Still… I’m scared.”

“Well, maybe share that with him, okay? Because if he works out any more, he’s gonna need new shirts, just saying.”

She snickers, which is what I wanted her to do. Apparently, Popeye got his road name because he’s a big, muscular male. Plus, as long as Fox wasn’t teasing me, he likes spinach.

“I’ll try,” she finally says.

“Let’s go find Tressa and Nini and see what the plan for the rest of the day is going to be,” I suggest.

“I’m down with that,” Angie replies as we make our way to the door.

“So, how do you decide who you’re going to write about next when you’re plotting a series?” Angie asks Amelia Shea. We’re at dinner and our table has Amelia and her husband, Liberty Parker and her husband, Darlene Tallman and her PA, and Nikki Landis with her husband.

“Well, I’m what they call a pantser, but usually, in the middle of whichever couple I’m working on, one of the other guys will start dropping hints in my head,” Amelia replies.

“Does anyone plot their stories?” I question.

“When I’m cowriting with Erin Osborne, we have a pretty detailed outline,” Darlene says. “But Liberty and I roll by the seat of our pants, and Nikki and I have pages of notes about our series, and we do the same. Hopefully, our betas and proofers catch any potential plot holes or inconsistencies for us. We all say we should be more together and plot, but it’s a pain in the ass.”

“We did start putting notes on the bottom of our manuscripts that we wanted to make sure we cover in each couple’s story,” Liberty says to Darlene.

“That works for us too, Dar,” Nikki adds, joining the conversation.

Most of the men are just listening as we all talk about favorite characters, how excited we are to be at this particular signing, and how crazy we know it’ll likely be tomorrow.

“I just think it’s amazing how y’all will get an idea from practically nothing and create a whole world out of it,” Tressa says. “Didn’t you say one time that you came up with the Rebel Guardians while you were coming back from a signing?”

Darlene grins and looks at Liberty. “I was Facebook friends with Liberty and finally got to meet her and her hubby at Wanderlust in Dallas back in 2017. We got along so well, spending the weekend together, that while I was on I-20 headed to Georgia, when my idea for Braxton came to mind, I decided to reach out to her and see if she wanted to write with me. Mostly, it was because I hadn’t really written an MC book before, but I had so much fun with her, I thought it would be a blast. We originally were going to bring in a third author, but they declined, so we went full steam ahead. To date, I think it’s been one of our more prolific and profitable series since we have all the spin-offs.”

“Plus, we’re doing the ‘Where Are They Now’ updates,” Liberty states. “Those are pretty popular too.”

“Honestly, I’ll read whatever y’all write,” Tressa says. “I even like the kids’ books you write with your sister.”

“That’s me!’ Cheryl, Darlene’s sister and PA pipes up. “And just to say, you guys might think the kitties have wild personalities, but truly, that’s how they act.”

“Will there be more?” Nini questions.

Cheryl starts snickering as she nods. “We definitely have more planned. Just need to get our illustrator on board with drawing.” At Nini’s look, she adds, “It’s my youngest daughter, Jennifer. She’s got four kids, so time is a premium sometimes.”

“That makes sense,” I muse. “I’m torn between which is my favorite though. I love it when Harry calls for Guinebere even though I know her name is Guinevere.”

At that, we all burst out laughing. Liberty pipes up and asks, “Remember when you read the first Mischief Kitty book to us, Dar? I almost fell off the bed laughing my ass off.”

“Good times,” Darlene says. “We’ve had a lot of those, that’s for sure.”

“We’re road tripping queens, even Baby Face Parker,” Cheryl chimes in, giggling. Not sure if it’s the Long Island Iced Tea she’s drinking or not, but I know it’s an inside joke from the looks Liberty and Darlene give her.

Sapphire comes around and says, “Y’all’s table is having a good time, I see.”

“We really are,” Amelia states. She then looks down at her watch and says, “Oh, it’s almost time for us to go and set up our tables.”

“Then we need to call it a night,” Fox says. “It was a pleasure to meet all of y’all tonight. I know our ma… women will have a great time.”

I bite back my snicker at how he nearly outed us and said mates, knowing that for the sake of everyone, we’re not going to announce that at all.

“I’ll take these up to the room and drop these off. Then I’ll head back down in case you have another haul,” Fox says as he maneuvers the wagon closer to him then pulls every bag out and onto his arms. “That way, y’all can keep going.”

“Thank you,” I say, leaning up to kiss his scruffy jaw.

He moves so his mouth is at my ear and murmurs, “Naked gratitude tonight, babe.”

I shiver with anticipation at his raspy timbre because he’s an inventive, creative lover. I’ve come to embrace my sexuality in a way that somewhat astonishes me, because I always thought I would be more straightlaced when it came to bedroom antics.

“Okay, ladies, we’ve got all our preorders picked up, let’s now go get swag and pictures!” Tressa exclaims.

“Babe, if you could refrain from bouncing around so much, I think our child would appreciate it,” Chaos gruffly says, his arms crossed over his massive chest.

“Pssh, our daughter is just fine,” Tressa retorts. At his look, she spreads her arms and asks, “What? I think you need a little girl to calm you down.” I hold back my humorous snicker because if he were a cartoon character, steam would be billowing from his ears.

The other brothers, who have been keeping an eye out for us, burst into laughter. While they aren’t inside the venue with us, any time we’ve come out to pass over books we’ve picked up, they show up en masse. I think it’s cute, but Tressa and Nini say it’s because they’re being overprotective alphaholes.

“We’ll be back down in a few minutes. Go back inside, babe,” Fox tells me, his gaze roaming the crowd of people who are currently outside the signing venue, making sure there aren’t any visible threats to us. Many are doing what we are, passing books off to those who’ll take them back to their rooms, while others are sitting down and taking a break.

I’m exhausted by the time we finally finish going through all the authors’ tables for the second time, but I’ve managed to talk to quite a few whose books I haven’t read yet and am excited to find new-to-me authors to add to my ever-growing to-be-read list. I giggle a bit when I realize how many bookshelves Fox and his brothers are going to have to put together for me and the other ladies to store our goodies on. Shrugging, I lean against him while we wait for Tressa and Nini to come out to the foyer area we’re waiting in, when an acrid scent hits my nose and the fine hairs on my body stand on end.

Glancing around, I stiffen and hide my face in Fox’s chest. What is he doing here? Better yet, how did he find me?

“Vivi? You okay?” Fox asks.

“Carter’s here,” I murmur, not lifting my head but tilting it in the direction where he’s stationed. “Over by the restrooms.”

I feel my mate’s body tighten as he starts moving me toward the elevator. “Gonna get you safe, babe, then me and the brothers will deal with this shit. It’s time for us to take out your trash and dispose of him so you’ll never have to worry about him interfering in your life again.”

I remember what Tressa shared about the last signing and how she got kidnapped and fear grips me. “Please, stay safe.”

“Not our first rodeo, Vivi. Gonna get you girls to our room so you’re behind locked doors and have the prospects watch over you while we take care of business.”

My stomach drops because I suspect our fun-filled weekend may be coming to an end. While the plans for the remainder of our stay weren’t set in stone, we were going to meet with several other readers and authors at La Senoritas, a Mexican restaurant that came highly recommended.

“Okay, Fox,” I quietly say. I want him focused so I won’t bring up my disappointment about the likely change of plans.

Faster than I expect, the four of us women are ensconced in mine and Fox’s suite while the two prospects are stationed outside the locked door.

“I don’t like this,” Angie states, sipping on a soda. Tressa and Nini both have orange juice while I pace the room with a bottle of water in my hands.

“Trust the guys,” Tressa says. “They’ll handle it in such a way that nobody will be any wiser.”

“I wanted chips and salsa, maybe some queso,” Nini grumbles, patting her extended belly that just released a rumble. “Why do assholes gotta ruin our good time?”

“Maybe we’ll still be able to go,” Angie says. At our pointed glance, she shrugs. “I mean, it’s possible, right?”

“Doubtful,” I reply. “Do you really think they’d leave us here to go out to dinner, with people who are mostly strangers to us while they deal with Carter?”

“You know, I’ve been thinking about something,” Nini conveys. “You said that your alpha lost his mate a long time ago, right? What if he’s gone mate mad? That would explain why his son is so unhinged, right? I mean, who wants to settle for a chosen mate if there’s a possibility that your fated mate is out there somewhere?”

“You could be right,” Angie slowly says, tapping her finger on her chin. “Alpha Dawson has been erratic and acting unhinged for a while now. Maybe he knew he was losing it which is why he wanted Carter to be mated so he could take over as alpha?”

“Doesn’t matter in the long run. You now have your mate, and I don’t see Fox handing you over to this jerk,” Tressa states.

“Should we pack up our stuff just in case?” I ask. “Or wait for them to come back?”

“I vote we wait in case we can carry on with our weekend away. Worst case scenario, we have to leave, but maybe we can beg to eat Mexican with the others before we go!” Nini exclaims, clapping her hands. “If I tell Stealth the pup wants refried beans, fajitas, and of course, chips, salsa, and queso, he’ll make it happen.”

“You have him so wrapped,” Tressa teases.

“As if you don’t,” Nini retorts.