Yasmin intercepted the reporter. “No autographs right now.”
“It’s fine—”
Yasmin cut Jules off with a look.
“Honestly. It’s fine.”
The reporter handed Jules a pen, and she scribbled her name on a miniature copy of the movie poster.
“Thanks—” The reporter stumbled against the barrier.
Wes, Rhys, and press-line security lunged between them. Their response was swift, appropriate, and totally predictable. Jules jumped back.
“Sorry. So sorry.” The reporter’s apology turned from English to French as security reprimanded him. Embarrassed, he backed away, holding his hands to his chest, still apologizing.
Wes shook his head, aggravated far more easily than Jules had expected. Did he know what she was doing? Not a chance. But now that she thought about it, he’d been grousing all day long and on the phone, back and forth with Vivian, as though he were unhappy.
Rhys took her by the arm. Yasmin ended the press line early, and Jules reclaimed her clutch. The group hurried inside as if the reporter who’d tripped represented a danger.
“Wait. Wait.” Jules smoothed her hands over her dress. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” She let the air conditioning wrap around her and calmed her breathing. “I need to use the restroom.”
Rhys stayed near Yasmin. Wes posted near the bathroom door as Jules stepped inside and set the pen on the counter. She touched up her lipstick and jumped when another woman stepped from the row of stalls.
This lady was who she’d needed to find. It seemed so simple. Vivian and Jared would give Jules a solid ten out of ten for thisfirst baby-spy step. Maybe they’d give her a task that required more forethought than moving a pen. Then again, Rhys had had to get her off in the back of a limo for her to calm down. Baby steps worked. So did orgasms.
She blotted her lipstick and checked her teeth, leaving the national security pen in the bathroom with the stranger.
Wes hovered by the door, a dark cloud over his expression. “Ready?”
“Yes—”
He’d already turned. “Let’s go.”
All right, then. What had crawled up his ass? She returned to Rhys’s side.
“Good, baby?”
“A little anticlimactic.”
“You are just begging for another orgasm, aren’t you?”
Wes groaned. “You know people can hear you, right?”
Jules leaned into Rhys. “Wes is super grumpy today.”
Her fiancé nodded. “Yeah.”
“Are you going to tell me why?”
“No.”
Jules raised her eyebrows. “Oh, so you know?”
Rhys said nothing, which was answer enough.
“Come on. Tell me.”
No answer came.
