AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I nod unhappily. “I know. I have only myself to blame. And I still want to see the Rovers succeed and I don’t want to see Mason’s image take a—oh, hell.”
Lexi is making a beeline for Mason. She’s like a trouble-seeking missile on a mission.
“If you want me to try to help, I will,” I tell Cecelia. “But I don’t want to overstep.” I look across the room at Amanda, who’s trying to flirt with a married movie star, flipping her hair and batting her eyes like mad. He keeps backing away from her, and she keeps moving forward. Suddenly he spots his wife at the bar, and waves wildly at her while Amanda pouts.
Cecelia winces. “Go ahead, please. You’re not overstepping. Not with this.”
I hurry over to Paolo, Paolo’s wife Luisa, and Dori. “We may have a public relations emergency about to happen,” I say, inclining my head towards Lexi, who is shouldering her way through the crowd of people standing in between her and Mason. I glance at Dylan, who’s standing across the room and has just spotted Lexi. I look at Paolo. “Are you ready to jump in if things start going south?”
Paolo grabs Luisa’s hand. “You on board, baby?”
She laughs. “You may end up owing me a new dress.”
“It’s on me,” I say to her. “Thank you. I love you both.” I break into a jog and head for Mason and Lexi.
Lexi finally reaches Mason, and she makes a big show of throwing her arms around him and leaning in for a kiss on the lips. He ducks and steps back away from her so fast that she staggers forward and almost falls. He doesn’t reach out to try to catch her and I get sick satisfaction out of that.
Good boy.
Lexi moves forward again and puts her hand on his shoulder. He twists away and I can see an angry, heated argument starting between the two of them.
I look around for Dylan. Yep, he’s seen all this; yep, he’s moving towards them. If the room weren’t so crowded, he’d be there already.
“Excuse me, excuse me, coming through,” I cry out, shoving my way through the crowd, using my elbows, earning glares and muttered insults.
Now I’m practically right on top of them and feeling queasy about it. Mason is glaring at Lexi. “This is not the place or the time,” he snaps at her.
“Okay, sweetie.” She’s all glowing smiles. “When is a better time for you?”
“Can I pencil you in for never o’clock?”
I chuckle because that sounds like something I’d say. Apparently, I’ve worn off on him.
I throw my arm around Mason’s waist. “Hey, babe. There you are. You are so hard to get ahold of.” He immediately puts his arm around my own waist and pulls me in close. “Sorry. I’m very popular.” He grins down at me, and my heart swells and breaks all over again. The look of genuine happiness on his face as he stares down at me— I want to believe it more than Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.
Well, I fell for it once. I nearly lost my job over it. I definitely lost my promotion. From now on work comes first, last, and always when it comes to romance.
I smile even wider.
“Excuse me.” Lexi tugs on Mason’s arm and shoots me a look of disgust. “Mason and I were talking. You are interrupting.” She glares at me. He tries to shake her hand off, and when she won’t let go, he yanks his arm from her grasp.
“You were talking. I was trying to get away from you so I could find Rowan.” He scowls at her. She smiles even wider and tries to press herself up against him.
I stare at her, alarm bells ringing in my head. Something is off with her behavior. These are not the actions of a woman in love, desperately trying to win back her man. Lexi is a self-confident woman who’s used to being pampered and fawned over. The way Mason is treating her should straight up infuriate her, and she should be stomping off in a huff.
And I don’t see the slightest trace of affection in her gaze.
“Get your fucking hands off me,” Mason barks at her, loud enough that everyone close to us turns to stare, and he takes several steps away from her. I move in front of him to block her.
“How did you get past the guards?” I ask Lexi suspiciously.
“I was on the list,” she sneers at me. “How did you get past the guards?”
“I wrote the list,” I reply coldly. “You were definitely not on it, and we have very tight security at this event, and yet here you are. So someone helped you crash the event.”
She rolls her eyes. “Dylan, if you must know.”
“No, he didn’t. I saw him when he spotted you, and he was surprised.” I shake my head at Mason. “Something’s behind all this, from the very first time she showed up after the game. I am going to make sure we find out what’s happening.”
