Page 173 of Tormented Billionaire Romance Series

“Wait!” I protested, shrinking down in my seat even more. Pretty soon, I’d wind up sitting on the floor. “Won’t that hold up the line?”

“So?” The guard shrugged his shoulders.

There really wasn’t any arguing with a person who didn’t care. I had no choice other than to step out of the car. The guard came over to me and I breathed a silent breath of relief. My legs were too shaky to walk far without getting all tangled up in my dress.

The guard lifted his phone and took a few pictures of me while I stood with my back to the chaos of the party. I forced myself to smile, knowing it was strained, knowing there was nothing I could do about it. Everyone had to be staring at me, wondering what I was doing, who I was, why anyone would want to take a picture of me. I felt the heat of a thousand stares on the back of my neck.

After what seemed like an eternity, but which could have been only a few seconds, the guard put his phone down. “Thanks,” he said to me, with a friendly little punch on my shoulder. He added, “Princess.”

“You’re welcome,” I stammered, and fled into the car.

Maggie started driving again, following the guard’s prior instructions. “You’re going to give that kid nightmares, scowling at the camera like that.”

“Oh, god,” I moaned, burying my face in my hands. “Was it that bad?”

Maggie lifted a hand to one of the other guards outside the window and followed his waves, turning down to another section of parking lot. The outlines of the spots had been marked in glow-in-the-dark paint, striping the concrete with eerie green scars. “I’m only teasing you, sweetie. You looked gorgeous. I could just tell you were dying inside, is all.”

“Let’s hope that’s only because you know me well.”

“Mmm,” she hummed, and parked. “Okay! Now I get to show off my costume.”

I followed her around to the trunk of her car. “Why is it such a secret?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s not a secret. I just didn’t feel like wearing it. And it’s so easy to put on.”

I folded my arms and watched her pull things out of the trunk. “You know me well, but I also know you. That’s a lie. You just wanted to make me sit and wonder.”

“Well, that would be a reason why I didn’t feel like putting it on.”

“Why did you bother going to art school? You should have been a lawyer.”

Maggie ignored me and donned the pieces of her costume. She pulled on a leather jacket and looped a red scarf around her neck. Next, she secured a ginger wig on top of her head. By that point, I couldn’t have been more confused. Her costume was… a red-head?

Maggie reached into her trunk and pulled out the last piece of her costume, a little camera with a long strap attached, so she could wear it around her neck. “Ta-da!”

“You’re a journalist,” I guessed. “A photographer? You’re… yourself, but from an alternate reality, so your hair is red and awful.”

She laughed. “Maybe in some alternate reality, Iwouldbe Mary Jane, sure.”

“Mary Jane?” I only knew of one Mary Jane and it meant something that definitely wasnota person.

“From Spider-Man? Come on, Megyn! You have to have at least some knowledge of pop culture.”

“Oh,” I exclaimed, finally getting it.

Maggie rolled her eyes at me and draped her arm over my shoulders. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“In my defense, Mary Jane isn’t nearly as iconic as a Disney princess.”

Maggie tugged me along with her, leading the way toward the foreboding warehouse and its many occupants. I tried to drag my steps, to delay arrival as long as possible, but she was stronger than me and my efforts made no discernable difference.

We stepped through the vast open doors in the wake of a loud group of friends all pushing and shoving at each other.

And my first view of the actual party confirmed for me, beyond any doubt, that I didn’t belong.

CHAPTER7

CARTER

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