“Opened my mouth and crammed my foot in it?” Sadie pulled Poppy behind her table, and they sat, both chairs sounding like a cat with its tail caught in a door. Sadie palmed her forehead as a headache settled in behind her eyes.
“Okay, dish.” Poppy grinned.
Sadie’s shoulders rounded as she told Poppy the whole story, starting from the moment Beaver-Weasel showed up. By the time she was done, Poppy was red-faced and laughing.
“Oh, honey, that story is gold, and you didn’t even start with ‘Hold my beer.’”
Groaning, Sadie covered her face with her hands. “Stop.”
“So, you don’t know who the guy was? You just hooked him by the arm and he went along with it? You still got it, girl.” Poppy snickered.
“If by ‘got it’ you mean thirty pounds, then yes, I still have it.”Baby Got Backplayed in her head. Only, it wasn’t nearly as cool when she was trying on jeans and her baby back had a toddler-sized gap.
Poppy popped her on the arm. “Oh, stop. You look great.”
Yeah right. Sadie sighed. “What am I going to do?”
Shrugging, Poppy said, “I don’t know. I’d say tell Buck to stuff it, but I also know your finances aren’t what they need to be. Maybe it would be worth hearing him out. Lord knows I don’t have any love for the man, but I do love you, and if it’ll help you, I’m all for it.” She sighed. “Plus, you’ve never been the kind of person to back out of a deal.”
“I know, but I’d have to swallow about a gallon and a half of pride.” As crazy as it sounded, she was considering it. She’d barely been getting by, and she’d scraped together everything she had to come to the comic-con. A steady paycheck would be nice. What good was pride when you were sleeping on a park bench? Plus, shehadmade a deal with Beaver Guy.
“Better to swallow willingly than choke as you’re being evicted.” Poppy and her sage wisdom.
Sadie put her head in her hands. “But what am I going to do when I show up at dinner and there’s no Xavier Parker?”
“Along with that pride, chow down on a few crows?”
Sadie lifted her head a fraction. “Guess so. Would you come with me?”
Poppy giggled. “Oh, honey, I’d pay money to be there.”
This comic-con was supposed to be Sadie’s big debut. Her moment to shine without the dark cloud of what happened with Empire. It was why she’d chosen Dallas in the first place. Why couldn’t anything go as she planned? How did life always seem to throw her for a loop just when she thought she was making progress?
Inwardly, she ached. She’d tuck her tail, go to the meeting, and deal with whatever Buck had to say. If his proposal would help her, she’d consider it. If not, he could take a flying leap. Either way, she was in charge, and she wasn’t letting Buck pull her down this time.
Chapter 4
With a towel around his waist, Xavier walked out of his Dallas penthouse bathroom and into the living room where Harry and Griffin were sitting on the couch playing a video game. As usual. He didn’t complain, though. He loved having them around.
Harry glanced up. “’Bout time you finished.”
“Yeah, well, you two jerks are to blame,” Xavier said as he grabbed a soda from the fridge. It had taken an entire bar of soap to get the stench of the costume off.
“Hey, you took the bet.” Griffin jerked sideways and tapped his controller.
“And if it weren’t for us, you wouldn’t have a date with Sadie Baylor tonight,” Harry said with a grin.
Xavier rolled his eyes. “She’s probably not even gonna show.”
Even as he said it, he sent a silent wish into the universe that he was wrong. She was gorgeous and quick-witted, and he had a feeling she could upend a man’s world. If she did show, maybe that man could be him.
Harry glanced at Xavier. “What if she does? You think she’ll recognize you?”
“I don’t know. I doubt it. Hot girls aren’t all that interested in geeky game designers.” Money had changed a lot of things for Xavier, but not that. He still wore glasses, still didn’t have six-pack abs, still loved video games more than clubbing, and still considered pizza a delicacy.
“She’s a gamer. Maybe she’ll give you a shot,” Griffin said, not looking up from his game.
“Or, better, she’ll see me and pretend I’m cool until she gets what she wants,” Xavier muttered as he popped his drink open.
