Page 88 of Hot Damn
“Oh, okay, I’m sure it was an accident.” I glance back at the door. “It was a madhouse out there.”
When I turn back, both men are frowning at me and I don’t know why, but it gets my hackles up. Instead of commenting and dragging our delay out further, I try for a reassuring smile.
“We should get moving. We’ll miss everyone before they head in to the press room or back to the hotel.”
Neither man moves right away and I’m on the verge of saying something else when Dad offers me a smile and looks at the guard.
“Lead the way. We’ve got a team to congratulate.”
I’m so caught up in my head thinking about what I want to take video of when we reach the team that I’m not paying attention to where the guard is leading us. But I’m brought up short by Ray Denim’s booming voice bouncing off the walls around us.
“What did he put in your bag?”
“Huh?”
“Your bag? What did he put in it?”
“I have no idea who or what you’re talking about.”
“Herman Draper put something in your bag when he shoved you from behind.”
It takes me a moment to work out what Ray is saying, but when I do it’s like my bag is on fire. I can’t get it off my shoulder fast enough.
The thud it makes when it hits the floor echoes around me and I stare at it with horror.
Ray’s the first to move. Crouching, he yanks the sides apart and begins taking things out one at a time. Nothing he removes is unfamiliar, and as each item is put on the floor next to my bag my impatience grows until I can’t stand it anymore.
With a grunt of frustration, I sink to my knees and grab my bag from Ray. He doesn’t get time to protest before I tip it upside down and shake, emptying the remaining contents out.
Tossing the bag to the side, I run my hands through everything, spreading it out so I can find what we’re looking for.
I don’t see it at first. It’s not until I sweep my gaze over thepens, notebooks, flash drives and other miscellaneous handbag stuff like tissues and lip balm, for a second time that I see the foreign object.
“I don’t wear lipstick.” I sit back on my heels, the need to distance myself from the silver tube I’ve never seen before making my skin crawl.
“What?” Ray’s gaze meets mine.
“Lipstick. I don’t wear it,” I repeat, pointing at the tube that isn’t mine.
“Ah, okay.” He doesn’t touch it or anything else. “Everything else yours?”
I nod slowly, my head feeling too heavy, my thoughts a little sluggish. “Yes.”
“Take another look. Be sure.”
I do as he asks. But that sluggish feeling has moved to my eyes and it takes me a while to process everything on the floor. When I get to the last item, I see nothing I haven’t put in my bag myself except the lipstick tube.
“I’m sure.” A wave of dizziness makes me put a hand on the ground for stability. “It’s the only thing.”
“What’s going on?”
Beckett’s voice pulls my gaze up. He’s towering over me, and it takes a minute for me to realize he’s in a suit. It’s not the first time I’ve seen him in one, but for some reason it’s the first time I’ve noticed how good he looks in one. “Wow.”
“Cam? You okay?” He grabs a handful of each trouser leg and tugs up as his knees widen and bend so he can lower into a crouch beside me. “Cam?”
“I…” What was the question?
“She’s fine.”
