Page 27 of The Auction
And right beneath the panic, another emotion builds.
Rage.
Rage at Jaxon. Fucking. Kane.
This has him written all over it in bold font and flaming italics.
I snatch my phone off the floor—victim of the flailing arrest scene—and grab my purse, storming out before someone hands me another ancient telephone or slaps me with a search warrant.
My phone boots back up as I hit the doors.
Pings and dings explode across the screen.
The last one from Jaxon.
JAXON: I’ll be outside.
That asshole.
Sure enough, as I shove the door open, there he is.
Leaning against a matte black McLaren like it’s part of his wardrobe. All black—jeans, shirt, boots. Messy hair. Muscles folded beneath his crossed arms like he's the goddamn final boss in a dating sim.
And he’ssmiling.
The kind of smug, self-satisfied smirk that makes my blood boil. Like this is all a joke. Like watching my date get hauled off in handcuffs was some kind of prime-time entertainment.
I march right up to him and jab a finger into his chest.
“You arrogant, egotistical, morally-bankruptasshole.Howdareyou?”
He doesn't even flinch. Just stands there, looking down at me like I'm a mildly amusing weather event.
"Careful, Cricket. You're poking the bear."
"Are youinsane?" I hiss. "You got mydatearrested!"
"Technically," he says, shifting his weight lazily, "your date did that himself.”
"You tipped them off!"
He lifts a shoulder. “Not my fault the guy had a warrant out for his arrest.”
I gape. “You’re?—”
“Though,” he adds with a thoughtful squint, “telling them he had a kilo of coke shoved up his ass wasprobablya little overboard.”
My mouth drops open.
“I can’t believe this.”
“I know,” he says. “He is going to be quite pissed when he gets to booking and they go on atreasure hunt.”
I spin on my heel, my hands clenched into fists at my sides, ready to walk straight into traffic before I spend another second near this man. But of course—because he’s the devil in a designer tee—he falls into step beside me.
“Where are you going?” he asks, sounding thoroughly unbothered.
“Away.”
