“Mom said you’d be here tonight, so I drove up. Didn’t have anything else to do.”
“Oh, wow.” Everyone, this is my brother, Galen.
“Oh wow is right,” Karrigan said, keeping her eyes locked on Galen, as she slowly sat. Lea couldn’t help but notice the swirling bulls eye in Jill’s gaze too. Suddenly she felt very territorial. Karrigan and her brother might work, but Jill… eh; Lea still wasn’t too sure what she thought of her. In time, she assumed, she’d learn to like her.
Lea took Galen by the arm to join her and Fox on the opposite side of the table. Fox extended a hand. “Very nice to meet you. Lea’s told me all about you.”
Galen shook his hand, smiling. “Only good things, I hope.”
“Only the best.”
Lea gestured across the table. “This is Fox’s sister, Karrigan,” she moved her arm a little to the right, “this is his other sister, Jill,” she moved her arm again, “and this is his brother Erickson.”
“Nice to meet you all,” Galen said.
Jill and Karrigan said, “My pleasure,” simultaneously and the tone of their voices matched. Lea had never realized how much they sounded alike. That was a good thing; the bad things was, they then turned and looked at each other with their eyes narrowed and lips curled, and Lea imagined Karrigan saying, I saw him first. She hoped she wouldn’t have to break up a catfight that her brother had caused.
When he was finished with his plate, Erickson pushed it away and politely excused himself from the table.
After everyone else was done with their grilled rib eye, the waiter cleared the table and brought a special delivery. A very large special delivery. As he set it down on the table, Lea leaned up to see what was in the box. It was a cake, she was pretty sure, but why was it in the shape of Florida? She took a closer look, and her eyes bulged. It was not Florida.
“Karrigan,” Fox sputtered. “Tell me you did not order something from the Get It While It’s Hot Bake Shop, and have it delivered to a five–star restaurant.”
“What?” Karrigan said innocently. “We’re celebrating aren’t we?” She paused, looked closer inside the box. “Yep, they made it just like I wanted it.” She pointed. “Take a closer look, bro.”
Lea lifted the top, and she and Fox peered in. Fox started cracking up.
Karrigan cackled, holding her stomach.
“Did I miss something?” Lea asked.
“I think we did,” Jill answered.
“You know Roman,” Karrigan said, “always threating to cut someone’s balls off. Now he has none.”
The whole table erupted in laughter, even Galen.
Lea wasn’t sure how the evening could get any better, but she had a feeling that before the night was through, it would.
Fox called for a stretch limo to drive them all home. Everyone was too inebriated to drive themselves. Lea couldn’t believe her eyes when it pulled alongside them in front of 72 Queen. The stretch Lincoln Navigator shined beneath the light like black lava. Inside it was every bit as luxurious—leather seats with dark wood finishes.
It took a few minutes for everyone to get situated; there was some confusion as to who should sit where. In the end, Galen ended up right in between Karrigan and Jill. And Erickson… he’d scored his date when he’d excused himself earlier—Bianca. He’d seen her in the lobby looking like a lost puppy. Her internet date’s wife had shown up and blown his cover. She’d yanked him up by his hair and dragged him out of there, leaving Bianca stranded. Erickson had offered to take her home. There was about as much space on the seat between them as there was between Lea and Fox. Ironic…
When the limo pulled off, there was a few minutes of silence. It was the first time in a while that Lea had allowed her thoughts to roam back to Brandon. She wondered if he and his new wife had recently taken a ride like this. Good for him if he had. She hoped he was happy, not in superficial way, she honestly did. Even though he treated her wrong, they’d been a part of each other’s lives for a long time. She no longer held onto the hurt. Instead, she wished him well. In a way, she was thankful to him because his actions led her into Fox’s arms… into her happily ever after.
—EPILOGUE
The limousine driver made one stop that night—at Fox’s house. As I lay propped on my elbow, my arm stretched across Fox’s bare chest, I said, “Have you ever seen that movie The Secret of My Success?”
Fox wrinkled his brows. “That old movie with Michael J Fox?”
“Yeah, that one.”
“I saw it a long time ago, why?”
“In the movie,” I recalled, “a bunch of people spent the night at this huge house, some of them business associates, some married. Anyway, throughout the night, there’s a lot of bed hopping going on. Doors opening and closing as people try to find the room to their secret lovers.”
Fox grinned. “And you think that’s how it’s going to be tonight?”
“It could be. You have Karrigan and Jill, who both have their eye on Galen. Then you’ve got Erickson and Bianca who’ve worked together for a while, and probably just noticed each other for the first time tonight.”
“True.”
“This place is going to be so full of heat; it might go up in flames.”
Fox rose up on his elbows, indulged me in a passionate kiss. “Let it begin with us.”
Note to reader:
Thank you so much for reading this book! I hope you enjoyed! I was thinking of keeping the “Room” series going with another book centralized around one of two scenarios: Karrigan and Galen’s relationship, or Bianca and Erickson’s. Of course, Fox and Lea would show up in either book in supporting roles. I need your feedback. Which would you rather read? Email me with your ideas, comments, or just to say hi. I promise to respond to each one personally. [email protected]
Cover Image @Konradbak / Dreamstime
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The Opium Room Page 16