The answer came in an instant.
A lot.
That's how many.
Jack was wearing a dark sports coat. Without breaking stride, he yanked it off and then draped it over my shoulders the moment he reached me.
As he did, I looked down, only to realize that the front of my blouse was wide open.
Well, that wasn't good.
On the upside, I was wearing a camisole underneath – not that Jack seemed to notice the distinction.
He yanked the jacket shut over my torso andheldit shut with one steady hand, even though my arms weren't even in the sleeves.
And then, he turned to the crowd. "Show's over," he said just before turning me toward the open doorway and propelling me forward like I was some sort of ship to be steered in the night.
I dug in my heels. "Wait. My book – where is it?" I looked around. Near the front of the crowd, I spotted Darbie standing with both hands hidden behind her back.
I felt my gaze narrow. I knew exactly what she was hiding. I called out to her, "You took it, didn't you?"
She smiled. "I don't know what you mean."
Oh, yes, she did.That was much was obvious, not that I could do anything about it now. Already, I'd caused far too much commotion for one day.
So with a sigh, I muttered "Forget it," and then let Jack guide me into the private lounge, where I could look forward to a nice scolding and maybe a good kick to the curb as far my employment situation went.
But as it turned out, my expectations were only half correct.
Chapter 24
Jack
Becka was something else, all right.
When we entered the lounge, the place broke into raucous applause. Ignoring them, I kept going, steering Becka toward a private powder room off to the side.
I had an arm wrapped around her torso as I held the jacket shut with one hand. Yeah, I'd seen the thing she was wearing underneath her blouse, but that didn't mean I liked the idea of strangers seeing more than they should – like the outline of a nipple or the sweetness of her curves.
But I'd seen.
The camisole – or whatever it was called – was thin and lacy, and did a sorry-ass job of hiding things that only a lover should see.
I wasn't her lover. And I planned to keep it that way.
But hell if I'd let strangers ogle her in the meantime.
When we entered the powder room, I shut the door behind us and released my grip on the jacket. I asked, "What the hell was that about?"
She turned to face me. When our gazes locked, she winced. "Actually, it's kind of a long story."
It couldn’t have beenthatlong. She'd been gone for less than fifteen minutes.
I didn't get it.How could someone so small cause that big of a ruckus in that short of a time?
I told her, "Then you'd better get started."
She bit her lip. "Well, you see, they wanted to come into the room—"