fine. I’d rather the press take pics of me than Nova.” “I feel like I’m throwing you to the wolves.” He turned toward her. “I like animals.” She teased. A small smile played on his lips. “Fine. See you at the cabin.” Rim waved and did a damn good job of looking like she couldn’t care less about the press. I tucked my arm over her shoulders and held her tightly into my side as the four of us headed to the door. After I nodded and waved to Gamble, we walked out the door. The second we did, flashbulbs started going off and reporters called our names. I plastered a charming smile to my face and tugged Rim farther into my side. We moved just slightly toward the crowd and turned so the reporters would all be facing us and away from the door. They were shouting out questions, and I smiled wider. “I hear you all are waiting for a baby announcement.” I teased. A bad taste coated my mouth. Sometimes playing up to the press was such a chore. But it worked. Just like I knew, everyone focused on us, giving B and Ivy the perfect opportunity to slip out the door and rush down the hall toward the elevator. Soon as they were out of sight, I breathed a sigh of relief. “C’mon.” I leaned down to speak into Rimmel’s ear. I started forward, but the crowd closed in. Rimmel stumbled at my side, and without thought, I swung her up into my arms. “What about the baby?” someone yelled. I ignored them and hurried toward the elevator. One of the reporters tried to get into the car with us when it slid open. I gave them a subtle reminder they weren’t welcome. Fine. I wasn’t subtle. I told them if they got into the elevator with us, I’d shove the camera up their ass and take a pic of their colon. Did I mention I was in a pissy mood? We’d barely made it into the parking lot when several of the reporters came rushing out of the stairwell and trailed behind us. And so here I was. Tearing out of the parking lot and onto the main road. Snow was piled up on either side of the white lines, and the freshly fallen flakes still coated the trees. Some of the more persistent paparazzi got into cars and tailed us. Didn’t these people ever give it a rest? “You kind of implied back there we had a baby announcement,” Rimmel observed. Her slim fingers curled around the door handle as she talked. I thought it was cute the way she braced herself for the driving I was about to do. Sad thing was she was used to it. This wasn’t the first time we’d been followed by overzealous, nosy gossipmongers. I cursed. “I was trying to buy B and Ivy some time, but that was clearly the wrong thing to say.” “Might not have been the best choice,” she said weakly as I took a turn quickly. I muttered a dark curse. “I’m sorry, baby. I wasn’t thinking straight, and now you’re going to be even more sought after.” “You’ve had a long night. This isn’t your fault.” Her voice was sure. The fact she let me off the hook so easily and accepted her fate made me even more disgusted. I glanced in the rearview mirror. We were still being tailed. Hell if I was going to lead them to the cabin we were all staying at. Fuck that. We rented a place sort of off the beaten path for a reason. I made a sharp and sudden left down a side street. The sound of blaring horns made me grimace, but I kept going. I shot down the street and then steered abruptly back out onto the main road and shot through a light that had just turned red. I glanced at Rim to make sure she was hanging in. She was. My girl was a fucking champ. And then I looked in the rearview. One car was still trailing us. It was a little hatchback. The Cat could outrun it for sure, but I wasn’t going to go all Fast and Furious out here on Christmas Eve on a main road. I took the right up ahead like I would normally to get to the cabin and then shot forward. The car following us turned, and I cussed. “Hang on, baby.” I gritted my teeth and