Tatum glanced to Jennifer and Ginger, and I could tell by the look on her face that something was up.
“What’s going on, Tatum?” I asked suspiciously.
A sudden movement from the side caught my attention right as Jennifer leaned over and cradled her side with a loud, “Oomph!”
“She has something she needs to tell you,” Ginger announced and crossed her arms over her chest.
Jennifer rubbed her side, presumably where Ginger had elbowed her, and faced Sloane, looking very much like a child about to confess to a parent. “I'm responsible for your birthday present, the publishing anniversary present, the surprise breakfast at the event, a few other small surprises, and I'm the one who sent the bottle of wine to you in Devil Springs," Jennifer confessed.
“What? How?" Sloane asked.
“Tatum!” I shouted. “You let her fucking stalker in here?”
Tatum glared at me. “No, I didn’t. Shut up and listen.
“You okay with this?” I asked Sloane. Because if she wasn’t, I was ushering them the fuck out of there.
“I want to hear what she has to say,” Sloane said quietly.
“Well, your birthday and your hometown are listed on social media. So, I searched for your name and hometown to find your address to send you a present. Since I already had your address when you mentioned your publishing anniversary on social media, I thought it would be nice to send you another present. As for the bottle of wine, you took a picture of your workspace and posted it in your reader group. When I zoomed in to see what you were working on, I saw the name of the hotel on a notepad beside your computer.”
“What about the breakfast? How did you know about Brat?" Frankie demanded.
Jennifer laughed. “Look at the picture you posted of you two sorting the orders the night before the signing. The key card with your room number on it is in the left corner, and a very visible pig hoof is in the right corner. I just got lucky on the tray placement.”
“What about Bronze?”
“That was also a coincidence. I passed him in the hallway when he surprised you. I was only walking by to see where the rooms were so I would know where they were when I delivered the breakfast trays.”
Her laughter died down, and her eyes filled with tears. “I’m so sorry, Sloane. I didn't mean to scare you, but I was too shy to sign my name on the gifts. And, I guess I got too excited and didn't realize I was overstepping boundaries. I understand if you want to remove me from your groups and block me from your social media.”
“Uh, Jennifer, you saved my life today. Pretty sure that negates any possible misunderstanding we may have previously had," Sloane said vehemently. “And for future reference, please sign your name to any gifts you send. A lot of people like to reciprocate, or at the very least send a thank you note.”
“Really?” Jennifer gasped in disbelief.
“Really. I know how hard it is to put yourself out there. So what if you did it and came out looking like a stalker? It ended well, and it’ll make a great line for a story,” Sloane assured her and yawned, followed by a small grimace of pain.
“All right, time for everyone to clear out,” I said and turned to start herding people out the door.
“Step aside, Alpha-hole. I’m not leaving until I hug her,” Frankie declared and barged her way past me.
“And I’m not leaving until I’ve had a great big hug from you.” Tatum stood and gave me the quickest hug in history before she jumped back with mock disgust. “I was wrong! Ew! Feelings!”
26
After the room cleared out, I closed my eyes and relished in the quiet. Unfortunately, when I woke the next morning, my peace and quiet vanished before I’d even had coffee.
“Sloaney Bologna!” Tiernan called out as he barreled through the door to my hospital room followed by Declan and Kian.
“Crap,” I grumbled. "I thought I'd have more time before having to introduce you. Declan, I believe you've already met Bronze Black. Tiernan, you probably know him as well. Kian, I'm in love with Bronze Black. He’s a biker, and I don’t care what any of you think. a biker. Now, keep your shenanigans outside of my room, because it’s time for my nap.”
“Dad will be here soon,” Tiernan said.
“What?” I asked in surprise.
“He was in the air within minutes of me telling him about the shooting.”