Heart Beats (Joker's Sin #3) - Davidson King Page 0,6

the con was at. I figured I’d go to the cafe in the hotel and get some coffee and maybe a muffin. I could see the front door from where I sat so I figured when he came, I’d pretend I didn’t see him. Toby’s right, I’m acting stupid.

I’d just sipped my coffee when the elevator doors opened, and he and Trinity came out, together. Knowing he didn’t have a room here meant he either stayed or got up insanely early and came over here. I welcomed the burn as I swallowed the scolding liquid. She had her arm entwined with his, and they were laughing. Maybe Toby wasn’t right after all. I got up, coffee in hand, and walked over to them.

“Morning,” he said with a smile.

“Good morning. Sleep well?” I glared at Trinity, who fucking gloated.

“It was okay, prefer my own bed, though. Or a bed at all, honestly. The couch in Ziggy’s room wasn’t comfortable.”

“Right? There’s no place like home…and a bed.” Trinity laughed. Ledger laughed. I did not laugh.

“Well, let’s do this signing, and you can both get back to bed or couch or whatever. Right? Okay, and moving on.” I turned on my heel and walked toward the ballroom the signing was at.

“Shane?” Ledger called.

“What? Busy, busy, let’s move.”

“We have two hours. I was hoping we could have breakfast first.”

I halted and turned around. Unfortunately, Trinity was still there, and I realized what he said.

“Oh. Yeah, of course. Go ahead. I’ll see if I can get info on where you’ll be sitting. Bon appetit.” I didn’t wait to watch them happily stroll to breakfast. I was so stupid to think I was anything like what he wanted.

I smacked my forehead as I walked. “Ouch.”

I looked up to see DJ ZiggyJay leaning against a pillar by the ballroom. “You okay?”

“Me? I’m cool. You, not so cool.” He tipped his chin in the direction I came from. “Trinny and Ledge, there’s nothing there. He stayed in my room last night. You should just tell the guy you like him. He talked a lot about you last night. Damn, thought you two were a thing for a time till he said nah.”

“Me? No, you must be—”

“Not wrong. So, look, I’m gonna help you out. Let’s go to breakfast, and I can pretend to be shocked to see them and sit and eat, yeah?”

ZiggyJay was a gorgeous man. He shimmered all over, and his clothes were insanely flashy. He was being kind to me, and I was hungry since I’d left my muffin in the coffee shop.

“Yeah, okay.”

“Great, come on now, Strawberry.” He held out his arm, I chuckled, and hooked mine with his.

When we entered the hotel restaurant, the delicious smells of maple syrup, toast, and coffee assaulted my senses, and my stomach grumbled.

ZiggyJay walked and talked and suddenly stopped. “Oh my, look who’s here, Strawberry.” I saw Trinity and Ledger with full plates sitting at a four-top.

“Hey, guys…again.”

“I thought you were off finding things out?” Trinity said as she popped a blueberry into her mouth.

“Nah, I stopped him, needed a breakfast date. So can we sit with you all?” ZiggyJay pulled a chair out for me next to Ledger. “For you.”

“Thank you, ZiggyJay.”

“You just call me Ziggy, Strawberry.” I felt my cheeks blush. Not because I was sexually attracted to Ziggy, but because he was extremely charming.

“Strawberry?” Ledger asked.

“Mmhmm. He’s got that red hair, and he is just so sweet.” Ziggy sat and the server took our drink order.

“I’m going to go up to the buffet,” I said and rushed off.

As I filled my plate with bacon, eggs, toast, and some fruit, I could feel eyes on me. I thought it was Ledger, but when I looked up, he was in some weird, heated conversation with Ziggy. I darted around the restaurant and they landed on a guy sitting alone by the window. He was the fan at the Q and A panel the day before that asked the equipment question. He was glaring at me as if I’d spit in his cereal or something. I didn’t want to cause a scene, but I wanted to acknowledge I saw him, so I waved. He just looked away. Weird.

By the time I got back to the table, my appetite wasn’t as big, but I nibbled. It was delicious, and I knew it would be hours before I’d eat again, so I made sure to fill myself.

“You about done, Shane?” Ledger questioned with a bit of bite in his