Page 45 of Scoring Eden

My cheeks flame. I dig my nails into Alex’s arm through his jacket and hiss at him. “What the fuck, dude?”

“I don’t know. I panicked.”

Fantastic.

I can’t say it didn’t work, though. Harley looks so uncomfortable that he asks no further questions, and Brynn has turned her attention to a conversation with Arun about kill shelters, so she isn’t available to offer any further information.

Roman, the only man left whose voice I’ve yet to hear, watches on with a knowing glint in his eye. He’s the tallest of the group by a mile. Alex is over six feet tall, but Roman has at least a few inches on him. “Have you introduced Eden to Purview yet?”

“Does anyone else find them super intimidating?” Theo asks, his knuckles tightening around the neck of his beer bottle. “That Jacqueline woman gave me the scariest look earlier when I introduced myself. Made my balls shrivel to the size of raisins.”

Roman slaps him on the back. “That’s a stunning image, Theo, thank you.”

“No problem.”

Is it possible to adopt a man in his twenties? Theo is so adorable that I have the strongest urge to take him home and tuck him into bed.

“Well, on that note, I guess we should rip the Band-aid off.” Alex squeezes my waist and looks down at me. “You ready?”

As I’ll ever be, I guess.

My liquid courage has diluted somewhat, so I throw back my champagne in three gulps and shove the empty glass toward him.

“Let’s do this.”

He guides me to a table on the far side of the room where a small group of men and women are gathered beneath a rustic hanging candelabra. A woman dressed in a black gown, with a sharp mouth and severe slant to her nose, stands at our approach and regards the two of us with a steely expression—which, to give credit to Theo, would indeed shrivel my balls to the size of dehydrated grapes if I owned a pair.

This must be Jacqueline.

“Alex Wolfe.” She holds out her hand. “It’s wonderful to finally make your acquaintance.”

Alex shakes her hand. “Pleased to meet you, ma’am. May I introduce my girlfriend, Eden Miller.”

My heartbeat trips over that word. Girlfriend. How long will it take until I get used to hearing it?

Jacqueline appraises me with a downturn to her lips, gaze stilling on the cheap crystal hanging from my neck. “Hello.”

For a greeting, she makes the word sound incredibly dismissive. Her distaste of me is potent, made even more obvious when she turns her body away from me.

Can’t say I’m a big fan of hers either.

Alex steps closer into me, smushing our bodies together so that she’s forced to acknowledge me when she speaks. Her lips twitch at that, but she makes no apology. I wasn’t expecting one, and, honestly, I was more comfortable when I wasn’t in her eyeline anyway.

“I must say, it’s incredibly convenient timing that you’re announcing your relationship now.”

I freeze.

Alex, king of deception, gives her a tight smile. “Eden has never been in the public eye, and we were wanting to keep things private.”

“Hmm. Well, as you know, we’ve invested a lot of money in the Strikers.” Her voice is as cold as her demeanor. “And we’re all aware of your past reputation. We’ve been kind enough to let you keep your place on the team for now”—she stresses the latter two words—“so I trust that you won’t do anything to jeopardize our company’s image.”

Alex nods seriously. “No, ma’am. I understand that Purview’s reputation is built on family values, and I’m committed to upholding that for you.”

She hums derisively. “Make sure that you do.”

I guess that’s all she has to say, because she gives us her back. The woman doesn’t bother herself with unnecessary things like goodbyes or the very basics of manners, I see.

Family values, my ass.