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“I’ll wait.”
He made sure his sigh echoed off the mouthpiece trudged the few feet to his laptop.
“Oh, good.” Irritation crept into the fake joy she’d greeted him with. “You don’t even have to scan the feed; they tagged you.”
He dropped into the chair, wood creaking. He couldn’t afford to let this conversation take so much out of him. It was too early, and he had too much to do. After a few seconds, he found what she was talking about. Someone had posted pictures of him having breakfast with Molly.Good shot. They caught her profile, bottom lip between her teeth. Would it be stalker-creepy to save the image?Probably. “It was breakfast at the only open table.”
“Then have breakfast in your room the rest of the weekend.” The phony cheer disappeared. “Your career can’t afford the negative publicity.”
“Yeah. I get it.” Funami, one of the companies he worked for, stopped letting him do casting calls, saying they wouldn’t support someone who couldn’t keep it in their pants—something about it not mixing with their family-values image. Or some other crap that didn’t make sense when he considered the line of violent, innuendo-laden anime they released.
“Enjoy your weekend. Call me if something comes up.” Her glee reemerged, echoing in his head even after the line went dead.
He tossed his phone onto the bed. It bounced on the white comforter a few times, before tumbling to a stop. So much for mingling with the crowds between obligations. What were the odds he could blend in and no one would recognize him?
He glanced at the photo on his laptop again. Probably not something he could get away with.
* * * *
BRANDON TOOK HIS SEATbehind the autograph table, alongside his colleagues. It felt good to have an excuse not to be confined to his room. The chatter and squeals around him were rejuvenating. The panel had been fun, he liked working with this group, and now he got to mingle.
His mood lightened, as he talked to fans, took pictures, and exchanged jabs with fans. This was what he loved about conventions.
He lost track of how much time passed, but it didn’t look like the line was getting any shorter. One of the volunteer staff slid into an empty spot next to him.
“Excuse me,” she said timidly.
“Hey.” He made sure his smile was friendly and open. “What’s up?”
“Um...” She twisted her fingers together, not quite making eye contact. “I know you’re only scheduled to be here until four, but we were wondering if you could stick around a few hours longer? We’re bringing in pizza.”
“Of course. No problem.” Perfect. As long as he was with his colleagues, his agent couldn’t get after him for... whatever. Why was this even an issue? Oh, right—he couldn’t afford to piss off another animation studio.
He gazed around the hotel lobby, as the next person waiting dug through her bag for something for him to sign. When Molly stepped through the front doors, Brandon smiled. She hadn’t left for good after all.Nice.
She looked up, and he thought he saw her exhaustion fade when their gazes met. Her mouth twitched in a not-quite smile, before she turned toward the elevators.
How likely was he to run into her again without it earning him an angry phone call? Maybe it was worth the risk.
“Here.” The next guy slapped down a joker from a deck of cards, with Brandon’s character on it.
*
MOLLY DRUMMED HER FINGERagainst her leg, flitting her gaze from spot to spot without stopping. What was he doing behind a table? With a line leading to it? And why did he have to look even better than she remembered, laughing and joking with to the people around him? Had she misinterpreted friendliness as flirting this morning? No. There was no way she misread the barely veiled innuendo about watching versus being watched.
A couple of people— in their late twenties, if she had to guess—stopped to wait for the elevator, their heads bowed together. Maybe they knew.
She nodded toward the crowd in the hotel lobby. “What’s the line for?”
They looked up, their eyes wide. “Are you talking to us?”
She looked around. Who else would she be talking to? “Yes.”
“Autographs.” The girl made it sound like it was the most obvious thing ever. The plastic strands of her blue wig suffered from too much time spent stored flat.
“Right.” Molly felt funny asking for more information after a brush-off like that.
“They’re voice actors,” the male half of the duo said. His hair looked like it was his own, and his white bodysuit with a blue miniskirt showed off pretty much everything else of his as well. “For that show everyone loves, on Adult Swim.”
