CHAPTER 74

“Hey, Elena? Are you ready? Apparently my daughter is screaming the place down for her pizza.”

“Oh, yes. Sorry. Just . . . I don’t know.” I shrugged a shoulder and followed Chloe into the elevator.

She glanced at me knowingly. “Scared?”

“Uh, not in the way you’d think.” I smiled reluctantly. Because I was not.

I was not afraid to meet America’s hottest crush. I was afraid to be in a room full of several men I had never met in my life, which was ridiculous, because I was not in danger here. I was safe, hidden away, in a world entirely different from my own.

But my body wanted me to look over my shoulder, just in case.

“They’re not bad. Well, most of the time. I promise. Come on.” She took my hand with a beaming grin and opened the door to the private dining room. Noise filled it—laughter, toddler giggles, loud, booming male voices—but they all silenced when Chloe yelled, “Hey! Hey!”

Four sets of eyes landed on us.

“Now y’all better be nice or I’m gonna kick some butt,” she said firmly,