Page 57 of Harboring Shantae

She knew she was the one to start it, but dammit! She really wished they were somewhere else when they finally confessed their feelings. That way, she could've shown him how much that meant to her. Instead, she would have to settle for just a kiss.

"We have shitty timing," she told him before pulling him in for a panty-soaking kiss.

Her entire body melted into his as he deepened the kiss. The room around them melted away. She forgot about every worry as his lips caressed hers.

"You two need to get a room."

Camron slowly stopped kissing her and leaned back so that their foreheads were touching. "Yup, definitely shitty timing."

"I guess it would be rude to kick Ray out," she admitted.

"Ray can hear you."

Shantae released a strangled chuckle at Ray's response to him listening in on their private moment. The man clearly had no shame.

"He's not just going to go away. He'll continue to be annoying."

"Still listening."

"Case in point." Camron shook his head.

She finally stepped out of his embrace and met Ray's amused gaze. The technical analyst had a boyish charm about him. She couldn't tell if it was the glasses or the smirk. Or maybe it was a combination of the two, but she couldn't be mad at the guy.

"I see you're the first to arrive." She smiled back at him.

"That's usually the case these days. Now that everyone else has shacked up, they don't come in as early or stay as late. It's kinda nice actually. It means I actually get some peace and quiet."

His words said one thing, but his expression said another. Ray was lonely. Even if he didn't want to admit it.

"Have you heard from Falcon yet?"

Camron's question brought her back to why they were there. She had forgotten for a moment. That was probably Camron's plan, and she was happy to say it worked for a bit.

"I did. Right before I came in here. They were just leaving to head to the ball. Falcon promised to check in soon."

This was it. They would get eyes on Zion, and hopefully, this whole fiasco would be over.

Chapter 26

Nervesweregettingthebetter of Shantae. He watched her rotate between bruising her lip with her teeth and wringing the edge of her shirt. He figured by the time they got home, there would be a hole near the hem. He wanted to pull her into his lap, to keep her body and mind busy another way, but they were in a room full of people. His one attempt to take her to another room to distract her had failed. She wanted to be the first to know their friends were okay.

Falcon still hadn't checked in. Panther hadn't thought he would yet. The ball only started an hour ago; there was no way the senator planned to announce the engagement so early on. He would wait until the partygoers were well into the festivities. That's how the wealthy did things. They always needed to be putting on a show.

"Damn, I forgot how good this Mexican place was." Apollo dug into more of his yellow rice. "We really need to order from here more often."

His entire team and their significant others sat around the large table. They were here for moral support and the conversation flowed freely. Several of the women tried to engage Shantae, to take her mind off things, but other than short replies, they couldn't pull her out of her funk.

"Are we taking bets on how long it takes Falcon to lose his cool with Zion? The guy doesn't seem very bright, and he's bound to say something stupid to our team leader." Giggles helped to break up the tension.

"What do you mean?" Shantae asked, confused.

Panther had kept one small thing from Shantae. He and Falcon fought about it before his team leader left, but he didn't want her to feel any guiltier than she already did. If she knew what he asked of Falcon, she would surely get upset.

"Falcon is just going to have a little discussion with Zion when he shows up," Panther responded casually. "Just to make it clear that you're off-limits."

Panther wished he could make the threat himself. He wanted to be the one to look Zion in the eyes when the man realized that the woman he thought he was going to marry was already taken.

"Zion isn't the type who takes kindly to threats, Camron. His reputation is brutal."