Follow Me When the Sun Goes Down by Lisa Olsen Read Free Book Online Page B

Three more security guys set up a perimeter about ten feet from the chair, so I wouldn’t get mobbed by all the well wishers, letting the people in by my nod only. 
    “I wish you’d told me about this, I would’ve put some make up on,” I said to Rob in between visitors, glad the dress Maggie had picked out was a nice one. 
    “You look beautiful as always,” he whispered before straightening, his face impassive.  It was enough to turn up the wattage on my smile for the next few guests. 
    If the crowd up in L.A. had been happy to receive me as the new Elder, the locals were ecstatic.  Every single person who came up to greet me just about fell all over themselves to congratulate me now that I’d been named the new Elder.  Okay, so probably most of them were trying to get in good with the new leader, but it was sort of neat to have that many people who even knew who I was.  Well… who I pretended to be, at any rate. 
    Besides a lot of the regulars from the twins’ clubs (and Jarrod and Leander themselves), I spotted Jenessa talking to Frost and Cage.  I even picked out Stone’s bald head in the crowd, and Corazon raised a glass of champagne to me from across the tent.  For once the Order members left behind their tactical garb, maybe to blend in better, or maybe to avoid being persecuted in a crowd that size with so many anti-Order sentiments in the air.  Either way, I wondered if it was indeed a social night for them, or if they expected trouble with a gathering of that size. 
    Jenessa waved, apparently unconcerned with revealing our friendship now that I was the Elder.  The wild surge of people trying to talk to me had dwindled, most people more eager to have a drink and a good time and I set my glass down on the platform, ready to go and mingle informally.
    “Hey, I’m going to take a break from the receiving line here and go talk to Jenessa, okay?”
    “Sorry, that’s not possible.”  Rob laid a hand on my shoulder, not heavy enough to actually keep me there, but with enough pressure to let me know he was serious.
    “Can’t I join the party too?”
    “You’re meant to stay right here where we can keep an eye on them.”  He gestured to the crowd.
    “Oh , come on, what’s the worst that could happen?”
    “Nothing, because you’re not doing it.”
    I suppressed a roll of the eyes.  Sometimes I really hated how stubborn and controlled Rob was all the time.  “Haven’t you been listening for the past two hours?  They love me.”
    “All it takes is one, and I’m not taking that chance.” 
    I stared him down for a good minute and a half before I gave up, slumping back against the chair with a disgruntled, “Fine.”
    “You’ve worked yourself into a proper sulk, haven’t you?” He said after I’d pouted for a few minutes. 
    I straightened in my chair, not liking how much I felt like a spoilt child when he called me out like that.  “I’m sorry, I know you’re looking out for me.  But I don’t even get to enjoy my own party.  Look, there’s dancing.  Can’t I have just one dance?”
    “We both know that’s not a good idea,” he replied, an almost smile twitching for an instant before it was gone.
    “I suppose not,” I allowed.  “Not without the right partner.”  Fine, let them have their dancing and fun talking about more than politics.  I was content to sit there and almost flirt with Rob for as long as he’d let me.  He straightened though as a man strutted past the line of security. 
    He was tall, casually dressed in a faded blue cotton shirt and a pair of Wranglers with pointy toed cowboy boots peeking out below.  His sun streaked hair fell halfway over his face, in definite need of a trim, but it went with the rough and tumble style he was rocking.  Clear, green eyes took in the lay of the land like he was sizing up the enemy, but a playful smile curved his lips. 
    This man knew things.  You could tell it by looking at him.  He had that