Roll Against Betrayal

by Allyson Lindt

  Roll Against Betrayal

  A 3D20 Novel

  Allyson Lindt

  This book is a work of fiction.

  While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2018 by Allyson Lindt

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  Acelette Press

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Blurb

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  THE END

  Also By Allyson Lindt

  About the Author

  Blurb

  Sydney needs a lucky break.

  She spends what little income she has touring the convention circuit, getting her tabletop game out there. When her assistants stand her up at the biggest show on her schedule, she's close to her breaking point. Until the sexy guy in the coffee shop offers to help her for the weekend. There's no harm in looking, and maybe a little (or a lot of) touching, right?

  Dylan is hoping to impress the senior partners.

  He put himself through law school working for one of the biggest firms in town, and now that he's passed the bar, he needs to make a good impression to move up in the ranks. A contract negotiation for a huge publisher sounds like the perfect way to do that. He doesn't expect the geeky hottie he hooked up with over the weekend to be on the other side of the negotiating table.

  Josh has to find a way out.

  His family name decorates one of the biggest law firms in town, and he's expected to take up those reins. He's got different plans. If he can impress the right people in his current contract negotiation, he can step sideways into publishing. When his roommate, Dylan's, weekend hookup turns out to be Josh's ex, a casual hook-up leads to a night of two roommates pleasuring the woman Josh never stopped loving.

  Hooking up again is the worst idea ever for all of their careers, but the heat of forbidden lust is difficult to ignore. If they get caught, it will cost them everything.

  For my eternal dragon...

  and every reader who’s been with me since my first 3d20 book

  CHAPTER ONE

  Sydney fumbled with a wire shelf for her booth display. This was normally a two-person job, but if she could just twist her arm in one direction and snap the securing clip in by reaching around and under...

  Her phone chimed with a new text, startling her, and her grip slipped. She maneuvered herself into the right position again and let out a pleased yelp when the fixture snapped into place.

  She grabbed her phone. The message was from Kim.

  I can’t make it this weekend. Family stuff. Super sorry.

  Sydney snarled at the text. Because of course, when she hired Kim to help her at the convention and asked, Are you sure you don’t have any issues with this being over the Labor Day weekend, she’d taken Kim’s I’ll be fine at face value.

  All wasn’t lost yet. Unlike the last several cons Sydney exhibited at, this one was in her hometown. She had to have at least one friend who could hop in to help her out.

  She sent out a series of texts and emails, and returned to setting up the framework for her booth while she waited. As one reply after another rolled in, her frustration grew. Everyone was either working tomorrow or already out of town. One person said they might be able to pop in for a few hours on Sunday, but they weren’t sure.

  Sydney had the rest of today to get the booth set up, and she could do that on her own. It would take more than twice as long, but she’d manage. Surviving a three-day con without help, though? That was going to suck.

  Just thinking about it made her want to double up on the coffee. Which was a good idea. She needed a break anyway.

  She padded through the brightly-lit convention center, her sneakers scuffing softly on the concrete floor. Most of the concessions weren’t open yet, since the event hadn’t started. The one coffee shop that was had a line that grew out the door and wrapped around a couple of pillars.

  It was a good excuse for her to take a longer break.

  Most of the people in line were on their phones, but she was caught up on her email for now, and wound too tightly to scroll through social media.

  A squeal echoed through the halls, and a couple of cosplayers in their mid-twenties ran past. One wielded an ax as big as she was, while she chased her friend.

  The people around Sydney were dressed more like she was—jeans, T-shirts, and sneakers. The I expect to get dirty uniform of the veteran vendor. Snippets of conversation drifted toward her: speculation about whether the show would clear one-hundred-thousand attendees, people wondering if they’d brought enough figurines, and exclamations of disgust and awe about how much celebrity autographs were going for this year.

  Sydney loved the energy that hummed through the room. Her game, Changelings and Caverns, started as a way for her and her friends to spend weekends being geeky but in a new way. Like any of their favorites, the setup involved figurines, a board game, and a lot of roleplaying.

  Sydney tweaked and modified the rules until it morphed from a knock-off to its own unique experience. Then she’d gone out on a limb and had a few hundred copies of the game manufactured.

  What started as a labor of love had turned into a revenue stream for her. She was still thrilled every time someone bought a copy of C&C. Attending fantasy cons and comic cons all over the country, to get the word out, was an added bonus.

  She also liked seeing new places and people. For instance, the sexy guy who just moved into view a few people back in line. His dark hair was trimmed short, and the faint scruff of beard was kind of sexy. Like really sexy.

  As in, she should probably stop staring. Or take one of those sneaky pictures. She could send it to Kathryn and share the love. Remind her best friend how much she was missing out on, despite being at the lake with her two boyfriends.

  Yup. Two. And Sydney had a hard time keeping one. Go figure.

  She tried to be subtle about angling her phone up, making it look like she was just checking something at a really high angle. She clicked the button to take the pic, and the flash went off.

  Fuck. He looked up and met her gaze for a blink, before she ducked her head and dropped her phone into her purse.

  Fortunately, the line chose that moment to inch forward, taking him out of her line of sight.

  Despite almost getting caught, she was tempted to glance over her shoulder for another look. Instead, she ordered her iced coffee—extra espresso and
sugar—and moved to the other side of the counter, to wait.

  The staff was working quickly, and drinks came up for the people ahead of her in rapid succession.

  “Excuse me,” a sexy voice said. “May I borrow your phone?”

  Was he talking to her? She looked up, and her pulse kicked up at the sight of Sexy Guy, who was apparently the owner of Sexy Voice. He watched her, the corners of his dark brown eyes crinkled in amusement.

  “Is yours broken?” She mentally facepalmed. Real smooth, Syd.

  “Nah.” It came out like naw, with just a hint of a drawl. “But I don’t need pictures of myself. Seems like you do.”

  She was glad she wasn’t a blusher, because with the heat racing under her skin, she’d be bright red. “I wasn’t...” She couldn’t force the denial out.

  “My mistake. I’m Dylan, by the way.”

  “Sydney.”

  “Pleasure to meet you.” He shook her hand. His grip was warm and firm and sent delicious images dancing through her head. Fantasies of what else he could do with those hands.

  “Same.” She forced herself to speak. No other words came, though. She wasn’t so great at small talk with strangers. He was going to think she was a dolt.

  “What are you selling?” he asked.

  The question didn’t attach to a point of reference, and she stared back blankly. “Excuse me?”

  “Your booth.” He nodded at her badge. “What are you selling?”

  “Oh. Board games. You?” Crap. That was her opening to give him the snappy elevator pitch about her game and impress him when she said she was the creator.

  He thumbed his lanyard to spin his badge around. It had the huge Volunteer stripe down the side. “Myself, I suppose.” Was he flirting?

  “Right. Of course.” Why couldn’t she carry on her half of this conversation? “What are you volunteering, besides time? I mean... I promise I usually make more sense. Do you get to meet anyone famous?”

  Every time he smiled or laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkled. It was cute plus sexy, and that was a lethal combination. “That remains to be seen. Are you famous?”

  I’m hoping to be. The words stuck in her throat.

  “Iced coffee. Extra sugar and shot. For Cindy.” The barista called.

  Sydney gave Dylan a regretful smile. “That’s me. It was great meeting you. Enjoy the con.”

  She grabbed her drink, and as she strolled away, her mind treated her to an instant replay of every moment in the conversation when she could have been wittier. Handing over her phone to a stranger seemed like a dumb move, but if he’d taken a picture, she could have asked him to include his number along with it. Or asked how much he charged, if he was the product. Or anything more interesting than, Do you get to meet anyone famous?

  Fantasizing about Dylan would keep her company tonight, but for now, she needed to finish setting up her booth.

  DYLAN WAS INTRIGUED by the woman with the red and blue Harley Quinn pigtails and the shirt that said GEEK IS SEXY. The way her hips filled out her jeans and her breasts stretched the letters on her Tee was sexy. If he could get her over the nervousness, the conversation might be even better.

  It might not be, but the only way to find out was to keep her talking.

  Too bad she was gone.

  He snagged his iced tea when it was ready. As long as he was here, he should roam the vendor hall floor. He’d scored the volunteer badge by writing up the legalese for the convention—policies on harassment, cosplay, weapons and the like—and it gave him permission to wander anywhere not marked Private.

  An unforeseen and fantastic side-effect of passing the bar a few weeks ago.

  He’d wanted to be a lawyer since he was a kid. His friends played fireman and astronaut, and he acted as an arbitrator when they fought. Kind of boring-sounding when he looked back on it, but he enjoyed it. When his grandmother died, several years back, she’d left most of her savings to him. It wasn’t enough to make him wealthy, but she’d asked he use it to pursue his dream, and he had.

  Her money took him through pre-grad. Working for the biggest corporate-contracts law firm in the city had covered the rest.

  Dylan headed into the main convention hall. He’d never seen it this way before. This wasn’t his first convention, but he’d only been an attendee in the past.

  The various booths sat in different stages of completion, and it was neat to see. Some spots, the vendors had finished assembling and setting up already. Others, people scurried around with boxes and dollies, setting up. Most of the booths were still curtains and cards with company names that would be occupied by later today.

  He turned down another aisle and approached a larger booth, filled out with wire displays, similar to what many vendor tables would look like in twenty-four hours.

  And there was Sydney. The view was just as fantastic from behind, and he trailed his gaze along her curves as she reached up to place an uncooperative box on a higher shelf.

  He hurried to her side and grabbed the lagging end. “Let me help.”

  Working together, it was a simple task to secure the limited edition Sephiroth motorcycle.

  “Thanks.” Her shy smile returned when she looked at him.

  He tried to help with the awkwardness by glancing around the booth. “Are you here alone?”

  “I don’t have a boyfriend.” She covered her face. “Oh God.” Her hands muffled her voice. “I’m such an idiot.”

  He tugged her wrist, so he could see her again. When he was younger, he got in trouble for not thinking before he spoke. Since then, he’d learned to make it work for him. For the most part, what came out of his mouth was best left unfiltered. “Nah. You saved me a question. Let’s get this out of the way up front, and maybe it will help. Yes, I’m flirting.”

  Shock spread across her face. That meant she wasn’t hiding anymore. She glanced over her shoulder, then back at him. “Me?”

  “Yes. Now that we’ve covered that, are you working the booth alone? Do you need more help?”

  “With my flirting, apparently.” Her laugh was hesitant but melodic. “And help would be wonderful. My assistant bailed for the weekend, and I thought I could handle things, but if you’re offering, I’m accepting.”

  “Point me in a direction, boss.”

  She gestured to a middle section. “Boxes are stacked by order they go up. Make things look nice and neat on the shelves.”

  Simple enough.

  He went to work. After a couple of minutes, he glanced over his shoulder, to find Sydney watching him.

  “Enjoying the show?” he teased.

  “Yes, but no. But yes. I... You didn’t ask any questions.”

  “About the work? Seems pretty straightforward.”

  She smiled and turned to her own section.

  He tried to start a conversation a few times, but the tearing of tape and boxes and the clatter of shelves kept cutting him off. That was a shame.

  He finished his tasks and found her arranging the front table with several boxes of Changelings and Caverns. “Is the game that good?” he asked. “I mean, good enough that it dominates your display.”

  “It’s a fantastic game. And I’m not just saying that because my company makes it.”

  He was glad to hear it. She probably didn’t care what her boss did with the intellectual property, but Monday morning, Dylan was meeting the guy to negotiate a more robust publishing and distribution deal with one of his clients. This would be a good chance to get to know the product better.

  A short while later, they wrapped up. She stepped into the aisle and surveyed the entire booth. “It looks fantastic. Thank you. I would have been here all day if you hadn’t come along.”

  “Glad I could help.”

  She wiped her sleeve across her forehead and grimaced. “I’m all gross. I need a shower. You could help with that, too.” Her scowl deepened. “That was over the top, wasn’t it? I was joking.”

  “You’re putting too much thought
into it.” He was glad to see her more comfortable around him. He was enjoying her company, despite not having exchanged many words with her.

  “Is that a tip from a professional flirter?” she asked.

  He grinned. “First lesson is free, and after that... Yeah, never mind. I have no idea where that’s going.”

  Her laugh came more easily this time. “So even the smooth and suave Dylan fumbles sometimes.”

  “All the time.” He didn’t have an issue admitting that. “You said your assistant bailed for the entire weekend?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you want me to stop by for a couple of hours tomorrow and help you out?” He was here to enjoy the con, and if things went well with Sydney, he could add hot, naked, orgasmy enjoyment to the list. Or at the very least, a geek-reference-filled afternoon of fun.

  “I can’t ask you—”

  “Let me stop you there.” He held up his hand. “You didn’t ask, I offered.” He thumbed his badge out. “Volunteer, remember? Would you like my help? Yes or no.”

  Her smile was back. “That would be fantastic.”

  “Great. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He leaned close. “Enjoy the shower.”

  She shook her head and stepped away. “Nope. That’s definitely too much. It says needy, and that’s not how you strike me.”

  “Touché.” He gave her an exaggerated bow. “Until then.”

  Dylan was grinning as he strolled out to the underground parking lot.

  His phone rang. It was his roommate, Josh.

  “Hallo,” Dylan answered.

  “How quickly can you get online? We had a senior partner fuck up a contract, and I need to know what you remember.”

  Dylan groaned. He didn’t need to ask which partner. “I’ll be home in half an hour.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  If Josh ever found a magic lamp, he was pretty sure he’d wish for an always-full mug of coffee.

  On mornings like this, he’d make copious use of it.

  He stifled a yawn and inched forward with the rest of the line in the espresso bar. After staying up until nearly three with Dylan, ensuring the corrupted contract literally had every i dotted and every T crossed, Josh needed something stronger than what the pot at home offered.