by Maya Banks
The door opened and Angelina whirled around, a guilty look on her face. Relief lightened her eyes when Connor walked in.
“Hey, sweetie,” Connor said as he pulled Angelina into a hug.
Sweetie? Lyric cocked her eyebrow at the endearment and the obvious affection in Connor’s voice. He was such a grumpy hard-ass, it was difficult to imagine him being so cutesy with another woman. Her eyes narrowed. A pregnant woman who was involved with another man.
When Angelina pulled away, Connor frowned as he stared down at her. “You okay? You look upset.” He glanced over at Lyric and her eyes widened at the accusation in his. Did he honestly think she was responsible for Angelina’s crying jag?
Angelina smiled. “I’m fine. You can stop fussing over me. Lyric made me feel much better. I think I’m going to go out and let Micah take over.”
Connor glanced up, fleeting apology in his gaze, but Lyric shot daggers back at him with hers. As Angelina walked out the door, Lyric shook her head and turned on her heel to stalk back to the kitchen.
Connor caught her wrist before she took two steps and pulled her back around to face him.
“Let me go,” she hissed.
“I’m sorry.”
It was a sincere apology, but hurt still crowded her chest. “I don’t even know why you brought me, Connor. It’s obvious you think I’ll be an asshole to your precious friends. They seem to like me, which is more than I can say for you. They’ve also been nice to me, which again—”
He pulled her against his chest and sealed his lips over hers, effectively halting her angry tirade. “Shut up. Just shut up,” he growled.
She went stock-still against him as he plundered her mouth. There was nothing gentle or tentative about his kiss. His lips scorched over hers, stealing her breath and returning it as his tongue probed and explored the inside of her mouth.
It should piss her off. She should be shoving him on his ass. She should be doing a lot of things, but what she did was kiss him back. She was tentative, and the truth was she wasn’t entirely sure what to do, but his taste intoxicated her and made her dizzy.
A whisper of charcoal danced through her nostrils and it blended with his natural masculine scent until she wanted to lick him to see if his skin tasted as good as he smelled.
She’d been kissed before many times but never like this. Most men were intimidated by her and it showed in how they touched her. Connor took charge and it was clear he had plenty of self-confidence.
He cupped her face, his fingers splaying over the sides of her neck. They pressed possessively into her flesh, branding her.
Shivers danced along her spine as his tongue rubbed sensuously over hers, stroking and coaxing until she responded in kind. Her response was automatic. She didn’t have to think about whether she wanted to kiss him or whether she wanted him to continue kissing her. It wasn’t like she had a choice. She was a helpless prisoner to his overwhelming power.
When he finally let her go, she staggered back, her lips swollen. She raised a shaky hand to her tingling mouth and stared wordlessly at him, unable to comprehend that he’d just kissed the daylights out of her. He hated her!
He closed the distance again, regret in his eyes. He touched her shoulder, a light gesture meant to reassure her.
“I’m sorry. I was an ass.”
She shook her head to rid herself of the lingering effects of his wicked mouth.
“Not for kissing you,” he amended. “I’m sorry for being an asshole, but not for kissing you.”
“Why did you?” she asked faintly. “You don’t even like me.”
“You drive me insane. I look at you and you make me instantly crazy.”
Her eyes narrowed and some of the euphoria evaporated. “The feeling is quite mutual.”
His grin was cocky and arrogant and it was so damn sexy she wanted to march back over there and finish what they’d started.
“Every time you get all pissy and mean, I get a hard-on from hell. I wonder if you have any idea how sexy you are when you turn that nose up and start throwing attitude.”
Her mouth fell open. It closed and then opened again like a fish out of water. Then she glared. “You’re full of shit. You’re just saying that so I’ll be nice to you from now on.”
His laughter rang out. “Well, I suppose that’s one way to get you to stop being a bitch.”
She crossed her arms, prepared to give him the look of death when she realized what the result would be. Instead she threw up her hands and stomped back toward the kitchen.
“That goes double for tantrums,” he called after her.
CHAPTER 8
“ I wonder if any of you are free tomorrow morning. I need someone to look out for Lyric while I meet with the security firm her record label has hired,” Connor said over the dinner table.
In the process of raising her fork to her mouth, Lyric dropped it onto her plate with a clatter, and she stared mortified across the table at Connor.
“What was all that about where you go, I go, and vice versa?” she demanded. “For God’s sake, I don’t need babysitters.”
“The team providing peripheral security and I will be deciding what needs to be done to ensure your safety,” Connor said evenly. “You’ll just interfere and argue. We can get it done a lot quicker if you aren’t there.”
She stared at him in disbelief. She’d been accommodating so far. She’d conceded on goddamn everything. What else did he want from her? A note signed in blood avowing her compliance?
She itched to bolt from her chair and get the hell out of there, but he’d expect that. He watched her even now as if waiting for her to throw a fit.
She decided to ignore him instead.
She lowered her gaze and stabbed at the meat with her fork. She tuned out what the others were saying. She didn’t give a shit about these people. Or Connor fucking Malone. Every time she thought it wouldn’t be so bad to be tethered to him for the next two weeks, he had to remind her what a huge asshole he was.
To her absolute mortification, tears stung her eyelids. Hell would freeze over before she’d ever let him see her cry.
Damn it, she’d tried her best to work with him. She knew she could be difficult and usually she didn’t give a flying fuck, but she’d honestly tried with him and his friends. She’d done everything humanly possible to tone it down because secretly she’d wanted his approval.
Fuck that and him. She didn’t need anyone’s goddamn approval. Only her own.
“You are such an asshole, Connor.”
For a moment Lyric thought she’d totally lost control of her tongue and aired her thoughts. But when she looked up, she saw Faith glaring holes in her brother.
Connor raised an eyebrow at his sister.
Even “sweetie” looked at Connor like he’d lost his mind.
“It’s not like you to be such a jerk,” Faith continued. “Lyric doesn’t deserve that from you.”
“Maybe we don’t have the full story,” Gray said in a diplomatic voice.
Faith glared at her husband. Then she turned to Lyric, who had her teeth sunk firmly into her bottom lip so she didn’t humiliate herself further by showing how affected she was by Connor’s attitude.
“You’ll come with me, Julie and Angelina to Serena’s house tomorrow. The men can all go find something else to do.”
Connor held up his hand. “Now wait a damn minute. No one’s going anywhere with Lyric. What part of her being in danger don’t you understand? I’m not risking any of you girls by sending you off together on some girls’ day out.”
“Damn right,” Nathan said with a scowl.
Lyric rose as gracefully as she could under the circumstances. She smiled in Faith’s direction. “Thank you for dinner and your hospitality. I had a really good time. But I should be going now. I appreciate the offer, but Connor’s right. None of you should be around me. In addition to having some crazy person lurking after me, apparently I’m a toxic influence.”
“
“Fuck off, Connor.”
She turned and stalked away from the table.
Connor watched her leave but didn’t go after her. She couldn’t get far without the car keys. She needed some time to cool off and he’d just do something stupid again. Like kiss her senseless.
“Nice,” Micah drawled. “And you once accused me of being an SOB.”
“She’s driving me crazy,” Connor muttered.
“It’s not her you have to worry about right now,” Gray said carefully.
Connor looked up to see three very pissed-off women glaring holes through his forehead.
“What was all that crap?” Angelina demanded. “This isn’t like you, Connor. You’ve always been so . . . sweet. And protective.”
Connor winced. She made him sound like a pussy.
“She didn’t seem that bad to me,” Julie said with a shrug. “And you were a jerk even if you didn’t mean to sound like one.”
“There’s no reason she can’t come to Serena’s tomorrow,” Faith said as she frowned at Connor. “Damon has tight security. No one is going to get onto his property without him knowing about it. And he has Sam.”
“Who the hell is Sam?” Connor grumbled.
“His mountain of a driver slash bodyguard,” Micah said dryly. “He has great affection for our women. He’s like a mother hen with them. The one time they didn’t let him go with him, Damon said he had a kitten.”
Connor frowned. “You think Lyric would be safe there? This is serious. I can’t just leave her anywhere, but if I take her with me, she’s going to balk at the constraints we’re going to put on her. I know you all think I’m being a jerk, but the truth is, I’m going to do whatever is necessary to keep her safe, whether she likes the measures or not.”
“I can go with them,” Micah said. “I’ll call Damon tonight and let him know the situation.”
Connor’s frown deepened. Yeah, he needed a place to stash Lyric so he could get her security straightened out. What he hadn’t mentioned was that if he didn’t get a good feel for this team her record label had hired, he was going to tell them to take a hike.
“You need to go find her and apologize,” Faith sniffed. “If I were her, I wouldn’t go anywhere with you.”
“She doesn’t have a choice.”
“Why are you so mean to her?” Julie asked.
Connor sighed. “I’m not mean to her, Julie. I just don’t kiss her ass like everyone else in her universe does.”
“I like her,” Angelina said. “She’s refreshingly honest.”
“You like everyone, sweetie,” Connor said with a grin.
“I don’t like you right now,” she said pointedly.
He winced. “Oh ouch. Damn. That hurt. Okay, okay, I’ll ease up. I’ll even apologize. The last thing I want is to fall into you girls’ bad graces.”
“Smart man,” Nathan murmured.
“You go find her and tell her she’s coming with us tomorrow,” Faith said. “Damon will take care of things. He always does.”
That earned her a glare from every man at the table.
“Well, he does,” she said defensively.
“It’s not a good idea to remind me of all he’s done for you,” Gray said mildly.
Faith blushed and Connor promptly tuned them out. He was pretty tired of hearing about Damon Roche himself. Him and his damn sex club or whatever the fuck he called it.
“You’re not taking her to his damn club, are you?” Connor demanded.
Faith turned bright red. “Good God, no! We’re going to his house. Not The House.”
“I don’t know,” Julie said thoughtfully. “Lyric might enjoy a night at The House.”
“Julie,” Nathan growled. “You aren’t setting foot in that place ever again.”
Julie grinned cheekily.
“What are you waiting for?” Faith asked. “Go, go, go. Shoo already.”
Connor sighed and got to his feet. Women were a plague. There was no doubt about it. He had his share of crazy ex-girlfriends, but they had nothing on the women currently in his life. He loved them all dearly, but he didn’t envy their men one iota.
He should have known that Lyric would fit in beautifully.
He stalked through the house, annoyed that everyone had turned on him. He never wanted this pain-in-the-ass job in the first place.
She was probably out in the car pouting. He’d have to go out and be nice. She’d probably pop off at him and his dick would stand up and pay attention. Then he’d start having fantasies about kissing her again.
He really had to do something about this masochistic streak. It seemed the more she got mad at him, the more he wanted her. She was a beautiful woman, but never more than she was spitting fury at him like a pissed-off kitten.
He grinned as he opened the door and stepped out into the night. When he looked in the direction of where he’d parked the BMW, his jaw dropped.
It wasn’t there.
He glanced down the street to see the taillights of the car fading as it roared through the neighborhood.
He dug into his pocket and pulled out the keys. What the fuck? She’d hot-wired the car?
He closed his eyes and shook his head. Then he trudged back into the house to face the others.
“I need a ride back to the hotel,” he said before they could say anything to him.
Everyone looked up from the table, all wearing puzzled looks.
“Something wrong with the car?” Micah asked.
“Yeah,” Connor muttered. “She hot-wired it and took off.”
Julie burst out laughing. One by one the others followed suit until the entire room erupted in hoots.
“It was stupid,” Connor growled. “She has some crazy stalker leaving her creepy notes and she takes off alone. This is why I don’t want her at my meeting tomorrow. She’s high-strung and unreasonable. And she doesn’t have one ounce of self-preservation.”
Micah stood and reached down to help Angelina to her feet. “We’ll run you by. We were going to call it an early night anyway.”
Connor would have liked to have called it a night, but he had a feeling he was going to be up for a long time. When he got to the hotel, he and Lyric were going to have a come-to-Jesus meeting. And he was as hard as a rock just thinking about it.
CHAPTER 9
D espite the fact she’d just hot-wired a car and ditched her only “security,” Lyric wasn’t an idiot, no matter what Connor Malone might think. She had no desire to be kidnapped or murdered by some psycho. She liked her life, thank you very much, even if she gave new meaning to the word dysfunctional.
Amazing, the words you learned from therapy.
She kept her eyes peeled, particularly to her rearview mirror to make sure no one was tailing her. She also kept a sharp eye out for a cop. Because what moron would try anything if she had a cop escort her to her hotel?
She uttered a triumphant “Aha!” when she saw a patrol car parked at a gas station. She whipped in and parked directly in front of him, just in case he had any ideas about driving off before she could get her story across.
He didn’t look happy with her parking choice and before she could get out of her car, he was already out of his and walking her way, a frown on his face.
What was it with men and being so damn grumpy?
She got out of her car as he approached.
“Is there a problem, ma’am?”
“Yes. You see, I have this crazy person stalking me and I had to hot-wire my BMW because the guy who’s supposed to be my security was being a dick and he has the keys, but I don’t want to be driving around by myself or go back to my hotel room in case the crazy stalker is waiting to kidnap me or make me his sex slave or whatever it is that crazy stalkers do. So I’d really appreciate it if you could follow me back to my hotel.”
His brows drew together and she could swear he muttered “Why me?” under his breath. Then he sighed and started to reach for his radio. He had that look that suggested he thought she was the crazy one.
“How much have you had to drink tonight, ma’am?” he asked politely.
This time she frowned. “I don’t drink.”
“Have you taken any drugs I should know about?”
“I’m not a crackhead.”
“Who does the vehicle belong to?”
“It belongs to me! Oh wait—Well, it sort of belongs to me. I rented it because I flew here. I mean, I have one just like it but I didn’t want to drive it all the way from California when I’m just doing one show here.”
“Uh-huh.”
He nodded and raised the mic on his radio and proceeded to tell someone that he had a 10-96 and he was requesting backup.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Look, all I need is someone to follow me to the hotel. And well, I’d really appreciate it if you could walk me in but I could always have hotel security do that if you’re too busy.”
“I have a better idea. Why don’t you take a ride with me?”
She shrugged. “I’d rather not leave the BMW, but I suppose I could make Connor come get it tomorrow.”
“Who’s Connor?”
“He’s the guy who’s supposed to be protecting me but was being a dick so I ditched him.”
The cop gripped her elbow and herded her toward his squad car. “Turn around,” he directed. “This is for your protection as well as mine. You aren’t being arrested. I’m detaining you for further questioning.”
Before she realized what was going on, he had her handcuffed and was stuffing her into the backseat of his car. Damn, but the man was good.
But he’d handcuffed her! She stared at him in outrage. “What the hell did you cuff me for?”
He shut the door and then proceeded to talk on his radio. A few seconds later, he opened his door and slid into the driver’s seat.
Realization hit her. “You’re the crazy stalker, aren’t you? You’re not even a real cop. Have you been following me?”
He eyed her in the rearview mirror as he pulled away. “Lady, you came to me.”
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