Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
He plucked the phone from her fingers.
“Hey!” She tried to grab it back from him but he set it aside on the counter and blocked her access to it by using his big body.
“That ain’t why you’re here.”
“Of course not. I already told you that. I’m here because of the kiss.”
“Should just forget it ever happened.”
She stared up at him and said slowly, “I don’t want to forget it, Ashton.”
His nostrils flared. “I ain’t for you, baby.”
“Shouldn’t you let me decide that?”
“What happened didn’t just involve you. I got a say, too.”
He was right. It took two to tango, and if he didn’t want to dance, then she needed to accept that. “Okay. Sorry to bother you. I just thought…”
She closed her eyes and did her best to tamp down the rising disappointment.
She’d gone to his apartment that morning to find out why he disappeared. But that wasn’t the only reason.
She also wanted to kiss him again and see where it led when there wasn’t a crowd of friends and family on the other side of the door.
When it was only the two of them.
Alone.
In private.
With an actual bed nearby.
He cocked a dark blond eyebrow. “No, that’s the problem, Lyric, you didn’t think. ‘Cause if you did, you’d know why hookin’ up with me would be a fuckin’ mistake.”
“You men are stubborn to a fault.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “Holy fuck. And you women ain’t?”
She pushed on. “I’ve known you my whole life, Ash. I trust you completely.”
“Trust you, too, baby. That’s why I let you touch my skin with all those goddamn needles. And you know I fuckin’ hate needles. But that don’t mean we should—” His Adam’s apple bounced when he swallowed. With a frown, he downed the rest of his spiked coffee. “Respect your parents. Respect you. Don’t wanna fuck with that mutual respect.”
With a shake of his head, he unplugged the coffee maker and balanced the empty mug on top of the mountain of dishes already piled in the sink.
She stepped closer, and when he turned to find her in his personal space, his head jerked back. “Lyric, you’re more than a fuckin’ hole to fill.”
Well, she guessed that was one positive.
She cupped his face. “I would hope so.”
His eyes softened and he rubbed his bristly cheek against her soft palm. “Like I said, ain’t smart, baby,” he whispered.
“Who’s going to know?”
“Me and you. Don’t wanna fuck up anythin’ between us.”
“I don’t, either. You don’t know that it will.”
“Don’t know that it won’t.”
She sighed.
“Anyway, you know the fuckin’ rules, Lyric. I’d need to approach Crow first. Since I ain’t lookin’ for an ol’ lady, he ain’t gonna give me the okay to bang his daughter when I ain’t lookin’ for y—” He caught himself and finished with, “Anyone to wear my cut.”
He was right about the first part, and as for the second? Damn it, that was most likely true, too.
Sex wasn’t something she wanted to discuss with her father, either, and never would if she had the choice. “I won’t tell a soul.”
He didn’t look convinced. “Even Avery?”
“Especially Avery. I simply thought…” She huffed out a breath. “You got hard when we kissed.” Heat rushed into her cheeks.
“Yeah, and?”
“And I thought…”
“Doin’ too much thinkin’, woman.”
That wasn’t anything new. “I figured since…we spend a lot of…you come into the shop a lot…”
Jesus, Lyric, get your shit together.
“No shit. We’re family.”
Family.
His explanation made her start to take a step back, but before she could create a gap between them, he grabbed her hip and kept her close.
Tipping his head down, he stared into her eyes and gently brushed his tattooed knuckles along her cheek. He then closed his eyes and groaned out a, “Fuck. Never said I didn’t want you. Just said it ain’t smart.”
“Look at me,” she whispered.
She lost her breath when his eyes opened. He appeared torn. Tortured. As if he wanted to make the right decision but was about to make a wrong one.
And she was the wrong one.
“Don’t wanna fuck shit up between us, baby. I don’t. Need you in my life and don’t wanna give you any reason not to be.”
That possibility made her heart ache. “I’m not going anywhere.”
A crease wrinkled his brow. “Kyra left.”
“She left because…” She left because Zeke had cheated on her. But Lyric wasn’t asking Ash to be exclusive. Truth be told, she didn’t know what she was asking for.
A chance, maybe. To see where this could go.
“She left because she had nothing to keep her here, Ash. I do.”
“She had her family.”
“But her family is nothing like ours. Nobody leaves ours.” That sounded more ominous than it should. It wasn’t like nobody could leave; prospects did all the time. The majority simply choose not to. Including the women.
It was a lifestyle they all knew and loved, despite the cons.