“I don’t know.” There was mumbling in the background. “Dani says Daisy’s parents are making her meet some guy they want her to marry.”
Rage made my blood boil. She hadn’t mentioned anything about that to me. “When and where?”
More mumbling, then, “Their country club. Dani says they’re meeting at nine at Brookhaven. Right outside Houston.”
“I know where it is. Thanks, man. I owe you one.”
“Good luck.”
It was already almost five. That gave me less than four hours to get to Houston and find Daisy. She couldn’t go to brunch. I needed to tell her that she belonged with me.
First, I needed a car.
Hoping I had a shot at getting to her before she made a big mistake, I picked up the phone and dialed one of my foster brothers who lived in Dallas. He owed me one, and it was time to call in a favor.
10
DAISY
Walking into the club felt like walking into my own funeral. I was dead inside. Leaving Hendrix had gutted me. Not even Growler could cheer me up. For a little while on the drive home, I’d tried to convince myself I could be the woman Hendrix thought I could be. His faith in me had given me wings, but I was still too scared to try to fly.
He’d tried calling, but I hadn’t answered. I told myself a clean break would be best. When my parents cut off my credit card, I realized just how much I depended on them. The only way to get out from under their complete control would be to get my own life.
Since they currently managed all aspects of mine, the only choice I had was to walk away with nothing or seriously consider marrying the man they wanted to push on me. If I agreed, it might buy me some time to come up with another solution.
I saw them before they noticed me. My parents had their backs to me and were sitting across the table from a man with short brown hair. That was the only thing about him that registered because everything else about him was so irrelevant.He was probably looking for a quick path to partner and figured marrying the boss’s daughter would put him on the inside track.
My stomach pitched and rolled. This wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to be with a man who lit me up inside. A man who believed in me and pushed me to be the best that I could be. A man like Hendrix.
Tears stung the backs of my eyelids as I thought about the inked bad boy with a heart of gold who I’d left behind. I could still feel his lips pressing against mine, his calloused fingers gliding over my skin, his thick cock sending me over the edge.
My thighs shook as I forced myself to take a step forward. Then a hand grabbed my arm. I spun around and faced the man I hadn’t been able to shake out of my heart.
“Hendrix! What are you doing here?” My palms immediately went to his cheeks. I had to feel him to make sure he was real and not just a figment of my imagination.
“Marry me, Daisy.” His eyes were bloodshot like he’d been up all night. He wasn’t making any sense.
“What are you doing here?” I pulled him back to the foyer before we caused a scene in the main dining room. I’d never hear the end of it if my parents or their friends caught me talking to him. He still had on the t-shirt and jeans he’d worn last night. The tattoos I’d run my tongue over less than twenty-four hours ago covered his arms.
“I know you’re meeting a guy your parents want you to marry. I don’t run in the country club crowd, and I don’t wear a suit to work every day. My family’s made up of a bunch of guys who never even knew their parents. The only thing I can promise you is that I’ll make you smile every day. I’d offer you my heart, too, but you’ve already got that, baby doll.” His eyes sparkled as he got down on one knee. “I love you, Daisy. Will you marry me? Not because you have to, but because you want to.”
My knees threatened to buckle. I reached out to steady myself against the wall. “What are you doing? You can’t be serious.”
“I’m dead serious. I can’t promise we’ll be rich, but I promise you’ll be happy. You and the fur-rat. Finish the tour with me. Then we’ll buy a few acres, and I’ll build you the store you want to set up. We can do it together. What do you say?” He held out the silver skull ring he’d been wearing on his right hand. “I didn’t have time to stop and pick out a ring on the drive down. Think this will do for now?”
“This doesn’t make sense.”
He nodded in agreement. “The only thing crazier would be letting you walk out of my life.”
“Yes.” I couldn’t fight it. The pull between us was too strong. We might not have known each other long, but we belonged together. I could feel it deep down in my soul. “I love you, too.”
He got to his feet and slid the antiqued silver ring on my finger. “You won’t regret this, sweetheart. I promise you that.”
“I’ll never regret saying yes to you.” How could I when he was the only man who’d ever built me up instead of talking me down?
His lips crashed down on mine, and I clung to him. I couldn’t believe I’d just agreed to marry an almost-stranger. We barely knew each other, though I felt like I knew him in all the ways that mattered.
“Where’s Growler?” he mumbled against my lips.
