“I’m scared,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around his waist.
“I know.”
He presses a kiss to my lips as he moves his hands to cup my cheeks. As soon as his tongue darts into my mouth, my fear melts away under the fire burning me from the inside out.
Without breaking contact, Heath pulls the pins from my hair, letting it fall. He wraps the loose strands around his fingers and tugs my head back to expose my neck. He licks a path from my mouth to the pulse point at my throat.
As he sucks on my flesh, he pushes the straps of my dress off my shoulders. The material slides down my arms, but before we can take things any further, his cell phone rings.
“Son of a bitch,” he groans and pulls away from me.
“Don’t answer it,” I say.
“I have to,” he replies as he grabs the device from his dresser. When he looks at the screen, he grimaces. “This better be good, Copper.”
I’m only able to catch Heath’s half of the conversation because he didn’t put the call on speaker, but I don’t mind. I’m used to it whenever he’s on the phone with a club member.
Heath’s body stiffens, and his eyes narrow. “He’s gonna be okay, though?” He nods several times and mumbles in response to whatever Copper is telling him. “Fine, yeah. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Once he disconnects the call, he shifts his gaze to me and frowns. “I’m sorry, Mellie, but I?—”
“You’ve gotta go,” I say, no heat in my tone. I know how the club works, howHeathworks.
I watch as he rushes around the room, changing out of his tux and into tattered jeans and a long-sleeved tee. “I wouldn’t go, but it’s Rowdy,” he says while he puts on his leather jacket. “It’s… Fuck, Mel, it’s my dad.”
1
LYRIC
PRESENT DAY…
“Yo, Lyric!”
My best friend’s voice penetrates the music I have blaring in my room as I get ready, and I grab the remote to turn down the sound system. Once it’s quiet, I turn and face Zombie, who’s standing in the doorway with a scowl on his face.
“What?” I snap at my VP.
He holds up his cell. “You’ve got a call.”
I stride across the room and snatch the phone from his hand. “This better be good,” I say by way of greeting.
“Is that any way to talk to your soon-to-be old lady?”
Mellie’s sharp tone cuts like a knife, and I love it. Fuck, I love her. “Hey, baby. What’s up?”
She sighs. “I tried to call your cell, but I’m guessing you’ve got your music up too loud to hear it.”
I grab my own device from my dresser, and sure enough, there are three missed calls from her. “Sorry.” Zombie chuckles, and I glare at him. “Is everything okay?” I ask Mellie.
“I’m gonna be marrying you in two hours,” she says sweetly. “Of course, everything is fine. But…”
“But what?”
“My car won’t start.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose, mentally biting my tongue so I don’t say the one thing guaranteed to piss her off:Told ya so.
“Okay, no worries. I’ll have Rowdy pick you up.”
