“Yep, come in. Dylan got spooked and ran into her room. You might need to go peel her off the ceiling.”I waved in the direction.
Asher took a deep breath. “On it,” he said, marching off like a member of the royal guard, determined to save his queen from herself.
I snickered and turned back to Jake. “My bestie—you know, the one on trial for stabbing her boss in the heart—she’s probably puking at the thought of the man she’s loved forever seeing her dressed up.”
He cocked his head to the sideand a smile tugged at his lips.
“Yeah, she’s a hardcore killer,” I said.
* * *
Dylan
“Dylan? You decent?”Asher asked, tapping on my bedroom door.
I took a deep breath and glanced at my reflection one last time before hurrying to open the door for him. His gaze was on the floor, and slowly traveled up my dress to my face. Something hungry and a little terrifying sparked behind his eyes,and he took a deep breath.
“You look... incredible,” he said.
“So do you.” And holy cow, he did. He wore a black-on-black suit with a black tie and black oxfords and the whole look only enhanced the blue of his eyes—eyes which currently had me trapped. I chewed on my lip, and immediately remembered the warning from Carla not to do that.
“Crap!”
“What?” he asked, stepping into my room.
“Idon’t have lipstick on my teeth do I?” I asked, giving him a toothy smile.
He chuckled. “No, you’re good. Are you ready to go?”
I nodded and he took my hand, but I couldn’t get my feet to move forward.
He faced me, still holding my hand, and little worry lines crinkled across his forehead. “What’s wrong?”
What indeed? So many things I couldn’t even voice because saying them aloud made mesound like the biggest chicken on the planet. I hadn’t even been this terrified when I was on the business end of a gun.
“Dylan?” Asher asked.
“It’s your parents,” I blurted out. “Do they know about us?”
He frowned. “Probably not. Well, unless Addie told them. I don’t actually talk to either of them if I don’t have to.”
“Yeah, neither does she,” I said.
“Why do you care? What’s going on?”He squeezed my hand and tugged me closer to him.
I took a step and put my free hand on his chest, feeling the sturdy fabric of his jacket. He smelled really good—edible good—and it kept distracting me from the words I wanted to use. “I... it’s going to be strange. What if they’re... weird about this? About us?”
He shrugged. “It doesn’t really concern them.”
I leveled a look at him. “They’reyour parents, Ash. Our relationship concerns them, and let’s be real here. I highly doubt I’m the type of girl they want for you.”
“Really? What type of girl do you think you are?”
I blew out a breath, still holding his hand. “Daughter of the town drunk, not a penny to my name, oh and on trial for the murder of my boss. You know, all the things any sane parent would want to keep their kid awayfrom.”
“I know you’re not calling my parents sane.” He leaned into me. “And you’re right, but you missed a few things.” The fingers of his free hand traced my eyebrow before floating down my nose to my cheek. He outlined my jawline, pausing to pull my chin up so my face was less than an inch from his. “You missed the best parts: intelligent, funny, compassionate, courageous.” He bent and presseda soft kiss against my lips, restarting the butterflies in my stomach. The look in his eyes held so much adoration I almost melted on the spot. “Honest, beautiful. But you’re right, they probably expect me to end up with someone more like them.”
My stomach sank.
