“Fine, then you don’t date either,” I throw right back at him.
“Never do,” he says.“It drives me fucking crazy thinking about someone else touching you.I want to kill anyone who has ever put their goddamn hands on you, songbird.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing no one ever has.”
“What?”
The sudden intensity in his voice breaks through the fog he’s putting me under.Crap.I just told him I’m a virgin.That wasn’t supposed to slip out.I’m twenty-one and I’ve only ever been kissed once.I was sixteen.It lasted for all of five seconds, and we never spoke again.
“Say it again, Raven,” he growls.
“I said I guess it’s a good thing no one has ever touched me,” I say.
“You’re a virgin.”
“Yes,” I whisper, glancing around like I’m sharing state secrets or something.
“Name your conditions.”
“What?”
“Your conditions.Name them,” he says, his voice tight.Strained.
“Oh.Um, you can’t tip me.And you have to watch me from backstage.”
“Deal.”
Well, that was easier than I thought it would be.
“Where are you?”he asks.His voice still sounds odd…intense.
“I’m walking back to your place.”
“Good.I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Okay.”
“See you soon, songbird.”
“Bye, Rhys,” I whisper.
ChapterFive
RHYS
“What are you doing here?”Marnie says, her blue eyes full of genuine surprise.Her blonde hair is piled up on her head, strands hanging freely around her heart-shaped face.Her small bump is obvious in her designer dress.She doesn’t look like a grieving widow.She’s fresh-faced, glowing.Brant would be over the moon to see her this way.
“We need to talk.”
“Oh.”Annoyance filters across her face.Raven was dead wrong about her last night.She doesn’t outshine anyone.She’s beautiful the same way scorpions are.They may be pretty to look at, but they’re cold and uncaring.She put on a good act and fooled us all for a while, but the mask is off now.There is no unseeing the truth once it’s out.“Can it wait?I’m in the middle of something right now.”
“Nope.”I step around her into the house, not giving her an opportunity to shut the door in my face or bar me from entering.We’re having this conversation now.I don’t give a fuck what she has going on.Whatever it is can wait.
I do a cursory sweep of the foyer and living room, trying not to look too hard at anything.Coming here is always a punch in the gut.I’ve spent countless hours on that couch, watching the Seahawks with Brant on the television hidden behind the panel, or playing poker at the antique table in the corner.Every part of the house is lavish and expensive.But it’s a home too.
I frown when I see Jack Hale standing on the far side of the living room, a glass of brandy in his hand.He’s staring out the French doors into the backyard.
“Rhys!Are you kidding me right now?”Marnie growls from behind me.
