Saint was not the man for her. He wasn’t evenaman for her. He was one hundred percent off-limits due to his position in the club. Copper would lose his mind. Hell, Saint most likely didn’t see her as anything more than his president’s daughter, and there she was, losing her mind with jealousy over a man who’d never want her. She could be as attracted to him as she wanted, but that’s where it had to end.
God, why did he have to be so attractive?
And protective?
And good?
Why did he make her feel safe and empowered at the same time?
“Ugh.” She polished off the last sip of her beer, then set the empty bottle on the bar without asking for another, as initially planned. Time to go. If she sat there much longer, mooning over an untouchable man, she’d hit an unacceptable level of pathetic.
After a quick goodbye to her parents, she’d head home.
She weaved her way through the crowded clubhouse to where her parents sat laughing and drinking with their chosen family.
“Hey, sweetie, having fun?” Shell asked as she reached their table.
“You bet,” she lied with a smile that probably fooled no one.
“P-cess!” Gator seemed to materialize from nowhere. “Where you been all night?” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and yanked her close, planting a long, sloppy kiss on her cheek.
“You’ve got one second to get your filthy lips off my daughter before I slice them off and turn them into earrings.” Copper’s voice boomed over the music. His narrowed eyes burned with outrage.
Gator immediately released her, stepping away as he raised his hands in the air. “Sorry, Prez. Meant no disrespect.”
“Seriously?” Beth shook her head.
“Dead serious.” Copper folded his massive arms across his chest in a move meant to intimidate Gator, but it only pissed Beth off. For fuck’s sake, she wasn’t a child and didn’t have a lick of interest in Gator.
“Dad, it’s no different than you kissing Aunt Steph on the cheek or vice versa, and you guys do that shit all the time.”
“It’sverydifferent. Gator is a stupid shit who only thinks with his dick.”
She scoffed, and Gator, proving he was in fact a stupid shit, said, “He has a point.”
“Really?” She stared at him, incredulous. “Not gonna help me out at all?”
He shrugged. “Just trying to get back on my prez’s good side.” He spoke out of the corner of his mouth as though Copper wouldn’t hear him somehow.
Maybe if she hadn’t been lusting after one of her father’s men just two minutes ago, this wouldn’t be an issue. Perhaps if she hadn’t left a horrible relationship less than two weeks ago, she’d have been less sensitive, but her father’s lack of faith in her ability to choose her own partner got under her skin in a way it never had before.
“Are you done?” she asked Copper before he could bark another order. She tried to keep her temper in check, but herhands curled at her sides, clenched with annoyance. “Because if you’re finished threatening my friend over a kiss on my cheek, I’d like to say something.”
Shell’s eyes widened, and for a moment Beth worried her mom was about to step in and try to diffuse the situation, but instead her lips curled. More than one set of eyes watched her, people she’d known and loved all her life, but she didn’t care.
She hadn’t stood up for herself in so long, a surge of power kept her mouth moving. If she was overreacting, it didn’t matter. She needed this. Needed to speak her mind in a situation where she’d be safe no matter what she said.
Her dad’s jaw tightened. “Gator crossed a line.”
“No.” She shook her head. “You did, Dad.” Her heart pounded so hard it felt like it’d burst right through her chest, but she didn’t back down. “He kissed my cheek. Like family. Like someone who knows me and respects me, and you threatened him like I’m some piece of property you need to guard.”
Someone whistled, and Maverick, snarky as ever, yelled, “You tell him, girl.”
“Hey, p-cess, it’s really okay,” Gator whispered from beside her. “I shoulda kept my lips to myself.”
“No. It’s reallynotokay.” She turned back to her Dad. “I’m an adult. I have been for a while. Hell, Mom already had a toddler at my age. I want to stay. I want to be back here in Tennessee, home with my family permanently, but when you act like this, you’re telling me you don’t trust me. And if my own father can’t trust me, or the men he calls family, then why would I stay here?”
Copper reared back with a flabbergasted expression, as though she’d smacked him.
