Текст книги "Sweet Possession"

Автор книги: Maya Banks

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Текущая страница: 4 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

Lyric smudged her finger over the top of the cupcake and sucked the frosting from the tip. “I think you are a very wise woman, Faith. I had you pegged as a total Susie Sunshine, and when I saw your neighborhood I figured you for a Stepford wife. I’m relieved that I was wrong on all counts.”

“Hmmm. Susie Sunshine. That’s a new one. I’ll have to remember it for when Gray starts complaining that I’m mean.”

Lyric grinned.

“I want one of those cupcakes!”

Lyric turned to see Angelina enter the kitchen, her gaze fixed on the cupcake in Lyric’s hand like she was about to attack.

“You can’t have it,” Faith said in exasperation. “Micah would kill me.”

“He doesn’t have to know,” Angelina said pointedly.

“Don’t you give her one,” Faith said when Lyric started to hand a cupcake to Angelina. “She has to watch her blood sugar. She failed her first glucose tolerance test and they want to do a repeat. Until they get the results, she has to watch her sugar intake.”

“Wow, I take back what I said about you being nice,” Lyric said. “That’s pretty ruthless. Withholding sugar from a pregnant woman.”

“I’ll take that,” Julie said as she walked by and lifted the cupcake from Lyric’s hand.

Lyric shot her a dark look. “I’ve killed people for less.”

Julie’s eyebrow shot up. “And you people call me vicious. If she keeps that up, I’ll have to tell Connor to collar her.”

“Only if you want it wrapped around your mouth,” Lyric drawled.

“Did you all desert the guys?” Faith asked as she frowned at Julie.

“Oh, they’re out bonding over charcoal,” Angelina said with a wave of her hand. “You know what happens when you mix men, lighter fluid, a grill and beer.”

“Sit,” Faith directed Angelina. “I swear I don’t know how you stand. You’re all belly. It seems like you’d teeter over.”

Angelina scowled at Faith but hoisted herself up onto a bar stool. Julie took a seat across the bar from Angelina and arched an eyebrow in her direction.

“Okay, so give us the scoop, Angelina. When are you going to put Micah out of his misery?”

Faith shook her head. “It’s like déjà vu. We had this same conversation with Serena before she married Damon.”

Lyric shifted from one foot to the other. As if sensing Lyric’s discomfort, Faith turned to explain.

“Serena is our other best friend and she made Damon wait before she agreed to marry him.”

“Yes, but she waited because she wasn’t sure,” Angelina softly interjected. “That’s not the case here. I’d marry Micah tomorrow, but I have to be sure this is what he wants. I won’t be second best. I won’t have him marry me because he feels it’s the right thing to do.”

Faith moved beside Angelina and wrapped an arm around her. “He loves you, honey. He loves you and Nia so much. You’re all he talks about at work. The guys avoid him because he drives them crazy asking them baby stuff they don’t have a clue about.”

“That’s sweet,” Lyric murmured.

Angelina sighed. “He’s great. Really, he is. He’s been so wonderful with me and the baby. I’m crazy about him and I don’t want to be without him.”

“Then why are you driving yourself crazy?” Faith asked gently.

Angelina chewed on her lip, her dark eyes shadowed by worry. “I have this fear that he’ll wake up one day and think to himself that I’m not the one he wanted. That he’s trapped. That I pressured him into a relationship he didn’t want. You have to admit, I pursued him relentlessly.”

Lyric raised an eyebrow. Her opinion of the other woman just went up by several notches. She liked a woman who knew her mind and didn’t sit around waiting for what she wanted.

“It’s all about taking a chance,” Julie said. “I’ve thought the same thing about Nathan more times than I care to admit. I used to worry that he’d get tired of me and move on. But he convinced me to give him a chance, and really, there aren’t any guarantees. Men do stupid shit all the time. There’s a trigger when they hit middle age that they want dumber, younger and prettier.”

“Oh Jesus, Julie.” Faith groaned. “You’re not helping here.”

Julie shrugged. “Just telling the truth. The point is, you have to take a chance and you have to not only love your guy but you have to trust that he loves you just as much. What else can you do?”

“When you put it like that,” Angelina said ruefully.

Faith squeezed Angelina again. “You almost make me want to give you a cupcake.”

Lyric laughed at the disgusted look on Angelina’s face.

“I hope we haven’t bored you, Lyric,” Faith said anxiously. “I’m sure you’re used to a livelier party.”

Lyric held up her hand. “Don’t, please. This is great. Really. It was really nice of you to have me. I know you weren’t expecting us.”

Faith reached over and impulsively squeezed Lyric’s hand. “I’m so glad you came. It’s so interesting to see the woman behind all the gossip and realize you’re nothing like everyone says you are.”

Horror crawled across Faith’s face as soon as the words were out. She clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, that was stupid. I didn’t mean . . .”

“It’s all right,” Lyric said lightly. “Don’t apologize. Half of what they say is likely true and the other half is probably a variation of the truth.”

Julie’s eyebrows went up. “So you really had an orgy on your tour bus?”

Lyric hadn’t heard that one. “Sure, why not. I’m sure it’s written in the rule book somewhere that all rock stars have at least one on the bus per tour.”

She kept the hurt from her voice and wondered what demon possessed her to perpetuate the rumors. She figured if people were dumb enough to believe that crap, they didn’t deserve the truth. They probably wouldn’t believe it anyway.

“I totally made that up,” Julie said darkly.

Lyric shrugged. “You aren’t the first.”

Faith frowned. “That must be an awful way to live, Lyric. How do you stand it?”

What to say to that? She could leave her life at any time, but it wasn’t like a new life awaited her. Maybe one day she’d figure out what to do beyond her singing career, but the thing was, she loved to sing. She even liked the fame, the hoopla, the fans and the crowds. She wouldn’t apologize for that as many celebrities felt compelled to do. She’d worked damn hard to get to where she was and she wasn’t about to piss it away over false guilt.

“I like it. It pays well,” Lyric cracked.

She hated the sympathy shining in all their eyes. It was like they looked at her and thought, Oh, you poor thing. Whatever. There were millions of people who had it far worse than she did. What were a few rumors and a bad reputation next to starving in some shithole in Mississippi?

The people she grew up with were probably still there, dirt-poor in the same pissant town, married to the same shitty people and raising the same shitty kids.

“Julie, would you go out and ask the menfolk how much longer on the meat? I need to make the salad and bread,” Faith said, breaking the silence.

“I’ll go. I can’t sit in one spot for too long. Makes me crazy,” Angelina muttered. “My back is killing me.”

As soon as Angelina had left the kitchen, Julie leaned forward with a wicked grin and whispered, “I keep telling her she’s really having twins and that they missed one of the babies when they did the sonogram.”

Faith shook her head and laughed. “You are so evil, Julie.”

CHAPTER 7

Male voices drifted through the screen as Angelina approached the door leading into the backyard. She paused for a moment to rub at her aching back. Micah was so sweet and attentive. If he knew her back was giving her problems, he’d be rubbing it. She was tempted to drop a hint because right now she’d give anything to have his hands soothing away the discomfort.

She was just about to go out when she heard her name. Then she smiled when she heard the guys give Micah a hard time about impending fatherhood. No matter what she may have thought in the beginning, Micah had embraced the idea of being a father with both hands.

He fussed endlessly over her. He went to every doctor’s appointment and drove her crazy with innocuous pregnancy trivia, some of which she was convinced he made up.

She went still when she heard Micah’s determined voice rise above the sounds of the neighborhood and distant lawn mowers.

“I want her to marry me, but I’m at a loss as to how to convince her that I’m not doing it out of obligation. I know she worries that she’s somehow trapping me into a relationship I don’t want, and it’s making me crazy.”

“Maybe you’re putting too much stock into marriage,” Connor said. “Angelina’s a great girl. If she loves you and stays with you, does it really matter if it’s official or not?”

Angelina could visualize Micah’s scowl perfectly.

“It’s not the marriage thing. It’s that she still has doubt. Not that I blame her, but I don’t like to think of her worrying that I’m not dedicated to her and Nia. They’re my life.”

“Maybe you should back off for a while,” Nathan said carefully. “She’s pregnant and vulnerable. From what I hear, their emotions are a mess when they’re pregnant. Maybe she feels pressured.”

Micah sighed. “Maybe you’re right. I don’t know. I’m pissed at myself for not seeing it sooner. I don’t deserve her after the way I acted. I love her, and more than that I don’t want her to ever think I don’t, that she’s not the most important thing in my life.”

“You can’t force trust,” Gray said. “It’ll come. The more she sees that you’re in it for the long haul, the more she’ll trust in the truth of your relationship.”

Angelina lifted trembling fingers to her mouth. Trust? Trust had never been an issue for her with Micah. She trusted him implicitly. There was no way she could cede absolute and total control in their relationship to him if she didn’t trust him.

The idea that she’d hurt him by making him think she didn’t trust him was painful. She loved Micah and it was for him that she’d hesitated in accepting his marriage proposal.

Now she wondered if she wasn’t doing more damage to the future of their relationship by holding back. If he ever doubted her love, it would kill her. It was the one thing she’d always given him unreservedly.

Micah was her future. She knew it without a doubt. She rubbed her hand over her protruding belly. Micah loved her. He loved their daughter. He wanted them to be a family. Micah had always wanted a family. Right now she was the one standing in the way of his happiness.

How stupid and shortsighted she’d been. She didn’t regret not relenting right away. She and Micah had desperately needed time to work out their issues and to find their way amid the tumultuous beginning to their relationship.

But for the last few months, Micah had done and said all the right things. He’d once told her that when she knew without a doubt that he loved her more than life and when she trusted him fully to cherish her gift of love, that was when he wanted her to marry him.

“Oh God,” she whispered. How must her continued resistance look to him? Like she didn’t trust him. That she didn’t believe he loved her.

None of that was true.

Suddenly she wanted to nothing more than to go home and spend the evening in Micah’s arms. His hand on her belly and them talking about Nia and their future. Tears stung her eyes. Micah had said when that day came. It was here and she didn’t want to wait any longer.

“I think Angelina must have gotten lost,” Faith said with a sigh.

“Either that or she made another trip to the bathroom,” Julie said. “Another reason I have no desire to get knocked up in this millennium. I can’t imagine spending that much time in the bathroom.”

Lyric raised her brow. It was nice to know she wasn’t the only one with no desire to pop out a kid anytime soon. Or ever.

“I’ll go see what’s keeping her,” Lyric said.

Faith nodded. “Thanks, Lyric. I’m going to start on the salad and pop the bread into the oven.”

Lyric was relieved to escape the kitchen. It wasn’t that she found the other women annoying, but she was ill at ease around the warm friendship between them. Lyric had no experience with closeness. She’d never allowed herself to have that sort of relationship with anyone. Physical, yes. Emotional, no. And she had plenty of business relationships. Nothing that qualified as an actual friendship.

When she entered the living room, she saw Angelina standing near the door to the backyard, a peculiar expression on her face. Both hands were palmed over her belly and she looked like . . . She looked like she was upset over something.

It was tempting to turn back and pretend she hadn’t seen the other woman. Lyric had zero experience with emotional, pregnant women. What did you say to one?

It wouldn’t kill her to be sympathetic. Everyone had been nice to her. Other than Julie’s snottiness—which, she was realizing, was part of the woman’s natural charm—they’d all treated her like she was normal. To her surprise, she liked it. She liked it a lot. Not that she wanted to start leading a normal life, but it was a nice change.

She took a few steps forward and delicately cleared her throat. Angelina’s head whipped up and she didn’t look thrilled that Lyric had found her. That made two of them.

“Are you okay?” Lyric asked gently. “Do you want me to get Micah?”

Angelina’s lips quivered and she inhaled sharply, like she was tightly controlling her emotions. Then she let out a soft laugh, and her lips turned up into a rueful smile.

“Have you ever come to the realization that you’re an idiot and that what you thought was the right thing was completely wrong?”

Lyric snorted. She couldn’t help it. “Honey, you’re talking to the queen of fuckups. If there’s a way to screw something up, I’ve mastered it.”

Angelina cocked her head. “You seem so well put together. I’ve watched you, you know. The few TV specials you’ve had and I saw a recording of one of your concerts. You seem so confident and sexy and smart.”

Lyric blinked. “Wow. Thanks, I think. But wow. You couldn’t be more wrong. Not that I want to go into all the ways you’re wrong, but I’m glad it at least looks like I have my shit together.”

“I’m an idiot,” Angelina said again. “A pregnant, hormonal moron. I’ve spent so much time worrying that Micah would want to walk that it’s a wonder I haven’t made him do just that.”

“Nothing wrong with being sure,” Lyric said with a shrug. “I admire you for that. A lot of women don’t look before they leap.”

The door opened and Angelina whirled around, a guilty look on her face. Relief lightened her eyes when Connor walked in.

“Hey, sweetie,” Connor said as he pulled Angelina into a hug.

Sweetie? Lyric cocked her eyebrow at the endearment and the obvious affection in Connor’s voice. He was such a grumpy hard-ass, it was difficult to imagine him being so cutesy with another woman. Her eyes narrowed. A pregnant woman who was involved with another man.

When Angelina pulled away, Connor frowned as he stared down at her. “You okay? You look upset.” He glanced over at Lyric and her eyes widened at the accusation in his. Did he honestly think she was responsible for Angelina’s crying jag?

Angelina smiled. “I’m fine. You can stop fussing over me. Lyric made me feel much better. I think I’m going to go out and let Micah take over.”

Connor glanced up, fleeting apology in his gaze, but Lyric shot daggers back at him with hers. As Angelina walked out the door, Lyric shook her head and turned on her heel to stalk back to the kitchen.

Connor caught her wrist before she took two steps and pulled her back around to face him.

“Let me go,” she hissed.

“I’m sorry.”

It was a sincere apology, but hurt still crowded her chest. “I don’t even know why you brought me, Connor. It’s obvious you think I’ll be an asshole to your precious friends. They seem to like me, which is more than I can say for you. They’ve also been nice to me, which again—”

He pulled her against his chest and sealed his lips over hers, effectively halting her angry tirade. “Shut up. Just shut up,” he growled.

She went stock-still against him as he plundered her mouth. There was nothing gentle or tentative about his kiss. His lips scorched over hers, stealing her breath and returning it as his tongue probed and explored the inside of her mouth.

It should piss her off. She should be shoving him on his ass. She should be doing a lot of things, but what she did was kiss him back. She was tentative, and the truth was she wasn’t entirely sure what to do, but his taste intoxicated her and made her dizzy.

A whisper of charcoal danced through her nostrils and it blended with his natural masculine scent until she wanted to lick him to see if his skin tasted as good as he smelled.

She’d been kissed before many times but never like this. Most men were intimidated by her and it showed in how they touched her. Connor took charge and it was clear he had plenty of self-confidence.

He cupped her face, his fingers splaying over the sides of her neck. They pressed possessively into her flesh, branding her.

Shivers danced along her spine as his tongue rubbed sensuously over hers, stroking and coaxing until she responded in kind. Her response was automatic. She didn’t have to think about whether she wanted to kiss him or whether she wanted him to continue kissing her. It wasn’t like she had a choice. She was a helpless prisoner to his overwhelming power.

When he finally let her go, she staggered back, her lips swollen. She raised a shaky hand to her tingling mouth and stared wordlessly at him, unable to comprehend that he’d just kissed the daylights out of her. He hated her!

He closed the distance again, regret in his eyes. He touched her shoulder, a light gesture meant to reassure her.

“I’m sorry. I was an ass.”

She shook her head to rid herself of the lingering effects of his wicked mouth.

“Not for kissing you,” he amended. “I’m sorry for being an asshole, but not for kissing you.”

“Why did you?” she asked faintly. “You don’t even like me.”

“You drive me insane. I look at you and you make me instantly crazy.”

Her eyes narrowed and some of the euphoria evaporated. “The feeling is quite mutual.”

His grin was cocky and arrogant and it was so damn sexy she wanted to march back over there and finish what they’d started.

“Every time you get all pissy and mean, I get a hard-on from hell. I wonder if you have any idea how sexy you are when you turn that nose up and start throwing attitude.”

Her mouth fell open. It closed and then opened again like a fish out of water. Then she glared. “You’re full of shit. You’re just saying that so I’ll be nice to you from now on.”

His laughter rang out. “Well, I suppose that’s one way to get you to stop being a bitch.”

She crossed her arms, prepared to give him the look of death when she realized what the result would be. Instead she threw up her hands and stomped back toward the kitchen.

“That goes double for tantrums,” he called after her.

CHAPTER 8

“I wonder if any of you are free tomorrow morning. I need someone to look out for Lyric while I meet with the security firm her record label has hired,” Connor said over the dinner table.

In the process of raising her fork to her mouth, Lyric dropped it onto her plate with a clatter, and she stared mortified across the table at Connor.

“What was all that about where you go, I go, and vice versa?” she demanded. “For God’s sake, I don’t need babysitters.”

“The team providing peripheral security and I will be deciding what needs to be done to ensure your safety,” Connor said evenly. “You’ll just interfere and argue. We can get it done a lot quicker if you aren’t there.”

She stared at him in disbelief. She’d been accommodating so far. She’d conceded on goddamn everything. What else did he want from her? A note signed in blood avowing her compliance?

She itched to bolt from her chair and get the hell out of there, but he’d expect that. He watched her even now as if waiting for her to throw a fit.

She decided to ignore him instead.

She lowered her gaze and stabbed at the meat with her fork. She tuned out what the others were saying. She didn’t give a shit about these people. Or Connor fucking Malone. Every time she thought it wouldn’t be so bad to be tethered to him for the next two weeks, he had to remind her what a huge asshole he was.

To her absolute mortification, tears stung her eyelids. Hell would freeze over before she’d ever let him see her cry.

Damn it, she’d tried her best to work with him. She knew she could be difficult and usually she didn’t give a flying fuck, but she’d honestly tried with him and his friends. She’d done everything humanly possible to tone it down because secretly she’d wanted his approval.

Fuck that and him. She didn’t need anyone’s goddamn approval. Only her own.

“You are such an asshole, Connor.”

For a moment Lyric thought she’d totally lost control of her tongue and aired her thoughts. But when she looked up, she saw Faith glaring holes in her brother.

Connor raised an eyebrow at his sister.

Even “sweetie” looked at Connor like he’d lost his mind.

“It’s not like you to be such a jerk,” Faith continued. “Lyric doesn’t deserve that from you.”

“Maybe we don’t have the full story,” Gray said in a diplomatic voice.

Faith glared at her husband. Then she turned to Lyric, who had her teeth sunk firmly into her bottom lip so she didn’t humiliate herself further by showing how affected she was by Connor’s attitude.

“You’ll come with me, Julie and Angelina to Serena’s house tomorrow. The men can all go find something else to do.”

Connor held up his hand. “Now wait a damn minute. No one’s going anywhere with Lyric. What part of her being in danger don’t you understand? I’m not risking any of you girls by sending you off together on some girls’ day out.”

“Damn right,” Nathan said with a scowl.

Lyric rose as gracefully as she could under the circumstances. She smiled in Faith’s direction. “Thank you for dinner and your hospitality. I had a really good time. But I should be going now. I appreciate the offer, but Connor’s right. None of you should be around me. In addition to having some crazy person lurking after me, apparently I’m a toxic influence.”

“Sit down, Lyric,” Connor ordered.

“Fuck off, Connor.”

She turned and stalked away from the table.

Connor watched her leave but didn’t go after her. She couldn’t get far without the car keys. She needed some time to cool off and he’d just do something stupid again. Like kiss her senseless.

“Nice,” Micah drawled. “And you once accused me of being an SOB.”

“She’s driving me crazy,” Connor muttered.

“It’s not her you have to worry about right now,” Gray said carefully.

Connor looked up to see three very pissed-off women glaring holes through his forehead.

“What was all that crap?” Angelina demanded. “This isn’t like you, Connor. You’ve always been so . . . sweet. And protective.”

Connor winced. She made him sound like a pussy.

“She didn’t seem that bad to me,” Julie said with a shrug. “And you were a jerk even if you didn’t mean to sound like one.”

“There’s no reason she can’t come to Serena’s tomorrow,” Faith said as she frowned at Connor. “Damon has tight security. No one is going to get onto his property without him knowing about it. And he has Sam.”

“Who the hell is Sam?” Connor grumbled.

“His mountain of a driver slash bodyguard,” Micah said dryly. “He has great affection for our women. He’s like a mother hen with them. The one time they didn’t let him go with him, Damon said he had a kitten.”

Connor frowned. “You think Lyric would be safe there? This is serious. I can’t just leave her anywhere, but if I take her with me, she’s going to balk at the constraints we’re going to put on her. I know you all think I’m being a jerk, but the truth is, I’m going to do whatever is necessary to keep her safe, whether she likes the measures or not.”

“I can go with them,” Micah said. “I’ll call Damon tonight and let him know the situation.”

Connor’s frown deepened. Yeah, he needed a place to stash Lyric so he could get her security straightened out. What he hadn’t mentioned was that if he didn’t get a good feel for this team her record label had hired, he was going to tell them to take a hike.

“You need to go find her and apologize,” Faith sniffed. “If I were her, I wouldn’t go anywhere with you.”

“She doesn’t have a choice.”

“Why are you so mean to her?” Julie asked.

Connor sighed. “I’m not mean to her, Julie. I just don’t kiss her ass like everyone else in her universe does.”

“I like her,” Angelina said. “She’s refreshingly honest.”

“You like everyone, sweetie,” Connor said with a grin.

“I don’t like you right now,” she said pointedly.

He winced. “Oh ouch. Damn. That hurt. Okay, okay, I’ll ease up. I’ll even apologize. The last thing I want is to fall into you girls’ bad graces.”

“Smart man,” Nathan murmured.

“You go find her and tell her she’s coming with us tomorrow,” Faith said. “Damon will take care of things. He always does.”

That earned her a glare from every man at the table.

“Well, he does,” she said defensively.

“It’s not a good idea to remind me of all he’s done for you,” Gray said mildly.

Faith blushed and Connor promptly tuned them out. He was pretty tired of hearing about Damon Roche himself. Him and his damn sex club or whatever the fuck he called it.

“You’re not taking her to his damn club, are you?” Connor demanded.

Faith turned bright red. “Good God, no! We’re going to his house. Not The House.”

“I don’t know,” Julie said thoughtfully. “Lyric might enjoy a night at The House.”

“Julie,” Nathan growled. “You aren’t setting foot in that place ever again.”

Julie grinned cheekily.

“What are you waiting for?” Faith asked. “Go, go, go. Shoo already.”

Connor sighed and got to his feet. Women were a plague. There was no doubt about it. He had his share of crazy ex-girlfriends, but they had nothing on the women currently in his life. He loved them all dearly, but he didn’t envy their men one iota.

He should have known that Lyric would fit in beautifully.

He stalked through the house, annoyed that everyone had turned on him. He never wanted this pain-in-the-ass job in the first place.

She was probably out in the car pouting. He’d have to go out and be nice. She’d probably pop off at him and his dick would stand up and pay attention. Then he’d start having fantasies about kissing her again.

He really had to do something about this masochistic streak. It seemed the more she got mad at him, the more he wanted her. She was a beautiful woman, but never more than she was spitting fury at him like a pissed-off kitten.

He grinned as he opened the door and stepped out into the night. When he looked in the direction of where he’d parked the BMW, his jaw dropped.

It wasn’t there.

He glanced down the street to see the taillights of the car fading as it roared through the neighborhood.

He dug into his pocket and pulled out the keys. What the fuck? She’d hot-wired the car?

He closed his eyes and shook his head. Then he trudged back into the house to face the others.

“I need a ride back to the hotel,” he said before they could say anything to him.

Everyone looked up from the table, all wearing puzzled looks.

“Something wrong with the car?” Micah asked.

“Yeah,” Connor muttered. “She hot-wired it and took off.”

Julie burst out laughing. One by one the others followed suit until the entire room erupted in hoots.

“It was stupid,” Connor growled. “She has some crazy stalker leaving her creepy notes and she takes off alone. This is why I don’t want her at my meeting tomorrow. She’s high-strung and unreasonable. And she doesn’t have one ounce of self-preservation.”

Micah stood and reached down to help Angelina to her feet. “We’ll run you by. We were going to call it an early night anyway.”

Connor would have liked to have called it a night, but he had a feeling he was going to be up for a long time. When he got to the hotel, he and Lyric were going to have a come-to-Jesus meeting. And he was as hard as a rock just thinking about it.