Craving Lucy (10 page)

I found Dad in the living room with the twins. We still had another week off from school for break so the boys were soaking up all the TV time they could get in. As I walked into the living room, the boys decided it would be fun to tackle me.

I went down just a few feet from the couch in a pile of arms and legs as they started tickling me. “Stop,” I squealed. I was probably the most ticklish person on the planet and my brothers exploited that fact. Often. “No, don’t. Luca you little… Lyric I thought you loved me.” I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. “Daddy, please!” I wheezed out.

“Okay, boys, let your sister up.” He pulled Luca off of me and Lyric got up on his own, but they were both grumbling about having to end their fun.

I lay there for a few minutes, trying to catch my breath. I was sure my hair was a total wreck, but I wasn’t worried about it. Finally, Dad offered me his hand and helped me up. I tugged down my shirt and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Daddy, you love me, right?”

“That’s the stupidest question you have ever asked me, Lucy.” He hugged me tight. “I love you more than anything in the world, baby. You know that.”

Yeah, I did. And I was going to exploit that fact times a million. “And you want to make my birthday special, right?”

Ever-changing brown eyes narrowed on me. “Of course.”

I smiled up at him, giving him the look I knew he would never be able to say no to. “If I started dating Harris, you would be okay with it, right?”

I expected him to go stone still and then Hulk out on me. Jesse Thornton was without a doubt one of the most overprotective fathers in the world. I’d always known that the first guy I wanted to date would end up crippled and in a nursing home somewhere under twenty-four-hour guard supervision so that Jesse didn’t get to finish the job of murdering the poor bastard.

Weirdly enough, none of those things happened. His face actually relaxed into a smile. “Yeah, baby. If that is what you and Harris want to do, I’ll be okay with that.”

I blinked up at him, sure that I hadn’t heard him right. “Really?”

He gave me another tight hug and stepped back. “Of course, Lu. Actually, I’m glad you two want to start dating. I know I give the boy a hard time, but he’s the only guy I could ever willingly let you go to.”

A mixture of relief and surrealism washed through me. I’d had so many arguments ready to convince him that Harris was a good guy and that me dating him wasn’t going to be as bad as he might think. Now that he was telling me so calmly that he was all for my relationship with Harris Cutter, I was at a loss for words.

The sound of the doorbell didn’t immediately snap me out of my shock. I stood there while my dad went to answer the door, replaying everything we’d just said. Had it really been that easy? I mean, really?

“Lucy?” I turned at the sound of Harris’s voice. His face was full of concern as he ran his eyes over me. “You okay?”

“Um…yeah.” I shook my head in hopes of getting rid of the rest of my shock and was able to smile at him. “You ready?”

“I was going to ask you that.” He grinned. “Your hair seems to have a mind of its own today.”

I didn’t even blink. The twins had pulled most of my ponytail down, but I wasn’t going to take the time to fix it. I crossed the room and grasped his arm, pulling him toward the front door where Dad was still standing, a grin on his handsome face. We needed to get as far away from there as possible in case my scary-as-hell dad changed his mind and decided to feed Harris to the sharks that had been spotted offshore behind our house the day before.

I rushed through a goodbye hug and practically pushed Harris toward his Maserati. Harris shot me a glare over his shoulder, but I ignored it until he was safely buckled in behind the wheel.

“What is the matter with you?” he growled as he started the car.

“I told Daddy,” I informed him, watching the front door of my house in case my dad suddenly came out.

“Oh,” Harris frowned. “And?”

“He said he was okay with it. That he was glad that we were going to date.” Harris backed out of the driveway and put the car in Drive and only then did I start to relax.

“So why are you acting like we need to be running to Mexico?”

I grimaced. “Because it was surreal. I didn’t know whether he was being serious or not. It scared me more than if he’d gone off the walls about it.”

Harris laughed. “I knew he wasn’t going to have a problem with it, Lu. He told me weeks ago that if we ever decided we wanted something more than friendship that he would be cool with it.”

I blinked, sure that I hadn’t just heard him correctly. “He did? Why didn’t you tell me?” I exploded. “I’ve been scared to death, fearing for your life.”

He shrugged. “You weren’t ready to tell him. You had to have the guts to tell him without me making it easier on you. I had to know that you were really ready to take us seriously.”

I went completely still in my seat. “Excuse me?” Had he really thought I wasn’t serious about the two of us being together? What the hell!

“Look, I knew you wanted to be with me, but I also know that to you it wasn’t actually real until you told your parents about us. Real is important to me, Lucy. That’s why I was so impatient for you to tell him the past few weeks.” He braked at a stop sign and reached for my hand, which was now free of that stupid soft cast on it. “Don’t be pissed at me. You know I’m right.”

I wanted to be mad, but I knew that he was right. Damn it. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he assured me and leaned over to brush a quick, soft kiss over my lips. “I knew I had to give you time. I’m just glad it’s over now. I don’t have to pretend I’m not in love with you when your family is around.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too. Always.”

Those words wrapped around me as he shifted gears and drove on.

I was nervous when we got to the tattoo shop, but as soon as I sat down in the chair to go first, a calm washed over me and I barely felt the needle as I had the Celtic knot inked into my left wrist. It took less than fifteen minutes from start to finish on the tattoo, and I was in love with it.

Harris sat in the same chair when I was done and when it was finished we took a picture of our ink so I could send it to Kin before the tattoo artist bandaged us up. Outside the shop, Harris grabbed hold of my waist and pulled me roughly against him for a kiss that had me going up in flames.

Like it always did when his lips touched mine, my mind shut down. All thoughts of dinner or celebrating my birthday evaporated. All I wanted was his hands on me, touching me, making me crazy for more. Ever since our first heavy-duty make out session where he’d sent me soaring through the stars, we’d been getting more and more daring. Last night, in his office at First Bass, I’d actually convinced him to touch my favorite spot with his fingers. Up until then he had never really touched me there, not with his hand at least. I knew it was something he’d been struggling with—that he thought it was wrong to touch me sexually before I was eighteen—and I wasn’t ashamed to say I’d felt powerful when he’d given in to my pleas for more.

When he lifted his head, we were both struggling for air. “Dinner,” he said, as if trying to remind himself. “Dinner first.”

I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth. It was beginning to be a habit but I knew that it drove Harris crazy when I did it. “How about dessert first?”

His arms tightened even more, pulling me harder against him. “Don’t tempt me, Lucy. It’s taking everything inside of me not to put you in that car and take you back to my place. This is a special day for you, sweetness.”

I pouted out my bottom lip but didn’t argue. As much as I wanted to be alone with him, I didn’t want to mess up his plans. Although, with the way Harris’s hardness was flexing against my lower stomach, I was seriously tempted to say to hell with everything else and beg him to take me home and make love to me.

Chuckling, Harris guided me back to his car and placed me in the passenger seat. Dinner, I told my screaming body. Then a little while at First Bass. I could be patient. Really, I could.

Damn it.

Harris

Finish dinner. Give her the present I got her. Back to First Bass.

I kept repeating those three things over and over in my head, reminding myself that I needed to follow that plan. That was the safe route, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do. If we did what I really wanted, we would have already been back at my apartment, in my bed, and she would have already been screaming my name.

I shifted in the booth, trying to ease some of the pressure against my fly where my dick was trying to tear its way through. Lucy sat across from me at our private booth, smiling and talking animatedly as she ate her favorite dinner—chicken parmesan with lots of garlic knots. I was trying to make this as special for her as possible, but my lower body was trying to make this all about me.

Fucking hell, I just wanted to sink deep inside her tight little body and stay there for eternity. Was that so bad?

No. It damn well wasn’t so bad. Not now that she was eighteen. I could touch her without regret now. I could make her mine in every sense of the word.

It wasn’t going to happen tonight, though. Not when I still had to get through the rest of the night with our friends. Maybe we could sneak into my office later and we could make out for an hour or two.

“Am I talking too much?”

I lifted my gaze from where it had been trained on her lips. I hadn’t heard half of what she’d been saying because I’d been too captivated by that luscious mouth and what I wanted to do to it. What I wanted it to be doing to me. “No,” I told her honestly. “I’m just thinking about kissing you.”

Her eyes clouded with desire. She set her knife and fork down and wiped her mouth. “I really wish you would. You’ve barely touched me today.”

I reached for her hand and linked our fingers together. “I’m aching to touch you, sweetness. But I know the second I do, this day is over. I want this birthday to be perfect for you. I don’t want to end it by rushing you into bed with me.”

Her fingers tightened on mine. “Maybe I want to be rushed,” she murmured in a voice that had me shuddering with the effort to hold back.

Dinner. Present. Club.

Dinner. Present. Club.

Her damp, pink tongue left her mouth and skimmed over her bottom lip. Holy fucking hell.

Dinner.

Present.

Club.

“You’re evil, you know that?”

Her smile was flirty, her laugh soft and musical. “Yeah, babe. I know.”

Shaking my head, I reached into my pocket with my free hand and pulled out the jewelry box I’d asked the clerk to wrap for me when I’d bought it the week before. Placing the silver-wrapped gift on the table between us, I tried to distract her in hopes that it would distract me.

Dark brown eyes widened when she saw the small box. “What’s this?”

I shrugged. “Happy birthday, Lucy.”

Her hand trembled as she pulled it free of mine and reached for the small box with both hands, as if it weighed enough that she would need them both. “Please tell me that isn’t a ring, Harris.”

I snorted. “No, sweetness. That is definitely not a ring. We have a while before I hand over a diamond that big.” I winked when her head snapped up. “Relax, beautiful. Open your present.”

Her fingers still shook a little as she unwrapped the box and then lifted the lid. Her soft gasp told me she liked it even before she lifted out the diamond hoops. “You really shouldn’t have done this.”

“They weren’t that expensive,” I told her. Actually, they had cost a little more than I wanted her to know, but that didn’t matter. I had plenty of money and I wanted to spend it on her. I knew she didn’t like it, thought I was wasting money when I bought her things, so there was no way in hell I was going to tell her I’d spent ten grand on her. “Will you wear them for me tonight?”

She lifted reached up to take the studs out of her first earring hole and put them in the second before putting the hoops in. “How do they look?”

“Beautiful,” I assured her, but I wasn’t just talking about the earrings. She was so damn beautiful, it hurt. “Do you like them?” 

“I love them. Thank you, Harris.”

Because the temptation to kiss her was so much stronger now, I quickly asked for the check and got us the hell out of there. The drive to First Bass was quick. Neither of us spoke as we held hands and listened to one of her favorite satellite radio channels. “Jace will be on here one day.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I know he will be.”

“What are you going to do when Tainted Knights’ contract is over?” She was playing with my fingers and I was sure she didn’t even realize that she was doing it.

“I have a few other bands lined up. I asked Dad and Natalie to take a listen to their audition CDs to help me choose, but I’ve got it narrowed down to three.” I was really going to miss Jace when Tainted Knights left, but I knew that, with Emmie as their manager, they were going to go far. I just hoped that the new band I picked for another year contract would bring in the fans like Tainted Knights still continued to do.

Pulling up in front of the club, I turned my car over to the valet instead of parking it myself. I opened Lucy’s door and helped her out before giving my man, who was standing in front of a line of people who wanted entrance to my club, a nod. The big guy touched the earpiece in his ear, said something I didn’t hear, but I didn’t need to hear to know what he was saying.

Grinning, I dropped a quick, soft kiss on Lucy’s lips before pulling her into the club. The usual noise level filled my ears as we entered First Bass. Tiny was where he always was, standing in front of the VIP entrance. He stepped forward as we approached. “Evening, boss. Miss Thornton.”

Lucy clung to my arm and grinned up at the huge man. “Hey, Tiny. Is Kin here yet?”

Tiny didn’t even blink. “I’m not sure, Miss Thornton.”

“Oh…” Lucy frowned. “Okay.”

I pulled her closer against my side. “Don’t worry about her, Lu. I’m sure she’s okay. Come on.” I urged her up the stairs. “I’m thirsty. Let’s get drinks and chill out.”

“Yeah, okay.”

I led the way up, holding her hand. When we reached the top, I turned to face her. She stood on the next-to-last step, a smile on her face, and I couldn’t resist stealing one more. “I love you, Lu.”

She kissed me back, her tongue trying to tempt mine to play with hers a little. I wanted nothing more than to do just that, but we had things that needed our attention. Grasping each side of her waist, I lifted her up the last step and turned her while still kissing her.

Reluctantly, I drew back and set her on her feet…

“Surprise!”

Lucy jerked against me as she turned to face everyone who loved her. Her eyes widened, her mouth fell open, and her hands went to her chest as if she were trying to hold her heart inside her chest. I glanced over her head and grinned at the fifty or so people who I’d let have the run of my club while I’d been out with Lucy that afternoon.

It had been my idea to shut the club down and have Lucy’s surprise party at First Bass, but it had taken Emmie and my stepmom to put everything together for me. Now the place was decorated with at least a thousand purple balloons, streamers in the same color, and a ‘Happy Birthday, Lucy’ banner hanging over the VIP bar.

“What?” Lucy laughed and shook her head as she glanced from her parents and little brothers to the rest of her family. Lana and Drake with their girls, Shane and Harper, Nik along with Emmie and Mia. My dad was there with Natalie and Trinity. Axton and Dallas Cage. Kin and Jace, as well as the rest of Tainted Knights, and plenty more all here to celebrate Lucy’s eighteenth birthday. “Oh my gods.” I heard a catch in her throat as she stepped forward. “This is… I hate you all. I’m totally going to cry.”

A chorus of laughs filled the room as Jesse and Layla wrapped their arms around their daughter. “Happy birthday, baby.”

“No tears,” Emmie commanded as she stepped forward to take her turn hugging the birthday girl. “Natalie and I planned for everything except tears. So don’t do it,” she teased as she kissed her honorary niece’s cheek. “Love you, sweetheart. Happy birthday.”

While everyone took their turn hugging her, I moved around them and went straight to the bar where Jace was sitting with two of his bandmates. I’d only kept a few of the security staff on tonight to keep everyone outside out and to give the illusion to Lucy that the club was open. A few waitresses had also been asked to work tonight and two bartenders. Nate set a beer down in front of me as I took a seat beside my friend and I gave him a nod in thanks.

“You good?”

I lifted the bottle and swallowed half before setting it down again. “I can barely fucking walk. What does that tell you?”

Jace threw his head back and laughed out loud. “Poor man. I feel your pain, bro. It’s a painful pre-dick-ament.”

I snorted and finished the rest of my beer. When Nate asked if I wanted another I shook my head and turned my attention back to Lucy who was still being swallowed up by the crowd, all of them wanting to show her some love. As if she felt my gaze, her eyes found mine and her face brightened even more.

“Love you,” she mouthed and I winked.

Arms wrapped around my waist and I turned my head to kiss Jenna’s cheek. She’d been home for a little over two weeks now and so far she was doing great. She looked healthy and was acting like the old Jenna I loved so much. I just hoped she stayed that way when I moved out at the end of the month.

I couldn’t stay in our apartment much longer. Not when she was still with Tessa—who thankfully wasn’t in attendance tonight. I’d thought that I’d convinced Jenna that Tessa wasn’t good for her, but she was still on the fence about breaking up with the other girl. All I wanted was for my friend to be happy, but I wasn’t going to hang around and watch while Tessa brought her down again.

“Okay?”

Jenna nodded, her smile bright as she asked Nate for a glass of ice water. “Tomorrow.”

I couldn’t help but frown, she wasn’t making sense to me. “Tomorrow…what?”

“I’m ending things with Tessa tomorrow.” She lifted the glass and took a thirsty swallow before facing me again. “You were right. She’s trouble and now that I’m clean, I can honestly tell you that I don’t think I was ever in love with her. I was infatuated and in some deep lust, but it was the drugs that made me think it was love.”

My mouth gaped open for a moment before I forced it closed. Looking at her, seeing how natural she was, I realized that she was really going to do it. If she had just been saying it to convince me to stay at our apartment, I was sure that I would have known. Her eyes always shifted and she would tap her finger when she was pretending. “Do you want me to be there when you do it?”

She shook her head. “Nah, this is something I need to do without you holding my hand. But thanks, Harris. For everything.”

“Jen, you know I would do anything for you. You’re my friend. If you need me, I’ll always be there for you.” It was a promise we’d both made to each other when I’d moved in with her my freshman year of college. We would always have each other’s backs. No matter what.

“I know. Same here.” She pressed a kiss to my cheek before pushing away from the bar. “I’m gonna go hug the birthday girl and then dodge my brothers. They are still curious about where I’ve been the last few months and I’m not ready to tell them the whole truth yet.”

“See you later, Jenna.”

“She’s looking good,” Jace commented beside me. “Think she will fall off the wagon?”

“I hope not,” I muttered as I watched Jenna squeeze her way between Harper Stevenson and a very pregnant Lana to hug Lucy.

Lucy welcomed her warmly, having seen firsthand how much of an improvement Jenna had made in her recovery already. When Jenna hugged her, Lucy hugged her back and I watched my girl’s lips move as she whispered something in Jenna’s ear. The taller girl nodded and stepped back with a sad smile on her face.

“Okay, you two losers,” Grayson Knight grumbled as he stood up from the bar. “I’m here to play a gig for the birthday girl. Not sit around pissing the night away. Let’s go.”

Jace muttered something under his breath but stood. “I don’t get paid enough to have to deal with his mood swings.”

I chuckled. “Suck it up, dude. It’s all worth it.”

“Keep telling me that. I might actually believe you one day.”

Lucy

I couldn’t believe that he’d done this for me.

This was probably the best birthday I’d ever had in my life. Of course I’d said that before. My parents always strove to give me memorable birthdays, but this was different. This was from Harris. I was never going to forget how amazing he made my eighteenth for me.

The party had been going on for over two hours now. Tainted Knights was still playing downstairs and we’d all had a big piece of birthday cake already. I could tell that the few kids who were there were starting to get tired and I couldn’t blame them. After all the excitement of the day, I was fighting my own exhaustion.

All I wanted was to fall into bed and dream of this perfect day…

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the only thing I wanted.

My gaze found Harris across the room. He was sitting on one of the leather couches with his baby sister sitting on the armrest and his dad on his other side. Standing over him was my dad and Axton Cage. They were all grinning, laughing every few minutes, and talking animatedly.