“You know they’re obsessed with you. If they think there’s a chance…” I held my fingers apart a fraction of an inch. “Even a tiny one, that you’re into me, they’ll be selling you on my attributes all day.” I made matters worse by thinking the way they would, and ticking items off on my fingers. “Loyal, dependable, trustworthy, good teeth, child-bearing hips…”
He was laughing his ass off now, and I couldn’t say I blamed him. I’d plummeted right over the edge. “Quit laughing.” I pushed against his shoulder when he wouldn’t stop. “I mean it, I’m gonna smack you.” And I would too. Right upside the head.
“You’re too cute,” he said, bending over and out of reach.
I smacked his ass, since that was the only part of him within reach. “I’m not being cute. This is serious. Do not, I repeat, do not encourage them, Knox. They’ll go crazy if they think we’re a thing. Well, crazier than they already are. And I couldn’t handle that.” I had a hard enough time handling them when they were giving me grief about the usual things: not taking care of myself, not eating or sleeping enough, dating losers…
“You really think they want us to be a thing?” he asked, still grinning. “They told you that?”
“They didn’t have to. They talk about you all the time.” I stuck my tongue out at him when his grin widened. “Besides, they think I need someone to look after me.” I rolled my eyes. “They think this is the nineteen-freakin’-fifties, I swear. It was okay for them to be wild and crazy when they were young, traipsing all over the country, doing drugs and God knows what else, but when it comes to me and Charli… they want us to live like nuns.”
He shifted closer, reaching for my hand. “I don’t blame them for being concerned, Cec. Hell, I worry about you too.”
“What?” He was not allowed to jump on this bandwagon. I’d kick his ass right off. “Why would you worry about me? You know I’m not doing anything dangerous or—”
“I’ve seen the way guys look at you when you’re onstage.” His eyes were suddenly shuttered, like he was lost in thought. “You know how many times I’ve heard security scaring away some loser who’s trying to get at you?”
“Really?” Our security team must have been better than I thought, because I had no idea. Knox was the draw. I always thought I was just a small part of the show.
“Yeah, really.” He frowned as he ran his thumb over my palm. “You’re got to be vigilante, girl.” His eyes locked with mine. “Because I swear if anything ever happened to you, I’d lose my mind.”
The air was charged with emotion and if we hadn’t pulled up to the curb at that moment I would have bet a million dollars he was going to kiss me. And a million more I would have let him. Damn. What were we doing… and where the hell was it going to lead?
* * *
Knox
I was in the man cave with Cece’s dad, admiring his latest acquisition, a ’28 JH Two Cam. Salivating over the thing is more like it and he knows it. “Whaddya say, Chee? You gonna let me buy this beast off you when you’re done with her?”
Chee was a nickname he’d acquired as a biker, but I didn’t know, or care to know his real name. He’d always been Chee to me.
He stroked his long white beard and grinned, knowing my back was against the wall and he could name his price. You didn’t find these beauties every day and when you did they hadn’t been fully restored by a master like Chee.
“I don’t know about that,” he said, circling the masterpiece. “I’ve gotten pretty attached.”
“Come on, now. You know Aidy will bitch-slap you if you hang on to another one.” Aidy was Cece’s mom, a name I was pretty sure she’d acquired when she’d been running with some badass clubs back in the day.
He laughed, making me grin. He had the kind of booming laugh that drew stares and scared little kids. I loved it. Everything about Chee was big, bold, and unapologetic. I’d known from the first time we met he was my kind of guy. Just like his daughter, we were kindred spirits.
“You’re right about that.” He was still chuckling when he said, “But that’s how we keep things interesting around here. If I didn’t get the little lady all riled up we’d be missin’ out on one of my favorite things… make-up sex.”
If Cece heard that she’d hurl, but I thought it was hilarious. Shed a whole new light on the reason they bickered all the time.
I clapped my hands, laughing. “You’re the best, Chee. I hope I’m still goin’ at it like that when I’m your age.” I wasn’t sure how old he was, but my best guess was early sixties.
“You will be,” he said, winking. “If you choose the right woman.”
That made me think of his daughter, and how Cece could inspire a man to go all night long, no matter how old or tired he was. I could tell I’d let my mind wander a little too long when I caught Chee sizing me up.
“Who is she?”
Shit. I’d never lied to him before, or even tried, but if he was as good at reading people as Cece claimed, I was in way over my head. “What do you mean?” I started circling the bike again, thinking about throwing an outrageous figure at him, just to throw him off the scent. I wasn’t sure it would work, but it would be worth an extra twenty grand just to test it.
“The girl you were thinking about just now. Who is it?”
I leaned down, wiping a smudge off the chrome as Chee cut the tip off a cigar before offering it to me. “What makes you think there’s a girl?” I smiled. “Or just one?”
He knew about my reputation, which was one reason I believed Cece was off base about him thinking I was the right man for her. He was one over-protective papa, and if he thought there was a chance I was jerking his baby girl around he’d pistol whip me.
