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“You’re my only baby girl, Lu. I’ll spoil you all I want,” he said in a gruff voice.
“Love you, Daddy.”
Chapter 1
Lucy
February
The material of the dress I had just stepped into felt scratchy against my skin. It was expensive silk, or so the price tag had proclaimed it when Jenna and Kin helped me pick it out the week before. I knew it wasn’t actually the material of the damn thing that was making me feel like every inch of my body was covered in hives.
It was me.
Breathe.
“You look hot,” my best friend said with a grin as she came into the bedroom after having just finished putting on her makeup in my bathroom. “Harris is going to come in his pants the second he sees you in that.”
I examined myself in the full-length mirror on the back of the closet door. We’d spent the entire afternoon at the spa and then had our hair done afterward. The stylist had straightened my crazy curly hair that now hung to the middle of my back. I’d let Kin do my makeup since she was the queen of that contour bullshit, and I had to admit the smoky eye with just a hint of purple went perfectly with my purple silk dress. The material clung to my body, dipping down just enough to give the tiniest tease of cleavage. It was the ideal mix of sexy and demure to make both Harris and my dad happy.
Which, in the end, was all I really cared about. As long as the two men I loved the most in the world were happy, I was happy too.
It would be over in just a few hours. I wouldn’t have to worry about the flashing lights and possible whispers by the time I returned home later with Harris.
With that thought firmly in mind, I pulled on the killer black boots I had practically drooled over from the moment I set eyes on them and grabbed my clutch. “I’m so ready for this night to be over,” I grumbled as the two of us left my apartment and headed for the elevators.
Our engagement party was tonight. I should have been thankful the moms and Aunt Emmie had given me a little over a month to prepare for the party. Especially since there were going to be nearly two hundred people there. Two hundred of our nearest and dearest, or so the trio had assured me when I’d made the mistake of asking how many people I should expect in attendance.
I wasn’t even sure I knew two hundred people who were near and dear to me, so I figured there would be more people there for Harris than me. With all the new connections he’d made over the last few years since First Bass opened, I had an inkling the night was going to be filled with more strangers than actual people I cared about. Hence the hives.
Kin touched her hand to my arm, giving me a look that told me she understood what I was feeling. “Just breathe, okay? Harris will be beside you the entire time. And you know Jace and I will be right there with you. If it gets to be too much, just give me the code word and I’ll cause a scene, and Jace can sneak you out the back or something.”
Despite my misgivings, a grin teased at my lips. “What’s the code word?”
She touched her index finger to her chin, thinking quickly—and most likely dirtily. But then she surprised me with, “Banana.”
A laugh bubbled out of me, easing a little of the tension in my shoulders. “What? Why would that be the code word?”
She shrugged her slender shoulders. “I figured that was the least likely word that would come out of your mouth all night. This way I’ll know for sure that’s what you mean if you have to use it.”
Still laughing, I shook my head at her and stepped into the now open elevator. Kin hit the button for Jace’s floor, and we were both giggling when the doors opened to find Jace standing right in front of us. I took in his elegant suit, carefully styled hair, and the smirk on his face.
He gave a low wolf whistle that had us both blushing with pleasure, but his blue gaze grazed over me before he ate up the sight of his girlfriend. Her dress wasn’t nearly as demure as my own. The backless baby-blue satin dress was held up by delicate shoestring straps. She was wearing a pair of heels that put her at the perfect eye level with him, but his gaze wasn’t on her face.
“Hey!” she mock-scolded him. “Eyes up here, babe.”
He shot her a crooked grin as he stepped forward to kiss her, giving the lipstick she had on a true test to see if it was actually going to stay in place. I rolled my eyes and stepped back, pushing the button to hold the elevator doors open so it wouldn’t crush Kin, who was still half inside with me.
After nearly a full minute, I cleared my throat loudly, but that didn’t even penetrate their lust-filled brains. Muttering a curse, I grabbed both of them by the arms and guided them back into the elevator before punching the garage floor button. As the elevator descended, it stopped a few floors down. I cringed as the jerk who lived in 12B stepped on beside me and kept his gaze on my two friends who were still going at it hot and heavy.
Shit, I hated that guy.
The first time I’d met him I had been alone in the elevator and he’d had some chick all over him much like Kin was on Jace now. But while the girl had been licking and sucking on his neck, practically dry-humping his leg, he had lifted his head and looked right at me. His brown eyes had been bloodshot, and I could smell the booze on both him and the girl in his arms. Those eyes had practically fucked me as he stood there with that smug-ass grin on his face. When the elevator had stopped, I’d flipped him off as he’d carried his girl out.
The second time, I’d actually gotten a better look at the guy. He had shaggy dark hair with just a few natural, sun-kissed highlights. His nose was on the crooked side, but I didn’t look close enough to see if it was from being broken or just the way it was shaped. His skin was on the darker side of olive, reminding me of Harris. That time, I wasn’t alone in the elevator. Kin and I had finished with classes early and were going to study in my apartment. She had one of her books already open and was skimming through her notes.
I had tried to ignore the guy as he’d stepped into the elevator, crowding us into the back corner even though the three of us were the only ones present. I’d clutched Kin’s elbow, pulling her attention away from her studying to the creep that was standing far too close. As soon as her eyes clashed with the guy’s, she had stiffened.
“Back the fuck up, asshole,” she’d growled at him.
