“Hi, guys,” I greeted a little hesitantly.
“You have got to be Stevenson’s girl,” Zander said with a grin. “Now I see why he’s been in such a tizzy all day.”
I blinked. “Thanks… I think.”
“It’s kind of crazy to think of that fucker with a steady girl...” Wroth shook his head “...but obviously he has good taste.”
My cheeks warmed with a mixture of pleasure and embarrassment. I still wasn’t used to compliments from hot guys. “I like to think he does.”
I sat there talking to both of the guitarists for a long while. I found they were both kind of charming underneath all of that rocker toughness. Wroth was an ex-Marine, which fascinated me, and I wondered if I could get him to give me an interview for
When Shane still hadn’t appeared, I felt a little deflated and excused myself to the ladies’ room.
The bathrooms were at the back of the club, down a hidden corridor. As soon as I turned the corner to the ladies’ room, a strong hand wrapped around my waist and pulled me against a hard chest. Startled, I nearly screamed until the familiar, tantalizing smell of Shane’s aftershave hit my senses and I melted against him.
I dropped my purse and wrapped my arms around his neck, holding on for dear life. “I thought you were mad at me and you left,” I nearly sobbed.
“So now we’ve both learned our lesson, huh?” he teased before his mouth devoured my own.
I kissed him back, trying to make up for the days we shouldn’t have been apart. I was so glad I had worn the little black skirt that Dallas had suggested I borrow from her. Shane wasted no time in pushing it up my hips as he backed me against the opposite wall.
Maybe I should have been worried about someone finding us like this. But I didn’t. Shane had brought out the wild side in me. During the last few months, we had made more than a handful of visits to Sensual House, and one of their rooms gave you the experience of having public sex with the one way mirror that took up nearly one whole wall.
Oddly enough, that had been my favorite room to experiment in. It was so naughty watching people walk by the one way mirror while Shane took me against the wall, or on the bed, or any other place in that room. But there had been that safety net of no one being able to see us. I couldn’t believe how hard I had come when Shane had taken me against the wall for the first time while I watched a couple stop in front of the wall of the mirror I was looking out of. While the man turned to kiss his girlfriend, I had been filled with a rush that had nearly brought me to my knees as I came around Shane.
A moan escaped me when his fingers slipped under the hem of my panties to find me wet for him. Two fingers thrust into me, and I clenched around them with need.
“I don’t think I can be gentle,” he growled against my ear, making me shiver in anticipation.
“I don’t want gentle. I want it rough. Hard.”
“Thank fuck!” Two seconds, that was all he needed to free himself and thrust into me.
Chapter 20
It was Christmas Eve.
Not exactly what I would call an ideal time to get married, but it was what Lana and Drake had wanted, so who was I to judge. I stood in the back of the church in my bridesmaid’s dress with Emmie, Layla, and Dallas. We were just relaxing, talking about nothing of any consequence while we waited for the wedding to start.
I was surprised at how calm Lana was. When I had been a bridesmaid for Cecil’s niece a few years ago, she had been anything but calm. She had been borderline bridezilla, screaming at everyone for no apparent reason, sweating off her makeup and having to reapply it several times. But Lana was just sitting on the little sofa with her sister beside her, laughing along with everyone else when Emmie made some mouthy comment.
I was curious as to how Drake was taking the small wait before the wedding started. While everyone else was talking, not paying attention to me, I stepped out of our little room and quietly went down the hall to where Shane and his brother were. Before I lifted my hand to knock, I heard Drake.
He wasn’t as calm as Lana by a long shot. “What if she decides that she doesn’t want to marry me after all? I mean who could blame her? I’m no good for her. She deserves better.”
“Of course she does. She deserves a fucking lot better,” Jesse said in a hard, cool tone. “But she wants
“But…”
Not wanting to hear Drake tearing himself to pieces a moment more, I opened the door without knocking. Drake was pacing, his hands raking through his shaggy hair like a man tormented. Nik and Jesse stood by the window revealing December in New York and the two inches of snow already on the ground. Shane was sitting on the little leather sofa across the room, watching his brother with troubled eyes.
All eyes turned on me when I entered the room. Without even second guessing what I should do, I crossed over to Drake and hugged him tight. After only a small hesitation, he hugged me back. “Lana sends her love. She can’t wait to see you and become your wife.”
All the tension seemed to evaporate from his body. For a moment his arms tightened around me. “Thank you,” he whispered.
With a smile, I stepped back and gave his hands one last squeeze before leaving the room. Back in Lana’s room, I went over to her and dropped a kiss on top of her head. “Drake sends his love.”
“Is he okay?” Lana asked.
“He’s doing better now,” I promised.
The church was huge but it was nowhere near full. OtherWorld and a few other rockers were in attendance, but that about summed up the guest list. Linc, Cecil, and a girl that was related to one of the members of OtherWorld were the only normal guest in attendance. Lana’s father was sitting in the front row watching with all smiles as Jesse gave Lana away.
The ceremony was beautiful, and I couldn’t keep the tears at bay as I watched Drake struggle through his vows as he openly cried. When the minister pronounced them husband and wife, Drake pulled Lana close and kissed her with such love and tenderness that I was sure there wasn’t a dry eye in the church.
The reception was just as small as the ceremony had been. Of course there were paparazzi trying to get in, but Emmie had hired security to keep everyone out. My boss had asked me to do an article on it, but I had told him point blank that I wouldn’t. Lana and Drake wanted this special day to remain just for them; they didn’t have to share it with the world. And I wasn’t going to disrespect them by writing about it.
“This is nice,” Shane murmured as he pressed his lips to my ear while we danced. “Maybe it will give you a few ideas about your own wedding.”
I stilled in his arms. Shocked to the point of being nearly unable to stand up on my own, I leaned into him for support. “W-what?” I managed in a voice that was more than a little squeaky. Marriage hadn’t been on my mind. We had only known each other a handful of months. But now that he had put that little bug in my mind, I had all kinds of crazy thoughts flashing through my head!
I felt his lips lift into a smile against my forehead. “Just a thought.”
“You’re a jerk, you know that?” I closed my eyes, but I couldn’t help but smile. “I love you, though.”
“I love you more, beautiful.”
Christmas passed with more spirit this year than there had been the year before. Drake and Lana were off on their honeymoon in the Bahamas instead of rehab this time, so we were all breathing a little easier. We were all smiles as opposed to the tension that everyone had been feeling just twelve months before when Lana had announced that she was moving across the country to start a new life that didn’t involve Drake.
I got to wake up with Harper in my arms, so I had a reason to be happy no matter what day it was. We
