Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 133975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
He touched the bite mark on her shoulder. “I like seeing my teeth on you. I like seeing my fingerprints on you. I like knowing you’re sore as hell when you’re walking around so that you don’t forget for a moment how I made you feel getting sore.”
Her wet lashes fluttered and the merest ghost of a smile touched her mouth. She gave a little shake of her head. “It isn’t normal.”
“I don’t give a fuck. It’s our normal. You and me. As for parties and you getting information, I want you with me for my own personal reasons. Not for the club, not for you to mingle. If anything, it’s going to be a high-stress situation for me because I don’t like other men around you. I had no idea I’d feel that way, and frankly, it pisses me off. Watching you nearly die made me into a fucking pussy, but we’ll both have to put up with it until I get over it.”
Her mouth formed a real smile this time, and that heavy stone in his chest began to ease just a little.
“It’s okay to be Lyric, wonderful and fake with her clients, but never with me. When you look at me, you see me. You know I’m the one you trust. I’m the one you turn to. Whatever relationships others have, have nothing to do with us. It’s you and me. You get upset, you come to me. I get upset, believe me, baby, you’re going to know. Are you getting what I’m saying? Because we’re talking this out until you do. This is the last time I want you to think you aren’t meant for me. I know you are. I need you to get there with me.”
She gave him that little smile that always got him in the gut. “You can’t order me to have self-esteem. Or to never have doubts about us.”
“You can doubt yourself, but not us. We’re going to make all kinds of mistakes, babe, but it doesn’t matter if we both know what we’re meant to be. And that’s to be together.”
Thirteen
Every day for an entire week Keys took Lyric to the new salon so she could begin setting it up the way she wanted it. He’d drop her off and disappear, usually to go to Steele’s home to oversee his protection or to the clubhouse if Czar called everyone in. Lyric didn’t ask questions about what he was doing. She figured, right now, things were peaceful, and she needed peaceful. The weekend was coming up fast, and she knew Keys expected her to go to the party with him.
She could put the party out of her mind because the week was the most amazing week of her life. There was midnight coffee, which kept them awake. Keys always had ways to make her fall asleep. Holding hands in the garden. Doing dishes together. Sitting in the kitchen while he fixed an amazing dinner. Sharing laughter. She’d never laughed so much in her life. She loved seeing Keys so relaxed. He spent a great deal of time in his workshop building their new picnic table. He was also constructing a beautiful, unique bench seat for the garden. He always came into the house smelling of fresh wood.
Lyric looked out the window, the way she had a hundred times, as she measured and moved furniture around in her new salon. Torpedo Ink managed to get superfast deliveries she would have thought impossible. Keys assured her Code could do anything on a computer, and she was beginning to think it was true. The equipment was much better quality than anything she’d ever owned. The furniture was solid and handmade or carved by one or all of the four men who owned the construction business. Even the shelving was superior, mostly because Maestro and Player ensured it was.
She couldn’t believe how fast everything was coming together. Absinthe was acquiring the permits for her business. He’d filed the business name and taken care of everything for her. She especially appreciated his help because she found paperwork tedious. Absinthe seemed to expedite things just as Code did. Torpedo Ink certainly got things done when they said they would.
A hesitant knock came from the outside door, and Lyric poked her head out of the facial room she was setting up. The door, which she realized she hadn’t locked, against Keys’ specific instructions, opened to allow three women to come into her shop. She wasn’t about to be rude to any potential clients, so she pulled off her gloves and stepped into the main room of the very spacious salon. She’d never had a space as large or as nice.
“Good afternoon, ladies,” she greeted, giving them her brightest Lyric smile. “I’m not open yet, but…” She waved her hand to encompass the shop. “I love it so much, I’m happy someone came in so I can show it off.”