Just One Spark (The Kingston Family 4)

“Don’t bother because we won’t be taking the meeting. Now it’s a fucking Sunday, and I have better things to do than waste time with this shit,” Dash said and disconnected the call.

He wondered if Dean had bothered Jagger and Mac, who’d gone to visit their own families. Only Axel had stayed, because his sister was here.

Dash looked over to where the man sat with Xander’s dog, Bella, petting her head and talking to her as if she were human. Axel seemed to have bonded with the golden retriever. He’d even gotten into Dash’s habit of hanging out at Xander’s place during downtime just to play catch with the dog.

“Problem?” Cassidy asked, telling him she’d been paying attention, even as she’d talked with Aurora.

“Nothing I can’t handle. Do me a favor? Don’t send Dean the information about the time and place of the meet and greet. I don’t need him up my ass there.”

“Okay, I won’t,” she assured him.

No doubt Dean already knew the time was coming since the band did one of these events every fall, and Dash occasionally had their assistant set up visits in a couple of states if they were on tour. Dean would push for publicity; Dash would refuse. And he wouldn’t tell their manager why this was something he needed to do in private. If Dean had dug deep enough, he’d figure it out, but so far he hadn’t disrespected the boundary Dash set. And by the grace of everything in the universe, nobody had dug up the dirt on Dash’s past. No doubt due to his father’s money and influence at the time.

“Eew.” Aurora’s voice interrupted his thoughts. A glance at his sister showed she’d wrinkled her nose in disgust.

No sooner had she spoken than both Dash and Cassidy did the same as they became aware of the vile smell emanating from such a small baby.

“Jesus,” he muttered.

“Comes with the territory,” his sister said, laughing.

Not any time soon, Dash thought, but kept that feeling to himself.

Aurora rose to her feet, infant in her arms. “I left my baby bag in one of the guest rooms. I’m going to go change her.”

“Put a towel down on the bed in addition to that narrow plastic thing,” Dash told her.

Aurora laughed. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.” She walked away, leaving Cassidy grinning at him.

“What?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Your reaction to a dirty diaper is priceless.”

“That shit scares me,” he muttered.

“Pun intended?” she asked.

He grinned. Making a quick switch, moving from the table to the space beside Cassidy, he hooked an arm around her and pulled her in for a brief kiss. One he hoped would reassure her as best he could, at least for now.

* * *

The Kingstons were … a lot, Cassidy thought. Although she loved them and appreciated how they treated her like she belonged, the loud din of so many voices over too many hours had gotten to her. As she’d told Dash, she wasn’t used to a large family.

She needed some time alone to destress and unwind. Aurora had mentioned Dash touring at some point in the near future, and the thought had set off all Cassidy’s internal alarms about men and being left behind. Out of sight, out of mind had certainly been Adam’s MO, and he hadn’t been a rock star with women at his beck and call on the road.

Speaking of groupies, that story about naked women in the dressing room had shaken her. The guys were close. She had a feeling what happened on the road stayed on the road. Her only saving grace would be that her brother was there and wouldn’t protect Dash at her expense. But she didn’t want Dash behaving because he didn’t want to get caught. She wanted him to want her and only her.

To be fair, they hadn’t had a conversation about the future, and even she knew it was too soon. But the thought had settled in the back of her brain, and she feared it would stay there. As if he’d sensed her distress, he’d kissed her, and when she’d lifted her head, she’d seen her brother watching them, concern on his face.

And if those incidents weren’t enough, Dash had held Aurora’s baby. The infant’s pale skin cradled in his tanned, tattooed arms had also shaken her. My God, she wasn’t ready for a family, yet her ovaries had nearly exploded. It was something she’d love to have someday with Dash. And she’d just freaked out about the temptations on tour. It was all overwhelming.

Using the excuse that she had a headache, which wasn’t totally a lie, she’d told Dash she was going home for the night and had left before the last of his family dispersed. He’d been surprised when she’d said goodbye, but she needed space.