“Nothing,” she told him. “For once I didn’t do a damn thing. Georgia rushed the stage, kissed…the guy preforming, and got escorted out of the club with her hands cuffed with zip ties. Lucy gave us a ride home and Marcus here walked us to the door to explain to my father and Jillian what had happened. Georgia got a pat on the head by mommy dearest and I got grounded indefinitely for not using my ‘influence’ to get her out of trouble.”
A shrill honking from the direction of Georgia and Carolina’s car had us all turning our heads. I rolled my eyes at the irritated look on the older girl’s face and turned back to the others. Angie’s eyes were narrowed, darker, and cold as she continued to stare over at the little sports car.
“We’ll see how long you stay grounded once Daddy gets here,” Angie muttered before giving the two sisters a one-fingered hand wave that had me bursting into a fit of laughter.
I was sure of it now. I was really going to like these two. Especially if Angie could smile so sweetly while throwing those two bitches the bird.
“But we aren’t going to get to hang out tonight, are we?” Caleb asked with a pout.
The grin on Kin’s face dropped. “No,” she muttered, her eyes falling to the asphalt to hide her tears.
Unable to stand the sight of her tears when she’d been so happy just a few seconds before, I rushed to offer to help. “How about I take you two out on the town tonight? Marcus and I will pick you up at your hotel and take you to dinner and then to First Bass in the VIP lounge.”
Kin’s smile was small but at least she wasn’t crying. “Yeah, you two. Go out with Lucy and have a good time. When Carter get’s here we can have our time.” Georgia pressed down on the horn again, longer and louder before Kin’s face twisted with anger and the twins hugged her again. “I’m so happy you two are here. I love you both so much.”
“Kin!” Carolina stuck her head out of the passenger window. “Let’s go. Mother is expecting us.”
She muttered something under her breath that I didn’t catch before moving out of the group hug she was being smothered with. “Did you guys bring any cash with you? You might have to bail me out of jail later after I beat the shit out of those two.”
“You scared to get into more trouble?” Angie asked, a thoughtful look on her face.
Kin’s brows rose toward the sky. “Ang, really? Have you forgotten me so easily?”
When Angie smiled this time, it nearly scared me. I could see the wheels turning in her evil mind right then. “I’ll call you later, sugar bug.”
“Did I mention I’ve missed you?” Kin laughed. “Because I have. So bad.” She blew her stepsister a kiss before jogging off to get into the back of the expensive sports car.
We all tensed as we watched Georgia back out of her reserved parking spot, nearly taking out the front bumper of a parked car as she did so. My gut clenched and I knew I wasn’t going to have any relief until I called Kin later to make sure she had made it home okay. Marcus was watching them go with a little more concentration than I was used to seeing from him, letting me know just how upset he was that Kin was in the back seat of that car.
I tried to push my fear for her to the back of my mind and turned to smile at my two new friends. “So, what hotel are you two staying in? We can pick you up around seven? What are you in the mood to eat?” I could tell from the expressions on their faces that food was the last thing on their minds when they were just as worried about Kin as I was.
Caleb stared after the retreating car for a moment longer before forcing a smile. “It doesn’t matter, Lucy. Anywhere you take us will be fine.” He pulled his cellphone out of his front jeans pocket. “Give me your number and I’ll text you the address. Or we could meet you wherever. I rented a car, so it wouldn’t be a problem.”
“Nah, I’ll pick you up. We can all get to know each other a little better on the ride.” I gave him my number and as soon as he texted me, I added him to my contacts list, noticing that I had two missed texts from Harris.
When are you coming tonight?
Miss you so bad, sweetness. <3 you.
My heart melted at the sight of that last text and I held my phone against my chest, trying to absorb the rightness of where he and I were going with our relationship.
“I guess we’ll see you tonight, then.” Angie gave me a grim smile and grasped her twin’s arm. “It was so good to finally meet you, Lucy.”
“Yeah, you, too. See you tonight.”
--
I was running late. Of course I would be when I was trying to impress two of the people Kin actually loved.
It wasn’t all my fault, though. My dad had wanted to know everything about the two people I was going to be having dinner with that night. He was still asking questions when I grabbed my jacket and purse off the table in the front hall. I tried to appease him as much as I could, telling him everything I knew about Angie and Caleb Jacobson.
“Will Harris be with you?” Dad asked as I opened the door to find Marcus already sitting in the front seat of my Range Rover in front of our house.
I’d texted Harris when I’d gotten home to see if he wanted to have dinner with me and a few friends, but he’d said he was buried at work until later and said he was just going to order a pizza or something. I’d been disappointed, but had understood. Harris had responsibilities. I respected that he couldn’t go everywhere with me.
“No, Daddy. He has to work, but we’re going to stop by First Bass afterward.” I frowned when he seemed to relax. “Daddy, it’s okay. Marcus is going to be with me. It’s not like I’m going to be in any danger or anything.”
Jesse Thornton’s wide shoulders lifted as he drew in a sharp breath. “I know, baby. I just feel better when Harris is with you.”