My body sank into a pool of heated bliss. “We’re fake dating.” I said it to remind myself that Killian and I weren’t real.
“You can call it whatever you want. But you know exactly what this is.”
The second the warmth of his body left mine, I wanted it back again. God, I wanted Killian back. Not that I’d ever had him, but a taste of him.
“What do you mean?”
He strode to the front door. “I’ll see you at Compass.”
“What? You’re going?”
“Savvy. You’re dancing at my club. Do you really think the guy you’re dating wouldn’t be there? Answer your phone when I call. Unless of course you enjoy me showing up and undressing you.” He offered a crooked grin. “Nice panties by the way. I love black lace.”
I gaped. He opened the door and was gone.
I hated the club.
I wanted to be punching my bag in my warehouse rather than sitting here with a drink while Savvy danced in a fuckin’ cage with guys looking at her.
Watching her lasted a total of five seconds before I had to walk away; otherwise, I’d have dragged her out of the cage and the club.
How the hell did this happen?
Fuck. The instinct to protect her was so strong it ate at my control. A control I’d built up since I’d stopped fighting.
The need to protect those I cared about was embedded in me. I lived with losing Emmitt every fuckin’ day. I relived the image of him cold and lifeless in the stream. Cradling him to my chest while the rain pounded down on us and the river soaked me as I sat in the water with him on my lap. It was hours before someone found us. I didn’t even know who it was. I just remember fighting them when they tried to take Emmitt away from me.
Emmitt lay dead in a cold stream, and I’d been kissing Keeva Campbell.
I’d done everything I could to change who I’d become after his death. The fighting. The anger. The volatile emotions like lightning strikes going off at any given moment.
But Savvy… Savvy had always had something in her that tamed the lightning ever since the first time I saw her. She believed in people. She was stubborn and determined to get what she wanted, yet giving and accepting of others at the same time.
Fuck, she still volunteered at the hospital. But that shouldn’t surprise me. That was who she was. She obviously had no money from the state of her car and her apartment. That fuckin’ ex-boyfriend screwed her over and instead of being bitter, angry and complaining about it, she was trying to get her life back together while still taking the time to help others.
Emmitt would’ve gotten along with her. They were similar in that they both had kindness running through their veins. Forgiveness.
I didn’t forgive so easily.
I knew Savvy’s attraction to me was just as strong as mine. She tried to hide it. Fight it. But you couldn’t hide goose bumps. Shivers. The way her breath hitched and her heart pounded.
One month. I had one month to convince her to be with me for real.
A shadow hovered over me, and I glanced up to see Luke. His gaze shifted to my untouched scotch.
I couldn’t drink. Not tonight. Not when I was feeling volatile. “Did you find him?”
“Yeah.” He paused, then, “He’s a scumbag.”
I snorted. “Yeah.” I’d asked Luke to locate David so I could have a chat with him. I’d already known he was scum since he’d cheated on Savvy. Not only did he cheat, but he cheated on someone as fuckin’ rare as Savvy which made him a scumbag and a bastard.
Luke frowned. “Jolie won’t like it if you confront this guy.”
Jolie was the band’s publicist and she most definitely wouldn’t be happy about me going to my “girlfriend’s” ex-boyfriend’s place to beat the shit out of him. But I didn’t do that anymore. I was going to have a conversation.
“The faster I deal with this, the faster I can get her out of here,” I said. Because I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to handle her dancing at the club.
“I’m not letting you go without me,” Luke said.
I grinned. “I know.”
Luke nodded to the dance floor. “She’s on break.” Then he walked away.
Savvy. I wanted to see her. I always wanted to see her. Be near her. Fuck, what the hell was I going to do if at the end of the month she wouldn’t be with me?
That couldn’t happen. Keeping away from her was impossible now.
I pulled out my phone and texted. She’d have her phone as all the girls did when they were on the floor in case they needed security. No drugs and every precaution for safety were nonnegotiable when Brett and I discussed opening Compass.