Rock-a-Bye, Baby

“Okay,” she said, beaming at me. Then her expression fell a little. “But maybe we should meet at the shop.”

It was my turn to frown. “Why?” I didn’t want to be away from her.

Her tone turned exasperated. “Because if you come home with me, I’ll end up very late to work.”

My head fell back as I laughed heartily, then pulled her close for a quick kiss. “You’re probably right.” She quirked a brow. “Okay,” I conceded, “most definitely right.” I released her and steered her towards the door. “I’ll walk you out.”

Once we were onboard, I took her hand and simply stood next to her, enjoying the peace I felt from just being in her presence. When we reached the lobby, the doors slid open. We stepped out, only to come face-to-face with a shell-shocked Knox. Shit.

Chapter 6

Belle

“What the fuck?” Knox bit out, his brown eyes filling with fury as he scanned me from head to toe before turning his attention to Griffith. “I warned you to stay away from my sisters, asshole.”

“C’mon, man. I’m not a complete asshole; I stayed away from two of them, didn’t I?” Griffith tried to push me back into the elevator before the doors closed behind us, but I wasn’t going to let him face my brother alone. Not when it looked like Knox was ready to tear him from limb to limb, and my sexy rock god seemed to have a death wish since he was pushing Knox’s buttons instead of trying to calm him down.

I figured it was up to me to diffuse the situation, so I took a couple of steps forward and spread my arms out. With a hand on each of their chests, I leveled an irritated look Griffith’s way before swiveling my head to glare at my brother. “I know you think you’re the boss of me, but you’re not. I’m a grown woman who can make her own decisions.”

“Except you can’t,” Knox hissed with a jerk of his chin in Griffith’s direction. “Or else you wouldn’t be doing the walk of shame after spending the night with him.”

“Now who’s being the asshole, dickhead?” I felt Griffith press against my back as he growled, “Don’t talk to her like that.”

“Stop it, both of you,” I hissed. “You’re grown men, but you’re tossing insults around like you’re a couple of teenage boys.”

Knox rolled his eyes. "Don't try to take the moral high ground, baby sis. Not when you’re still dressed in the same clothes from yesterday because you had a one-night stand with a fucking rock star of all people.”

“It wasn’t a one-night stand,” Griffith insisted.

“Not a one-night stand?” Knox’s eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Really? That’s the story you’re going with here?”

The suspicion in his voice was super irritating, so I mirrored his stance and backed Griffith up. “Yes, really. Since one-night stands by their very definition don’t include a date the next day, we couldn’t have possibly had one because we have plans for today.”

“You’re going out on a date? With him? Today?” Knox scoffed.

I didn’t get why it was so hard for him to wrap his thick skull around the idea. “Not that I owe you any details, but yes. Griffith is meeting me at the shop to help out with the flowers for a wedding today, and then we’re going out to eat tonight.”

Knox tilted his head in Griffith’s direction and quirked an eyebrow. “Have you been hanging out with Julian Storm?”

“What?” I shook my head, not understanding what the magician who starred in The Lennox’s show had to do with our conversation. “Why are you asking him about Julian?”

Knox shrugged his shoulders. “I just figured that if he’s going out on a date with you today, someone must’ve taught him how to be in two places at once.”

“Shit,” Griffith groaned, his hand gliding up my back in a soothing gesture. My brother must’ve landed a verbal blow of some kind, but apparently, I was the only one who didn’t know exactly what it was.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, asshole.” Knox reached out to grab my bicep, but Griffith stepped in front of me.

“You’ve got it all wrong.”

I tugged on Griffith’s arm until he turned back towards me. “He’s got what all wrong?”

“Yesterday was his last day in Vegas,” Knox answered from behind him. “He’s supposed to be on a plane to LA in a few hours.”

I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. “You’re leaving?”

Griffith glared at Knox over his shoulder. “Nice job hurting your sister, jackass.”

“Don’t blame the messenger for delivering news that you should’ve told me yourself,” I hissed. “Like maybe before I handed you my virginity, or when you were talking about how you’re not going anywhere, and we’ve got more than enough time to talk about stuff in the future and a possible preg—” I broke off suddenly, glancing over at my brother uncomfortably. His eyes flared, but I couldn’t tell if he’d caught on to my slip of the tongue.