Page 5 of An Inevitable Marriage

Pressing her breasts against my chest, she trailed a long-nailed finger along the scruff covering my jaw. “He’s my celebrity crush, you know. There’snothingI wouldn’t let that man do to me.”

Every cell in my body recoiled. My fingers itched to grip her wrists and rip her off me.

Which was precisely what I did.

“You need to see a bloody ear doctor. I told you I wasn’t interested.”

If I hadn’t been so damn pissed off, I would have barked out a laugh at the offended expression on her face.

But as it stood, my annoyance grew into a wild, untamed beast I had no hope of containing. I had words for this woman. Strong words.No means no, went both fucking ways. I opened my mouth to tell her as much when Rafe’s face suddenly appeared before me.

“Don’t do it.”

Over his shoulder, I noticed Tristan ushering all three women back to the dance floor. Good.

Meeting my friend’s concerned gaze, I lifted my shoulders in a shrug. “What?”

“You’re not even trying.”

The bass bouncing off the walls had nothing on the thumping behind my breastbone. “Don’t give me that. Little Miss I’m-looking-for-someone-to-fund-my-out-of-control-shopping-habit is definitely not the type of person I want to marry.”

He made a noise, could have been a groan or a heavy sigh. I didn’t know. Didn’t care.

“Look, man,” I started. “I appreciate your concern, and trust me, I know I have a lot of shit to figure out in a really short time. Just…not tonight.”

Without waiting for a response, I pushed past him and hurried out of the stifling club. The moment I set foot on the sidewalk, I braced my hands on my hips and took a deep, deep breath.

Unfortunately, the fresh air didn’t do a damn thing to calm the storm inside me. In fact, by the time I reached my car, my feelings and thoughts were even more scattered than before.

All my life, I’d kept my distance from love. It wasn’t so much that I didn’t need a distraction as I refused to be my father’s son.

What a cold, cruel irony that I now had to do the one thing I swore I’d never do to keep my mother’s legacy alive.

Tilting my head back, I looked at the night sky.

“I’m sorry, Mom.”

Chapter two

Everlee

“Yeah,well,screwyou,too.”

Shoving my middle finger skyward, I glared at the clouds peeing on me. Not that it was nature’s fault for doing what it was created to do in the first place. Nope, this was all on me.

Because who the heck living in New York left the house without an umbrella in the middle of April?

Me, that’s who.

Ugh.

Chilled and soaked to the bone, I flipped the dark sky off again.

“When it rains, it freaking pours, right?”

A laugh bubbled up my throat, and if I hadn’t felt the way I was, the maniacal sound probably would have freaked me the hell out.

But what else was I to do?