The look of shock on his face somehow broke her paralysis, and she took a step toward him, bridging the gap between them. The gap that was, even after all this time, not so very great after all.
And then she was right up close, and it was she who put her arms around him, she who drew him closer. “After you’d gone, I used to hear your voice at night, telling me what I could do. Showing me that there was more to life than what I’d ever imagined. And I couldn’t let myself just waste away and do nothing. So I found a way, Levi. You were my inspiration. You’re the reason this place is here, so don’t you tell me you did nothing. Don’t tell me you never helped.”
His hands rose, cupping her face between his palms. “Christ, Sunny.” His voice sounded as hoarse as hers was. “I love you.”
And all the broken pieces of her heart slipped back together, easily and naturally and without any pain at all.
Just like that.
She rose up on her toes, pressing her mouth to his, kissing him sweetly and lightly. “And I love you. I always did, Levi. Always.”
He stroked her cheekbones with his thumbs, sending waves of heat through her. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to hear you say that. And I meant what I said about these deeds. They’re yours to do whatever you want with them. I don’t care about those plans; as long as I have you, nothing else matters.”
“Well, those can wait for now.” She turned her cheek into his touch. “What changed? What made you suddenly decide to come here?”
His smile turned rueful. “Gideon came over in the middle of the night and called me a dipshit.”
“Oh, hell. I’m sorry. I went over there last night because I didn’t know what else to do.”
“I’m not sorry. He told me what I needed to hear. Even if the person I should have been listening to was you all along.”
“Damn straight you should have.” She stepped closer, sliding her arms around his waist and clasping her hands in the small of his back. “Now, since you’ve come to my tattoo parlor, that technically means you have to get a tattoo.”
He smiled, his beautiful mouth curling in the way it used to all those years ago, when he was her friend. Her hot, sexy friend who used to make her weak at the knees and whom she used to dream about at night. “I’m okay with that. I know exactly what I want.”
“Oh, yes, that’s right. A sun?”
“How did you know?”
She shifted her hips against his. “And the placement?”
He lifted a hand, placed it over his heart. “Here.”
She bent, placing her mouth directly over the spot, kissing him. “I think I can do that.”
“I’m afraid I can’t pay you.” There was a wicked gleam in his eye. “I left my wallet at home.”
Rachel grinned. “Then how about you get in that tattoo chair and show me what else you have?”
So he did.
Turned out it was enough to last them both a lifetime.
Epilogue
Levi rolled over sleepily, reaching out for the warm body that was usually there. And came up empty-handed.
Dammit.
Opening his eyes, he frowned when he saw the empty pillow beside him. Then he checked the clock. It was six A.M. Where the hell was Rachel? She wasn’t the world’s earliest riser, and, normally at this time of the morning, she’d still be fast asleep.
Briefly he debated going back to sleep since being up at this hour wasn’t his favorite thing either, but then he shoved back the sheet and got out of bed instead. Just to make sure she hadn’t slipped in the shower, banged her head, and now was lying unconscious somewhere.
He was heading toward the bathroom when he saw a movement through the double doors of their bedroom. In the room that he’d once thought would make a great studio for her.
It was still empty.
Because at nights, when she was doing business-type stuff for Sugar Ink, she joined him in the main room, her laptop on her knee. Or they’d be over at Gideon’s, discussing the development plans for Royal, the ones they were all doing together, with Zee and Zoe and Tamara too.
It was all coming together, slowly but surely. Rachel and Gideon and the others had been liaising with the neighborhood, while Levi dealt with the money side of things. With any luck the investments he’d plugged some of his cash into would start paying out soon, and then he could get started doing serious stock market speculation. Seemed he had a talent when it came to making money. Fucking shame to waste it.
His latest task, though, had been to find an architect to do some concepts for them, and finally he thought he’d found the perfect one. He was going to meet with her today and sound her out.
Yeah, they’d been busy. No time to think about the one empty room in their apartment.
He wandered over to the doors and looked in. And sure enough Rachel was standing in the middle of the empty room, staring up at the skylight, a frown on her face.
For a second he just stood there, watching her. Because she was naked and beautiful and always had the ability to make his heart stop dead in his chest.
Not to mention making his dick go from zero to one hundred in seconds flat.
“Sunny?” he said after a moment. “You okay?”
She stared up at the skylight a moment longer, then turned to glance at him. “We’ll have to do something about that skylight.”
“Yeah? What?”
“Get a blind for it or something.”
He wandered over to her, pulling her into his arms, relishing the heat of her skin against his. “Why? And why are you standing here, at six o’clock in the morning, talking about fucking blinds for the skylight?”
The smile she gave him was like the slow rise of the sun, a dawning of warmth and excitement over her face.
His Sunny. Fuck, he loved her.
“I just thought of what we could use this room for.”
“Oh?”
She leaned against him, sliding her palms up his chest and over his shoulders, linking her fingers around the back of his neck. “I want a family, Levi.”
He got it. Instantly. And a shock of intense, electric sensation went through him. “You want this to be a nursery, don’t you?”
Her eyes were dark and wide, and he would have given her anything and everything in that moment. The sun, the moon, and all the stars in the sky. “I know we’ve got the others; I know that. But you and I, we’ve never had anything that’s ours. Never had a family of our own. And I think we deserve one.” The look on her face became hesitant, a little uncertain. “So, yeah, I’d like this to be a nursery. That is . . . if you want it to be too.”
His throat closed up, his heart drawing in tight, and he couldn’t find his voice to speak. So he gave her the only answer he could.
He bent, pressed his mouth to hers, giving her the kind of kiss that promised the world, holding her as tightly as the sensation crowding for room inside him.
And then, when he finally found his voice again to speak, he whispered against her mouth:
“I do.”
Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank Martin Biro for his wonderful editing. Helen Breitwieser for her wonderful agenting. Maisey Yates for her endless support. And to Nicole Helm for reading and loving even when I didn’t.
If you enjoyed Wrong for Me, be sure not to miss the next book in Jackie Ashenden’s scorching Motor City Royals series
SIN FOR ME
Read on for a special sneak peek.
A Kensington trade paperback and e-book on sale April 2017!
Chapter 1
Zoe sat on one of the coveted corner couches in the darkest part of Anonymous, sipping her frozen blackberry margarita and nodding her head up and down in time to the hard thumping bass that vibrated through the nightclub.
Anonymous had only been going a year, but its gritty, industrial atmosphere—the huge vaulting space used to be some kind of factory that had been abandoned along with seemingly half the buildings in Detroit—was a major
draw for the young, cool, and often tragically hip.
It was Saturday night, which meant the place was packed with miles of tattoos, more piercings than a death-metal concert, and so many beards and man buns she might as well have been in Portland. Not that she minded any of those things.
In fact, it was the whole reason she was here in the first place. By herself. Without anyone cramping her style.
Anyone being Gideon Black.
She sat back on the couch, surveying the heaving crowd on the dance floor in the middle of the club, then checking out the long metal length of the bar on the other side of it, just to be sure a familiar tall and hulking figure wasn’t lurking around.
But no, seemed he’d believed her when she’d told him she was joining Tamara and Rachel for a girls’ night at Rachel’s place.
Excellent.
Zoe picked up her margarita and took another hefty sip, scanning around for any likely looking dudes.
There were lots of guys, obviously, and more than a few were her kind of tall, dark, and handsome. Lots to choose from, in other words. But she wanted her first one-night stand—her first anything, really—to be with someone she kind of liked.
What does it matter? It’s only one night.
True. She wasn’t there to pick someone to have a relationship with. She only wanted someone hot who could make her forget her stupid, goddamn unrequited love for Gideon. A love that wouldn’t ever be returned, at least not in the way she wanted it to be. Because he pretty much saw her as a little sister and nothing more.
Well, you are his little sister.
Not technically. She was his little foster sister. And she’d only been that for a year when she was seven and they’d lived in the same foster family. Then he’d turned seventeen and aged out of the system. So really it didn’t count.
It still pissed her off that he refused to see her as anything different, though.
No, scratch pissed. She was fucking furious. Furious at him, somewhat unfairly, but mainly with herself. Because she’d felt that way about him for ten years, and nothing had changed.
Oh no, wait. Something had changed. He’d told her a couple of weeks ago to stop following him around all the time. As if she were some kind of stupid, eager puppy.
You are a stupid eager puppy.
Zoe swallowed half her margarita, balefully looking at the crowd around her.
Ever since she and Gideon had first come to Detroit from Chicago, she’d been at his side, living in their apartment above the garage while he’d protected her, looked out for her, made a family for her with Rachel and Zee and Levi. And she’d been happy. Safe, protected. Being near Gideon, knowing he was there, had been all she’d wanted.
But lately she’d started to find that safety and stability a little too stifling. A little bit too much like a cage. She’d started to think about what she wanted to do with her life, about the direction she was headed. And after watching Zee find Tamara, and Rachel and Levi find each other again, she’d begun to think about her own love life—which was nonexistent.
Currently you are headed to Nowheresville via Virginforever Town.
Zoe glowered.
The leash Gideon kept her on was short and feeling shorter by the day, especially in the past month or so. And his getting pissed off at her, for following him around and daring to ask questions about her future, hurt.
Something needed to change.
Hell, she hadn’t been a rebellious teenager, not with Gideon’s being a very strict big-brother stand-in, so maybe she was due a little rebellion time. Like now.
Attention-seeking much?
Zoe sniffed and drained her margarita, putting the glass back down on the low metal table in front of her with a click.
She wasn’t seeking attention; she was just trying to do what any twenty-five-year-old woman would. Have a normal damn life, and part of that normal damn life included going out to a nightclub, getting drunk, then getting laid.
Not necessarily in that order.
Across the dance floor, over by the bar, her attention snagged on a tall guy with broad shoulders and dark hair. Pretty hot looking. No tats, but then you couldn’t have everything. He made eye contact with her, and she found herself blushing and looking away, which was super annoying.
Her experience with men amounted to checking out hot dudes on Tumblr and talking to her friends in a few of the on-line forums she frequented. Though really, who knew what sex they were? She was assuming they were guys, but on the Internet it was never safe to assume anything.
Whatever. Her experience with actual men in real life was nil. If you didn’t count Zee and Levi, which she didn’t.
Maybe she should have brought Rachel and Tamara along with her as wing women. Then again, they probably wouldn’t approve of what Zoe was doing, and she’d prefer to keep it on the down-low anyway.
It was bad enough everyone knew about her stupid Gideon crush. Having other people witness her general man-ineptness would be a blow to her pride she didn’t think she could take.
She glanced back at the bar again to see what the guy who’d looked at her was doing, steeling herself to not look away this time. And her heart gave a small hop inside her chest.
Because he was coming toward her.
Holy shit.
She reached out for her margarita glass, but sadly there was no more left, so she had to fiddle awkwardly with it as the guy came closer and she tried not to blush or grin at him like a lunatic.
Man, he was pretty nice looking. Didn’t have Gideon’s air of gentle but firm authority or his compelling charisma, but there was something about this guy that she liked anyway. He was certainly approachable. At least, he was approaching her.
He wasn’t a local—that was for sure—since locals knew who she was and who was protecting her and liked their balls to remain in place. So obviously this guy had to be from somewhere else. Which was fine. In fact, better than fine. It suited her purposes nicely.
She swallowed as he came up to the table, suddenly aware that she was pushing herself back in her seat. Stupid. She needed to chill the hell out.
“Hey,” the guy said, giving her a very direct smile. “Looks like you’re all out of . . . whatever was in that glass of yours.”
“Blackberry f-frozen margarita,” she said, the words coming out in a helpless, stammery rush. “And . . . uh . . . yeah, I am.”
“Can I get you another?” His eyes were blue, and they roamed over her with disconcerting frankness, as if he was sizing her up.
Okay, this is your moment of glory. Do it.
Zoe gave him what she hoped was a natural-looking smile and not a fixed rictus, which was what it probably was. “Um, sure. That would be great.”
* * *
Gideon was not happy. Anonymous was the last place on earth he wanted to be at one A.M. on a Saturday morning, but, unfortunately, since Zoe had not in fact gone to Rachel’s for a girls’ night like she’d told him, he was going to have to brave the revoltingly hipster crowds in order to check it out.
It wasn’t that he didn’t like nightclubs. He just didn’t like them with Zoe in them. On her own.
Normally he was a chilled-out guy; never let his temper rule him. Was calm and considered and patient. But right now he didn’t feel very fucking calm. Or considered or patient.
Right now, he felt fucking pissed.
The queue outside the door to the club was insane, and the bouncer was new, which meant he didn’t know Gideon and didn’t realize that Gideon basically ruled Royal Road—a fact that should have granted him automatic entry without any dicking around.
Sadly for both Gideon’s temper and the new bouncer’s reputation, there was dicking around.
Eventually, after a tense five-minute standoff, Gideon cowed the bouncer into submission with a promise to report him to Jimmy, the guy who owned Anonymous, before banging open the doors and stalking into the club.
The noise and the heat of well over a hundred people all dancing
, drinking, and doing various other, probably illegal things hit him like the front of a particularly violent thunderstorm, fraying the already tenuous grip he had on his temper.
He didn’t know if she was here or not, but he was hoping for her sake that she was, because he was coming to the end of his considerable patience.
The past few months had been a real fucking trial, what with Zee and his goddamn father threatening them all, and then Levi’s getting out of jail and having a few issues adjusting. Which in turn had unfortunately attracted the attention of the very last person on earth Gideon wanted attention from. The person Gideon had been protecting Zoe from for the last ten years.
It hadn’t been Levi’s fault. Levi didn’t know Zoe’s or Gideon’s background, or what had gone down with Zoe’s mother. But still. Oliver fucking Novak was now sniffing around Royal because of Levi’s development plans, which meant Gideon didn’t want Zoe going AWOL, and certainly not at night.
Yeah, she better be here. He didn’t know what had gotten into her, whether it was some kind of late puberty/rebellion thing or what, but that shit was getting old, and she didn’t understand the danger she was in.
Which means you have to tell her.
Gideon glowered at the crowds on the dance floor, scanning around for a small, delicately built young woman with black curls, big golden eyes, and glasses.
He had his reasons for not telling her, the main one being that he hadn’t wanted her living her life in fear. Then again, if she was going to pull this kind of shit, then clearly they were going to have to have a discussion. Novak hadn’t taken an interest in Levi’s plans purely to shine up a down-and-out neighborhood for his senatorial bid. He’d chosen Royal for a reason, and maybe that reason was Zoe.
Gideon moved around the perimeter dance floor, trying to spot her. It didn’t look like she was there, though it was a little difficult to tell, what with all the writhing bodies. Lights were flashing, sparkling off sequins and sliding over glistening skin. A woman ran a hand along his arm on her way toward the dancers, giving him a suggestive look.
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