Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 67227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
A shriek came from the far side of the grass. Cassidy and Sasha turned to see one of the big-breasted women pull off her bikini top and jump into the deep end of the pool. Three men shucked their shorts and followed.
“Oh. My. God.” Cassidy spun away, not needing to see more.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here.” Sasha gathered her things, and Cassidy pulled her cover-up over her bathing suit and slipped into her flip-flops, happy to join her friend and leave this hedonistic nightmare behind.
* * *
Dash huddled in the corner of the overly large sofa in Xander’s family room. While grumbling about too many people in his house, Xander had moved the band and Linc to a space with more sitting room. Status quo for his best-selling thriller author brother, whose books were made into hit movies. He liked a more solitary life.
Why Xander put up with Dash and his shit was beyond him. But Dash loved his older brother and always had. He’d pulled the same crap when they were kids, sleeping on the floor of Xander’s bedroom until his mother bought a trundle bed so Dash was more comfortable.
Xander had grumbled then, too, Dash thought wryly. But if his life went to hell, Xander would be there and not say, I told you so. Not much, anyway.
Dash’s cell rang, silencing everyone. He pulled out the phone from his pocket, glanced at the screen, and his heart began to pound harder in his chest.
“It’s the lawyer,” he said to his audience, men he trusted with his life. Men who’d been waiting to hear the news along with him. The band because of the publicity Dash had thrust on them, and along with his brothers, they cared.
Palms slick with sweat, Dash stood. He took the call, putting it on speaker because he didn’t want to have to repeat the news if it was bad. “Peter, talk to me,” he said to his attorney.
“Got the paternity results in my hand,” the man said.
At that moment, Sasha walked in, Cassidy by her side. Because why shouldn’t the woman who affected him on a soul-deep level witness his humiliation?
“Dash, you are not the father,” Peter said without wasting time, and damned if Dash didn’t drop to his knees in relief and disconnected the call.
“Fucking sounds like an episode of Maury,” Axel said. “But you must be relieved. Congrats, man.”
Linc and Xander surrounded him, and he rose to his feet, promising himself that, from this point on, his life would change. No more fucking groupies, no more being too wasted as an excuse.
He blinked, his gaze refocusing until he met Cassidy’s damp stare, her pretty green eyes wet with unshed tears. She’d wrapped her arms around herself and his stomach cramped at the hurt he saw in her expression. Unable to deal with the pain he’d caused when he was still in the process of reconfiguring what he wanted out of life, he turned away.
“I think everyone should go back to your place and send the partiers home.” Xander squeezed Dash’s shoulder. “You stay here and calm down. You can head back when you know it’s quiet there.”
Dash inclined his head. “Sounds like a good idea.” He turned to the band. “Guys? I appreciate the support but I need some time.”
One by one they slapped him on the shoulder and headed out the door, each giving him a word of congratulations as they left.
And when he turned back to face Sasha and Cassidy, the women were nowhere to be found.
* * *
Needing space, Cassidy walked into the kitchen of Xander and Sasha’s home. She headed straight to the counter, braced her hands on the granite, and dipped her head, releasing a long-held sigh. Dash was not the father of some groupie’s baby.
Why the hell was she so relieved? After the way he’d treated her, why did she care?
A little over two months ago, she’d met Dash Kingston, and the floor beneath her had shaken as if an earthquake hit, and having been born and bred in LA, she’d experienced plenty of them. Her reaction had been ridiculous. As an assistant to an A-list actress, she’d met more handsome men than she could count. She’d recently been dumped by a man she thought she’d loved. Yet, standing in a club full of people, she’d taken one look at the lead singer of the Original Kings, and it was like no one else was in the room. And damned if he hadn’t stared back at her, looking shaken, as if he felt the same way.
Later that night, when she’d been mistaken for Sasha and attacked by her friend’s stalker, Dash had been frantic. He’d even gone to the hospital and waited there to make sure she was okay. Not the actions of an unaffected man. Which was why, after Sasha had been attacked and Cassidy panicked, she’d given in to the attraction and need.