She was right, but that didn’t mean Dax was ready to back down. “Unfortunately for you, Mac didn’t let his girls go to prom until they were sixteen either.”
Leah’s grin widened, and I knew her father had fallen into the trap she had set for him. “Actually, the rule he set was that they could go to dances as long as it was just with friends. When Molly went to her homecoming dance her freshman year, he even rented them a limo and everything.”
“Fuck,” Dax groaned, scrubbing his palms down his face. “Do you girls have to tell each other every little detail of your lives?”
She rolled her eyes. “Family doesn’t keep secrets from each other, Daddy. You taught us that.”
I slid my arm around Dax’s back, leaning into his side and silently offering my support. My hope was that having me close would take away a little of the sting when he backed down, which I could tell he was about to do.
“There won’t be any boys in your group?”
Leah shook her head, her eyes lighting up with happiness now that the answer she wanted was within reach. “Nope, it’ll just be a few of my friends.”
Dax’s gaze slid to me. “And there will be chaperones at the dance?”
“Absolutely,” I confirmed with a nod.
Leah pointed at her brother again. “Grady will be there, too. Right?”
“Oh, I see how it is.” Our son heaved a deep sigh and shook his head, pretending to be offended. “First, you throw me under the bus. And now, you’re going to ask me to help you out.”
“She’s not asking,” Dax corrected as he pointed at his chest. “I’m the one telling you that you’ll keep an eye out for your sister and her friends.”
“I always do.” Grady flashed a mischievous grin at Leah. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to give her a hard time. It’s in the big brother job description.”
Thinking about my brother and how he loved to push my buttons, I snorted. “And we all have Nova to blame for that attitude.”
Some of the tension drained from Dax’s body at our banter. “I guess if you’re going to prom just with your friends, with your brother to watch out for you and no boys in your group, then I’ll allow it.”
Leah did a little victory dance before racing across the room to throw herself into her dad’s arms. As he looked at me over her shoulder, I mouthed, “I’ll make it up to you later.”
Nova
Nova Rossi wasn’t happy when the Silver Saints MC president assigned him a babysitting job. Not until he saw Rylee Nelson’s picture. All it took was one look for Nova to realize that his sister’s friend was meant to be his, and he’d do whatever it took to keep her safe.
Rylee wasn’t expecting to be rescued in the middle of the night. Or for Nova’s caveman attitude to turn her on. But the motorcycle club enforcer was going to need to show Rylee the difference between trying to control and protect her before she’d be willing to accept his claim.
1
Rylee
I jumped when the librarian set her hand on my shoulder since I hadn’t heard her approach. I’d been sucked so deep into the fictional world of the book I was reading that I had blocked out everything around me. “Sorry, sweetie.”
“No worries.” Twisting around, I smiled up at her.
She tapped the face of the watch wrapped around her frail wrist. “It’s fifteen minutes past closing time. I’ve already shut everything down and am ready to head home.”
I snapped my book shut and stuffed it into my backpack. “Thanks so much for letting me stay late. I really appreciate it.”
“You’re always welcome here,” she assured me as I stood and headed toward the front door.
“Thanks again.” I gave her a little wave before I walked outside and started the familiar trek to my house. I used to spend most of my time outside playing sports at school or hanging out with friends. Nobody would’ve ever said I was a library kind of girl, but ever since my world crumbled around me, it had turned into my second home.
Since my parents never split up like so many of my friends’ had, I hadn’t realized my mom was the type of woman who needed to be in a relationship. Not until she married my stepfather barely a month after my dad died. I was still devastated by his loss, but apparently, she’d started dating again while I’d been lost in a sea of grief. I hadn’t even met the guy before he moved his stuff into our house and introduced himself to me as my new dad. Talk about a what the heck moment.
I was more than willing to admit that I hadn’t been very welcoming to Chad, but I didn’t think a reasonable person could blame me for my attitude. I’d spent my entire life being a daddy’s girl, and it was a huge slap in the face to have some stranger stroll into my life so soon after he was gone and expect me to treat him like my father.