Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 138287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
I did.
A lone tear fell from my chin. I watched it splash onto my jeans.
Noah panted, “He could have had a knife.”
“It was a pen.” I shouldn’t have spoken.
Noah blinked at me a long moment before he opened his mouth and roared, “It could have been a knife!”
Twisting on Connor’s lap, my expression was pure misery as I buried my face into his neck, sobbing.
He was right. It could have been a knife.
But it wasn’t.
Connor rubbed my back as I rushed out a choppy, “I’m sorry!”
Silence followed. It was thick and sticky, locking us in our places until Connor spoke. “I know no one cares what I think, but I thought it was pretty badass.”
Hell growled, “It was not badass. It was dumb.”
With his arms loosely around me, Connor uttered an amused, “I don’t know. Think about it. One second, there’s no Emmy and then, boom, there she is. And she’s like, yah! Throws herself right on his shit. Did you see the way she jumped? It was like a bad action movie, invisible explosion style.” Connor smiled as he spoke into my ear. “Emmy, you’re my hero.”
Yeah, right.
I saved him from an overzealous fan.
I was a moron.
Noah sounded dismal. “I didn’t see him coming.”
Connor responded, “Neither did I.”
I did.
As everyone told me, I had the best seat in the house.
The young man was in between two security guards and when both burly men just happened to look in opposite directions, the youngster made the leap. He jumped one lot of barriers, then another, and before anyone knew what was happening, he was on stage.
Truthfully, I don’t even remember moving. It all seemed to happen in slow motion.
As the eager fan charged at Connor, I ran as fast as I could, throwing myself at him before he could reach him. Taking him down, I landed on my back with a whoosh.
Everything stopped.
Winded, I vaguely remember security taking away the now cheering man and Noah appearing in front of me. He was talking but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. He held me tight and my lungs burned. Not a second later, with a steady whoosh, I could breathe again.
The concert was called to a brief halt and I was taken into the green room. Lots of yelling ensued. Security was upped and in a matter of minutes, I was ordered back to the hotel. When I declined, I swiftly realized it wasn’t a request.
Noah had spun on me. “Get out of here, Emmy!”
And here we were.
I felt his presence before he spoke. Touching my knee, Noah uttered, “Look at me.” But I shook my head. I didn’t want to. The disappointment in his eyes would kill me. Leaving me no choice, he took hold of my arms and physically turned me to face him. When our eyes met, he spoke softly. “What were you thinking?”
Honestly?
“Better me than him.” My answer was barely a whisper.
Noah’s face paled and then I was lifted to stand. Strong arms snaked around me and held me tight. “Never again, you hear?” He held my head close to his chest. “Never again.”
I nodded into him. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” He kissed the top of my head. “You’re okay.”
When Noah eventually released me, I turned to Hell. He wasn’t having any of it. With a stern shake of the head, he turned and went to his room, closing the door behind him. And it broke my heart.
Lee glared at me. He rasped, “You’re an idiot.”
“I know.” Believe me, I knew.
“You scared me.”
“I’m sorry.”
Noah huffed out a long breath. “Well, I think we’ve all had enough excitement for one night.” He turned to me. “You should get some rest. We’re back on the bus by eight.”
Instinctively, I hugged myself. “Okay.”
Connor stood from his place on the sofa. “C’mon. I’ll walk you.”
In his boxers and a hoodie to shield his face, Connor walked me to my room, and when we got there, he waited for me to enter before he said, “Emmy?” I turned to him. His expression was tight and unreadable. When he spoke again, he uttered a low yet firm, “Don’t ever do that again.”
The thing was, I couldn’t make that promise.
Not out loud.
Chapter Ten
Stiletto.
Emmy
We were in Indiana. The Vixens portion of the show had ended and as I stood by the stage, Cherry approached from behind. “Gidget.”
I spun around and smiled. “Hey, you guys killed it tonight.”
“Thanks, doll.” Her expression turned serious. “Look, Beth sent me. It’s her birthday. She wanted me to ask you to come out with us tonight.”
She did?
That was nice but after quickly thinking about it, I decided to decline. “That’s so kind, but—” I smoothed my hands down the front of my jeans and grimaced. “—I’m not exactly dressed for the occasion.” I threw her a hesitant smile. “Will you thank her for me?”