The Rockers' Babies (The Rocker... Series) (8 page)

right at that moment.

I wondered what he and the guys were getting into tonight. I knew they had something planned for him.

I was sure that Drake was going to be watching Mia while everyone else went out. For Nik’s night out, he

and Shane had gotten tattoos over their hearts. Nik’s had been mouthwatering. The heart, the lettering, the flames.

When Shane had shown me his own, I had cried. Then he had made love to me until I couldn’t

remember where we were.

Drake had sketched my eyes. Big, violet eyes. Shane had taken it to the tattoo artist who had turned it

into a masterpiece on my man’s chest. My eyes stared back at me every time he took off his shirt. I

wondered if he was going to get another one tonight. With the remaining four members of OtherWorld

joining them at Emmie’s house later tonight, I doubted it.

“I want a tattoo.”

Five heads shot up and around to look at me. They knew I wasn’t the biggest fan of tattoos. Unlike

Dallas who was more tattoo than skin, I only had one little bitty one on the back of my neck that

represented my friendship with her. I didn’t like the needles, the sound of the tattoo gun. But I wanted to show Shane how much I loved him, just as he had done for me long before he had trusted me enough to

say yes when he finally proposed.

Dallas and Emmie were studying me more intently than the other three. I didn’t know what either were

thinking, but finally Dallas grinned. “Okay. What did you have in mind?”

I thought of all of Shane’s tattoos. Except for the one on his chest of my eyes, the others were on his

arms and back. They were all works of art, telling the story of his life in some way. The Demon’s Wings

stamp on his left shoulder reminded me of the one that was on Emmie’s with ‘Property of Demon’s Wings’

and the angel’s wings that were on Lana’s back with the simple proclamation of ‘The Demon’s Angel’.

I knew exactly what I wanted. “I need Drake’s help.”

Chapter 6

Shane

I was contemplating calling Harper when Drake came out of the house with Mia in one arm and his

messenger bag full of his art supplies in the other. I jumped up off the lounger I had been sprawled in.

“What’s up?”

“The girls want me to go over to your house for a little while. Don’t ask why, I’m not allowed to tell.”

He grinned, readjusting Mia in his arm. “You guys still going out?”

“Pussy-whipped hasn’t made up his mind,” Liam called out, sitting in a lounger by the pool with a pair

of shades on—more to hide his glazed over eyes than to block out the sun. As usual, Liam was high.

I ignored him because as much as I hated him when he was high, I loved him like a brother. “I figured

we could just grill some steaks or something. I’m not really in the mood to go out.” I had no urge to go out and get shitfaced with a bunch of strippers—something I was sure Liam had been planning on when he had

come over.

Maybe the idiot hadn’t gotten the memo, but I was getting married in the morning to someone who

made my life complete. From the moment I had laid eyes on her my world had been turned upside down—

in a good way. The need for a new girl every night and all the other shit I had done had stopped the

moment my lips had touched hers.

“Sounds like a plan.” Drake pulled his keys from his pocket, already moving toward the driveway

between the guesthouse and main house. “I shouldn’t be gone long.”

“Bye, Uncle Shane.” Mia waved as Drake carried her away.

“Bye, Mia.” I blew her a kiss before she was out of sight.

When I heard the roar of Drake’s truck starting I flopped carelessly down on the lounger once more.

Nik came out of the house with an apple in one hand and a Corona in the other. He tipped Axton’s lounger

with his foot, tipping him out of the chair. “Wake up!”

Ax grunted, pushing himself into a sitting position but didn’t try to stand. “I got maybe an hour of sleep

last night, man. Leave me alone.”

Four sets of eyes turned on him, curious. Zander was the first to call him on it. “What—or should I ask

whom—were you doing to keep you up all night, Cage?”

Nik and I shared a look before snickering. Every member of OtherWorld had been hot for Dallas.

When she had broken things off with him, they had been more than a little pissed at him. “Only Miss

Texas,” Nik offered.

“You hooked up with Dallas again?” Devlin grunted. “I bet you a thousand dollars that she is only

looking for a weekend hookup. She’s not going to keep you around longer than tomorrow night.”

Axton flipped the drummer off before finally getting to his feet and sitting back down on the lounger.

“Shut the fuck up, Dev.”

“I’ll take that bet, Dev.” Wroth chuckled when Axton shot him the finger too. “Ah, come on, man. You

know that chick isn’t going to put up with your shit. She’s smarter than fucking Gabriella.”

“Smarter, maybe,” Liam commented, messing with his phone. “But no less hot. And no less a bitch.”

Wroth, Devlin, and Zander raised their beers in agreement. “Amen, brother.”

Three hours later we were sitting down at the patio table eating steaks that Jesse had grilled when he had

gotten back from his house. Drake and Mia still weren’t back yet, and I was growing more anxious to talk

to Harper by the minute. It was insane. I had just seen her that morning, but that was the way it always was with us. When I was on tour I was like a drug addict the entire time I was away from her. My skin crawling, my heart racing, my body shaking until I could kiss her, hold her again.

I lifted my corn on the cob that Jesse had grilled to perfection and bit into it just as Nik raised his beer.

“I never thought this day would come. All those years of watching Shane screw anything with a pussy, I

think we all had given up on him getting married. But here we sit, counting down the hours until the biggest man-whore in rock history puts a ring on his woman’s finger. So let’s take a drink and remember the old

days. Not necessarily the best days, but still good ones.” They all took a drink from their bottles before Nik raised his beer again. “To my friend and brother: Be happy.”

“Hear, hear,” everyone echoed, and I downed the rest of my beer to keep from tearing up. I was not

going to be a pussy tonight.

Drake returned a few hours later, minus Mia. He looked tired, but he was still grinning when he

dropped down onto the sectional in the living room where we were all watching some college football. As

usual the SEC were dominating. Axton and the others had grown up in Tennessee, but had been die-hard

Alabama fans from the time they were in diapers. Whereas my band brothers and I had grown up in Ohio

and had followed the Buckeyes forever. Both were dominant football teams, but neither were playing

tonight, thank fuck.

Wroth had one of his acoustic guitars with him and was strumming a few chords every now and then. I

was itching to play too, but my guitars were all back at my house. It had been a few months since we had

gone on tour, and I was still finding it hard to not be constantly on the road. Not because I missed the road, but because I was so used to playing every day. Lately I had to pick up my Fender and play just so I could

see if I remembered how to do it.

“How’s Marissa?” Drake asked Liam during a commercial break.

Liam shrugged. “She’s good.”

“She’s watching Harris for Devlin tonight,” Wroth informed us. “Now that the boy’s getting older,

Devlin wants to take him on tours with us. Rissa is going to tag along and help out with him.”

My eyes widened. “And you’re okay with that?” Wroth tended to act more like Marissa’s big brother

than Liam half the time. He had always put his foot down when it came to her touring with the band.

“I didn’t get a vote,” Wroth bit out.

“I was going to hire a nanny, but Harris threw a total shit fit. I can’t really blame him.” Devlin smirked.

“If I were fourteen I wouldn’t want a nanny either. He gets along with Marissa so I figured it would be the best solution. The only one complaining about it is Wroth.”

“Rissa isn’t like Emmie. She won’t know how to handle five dumbass guys on one bus. Not the way we

act. Not the way we all whore around.”

Marissa was wonderful, but I wasn’t so sure if Wroth’s protests were coming from his protective side or

his possessive one. His family connection with Liam didn’t extend to Marissa, even though it had been

Wroth’s parents who had practically raised her. Wroth’s mom had been sisters with Liam’s. Marissa had a

different mother, who had cut and run when she was five. Not long after that their old man had been in an

accident—his tractor trailer hit some black ice and he skidded over an embankment. Wroth’s mother had

been the only family Liam had left while Marissa had had no one. Mrs. Niall had plead for custody of the

girl instead of letting her go into foster care.

When the conversation turned to something else, I tuned out. My gaze kept going to my phone, my

fingers itching to pick it up and at least text my girl if not actually call her. I was nearly sick with the need to talk to her in some way. Muttering a curse I finally gave in and grabbed my phone.

“Who had eleven?” Jesse called out, smirking when he saw that I was texting away like a mad man.

“Damn it!” Devlin yelled. “I had midnight. Fucker, you couldn’t wait another hour?”

I barely raised my eyes from the text I was getting ready to send to Harper. “What are you talking

about?”

“We had a bet that you couldn’t go all night without talking to her,” Drake informed me, taking a drink

from his can of Dr. Pepper. “I had five-thirty.”

“I win!” Nik stood, holding his hand out to the men sitting around him. “Cough it up, bitches.”

“How much did you win?” I demanded.

“We all bet five,” Drake said, pulling his wallet out and reaching for the cash he owed.

“Five hundred?” It wouldn’t have surprised me if it had even been five thousand. My friends were

idiots like that sometimes when we got together.

“No, stupid. Five bucks. No way am I wasting five hundred on your ass. I love you, little bro, but Angel would kick my ass.”

“She spends that much on shoes, man,” Jesse scoffed. “Before she married you, my credit card

statements were three pages of shoe stores alone.”

“Only three pages?” Drake grinned. “She really likes shoes. And I’m really weak when it comes to

seeing her in them and nothing else. So she can bleed the bank dry buying all the damn shoes she wants.”

Emmie

I awoke before dawn, knowing that I had a million and one things to do so that Harper and Shane

wouldn’t have to worry about them.

The wedding planner that I had hired to attempt to make my life a little easier planning the wedding was

already waiting for me at Swiss Park Banquet Center. When we had been looking for venues for the

wedding, Harper had fallen in love with the garden and gazebo outside. A team of thirty was already getting the white chairs set up, as well as the flowers and arbor in front of the gazebo.

Once I was sure everything was the way Harper had said she wanted it, I headed inside to the banquet

hall to check on the tables and decorations. I was fighting my nausea, but I wasn’t going to let it stop me from making this the best day of Shane’s and Harper’s life.

It took three hours for me to get everything just right. Once the cake was in place I headed for the

rooms that we were using to get ready for the wedding. It was nearly noon and I was expecting the girls to

arrive before the guys. The limo should have already picked them up about an hour ago, but with traffic

they should be arriving any time now.

“Momma!”

I turned at the sound of Mia calling my name. She was holding Lana’s hand as they walked toward me.

I crouched down to give my baby some sugar before straightening to face Lana. When I saw her frown I

knew something was wrong. “What?” I demanded.

“Harper’s stepdad just called me. Cecil said that the bitch twins have found out where the wedding is

and most likely will crash the party.” She rubbed a hand over her pregnant belly, looking as stressed as I

suddenly felt.

When Harper had given me the list of guests to invite she had told me that under no circumstances were

her mother, father, or stepsister to be invited. Harper didn’t even talk to her mother or stepsister anymore.

Her father only called once in a blue moon. All caused her trouble and heartache, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let them ruin Harper’s day.

“Okay, I’ll deal with it,” I assured her. “Where is Harper?”

“She’s getting her hair done. The stylist is taking good care of her, don’t worry.” Lana offered her hand

to Mia. “Let’s go, brat.”

“I’m not the brat, Aunt Lana. You are.”

“You’re as sassy as your momma. I should swat your butt.”

“No way!” Mia giggled when Lana took a mock step toward her. “I’ll tell Uncle Drake!”

“Uncle Drake has to put up with me more than he does you. He would
so
pick my side.”

“I’m his favorite.” Mia wiggled her eye brows in a way I had seen Nik teaching her lately and I couldn’t

help but grin as I watched them walk away.

When they were out of sight my grin fell away and I pulled my cell out. Security was already tight. The

death threats from crazy female fans had been coming in higher counts this last week. Harper’s safety as

well as the need to keep the press out had made things extremely difficult. Everyone from the caterers to the florist had all needed to pass three security checkpoints to get into the building.

“No one gets in without an invitation and photo ID,” I told the head of the security team we had hired.