It took less than ten minutes for me to become the happiest girl alive.

Could anyone blame me?

The big bike ate up the ground below us, the gleaming metal pure power and pride. The pavement flashed by in a dizzying whirl of colors and lights as night steadily eclipsed the sun and possessed the sky.

My arms held tight around his waist, my chest pressed to the rigid strength of his back as he commanded the engine that roared as we flew down the street.

Air whipped in my face, and I inhaled the deepest breath.

Ingraining it in my mind.

Imprinting it on my soul.

Cedar and spice and the raw potency of this man.

Sexy and masculine. It was a scent that had invaded my mind and seeped into my dreams.

It was bold and distinct. Just as bold and hypnotizing as him.

Nerves wound through me as he confidently took the roads. The heavy metal beneath us rumbled as we sped. The insides of my thighs shook and shivered where they were pressed tight to the outside of his.

Those tattooed arms were stretched out, and the color strained and flexed over the muscles that rippled as his hands gripped the handlebars.

My awe only increased when he turned into a historic neighborhood that had to have been there for a century, as if he’d taken me through a portal and directly into the early glitz and glam of Hollywood.

Zee lowered his booted feet as he slowed and came to a stop. He killed the engine, and the roar in my ears was replaced with the sudden ring of silence.

My legs were shaking so badly I wasn’t sure I could stand. The problem was I had no clue if it was from the adrenaline of the ride, or simply the staggering effect of Zee.

A big hand covered both of mine where they clutched the firm planes of his abdomen, the heat of him making me wild. “You okay?”

“I’m…that felt incredible.”

He chuckled low. “Ah, you like my bike. My kind of girl.”

My kind of girl.

“Yes, I definitely like your bike,” I managed to say.

Did I tell him I liked so, so many other things? Did I admit there was just something about the mixed-up, conflicted equation of him?

It was easy to realize I wanted to be a factor. To count. Even when he promised this could only last for a time. But whatever time meant, I wanted it to matter.

Holding on to my hand, Zee helped me onto my feet. He towered over me, gently reaching out to undo the strap of the helmet he’d insisted I wear, his attention never wandering from my face.

Fingertips brushed my throat. Stoking the chills that never seemed to want to leave my skin.

I glanced at the vintage mansion in front of us.

It was two massive stories high, fronted by six white columns that rose to support the portico. The home was undoubtedly a landmark from the early era of Los Angeles, carefully renovated to maintain its character from long ago.

Yet, somehow it radiated welcome and warmth.

Comfort.

Zee gestured at it with his chin. “This is Ash and Willow’s place. A few years back, Ash bought a house out in Savannah. Just as lavish as this one—maybe more so—and the fool thought he had to repeat it here. He just can’t help himself. He’s about as over the top and rash as they come, so fair warning. But he has a heart the size of the sun, so we pretty much let him get away with it.”

For a second, he scratched at his head, as if gauging what to say. Dealing with his own nerves while trying to keep mine at bay. “They’re all…amazing. You’d be hard pressed to find a better group of people.”

“Intimidating people.” I could feel the red rush to my face when I said it, teeth catching my bottom lip in their clutches when I peeked back at the house.

It seemed insane I’d ended up here. I was no tabloid junkie, but that didn’t mean I lived under a rock.

For years, I’d seen their faces plastered on the front pages of magazines and trending on the gossip sites. I hadn’t missed the scandal and speculation that had followed these wild boys everywhere they went. The trouble they’d incited had gained almost as much notoriety as the music they played.

“Are you nervous?” he asked.

“I’m trying not to be. Your friends are…” I took a deep breath. “It just seems crazy to be in their space, in your space. And I promise I’m not some kind of weird fangirl or something. It’s just…weird.”

He chuckled. “Weird, huh? You keep saying that.”

I laughed under my breath and let my fingers fiddle with the hem of his tee, the smallest of smiles tweaking at the corner of my mouth. “It seems you bring about the strange, little drummer boy.”

He laughed through the tease. “Oh, they’re strange all right, gorgeous. Whole lot of them are nothin’ but a handful. But I promise you that you won’t be able to help falling in love with them.”

Maybe that was what I was worried about. The falling part.

“So what are we in there?” There, with him, I felt confident. I just had no idea how Zee wanted to handle it once we stepped through the door.

He touched my chin. “We’re us. As complicated as we are, I say we walk in there and be whatever feels right. How’s that sound?”

My brow arched. “It sounds complicated.”

Zee laughed, and he slung one of those strong arms around my neck and kissed the top of my head. “How’s it you make every single thing better, baby?” he murmured.

Baby.

Oh God.

The boy had me in the palm of his hand. The only thing I could pray was for him not to crush me in the end.

* * *

Zee squeezed my hand where we stood in the archway that led into a quaint sitting room that rested just to the right of the sweeping foyer. He cleared the roughness from his throat. “Guys, brought someone with me tonight that I wanted you to meet.”

He glanced down at me with a tilt of his head toward the room. “Alexis, this is my crazy family that you’re basically going to need to ignore.”

Oh goodness.

I stepped a little closer to Zee. My protector. My savior. Standing there in the entryway of this incredible house with about ten different pairs of eyes staring at me, I was pretty sure I was going to need it.

A group of children were playing on the floor, and the men of Sunder were littered around a sitting room just off the foyer, so big and bold, radiating this striking aura of power and a dark, menacing kind of beauty and magnetism. They were surrounded by women who were even more beautiful than their pictures.

They all shifted from where they had been lounged back on plush sofas.

Ash Evans jumped to his feet, covering the ears of a little black-haired boy who stood in front of him. “Holy S-H-I-T.”

The boy squirmed out of his hold. “Uncle Ash, you don’t need to go covering my ears. You really think I don’t know what you spelled? You’re gonna have to get way better at that before you and Willow have that baby if you think you’re gonna be foolin’ anyone. Probably gonna need a money jar like my dad’s got. Momma Blue is pretty much rich.”

Brendon…this had to be Brendon, the son of the band’s guitarist, Lyrik.

I had the urge to press my hand to my mouth to stifle a laugh.

I shifted, trying not to be shy, remembering I always faced every situation like the adventure it was.

But something about this felt different.

“You’ve got me there, Brendon,” Ash agreed, shooting Zee a sly grin. “But sometimes men like me just don’t know how to handle this level of surprise when they’re in the presence of children. Things are bound to slip out.”

Brendon shrugged as if it were obvious. “Money jar. Problem solved.”

Willow, the woman I knew was Ash’s wife, pushed to standing from one of the couches, her belly so round I thought this practice session might be interrupted by a surprise trip to the hospital.

She had a vibe about her, soft and sweet and encouraging. She ran her fingers through Brendon’s hair. “I think that sounds like the perfect kind of plan, Brendon—a money jar it is. The last thing we need is this big oaf to be teaching our little man words he doesn’t need to know.”

Brendon nodded as if he was all kinds of proud of himself, and I found myself smiling into Zee’s arm as I peeked out at his mismatched family.

Willow approached us. “Alexis…it’s so good to meet you. Welcome to our home.”

“Thank you so much for having me.”

“Any time.” She slanted a curious glance toward Zee before she turned her gaze back on me. “Any friend of Zee’s is a friend of ours.”

Ash clapped his hands, something wry in his smile. “That’s right, Alexis. We couldn’t be happier that you’re here, could we, everyone?”

The entire group nodded, smiling as they stood to make introductions.

Zee filled me in on the names of the children, Connor and Kallie who belonged to Sebastian and Shea, Adia and Brendon who belonged to Lyrik and Tamar, and the tiny baby girl, Sadie, who was Austin and Edie’s.

Ash caught me totally off guard when he suddenly swooped me up in an overbearing hug, flinging me around like a rag doll. “Welcome to the freak show, darlin’. Admission is free, but you don’t ever get to leave.”

* * *

“Oh my God, you did not.” Willow shoved her husband in the shoulder. Her expression was a mixture of fond disbelief and sheer horror.

Ash jostled to the side, righting himself, stretching his hulking, tattooed arms wide, continuing with a story I was a little horrified of, too. But it was done with so much natural warmth it was hard not to fall into the comfort of it.

“What? It was our boy Zee’s twenty-first birthday. What did you expect me to do? That was nothing but my own responsibility.”

Zee had settled into some kind of mood I didn’t recognize. So casual and calm. Laid back.

He glanced at me with a smile playing all over that mouth. I couldn’t keep my eyes off it, the memory of his kiss still rushing like a river through my veins.

He looked back at Ash, this sparring sarcasm dripping from his tone. “Last kind of birthday present I needed, man. Last kind. Flip on the light to my hotel room, ready to crash since you assholes kept me out all night, and here’s this chick tied to my bed.”

Incredulous, Ash scoffed. “Last kind of birthday present you needed? What the hell are you talking about, man? I’m pretty sure it was the only kind, considering I hadn’t seen your ass with a girl the whole year since you’d joined Sunder. It was the least I could do.”

I peeked over at Zee, wishing I could ask him more. Dig deeper into the subject we’d only touched on back at his place earlier.

I wanted to make sense of it. He was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen, and yet, he’d chosen to shun the attention that was clearly thrown at him at every turn.

No one-night stands. No relationships. Nothing at all.

It seemed impossible.

There are some things I can’t tell you.

That admission taunted my mind. A flicker of that self-preservation I was lacking urged me to take heed.

Instead, I smiled and let myself get lost in the relaxed vibe. Because like Zee had said, if our time was running out, we needed to savor the moments we had.

Shea’s mouth dropped open. “A stripper? Ash, what is wrong with you?”

Shea, Sebastian’s wife, was adorable. Everything about her screamed country, from the red boots to the cute drawl that continually came from her mouth.

Sebastian nuzzled his nose in her hair. With the way he kept touching her, I got the feeling the man couldn’t get close enough. “Ah, baby, you should know by now that’s nothin’ but tame for Ash. Zee’s just lucky the asshole didn’t have a prostitute waiting for him back in his room.”

Zee shook his head, that cool easiness gliding out. “Uh, pretty sure the two were interchangeable. Let’s just say stripping was entirely unnecessary since she was already lying there naked.”

Ash pointed at Zee. “Again, you should be thanking me.”

Oh my God. These guys were out of control.

I floated on their joy.

“Thanking you?” Zee shook his head. “Only thing I wanted was to hunt you down and strangle you. You should’ve seen the girl’s face when I opened the door and asked her to leave. She thought it was some kind of sick role-play that she wasn’t sure she wanted to play. You know, since I was doing my best to remain respectful with a parting ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. Don’t think she’d ever heard the words. You know me…the generous one who sent her right back up to your room. On my twenty-first birthday, nonetheless.”

Ash stretched out his arms. “Well, what did you expect? She got a good look at me and the poor thing was hooked.”

Willow just shook her head. Apparently, she was used to it and accepted the way her husband used to live before she’d become the center of his life. The guy had come with quite the reputation.

But it was Ash’s younger sister, Edie, who covered her ears. “Ah, stop it. I don’t need to hear anything about the crazy stuff that goes on while you’re all out on the road.”

Austin wound his arm around her shoulder and leaned close to her ear. “Went down,” he emphasized, smiling down at the baby girl Edie held in her lap. “I think the key here is this is all in the past. But let’s just say before I took Baz’s spot, I was witness to some unsavory shit. Pretty sure Sunder wrote the book on bad behavior.”

Zee was absolutely right. I couldn’t help but love them. Couldn’t stop my grin as I listened to them spar and tease. Their true affection for each other was apparent in every word, and I wondered what it might be like to be a part of it.

Shea laughed her sweet country laugh, though it was tinged with the slightest reprimand. “If I’d been around, I never would’ve let them pull that stuff in front of you, Austin. Shame on all you boys for being such bad influences.”

Austin grinned, but there was something soft about it. Rimmed in a gratefulness that rushed to his expression when he glanced meaningfully at his older brother then back to Shea. “Think the guys here did the best they could, considering the circumstances. Only thing that matters is I turned out just fine.”

His gaze dropped to his wife, just as low as his words. “Better than fine, actually.”

“I love you.” Her voice was less than a whisper as she mouthed it up at him, their lips meeting for a flash.

My spirit danced. Throbbed with the sweetness of it all.

How many stars had I wished on that one day a man might look at me that way?

I dropped my head when Zee looked my way and caught me staring at Austin and Edie and the obvious love they shared.

He reached out, his fingers gentle where they brushed along the sensitive skin of my forearm.

Eliciting chills.

Stoking hunger.

His voice was a soft murmur intended only for me. “Thank you so much for sharing this time with me. You don’t know what it means.”