Page 72 of Down & Dirty: Rage

Like now.

Ugh!She needed to come up with a believable excuse on the fly as to why she skipped breakfast—and more importantly, coffee—and snuck out.

She hated lying to her father because not only didit make her feel shitty, he had a sixth sense when it came to his offspring trying to pull one over on him.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she repeated. “I just needed to get caught up on some work.”

“Lookin’ for a second job swingin’ ‘round a pole?” Of course his expression and his words held no judgement, but she knew good and well her father would have an issue if she wanted to strip at Heaven’s Angels.

Her mother would have a strong opinion on that, too.

Lyric was pretty damn sure Ash would as well.

But, holy shit! “No. Why would you think that?”

“You live and work in a town full of the DAMC. In a town where we know just ‘bout everyone. Where noses tended to be stuck where they don’t fuckin’ belong and those noses are set right above lips that love to fuckin’ flap. You forget that?”

If she had paled before, she probably looked like a corpse right now without a drop of blood left in her face. In fact, she swore her heart seized and she was actually dead. They might need to break out the AED.

Did her father actuallyknow? Or was he trying to flush out the truth?

Either way, that wasn’t good.

None of this was good.

“If it wasn’t for a tryout, then why the fuck were you there?”

Think. Think. Think!

She couldn’t. Her brain was frozen.

She scrambled to come up with something. “Ash asked me to stop by and rebraid his hair.”

“He uses the girls for that.” By girls, her father meant strippers.

“Yes, but it was early and they weren’t there yet. His braids were all messed up.”

“He could’ve waited ’til they got there.”

“Only a couple of them can do it right. Neither will be working today.” Crow stared at her for what felt like a lifetime. She swore he could read minds. Lyric tamped down her panic and continued. “You know that, like us, he only trusts a few people to touch his hair.”

Did she actually manage to come up with something he’d believe? Because there was no way in Hell she was discussing with her father what really happened in Ash’s apartment.

While Crow knew she and Ash were close, he didn’t know justhowclose after this morning.

Once again, she was saved by the bell when her next appointment walked in.

Phew.

“Be right with you!” she yelled out, then turned her attention back to her father. She pointed to the drawing she’d been working on. “Do you think he’ll like it?”

“What’s not to like? You’re a great fuckin’ artist.”

That compliment thawed the ice clogging her veins.

Stepping behind her, Crow cupped a hand over her forehead, tipped her head back, and pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. He then whispered, “T?echí?ila.”

“Love you too, Dad.”