He’d said his goodbyes to his bandmates before the show because right afterward, he’d grabbed his stuff and jumped into a waiting car to head to the townhouse he’d borrowed from a producer friend of his dad’s.

  What he’d really wanted was to get there first and light some candles and get the place ready with some snacks because he knew she would have rushed to him just as he was doing for her. But that meant she would either have shoved a granola bar in her face or told herself she’d eat when she arrived.

  Traffic had been a nightmare though so as the minutes ticked by he tried not to fret. She could get in with the keypad if she got there first. There was food in the fridge, Poppy had told him, so she could be comfortable while she waited.

  But he hated the idea of her showing up to an empty townhouse when she was excited about seeing him. Just as he hated not being with her right at that moment.

  They’d driven up the street and he’d been barely controlling his urge to jump out and run when he saw the doorstep and the most beautiful woman on earth standing on it. Her name came from his lips like a prayer, and he was out of the car, yelling his thanks over his shoulder and rushing to her.

  The feel of her against him filled him with calm. Everything would be fine now because she was there in his arms and he no longer felt like he’d left something important behind, always patting his pocket and remembering there were six weeks without her stretching ahead of him.

  He hadn’t liked her being so far away and that fact hadn’t changed one bit in the time they were apart. At the same time, he wasn’t panicked or worried. She was out there in the world kicking ass and making music and that’s what he was doing too. Every night as he’d walked those halls back to the dressing room all those hungry gazes from people lining them had barely registered except he knew she’d hate it.

  None of them could have mattered to him the way she did.

  He knew he hated the idea that she walked down similar hallways lined with people giving looks, thinking about her naked. Understood, too, that she didn’t give any of them a second thought.

  Because she was his.

  He desperately wanted to ask her to move in with him, but he held back. Best to wait until they were stateside again. He’d fill his house with things she loved best and have her over as much as possible to charm her with the idea. Then he’d ask.

  “By the way, the way your attorney handled Gloria has been helping me sleep well every night.” Harlow had finally let go of her hopes about her mother and had let experts step in to handle things. “Your regular updates on the way they slap her down whenever she tries anything have given me life.” He snorted.

  “Combined with the stuff Ben dug up that pretty much confirmed my dad’s story and all her weirdness about women, Gloria appears to be complying with the non-disclosure again. After she made those comments to the media after being told not to, the correction my attorney sent regarding what she’d said made her look terrible. Which is what they told her would happen.” Harlow shrugged. “I guess the embarrassment and the proof that no one was playing games with her was finally enough. For real, Miles, I feel so much better for your career that these people are your attorneys. They’re fantastic. I know how hard it was for you to step back and let me handle all this. I’m grateful to you for it.”

  “I knew you had to do it on your own. It drove me up the wall. Thank god I was on a totally different continent or it would have been impossible.” He flashed her a smile. “I know myself and when it comes to you, it’s hard to let you take any hits. This was difficult on you. Not being there to hold you through the tough parts sucked. But I never doubted you could. Do you understand the difference?”

  She nodded. “I do. And it means a lot.”

  “Don’t get too used to that sort of disinterest. I had to fake it and throw myself into work to keep from getting on a plane to you. Pretty much daily,” he admitted.

  Her smile went a little wobbly and he felt it to his toes.

  “I’ll try to schedule my shit while you’re out of the country,” she said, tears in her voice.

  “Please don’t. Let me in next time.”

  She was up and in his lap, hugging him tight, before he could blink. He held her against his chest, soaking it in.

  “I wasn’t shutting you out. I had to know I could do it.”

  “Anything new with Hector and Luis?” he asked, hoping there was something positive.

  “I don’t think there’s much to salvage with Luis. Maybe never. But he’s said nothing about me to the media and that’s all I can ask for at this point. Hector? Mindy and I text regularly at this point. I want to be part of the kids’ lives so if I’m cool with their mom, it’ll be easier. He hasn’t said anything directly to me though and from what I can tell, he and Mindy are going through some stuff, but she hasn’t given up, which is a good sign. She talks to my dad now, by the way. Sends him pictures of their kids. He’s cautiously optimistic. I hope to hell Hector doesn’t break his heart. Now, enough about her. It’s in the rearview.”

  He smiled even though she wouldn’t see it. “Good.” He stood, still holding her. “Let’s lock up, tidy the kitchen and head upstairs to get to the next part of this reunion.”

  “The naked part?”

  “Yep,” he told her, putting her on her feet in the kitchen.

  “Well okay then.”

  They cleaned up, locked up and headed to the master suite.

  Thank god he was reckless back in March when he’d kissed her the first time. Thank god she was reckless and kissed him too, even though she knew it might come back to bite her in the ass. And it had with all that sugar daddy nonsense. But she’d risen above it and deepened her connection with him and he let himself fall for this woman he’d never tire of touching and tasting.

  She whipped off her shirt and he sighed happily at the sight of her tits encased in pretty dark lace.

  “Come show me how much you missed me,” she said quietly.

  And he did.

  RECKLESS TRACKLIST

  F.Y.R – Le Tigre

  TKO – Le Tigre

  Particles – Nothing But Thieves

  Real Love Song – Nothing But Thieves

  Impossible – Nothing But Thieves

  Amsterdam – Nothing But Thieves

  Futureproof – Nothing But Thieves

  This Feels Like the End – Nothing But Thieves

  Get Better – Nothing But Thieves

  If I Get High – Nothing But Thieves

  Graveyard Whistling – Nothing But Thieves

  Painkiller – Nothing But Thieves

  Smile – Wolf Alice

  The Beach – Wolf Alice

  Lipstick on the Glass – Wolf Alice

  How Can I Make It Ok? – Wolf Alice

  Heavenward – Wolf Alice

  Yuk Foo – Wolf Alice

  Don’t Delete the Kisses – Wolf Alice

  Space Lord – Monster Magnet

  Gimme – Banks

  Fuck With Myself – Banks

  Propaganda – Banks

  Waiting Game – Banks

  Lovesick – Banks

  Judas – Banks

  Seek and Destroy – Metallica

  Feuer und Wasser – Rammstein

  Four Letter Words – K Flay

  TGIF – K Flay

  Nothing Can Kill Us – K Flay

  High Enough – K Flay

  Black Wave – K Flay

  Toxic – Kehlani

  Can I - Kehlani

  Bad News – Kehlani

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Special thanks to Frauke at Croco Designs, who is always such a great help, and seems to know how to do everything.

  Tony Mauro graciously agreed to create a cover for the book after doing so many for me for my Brown Family and Delicious books. I adore this cover and can’t wait to see what else is in store.

  I love music to my toes. It’s absolutely part of my creative process! Thanks to all the bands I’ve seen live, I have a great idea of what it feels like to be at a show and to the magic it creates. And thanks to YouTube, I was able to watch countless videos of concert set ups of massive shows of the type Earthquakes has, backstage antics and sound-checks. I walked away with even more respect for how hard a job it is to be a musician, especially one on tour.

  Nothing But Thieves and Wolf Alice were on constant repeat as I wrote this book. Both happened to be on tour as I did, so there was a fun bit of magic involved with that. Thanks to both bands for helping keep me firmly in the universe of my characters

  Megan Hart – you’ve been my friend though a lot of highs and lows. I’m grateful I don’t have to know what I’d do without you. Thank you for being someone I can be my true self around.

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  ALSO BY LAUREN DANE

  SERIES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

  BETTENCOURT BROTHERS

  Contemporary Holiday Romance

  TO DO LIST

  SWEET CHARITY

  BETTENCOURT BROTHERS (Bundle)

  BOUND BY MAGICK

  Paranormal Romance

  HEART OF DARKNESS

  CHAOS BURNING

  GOING UNDER

  WILD DARKNESS

  BROWN FAMILY

  Contemporary Romance

  LAID BARE

  COMING UNDONE

  INSIDE OUT

  NEVER ENOUGH

  LAID OPEN

  DRAWN TOGETHER

  CASCADIA WOLVES

  Paranormal Romance

  RELUCTANT MATE (formerly Reluctant)

  PACK ENFORCER (formerly Enforcer)

  WOLVES’ TRIAD (formerly Tri Mates)

  WOLF UNBOUND

  ALPHA’S CHALLENGE (formerly Standoff)

  BONDED PAIR (formerly Fated)

  TWICE BITTEN (formerly Unconditional)

  CHASE BROTHERS

  Contemporary Romance

  GIVING CHASE

  TAKING CHASE

  CHASED

  MAKING CHASE

  CHASE BROTHERS: COMPLETE COLLECTION

  CHERCHEZ WOLF PACK

  Paranormal Romance

  WOLF’S ASCENSION

  SWORN TO THE WOLF

  CO-WRITTEN WITH MEGAN HART

  Contemporary Romance

  TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

  NO RESERVATIONS

  DE LA VEGA CATS

  Paranormal Romance

  TRINITY

  REVELATION

  BENEATH THE SKIN

  DELICIOUS

  Contemporary Romance

  SWAY

  TART

  LUSH

  DIABLO LAKE

  Paranormal Romance

  MOONSTRUCK

  PROTECTED

  AWAKENED

  FEDERATION CHRONICLES / PHANTOM CORPS

  Sci-Fi/Futuristic Romance

  UNDERCOVER

  RELENTLESS

  Phantom Corps:

  INSATIABLE

  MESMERIZED

  CAPTIVATED

  GODDESS WITH A BLADE

  Urban Fantasy

  GODDESS WITH A BLADE

  BLADE TO THE KEEP

  BLADE ON THE HUNT

  AT BLADE’S EDGE

  WRATH OF THE GODDESS

  BLOOD AND BLADE

  GODDESS WITH A BLADE VOL.1

  GODDESS WITH A BLADE VOL.2

  HURLEY BOYS

  Contemporary Romance

  THE BEST KIND OF TROUBLE

  BROKEN OPEN

  BACK TO YOU

  INK AND CHROME

  Contemporary Romance

  OPENING UP

  FALLING UNDER

  COMING BACK

  METAMORPHOSIS SERIES

  Sci-Fi/Futuristic Dystopian Romance

  ALL THAT REMAINS

  ALL THE LITTLE PIECES (coming soon)

  PETAL, GEORGIA

  Contemporary Romance

  ONCE AND AGAIN

  LOST IN YOU

  COUNT ON ME

  WHISKEY SHARP

  Contemporary Romance

  UNRAVELED

  JAGGED

  TORN

  SUGAR

  SINGLE TITLES

  BELIEVE

  CAKE

  LAND’S END

  SECOND CHANCES

  SENSUAL MAGIC

  STRIPPED

  ANTHOLOGIES

  THREE TO TANGO

  (including Dirty/Bad/Wrong)

  ABOUT LAUREN DANE

  The story goes like this: While on pregnancy bed rest, Lauren Dane had plenty of down time so her husband took her comments about “giving that writing thing a serious go” to heart and brought home a secondhand laptop. She wrote her first book on it before it gave up the ghost. Even better, she sold that book and never looked back.

  Today Lauren is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over sixty novels and novellas across several genres.

  For more information:

  www.laurendane.com

 

 

  Lauren Dane, Reckless

 

 

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