Rock Kiss 01.5 Rock Courtship(36)

“Damn straight,” David muttered.

Thea smiled at her sister, a sister she hadn’t known existed until a little over a year and a half earlier. Even though Thea had made her mom tell her the facts of her birth, she’d never felt the urge to track down the man who’d given her half her DNA. Why bother chasing after a bastard like that, she’d thought, when she had an amazing father who loved her? Simply knowing the truth had been enough.

It had been a question on a medical-insurance questionnaire that had sparked her curiosity as an adult. Considering the children she intended to have one day, she’d thought it might be a good idea to investigate the other side of her medical history. As a first step, she’d idly plugged Patrick Buchanan’s name into a search engine.

The hits had been immediate and shocking, Patrick Buchanan at the center of a stomach-churning scandal involving an underage girl before his and his wife’s deaths.

It had been a mess, and caught in that mess had been a fifteen-year-old girl named Molly. Dark eyes in a pale, drawn face, Molly’s picture had been snapped by an unscrupulous tabloid two days after the scandal broke. She’d been dressed in her school uniform, her shoulders hunched in.

Then there were the myriad photos from Patrick’s political campaigns, photos that were posted over and over again as people rubbernecked the breaking news. No one seemed to care about the teenage girl in those photos. It had made Thea angrier and angrier with every report she read.

Of course, Molly was no longer fifteen by the time Thea did the search and tracked her down, but Thea couldn’t stop seeing her that way, the protectiveness she felt toward the other woman as intense as it was for Marjorie and Ella. Especially now, with Molly attempting to navigate an unfamiliar world filled with the same intrusive media attention that had tortured her as a girl.

Thea’s pride in her sister’s courage was absolute.

Falling into step with Molly while the guys walked behind them, she said, “I love the dress.” Molly had the kind of curves for which Thea would kill—dangerous and luscious and perfect for her height. Thea had several inches on her, courtesy of Patrick’s genes. Molly, in contrast, had the rich, curling black hair and flawless cream skin that had made Patrick so photogenic.

No one would pick them as sisters at a glance, but they’d made the commitment to be sisters, the bond stronger with every day that passed.

“Thanks.” Molly’s dark eyes were lit from within as she spoke. “Fox’s convinced me that wearing body-hugging outfits is a good look on me.” She bit down on her lower lip. “I still sometimes hesitate, but the way he looks at me…” Fanning her face, she sighed.

Thea understood that sigh. It was the same way she felt when David turned those golden-brown eyes on her. “You look va-va-voom,” she reassured her sister, admiring the black dress with its nipped-in waist, skinny skirt, and wide shoulder straps that came down into a curve just deep enough to hint at spectacular cleavage, the fabric smooth and matte. “You know I wouldn’t let you walk out looking less than hot. If I had boobs like yours…”

Molly tucked her arm into Thea’s. “And all I want are your amazing legs. It’s like they go on forever.” She made a face. “Why are we women never satisfied?”

Laughing with her as they headed into the elevator, Thea turned to find David had been watching her ass. She grinned. Okay, that felt seriously good. To have Molly’s fabulous ass next to hers and for him to focus on hers.

Their eyes connected at that instant, and a hint of color brushed his cheekbones. She fought the urge to kiss him, finding that continued hint of shyness delectable given that she knew how very not-shy he was in bed. He took her hand, squeezed, but released it before the group stepped out of the elevator. While they weren’t hiding their relationship from the people who mattered, neither one of them wanted the paparazzi to figure it out—Thea, more than anyone, knew how media pressure could affect a new relationship.

She wanted her and David solid, rooted, before it was ever an issue. The fact she was the band’s head of PR meant her presence wouldn’t be questioned—as long as they made certain not to get snapped too many times together, apart from the others.

Tonight the six of them managed to avoid the paps altogether, climbing into their limo in the hotel’s underground parking garage and gliding out with several other limos belonging to what looked like a bridal party. And because the venue to which they were heading was a small club, the musician not well known, there weren’t any photographers camped out front when they arrived.