“You made it!” I pulled her into a hug. Laurie-Beth was pure innocence. She loved these sorts of things. She was the good Southern girl that my mama so desperately wanted me to be. And she was so so sweet. Sadly, her daddy had passed away a couple of months earlier, leaving their family devastated. And broke. Unfortunately, that meant they no longer had the money for Laurie-Beth to attend the cotillion ball. There had been a communal call for the committee—the one my mother headed up—to waver the hefty registration fee for Laurie-Beth. It would have been easy for them to do. But my mother had declined. There were certain commitments and traditions to uphold, she had said. Bitch.

Laurie-Beth’s smile faded just a little. “No. I’m just here to wish y’all good luck. You look so pretty.”

Disappointment hit me in the gut. Laurie-Beth should have been the one being presented as a debutante today. Not me. This ridiculous charade meant something to her while it meant nothing to me.

“I’m sorry Laurie-Beth. I know you were looking forward to this.”

She tried to remain upbeat and her smile broadened to mask her own disappointment. “I understand. Truly. It’s okay. Your mama was gracious enough to allow me back here to see y’all before it all starts.”

My mama was mean.

Laurie-Beth took my gloved hands in hers and looked at me with a heart-crushing fondness. If I could have swapped places with her, I would have in an instant.

“You’re the belle of the ball Harlow. The most beautiful girl here.” Her smile was so sweet, it broke my heart. “You make sure you have fun out there. It will be over before you know it.”

Promise? I smiled and nodded. I didn’t tell her that I’d rather be having all my teeth extracted than doing this. Somehow I didn’t think she’d get it.

Bells signaled the start of the proceedings and she squeezed my hands, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek.

As a sudden act of rebellion I pulled the long white gloves off my arms and handed them to her. “Will you do me a favor and take these for me, Laurie-Beth?”

Her pretty eyes rounded at the sight of the tattoo on my wrist. But she didn’t say anything. She just gave me one last appreciative smile and then disappeared into the crowd of debutantes gathering at the top of the staircase, leaving me in a cloud of magnolia scent. I downed the second flute of champagne. It was time to rock n roll.

Colton, who’d been working the room, retuned to my side to escort me towards the lineup of debutantes. He took me by the arm and guided me towards the staircase.

“You know, there is a good chance we belong together,” he said simply.

My head snapped to the side to look at him. “What did you say?”

“Think about it Harlow. You and me. God seems to keep throwing us together.” He smiled, that perfect, perfect smile. “Perhaps we belong together.”

I stalled. Maybe it was the champagne. Or maybe my head had given in to the persistence of my heart. I didn’t know. But suddenly the world around me crumbled away and I was back in California with my back pushed against the wall by Heath’s strong body. I could feel his breath on my neck as he nuzzled me and whispered, “We belong together. You and me. Always. No matter what happens.”

My mind tilted and then snapped. I couldn’t do this anymore. No matter how hard I tried, I was not going to fit in. Because I didn’t belong in Savannah anymore. I belonged back in California.

By the time Colton and I made it to the top of the grand staircase I had made up my mind. I was going home.

The music began and they started to announce the names of the debutantes lined up before us. I looked up at Colton and he could see it in my face. I faltered and his lips formed into a thin line, but he nodded. He understood and I felt bad for him because I knew he hoped we might get back together. He gave me a regretful half-smile.

The Master of Ceremonies called our names but I was rooted to the spot. My mind was elsewhere, busy making plans. Dizzy with thoughts and excitement. Colton’s face softened and he grabbed my arm and thrust it through his.

“Just get through this,” he said. “And then you’ll be free.”

I sucked in a deep breath. I wanted to run. I wanted to take off down that staircase and out the doors and run back to California. And I was going back. I knew that now and I smiled.

“I’m sorry,” I mouthed to him.

“Don’t be.”

We descended the stairs in all our bullshit glory. The ballroom below us was magnificent, decorated in all the excessive debutante splendor you could imagine. Silver cutlery and crystal sparkled and glimmered. Chandeliers were incandescent. Fine china gleamed. Over-the-top flower arrangements adorned tabletops and filled every available space.

We made our way down the grand staircase to the sound of classical music, and I smiled, my heart bursting with happiness for the first time since I’d returned to Savannah. Because I didn’t have to stay there. Because I was nineteen years old and I could return to California and start again.

Just as we reached the bottom of the ridiculously long staircase, across the room the ginormous white doors to the ballroom were suddenly thrust open and collided violently with the ornate walls.

The bang of metal and timber on alabaster reverberated throughout the massive room and every eye turned to see what had happened.

Silence fell over the ballroom as four heavily tattooed men and one feisty redhead stepped into the room.

I gasped.

Frozen to the spot, I watched Heath saunter across the Grecian tiled floor towards the base of stairs where I stood with Colton. My heart stopped. His eyes found me and didn’t leave my face as he crossed the corridor of people to reach me. His face was unreadable. But his body language was unmistakable. He was coming to get me.

“What are you doing here?” I whispered, not thinking he would hear me because of the distance between us.

“When you left, I forgot to tell you something,” he replied.

I could barely breathe at the sight of him. He was magnificent. Black pants. Sleeveless t-shirt. Big muscular arms. Wallet chain swinging as he swaggered across the room towards me. My heart stopped.

It was another one of those Heath Dillinger moments.

It seemed to take forever before he reached me. But when he did he jumped the two steps between us and with no hesitation took my face in his hands and crashed his lips to mine.

Flares burst and danced beneath my lids as his tongue sent magic surging throughout my body. The world around us fell away and I was lost in the warmth of his mouth against mine. In that one crazy moment I was nowhere and everywhere.

He pulled back and I felt dizzy. Somewhere someone squealed.

“What are you doing?” I said, shocked and dazed by what was happening and by the strong emotions coursing through me.

“I’d kind of thought that was obvious.” He grinned, but then he looked serious. “I love you, H-bomb. We belong together. You and me.”

I looked around the room at all the stunned faces. Near the giant doorway Piper looked like she could hardly contain herself.

“If you hadn’t noticed, I’m kind of in the middle of something,” I whispered.

“You nearly done?” His gorgeous dimples flickered either side of his mouth. “Because I’ve come to take my girl home.”

I arched a brow at his cockiness. “Just like that?”

“Yeah.” He grinned. “Just like that.”

His lips found mine again and I couldn’t help but dissolve into him.

“Now wait just a goddamn minute!” My daddy’s voice echoed through the ballroom as he stormed up the aisle with two burly members of the security team. “Just what do you think you are doing?”

“It’s okay, Daddy,” I said, only just becoming fully aware of where we were and of the reactions of those around us. Confusion, disbelief, horror, anger, and fear or even downright terror radiated out of the debutantes and their guests. Generations of wealth and power were gathered in the ballroom. And Heath strutting in uninvited was not just a previously unheard of breach of debutante ball protocol but a massive security breach which had triggered a protective reaction from the security team, and from my daddy. “This is Heath.”