Rockin' the Heart (Hot Wired) by Gracen Miller

held no desire to improve his billiard aim.
    “ Spill the juicy details, Boo.” Keys sent her a sidelong glance. “I can tell something’s going on in that pretty head of yours.”
    She sighed. Brat, boo, and hellion. She guessed she’d earned all of her nicknames. “We agreed to try Tab’s plan. I can’t help he didn’t like my opinion of other… things.” Why’d she say the last part?
    “ What opinion of other things would that be?” Derringer eyed her with a speculative expression, one she couldn’t gauge. She had a sneaky suspicion he read more into what transpired than he should.
    “ Give me my stick.” She extended her arm toward Keys and wiggled her fingers.
    “ Nope.” Keys whacked her balls around some more. “Not until you answer the question.”
    As the band ’s lead guitarist lined up his next shot, she said, “I told him he kissed like Jase.”
    Keys busted out laughing and missed hitting the cue ball.
    Derringer shook his head , but smiled. “That’s cold, hellion, even for you.”
    “ I can’t help he can’t take the truth.” Or at least what I wish was true .
    “ Uh huh.” It didn’t take a brainiac to catch the disbelief in Derr’s grunt.
    Keys rubbed moisture away from the corners of his eyes. “Wish I could’ve seen Fang’s face.”
    “ What?” Ignoring Keys, she gaped at Derringer, offering him her best innocent impression. “It’s the truth. Kissing him was… yucky.”
    Could she sound more adolescent while she was on fire from a single kiss?
    Derringer tapped her on the nose with his fingertip. “I saw the vid, you were in to Fang.”
    Shit .
    If he could gauge her real emotions in a ViewTube video , then Heath would have zero challenge perceiving the truth when he watched the clip. Obliged to deny the assertion to save face, she said, “Derr—”
    “ He’s the adult here, so I hold him responsible.” I’m an adult ! “If he hurts you, I’ll make him eat his teeth.” Hot Wired’s bass guitarist elevated his dark eyebrows and angled his head slightly forward in his patented ‘I’m dead-fucking serious’ expression. She knew not to push him when she received that particular look. She’d been on the receiving end of it a lot.
    Sam swallowed past the sudden uneasy knot in her throat. Causing friction among the band members was intolerable. “Tonight wasn’t Heath’s fault.”
    “ Fang’s a big boy. He doesn’t need you to defend him.” He kissed her forehead and slinked to the bar. He moved like an assassin with silent stealth, which aided in his gangster appeal. “He better not go too far with you.” He sliced his thumb across his throat. “That’s a promise.”
    She turned to Keys for help. “Talk to him, Keys. He’s being unreasonable.”
    “ I agree with Derr.” NY’s heir braced the pool stick on the floor, picked up the red, solid three ball and began to toss it up and catch it. “That video was hotter than porn.”
    “ You’re desperate if that’s true. Nothing. Happened .”
    Keys grinned. “To the casual observer it seemed like a lot of nothing happened.”
    Derringer agreed with a nod and a muttered, “Yep.”
    What the hell was that supposed to mean?
    “What I want to know is when exactly did you two kiss since you never actually locked lips at the store?” Keys puckered up and performed dramatic kissing noises at her.
    “ I’m gonna punch you in your mouth.”
    “ Thanks. I don’t mind if you do. The chicks might dig a man with a busted lip in need of get-well kisses.”
    “ Be serious.” Did she normally adore Keys for making her laugh? She changed her mind. He irritated her as much as Jase did.
    Derringer chuckled low at their quips.
    Keys gave her a mock insulted gasp. “‘Serious’ is my middle name, Boo.” He leaned forward and gave her a soft knuckle punch to the chin with the hand holding the ball.
    “ You don’t know the meaning of the word.”
    A lopsided grin contorted his handsome face. “He