“What if she’s a threat to him?” Nora asked. “Like, sure he’s got a pierced dick, but he’s not out there shaking it at people. At least not that I’ve seen and since we’ve been on this tour, we’ve been around him a lot. He seems to keep his private life quiet too.”

  “Maybe because he dated that twat, and realized if he wasn’t careful, his business would be all over the place?” Harlow cracked jokes, but also, that comment Nora had made got her thinking. “Still, that’s actually true. It’s well known he had a dark time when he was with her. I think their breakup was fraught and he learned a lot of those painful life lessons. But you’re right. The Miles I’m with would likely be super uncomfortable. He hasn’t mentioned her to me more than a reference to an old relationship. I’ll do a little research when we’re at the arena.” During Earthquakes’s soundcheck so he wouldn’t happen to stumble in while she was cyber checking out his ex.

  “Your saying that bit about not having his permission to share was important. I don’t know if that part will make it into the final edit, or even if there’ll be an interview at all, but I’m glad you thought about that. About how he’d feel.”

  “Nora, I think about how he’d feel about a lot of things.” More than she really had before. In a different way than she had with her lovers in the past. Harlow chewed on her lip as they arrived at the townhouse and they paid for the ride before heading inside.

  “Go check on Brian,” Harlow said when they unlocked the front door.

  “We weren’t done.” Nora was such a good friend.

  “There’s always more time to talk about all the rest. I’m going to be out on the patio. I want to call Marcella and my dad. Just a check in.”

  After a heavy sigh, Nora hugged her and headed up the stairs while Harlow grabbed some tea from the fridge and headed outside to the pretty garden patio.

  Her chat with her dad was easy. He and the band were in Mexico, and she caught him before he’d have to go on stage.

  She grinned because he always made her happy. “Hey, Dad! I’m in your townhouse eating all your snacks. Thanks for letting us use it.”

  “Makes me feel better knowing you’re in a house surrounded by love. Tell Jenna you ate all the food she had stocked. That’ll make her day,” he said.

  They meandered around. Talked about her music news. Talked about his own news and tour stuff. He passed on his love to Nora and Brian and said the rest of AMJFJ send theirs to her.

  At the end, he said, “We just added a show in Ottawa and it’s when your tour will be there. Let’s meet up. I want to take Miles’s measure in person.”

  They talked some more details before he had to run. They’d avoided the Gloria topic, and Harlow was good with that. They’d talk after they were both off the road.

  Then she settled in to talk to Marcella. When her aunt’s face popped up on Harlow’s screen, relief seemed to pour through her. Her anxiety ebbed and she smiled, truly pleased.

  “What’s poppin’?” she teased.

  Marcella’s smile echoed Harlow’s. “I have missed your face so much! How are you? Good I bet. I read the reviews of last night’s show at MSG. I’m so proud of you.”

  “Last night was so incredible I’m a little afraid tonight can’t top it,” Harlow admitted. “Everything about it was better than every dream I’ve ever had about playing there.”

  “I’m bummed we couldn’t be there.” Marcella and her wife were supposed to come out for the NYC shows but her father-in-law had gotten into a car accident and stayed back to help as he recovered.

  “We’ll see you both when we play the Gorge.” The amphitheater in Eastern Washington was a few hours’ drive from Seattle. “We hit gold yesterday. And two of our singles are charting. Jeremy is in talks to have one of our songs on a movie soundtrack. This is all just a lot.”

  Marcella laughed, pleased as she clapped a few times. “Gold? I knew you could do it. Congratulations! When you’re done with this tour, we need to celebrate. Movies? Sweetie, you’re meant for great things. You know I get to be your date on the red carpet at the movie premiere, right? Miles has to share you that night.”

  “So you know about Miles and me?”

  “Hard not to. Pictures of you two all over the place. You look good together. Your dad tells me Adrian’s a solid dude so I gotta hope he raised his kid well. And that I raised mine well enough to walk out on anyone who’d be careless with her.”

  “I really needed this call with you,” she told Marcella. “He’s…good. I like him a lot. I would not only walk out if he treated me poorly, but Nora would set his clothes on fire when he least suspected it.”

  Marcella laughed. “And then I’d get hold of him. So, you think this has staying power beyond the tour?”

  “I’m trying to go week by week. I’m having a good time. He seems to be having a good time. He’s not trying to have a good time with anyone else and neither am I. I understand him. I get this life in ways most others can’t. I’d like it very much if this deepened and lasted past the summer.”

  “It’s like that. Okay. Then I hope it does too. As long as he deserves you.”

  They chatted a while longer. Harlow realized her dad hadn’t told Marcella about the cease and desist, so she didn’t bring it up.

  It was time, she realized, to give her aunt more details. But not when she had a father-in-law recovering from multiple surgeries to help care for and a wife to support emotionally through it.

  They chatted a while longer before saying their I love yous and disconnecting.

  Since she was alone for a little while, Harlow decided to give in to her curiosity and do some internet research on this Sophia person, and whatever the hell it was between her and Miles.

  CHAPTER

  NINETEEN

  Miles had been called into one meeting after the next when he’d arrived at the venue that afternoon, so he’d missed Above Me’s soundcheck.

  Then he’d gone to get changed for their own soundcheck and meet and greet with fans and missed Harlow again. It wasn’t like they weren’t going back to the townhouse together or anything. He saw her every day, slept with her every night. He’d even been with her that morning. It was silly to be wistful when it had only been a few hours.

  And still, as he stood in their empty dressing room, he could smell her on the air. Her ebook reader sat on top of her ever-present notebook with a pen clipped on it. He recognized her well-worn cardigan that she always brought with her even in the summer because backstage areas and hotels got cold.

  He picked it up and smelled it before putting it back and heading out. At the very least, he could watch their show. That’s when he saw the banana with a bright pink post it. Sitting where he’d see it if he came in.

  Miles, eat a piece of fruit and drink something that isn’t soda. Xox, Harlow

  She did that. They’d just be going about their day, and she’d pull two apples from her bag and hand him one with orders to eat it because you can’t live on bacon and potato chips alone. And he loved soda. Drank it all day long but she started bringing two water bottles to the venue instead of just one. She usually went through several refills each time, and because she encouraged—and nagged a little—him to drink more water, he’d probably tripled his regular water intake and had cut back on the soda too.

  Just little things that meant a lot.

  Miles couldn’t have been too far behind them because he recognized one of the songs Above Me usually played during the first half of their set.

  Pleased he hadn’t missed the part of their show when they played a cover, he found himself a spot to watch after finishing the banana and tossing the peel into the trash.

  The song ended and Harlow paused to drink some water. “Hey, Madison Square Garden. So we do a thing in our shows where we play a cover. Sometimes we decide ahead of time but it’s also fun to get suggestions from the crowd. We love music and there are so many great songs we forget about them all. If we know it, we’ll give it a whirl.”

  Shouts came from the audience for songs from across genres of music and Miles knew she’d be delighted by that. But what he heard more than once were Earthquakes songs.

  Brian went and spoke in Harlow’s ear, and she shook her head. Nora joined them. Shortly after that, Harlow said to the crowd, “I love “Can’t Shake I” too, but we don’t know all the chords.”

  Miles found himself walking out, totally surprising Harlow, who grinned at him, filling him with relief because he realized too late that she might not want him out there.

  “I don’t know the bassline,” Brian said in his ear.

  “I know the chords,” he said to Harlow. “As long as Brian is cool with it.” Brian shrugged and nodded.

  “This guy’s name is Miles. He says he knows the chords,” she told the crowd.

  Nora did a few drum rolls.

  In the background, the crowd had gone wild, chanting the name of the song over and over. Brian, laughing, bowed. Suddenly Miles’s guitar tech thrust his bass into his hands and backed off.

  “You okay with this?” he asked them.

  “Don’t expect us to pay you your regular rates,” Harlow said. “We’re on a budget here. And I’m singing it.”

  “I think I can work with a payment plan.” He waggled his eyebrows, gave her a sexy look, and she giggled, shaking her head at him. “As for you singing? Yeah, I’d dig that.”

  She began playing the opening to a song Miles had written about addiction and obsession and he came right in behind her. Not singing the song was a totally new experience, but holy shit he loved Harlow’s vocals and the direction she took the song in. Growly, low snarls, whispers, and desperate explanations. It was like hearing the music from the perspective of the audience.

  It filled him with pride and also humility that he’d come through a wild and dark phase in his life and was stronger for it. Proud that he’d opened himself up that way and poured it all into a song he loved even more at that point.

  Harlow took care of his words. Took care of the song that had come from that dark, healing part of himself. It was astonishingly intimate.

  The audience sang along with her, letting her lead them through it, through the pause at the end of the first two choruses, down to the depth of pain near the end and then brought everyone up, higher and on solid ground at the end.

  When it was over and everyone cheered—including Miles—he looked her way and blew her a kiss before he left the stage on slightly rubbery legs.

  Because an unassailable truth had punched him in the gut. He was absolutely, positively in love with Harlow Martin. No more falling in love. He was there.

  By the time they’d come off stage, Harlow was buzzing with energy and excitement. Not just because had been such a great show, but because Miles had come out and they’d played music together. It had been so ridiculously wonderful she was a little bit drunk with it.

  “Wow. You two were like, combustible out there.” Nora put her arm through Harlow’s as they headed away from the stage and back to the dressing room area.

  “It felt nice. Singing with him I mean. I didn’t even get nervous that I was singing his song and his words. Until the end when I had that realization, and then it was…okay. More than okay. That’s not a fair word. I hope he appreciated our treatment.”

  “I watched him the whole time. He was totally down with the way you sang it. He looked at you like he wanted to take a bite.”

  Brian, who was to her left, leaned in close to say, “I like that you’re happy he came out on stage. I know you’re wary about what people might think about how you achieve the things you do. I’m real fuckin’ proud of the Harlow out there with the dude she’s caught feelings for, not giving a fuck about anyone who doesn’t wish her the best. This guy is good for you. But better than that is how you are good for yourself.”

  Harlow came to a halt and then threw her arms around him. She couldn’t say anything without risking tears, so let the hug speak for her. He teased her from time to time. They argued too, didn’t talk to one another for a day or two until it was forgotten or worked through. But mainly he was part of her family. He knew more about her, cared more about her than her biological brothers.

  And instead of feeling the lack of what her brothers had given, she felt the blessing of having such wonderful people in her life. That Brian, who didn’t often have conversations about feelings, would say that to her meant so, so much.

  Nora grinned at them both as they headed the rest of the way back.

  Miles met them as they turned a corner and she found herself skipping the last few feet to him and jumped into his arms. “Hi.”

  He smiled at her as she eased back to the ground before he fell, or she broke something he needed to play music.

  “Hi. Thanks for letting me come out tonight. I had a great time.” He kissed her quickly. “I loved the way you sang my lyrics.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t mind that we covered you.”

  “Are you kidding? I’m totally flattered, and you killed it. Everyone else thought so too.”

  The other three members of Earthquakes caught up with Miles. After calling out their compliments on the cover Above Me had just done, they headed to the stage so she stepped away from him knowing he had to move too. “Going to clean up and then come back to catch your show. Kick some ass.”

  “Okay.” After another quick kiss, he turned, and she watched him walk away for a few seconds before they both disappeared beyond the opposite corner. Seconds later he jogged back to her. “Hey, I was…do you want to spend the four days between shows up in Montreal with me? Just me and you? I thought we could, you know, maybe get a rental somewhere.”

  He blushed and she went to her toes to kiss him. With Nora and Brian going back to Southern California to visit family during that time, she’d definitely like to spend it with him. “Yeah, I’d like that a lot.”

  “We’ll talk details later. See you in a bit.” He kissed her once more, and moved away again quickly to catch up with the rest of his band.

  “Looks good coming and going. Damn,” she muttered with a smile as she caught up with Nora and Brian.

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY

  Miles looked Harlow up and down slowly. God damn, she was sexy. “See, now I’m regretting making these dinner reservations. I’d much rather stay in and dine on you.”

  She wore a body hugging deep blue dress that ended mid-thigh. Her very long legs were bare, and she wore strappy heels. He loved that. Loved that she was an amazon, tall and strong and wore high heels not caring that she was already tall. It was another example of the fearlessness she had that called to him.

  Her hair hung in pretty curls that framed her face and she had her lips painted what he considered his favorite red on her. He wanted to see that on his cock.

  “You know what that lipstick does to me,” he murmured as he got close enough to press his lips to the side of her neck and breathe her in. He heard her soft intake of breath and saw the flush creep up her chest and neck.

  The power of it rode his spine. He could make her breathless. She was his to please. A high bar, and one he gladly put energy into meeting.

  “You’re one to talk. Look at you,” she said, pressed against his body, her head tipped back as he licked a path down her throat. “Not that my eyes are open,” she whispered. “But it’s burned into my memory.”

  A buzz from his phone was the text telling him their car had arrived and was out front. He’d arranged for an apartment with a private elevator and enough security he felt they’d be safest and away from any paparazzi.

  “I was about to suggest we order takeout so I could bend you over that couch and take you from behind. But our ride is here.”

  “There’s plenty of time.” She smoothed her palms down the buttons of his shirt before straightening his tie. “You really do look delicious in a suit.”

  “Gotta keep up with you,” he said, guiding her into the elevator once she’d grabbed her handbag.

  The mirrored walls of the elevator car reflected them back. With her heels she was the same height as he. The two of them looked really good together. Dressed up and ready for dinner in a quiet, dark, and very well reviewed restaurant that had been around forever.

  She pulled her phone out and took a photo of their reflection and then a selfie with him.

  “We look awesome, Miles. I’d fuck us.”

  He laughed, keeping an arm around her waist as they headed to the car at the curb out front of the building. The driver opened their door, and Miles took a moment to watch Harlow get in, those legs of hers visible as the hem of her dress rose.

  The place he’d brought her was old school elegance. She used her serviceable French and wished she’d taken a few more semesters of it. Still, it was enough to order a drink and some appetizers.

  The chef came out to let them know he had a multi course meal planned for them based on whatever Miles had told him before they’d arrived. Harlow figured it’d be great because Miles paid attention to what she liked and didn’t.

  He clinked his glass to hers. “To the most beautiful woman in my world.”

  She was already all worked up from their little interaction before they’d left the apartment and when he was this way it only made it harder not to jump on him.

  “You’re so good for my ego,” she told him with a laugh.

  “It’s not hard to say nice things about you. Believe me, Harlow, you’re on my mind pretty much twenty-four-seven, and it’s all good.” His expression said a lot of that thinking was probably sex related, and that was totally okay with her.

  “I’m glad we have these days all to ourselves. I like everyone else, don’t get me wrong. But I do like not having to share you. No media. No interviews. No shows. Just us.” Sure, people looked at him. How could you resist those good looks? Harlow really couldn’t blame them. As long as they kept their distance there wasn’t a problem.

  “I’m always all yours,” he murmured, and she smiled again. Good lord, he was irresistible.