Brian gave Miles an up and down look and then nodded once. Like…conferring an honor or something. “Cool,” Brian said.

  By the time they’d arrived at the hotel, the others had already gotten there and had texted that they’d see Miles shortly.

  “This isn’t all of them. Just so you know,” Miles told her when they’d gotten into their room and she looked through her clothes, pulling out a few things.

  “Your family?”

  “Yes. At least twelve more when you count all my cousins. And Maddie’s family is now mine by association and by marriage as my aunt Mary is with her uncle Damian. That’s three more couples and oh yes, some more kids there too. Last year we all spent Thanksgiving together at Sweet Hollow Ranch in Oregon. That’s where Maddie’s from. We bunked in every open bedroom and then we rolled up in several tour busses for even more beds. Utter madness.” He laughed and then watched as she tossed clothes aside, grabbed others and created an outfit.

  His family wouldn’t expect that. But he understood, which is why he took a quick shower as well, though she gave him a long slow look as he undressed, she stayed out of the bathroom, which was for the best. Probably.

  He hurried though, coming back out, clean and dressed, not ten minutes later.

  She looked so pretty there in nothing fancier than jeans and a short-sleeved blouse, but he could have been surrounded by people in couture and he’d have been drawn to her no matter what. She seemed to emanate a frequency only he could hear.

  “Hey. Your phone buzzed a few times and then Poppy texted me. She said to come on up to the top floor when we’re ready. Nora and Brian are stopping in for a few minutes but he’s getting over a cold, so they won’t stay long.”

  He moved to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Whatever’s best. Does he need urgent care or anything?”

  “Nah. He’s drinking those fizzy vitamin C things and chugging as much water and tea as possible. He’s already better than he was yesterday. But thank you for asking. I think he’s decided you’re okay.”

  “It was the Star Trek reference, wasn’t it?” Though it was a joke, the truth was, Miles was very relieved to hear her close friend liked him. Brian and Omar had developed a friendship over the last few months as they shared a deep love of merch and D&D. Nora and Poppy and Maddie were all friends with Harlow so now that he’d passed the Brian test, Miles felt better.

  Harlow laughed and Miles loved the way her entire being seemed to light up. “I’m not going to lie, I think yes.”

  “Good. Whatever it takes,” he said, spinning them both to orient them toward the door. “Ready?”

  She looked at her reflection in the mirror near the front door and tucked her hair behind her ear.

  “Let’s do this. I’m starving.”

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY-FIVE

  The following day, Harlow woke up before Miles—not unusual, he slept like a rock—and went to do yoga and breakfast with Poppy and Nora. Maddie was hanging out with her parents so she was passing on that day’s gathering.

  “Hi!” Erin and Gillian both smiled at her as she entered Poppy’s room.

  “It’s not an ambush,” Poppy said once she’d closed the door. “They just wanted to hang out this morning. Maddie is with Mary and Damien and everyone else is still sleeping.”

  If it had been an ambush, there was still not much Harlow could have done about it. These two women she faced were the most important people in the life of the man she found herself in love with.

  But Gillian Brown was just…well she was fucking lovely. And it was impossible not to really like her. Erin, Harlow had a feeling, would simply make you like her.

  “Good morning,” Harlow said to everyone, pretending it was just another day in the life instead of yoga after she’d rolled out of the bed she was just naked in with Miles.

  Nora winked. “Let’s get this done. I’m hungry.”

  They all rolled out mats and began.

  “By the way, I wasn’t able to get two minutes alone with you yesterday,” Harlow told Erin a few minutes later, “but thank you for sending Miles our music.”

  “Jeremy felt I’d like your stuff and he was right. I thought your sound would fit with Earthquakes.” Erin gave Harlow a searching look. “I didn’t quite figure on the rest.”

  Gillian gave a disapproving grunt and Erin blushed.

  “I don’t think Miles figured on it either,” Harlow said. “I sure didn’t.”

  “Why not? Look at the boy!” Erin exclaimed and this time Gillian said her name sharply.

  “You can’t plan for things like this,” Gillian said quietly. “Yes, my boy is handsome and talented and all those good things. But what you two have, well, that’s not really about good looks.”

  “It doesn’t hurt,” Harlow found herself saying, bringing a surprised laugh from Miles’s mother. “I’d be a liar if I said it wasn’t easy to take a look at Miles and want to know more. Or if I listened to his lyrics and didn’t think, hey that guy is interesting. He’s absolutely gorgeous inside and out.”

  “What’s your favorite thing about Miles?” Gillian asked.

  “He’s always feeding me.” Harlow snorted a laugh. “If I’m tired and I take a shower, when I come out there’s food waiting for me. After soundcheck he shows up to corral me and make sure we go to the mess and eat together. He makes sure I drink hot tea for my vocal chords and when he found out I liked blackberry honey he special ordered it so I can have it with my tea.”

  Gillian’s smile was a little shaky.

  “He’s nearly always calm at the center of a storm. There can be total chaos and upset everywhere and he just handles things. He’s steady, but not cold.” Harlow blushed furiously. She desperately wanted Miles’s aunt and mother to understand she cared about Miles not for fame or power but for how he was with people.

  “Adrian is that way too,” Gillian said. “It’s Brody.”

  The night before Harlow had finally met Brody, who Miles considered a second father, and she could see why. She’d watched Brody manage everyone, herself included. Had noticed everyone defer to him at one moment or another. And she’d definitely noted when Miles and Adrian had stood side by side, laughing at something Brody had said, just where some of the physical tells Miles must have gotten from the Brown men.

  “Miles told us that it’s you who feeds him,” Gillian told her. “I think you both take care of each other quite nicely. I approve of that. He easily gets caught up in whatever he’s doing and forgets to eat. He doesn’t sleep enough sometimes. He’s got a hard time saying no when anyone asks something of him.”

  “Don’t get me started on that,” Harlow grumbled.

  “Oh, pet, please, that’s exactly what we want. Do get started. Tell us,” Gillian said and Poppy groaned.

  Harlow said, “Everyone wants a piece of him. He doesn’t owe the world a piece of himself. He gets to say no. His job is to go out every night and give a great show to fans. Above and beyond that? I think sometimes he’s too nice. Luckily, between me and Poppy, we try to remind him it’s absolutely his right to not take every single opportunity that gets tossed at him.”

  “The promoters came to Earthquakes last week and wanted to add another hour of meet and greet before the show. But for VIP ticket holders who weren’t necessarily fans, but influential people who post pictures online. You know how that goes,” Poppy said to her aunt. “She makes sure he guards his time better.”

  Harlow scoffed. “Well, I think Poppy is downplaying just how much she does. I can make sure Miles lives on more than soda and food from vending machines, but it’s Poppy who lulls them all into thinking she’s just so sweet and innocent and then boom, she’s setting boundaries and pushing back to give Miles space.”

  Gillian smiled at her daughter and then back to Harlow. “Seems you see the best in both my children. That they both feel the same about you tells me everything I need to know.”

  Miles showed up five minutes later, right after they’d rolled up their mats. “Thought I’d find you here,” he said to Harlow as he came in.

  He dropped a kiss on the top of her head before he greeted everyone else. She wondered if they’d be upset about that. After all, she’d only been in his life months! But no, Erin and Gillian seemed very pleased and Harlow relaxed just a little bit.

  “I just got a text from dad. He made arrangements for us to go get lunch on Granville Island somewhere.”

  “Oh yum. Bring me back something tasty,” Harlow said as she stood.

  Miles took her hand and pulled her to a stop. “You’re part of the us that’s going to lunch. Nora, you, and Brian too. Depending on how he’s feeling?”

  “Better this morning. I’m probably going to urge him to stay here though. Just get him rested as much as possible before tonight’s show,” Nora said.

  “Guess we’d better go change and get ready then.” Gillian surprised Harlow by hugging her. “See you both in a bit.”

  Harlow indicated her outfit. “I need to get changed too since they probably look down on people coming in wearing ratty yoga pants and a tank top with a stain on it from the poutine I ate in Montreal,” Harlow said.

  Miles shrugged. “That was damned good poutine though. I’ll come back up to the room with you. I need to get ready as well.” Then to Nora he said, “If you change your mind about coming, we’re meeting to leave in an hour and a half down in the parking garage. Otherwise, we’ll bring you back something.”

  “How long does it take you to get ready for a lunch?” he asked, trying to sound casual.

  “A lunch with three hundred of your closest loved ones?”

  “That’s a tiny exaggeration,” he told her, trying not to laugh.

  “I’m sweaty so I need to shower.”

  “Okay. Go on,” he told her as the elevator slowed to a stop at their floor.

  “Forty five minutes. Maybe closer to an hour depending on how my hair goes,” she said as they walked down the hall.

  “Okay. Then we’d have forty-five minutes to do other things.” He opened the door and motioned her to go in first, hanging the do not disturb sign on the handle and using the slide lock.

  She turned and in two steps he’d backed her to the wall, holding her there with his body pressed to hers. Her breasts heaved up at the neckline of the top she wore so he leaned down to lick over first the right, then through the crease where they met in the center and then the left.

  He groaned at her taste.

  “Let me shower first,” she said, breathless and not trying to leave his embrace at all.

  “I’m only going to get you dirtier,” he said, nibbling over her collarbone. “I promise to wash your back. It’s a very large shower so we’ll both fit.”

  “Yes, it is,” she gasped when he sucked her earlobe between his teeth.

  Then he got what she meant.

  “You’re very resourceful,” he told her as he pulled her toward the bathroom.

  “Multi-tasking!” she said, laughing as she managed to get her shirt off one handed leaving her standing there wearing a sports bra. It was plain. Not created to inflame desire but to hold her tits while she worked out. And yet, even the simple gray fabric made her more beautiful.

  He stood there for the longest time, just looking at her, at this unexpected and yet essential part of his world.

  “Do I have spinach in my cleavage?” she asked after a bit.

  “Just taking a second or three to realize how lucky I am.” He opened the door to the shower stall and turned the water on.

  “You’re about to get even luckier.” She snickered. “Sorry, I had to.”

  He whipped his shirt off and stepped free of his pants and boxers. “Don’t apologize,” he told her, his hands moving to her hair where he freed it from the ponytail she’d had it in. He dug in to all that dark softness, pulling her close to him so he could slant his mouth over hers and take it for a scalding kiss.

  Her taste rocketed through him, filling him with a near frenzy to have her. Her arms were free and he noted—without breaking the kiss—that she shoved out of her leggings and underpants before she planted her palm on his chest to push him back slightly.

  He panted, watching as she peeled the bra off and then grinned at him before she took a step into the shower, groaning as the three different showerheads hit her with hot water.

  “I’m in here, all wet and pliant,” she called out.

  He’d been attempting to gather his patience and control to take it slow but her voice and the blatant suggestion in her tone had him snarling and getting in with her.

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY-SIX

  “I know it’s a lot to have nearly two dozen of us show up in the middle of your tour. You’re taking it well,” Ben Copeland told her.

  “You love Miles and Poppy and wanted to see them. It’s three hours from home. I think it’s nice. They’re certainly happy to see you all. I’m glad I got to meet everyone. Makes me miss my family too.”

  They’d had lunch in a restaurant overlooking the water, their party took up pretty much the entire place. After the meal, she’d headed to the deck to get some fresh air and stretch her legs and Miles’s uncle had followed.

  “There’s more of us back home. We seem to grow exponentially every few years,” Ben told her.

  “Miles told me about Thanksgiving in Hood River. It sounded fun.”

  “We like being together. It’s weird, but it works. I imagine you’ll see for yourself. Listen, I wanted to speak to you in private.”

  Harlow’s stomach lurched. “I’m so sorry about that interview. I swear to you I had no idea she was going to say any of that, or I wouldn’t have gone. I didn’t even know she was Miles’s ex until near the end.”

  Ben paused and then ran a hand down her arm. Just a brief, reassuring touch. “No, please don’t apologize. That wasn’t the first time our relationship was brought into an article or interview. Won’t be the last either. We know you didn’t have anything to do with it. But what I wanted to talk to you about is connected in a way. Todd and I run a personal security firm and part of what we do is background investigation. Miles talked to me a little about the situation. He told me he’d mentioned to you that if you wanted, we could look into your mother’s life. See if we could find anything that might help you understand her and her choices. We can look for things like police reports or activity. I’ll check what documents regarding their divorce and custody agreement if it’s not sealed.”

  Her face flamed and she wanted to dig a hole and hide in it.

  “He did mention it to you, right?” Ben asked gently.

  “He did, but I didn’t know that he’d spoken to you about it in detail.” He certainly hadn’t mentioned to her that he’d spoken more specifically about it to his uncle. She continued to watch the birds wheel about in the sky over the water, diving for fish, struggling not to be pissed. Struggling to see this offer in the spirit it was being made. She and Miles would discuss the rest later when they were alone.

  “You have nothing to be embarrassed about,” he said, obviously understanding her discomfort. “Miles only shared enough to give me background. An idea of what was happening and what we might do to help.”

  She blew out a breath. “If she would just stop, I could let it go. Probably. But I never know when she’s going to pop up to wreak havoc. And I don’t know why she seems to want to punish me. I’ve asked and she doesn’t explain. That interview got her worked up but I’m unsure how to deal with it, or even if I should. I don’t want to make it worse. I just want her to leave me alone. And leave my dad alone.”

  “I know that video she posted must have been upsetting, but it only has a handful of views,” Ben said softly. “Anything we find out, as long as it’s not a crime she’s covering up, will be confidential. I wouldn’t even tell Miles what I found unless you gave permission.”

  Nausea coated her like a cold sweat. “Video?” What the fuck?

  “You didn’t know. I thought…I’m sorry.”

  “I blocked her number after a string of calls and voicemails. I’ve been trying not to think about her.” Harlow pulled her phone out, but Ben put a staying hand on hers.

  “You don’t need to look at it. I already told Miles what was said, but it’s nothing for you to be alarmed about. She’s a middle-aged woman who’s railing against the modern world and using you as her cudgel. No one is going to care unless for some reason it gets more notice. If we make a fuss, that gets more notice. Let it die by giving it the attention it deserves. None.”

  No wonder Xander seemed to be such a great person. His dads had given her nothing but kindness and a solid strength.

  Still, she was mortified that anyone else knew about this ugly chapter. “This is about me because of that interview?”

  “I’ll tell you all about it if you promise not to look. I’ll be honest and won’t leave anything out. But you don’t need to hear your own mother talk about you that way,” Ben said.

  “I know it’s such a cliché. Boo hoo my mom is terrible. Meanwhile I have an aunt who raised me and is very much my mother figure. And my dad is great and supportive. I went to great schools and live in his house rent free when I’m in Southern California. It’s stupid to be upset over this.” Her voice wavered a little and she hated that weakness.

  He waved a hand. “My father stopped speaking to me when he found out I was in a relationship with Todd as well as Erin. He refused to go to any of the parties when Erin was pregnant with Xander. He’s never met Xander. Didn’t go to his high school graduation. Never shared cake with his grandson at a birthday party. He’s never stayed up late with me to put together toys on Christmas Eve. We can’t choose our parents. And just because we have a life full of others who do love us and accept us doesn’t mean it isn’t painful when our mom or dad are failures at parenting and reject us.”

  “I’m so sorry.” And she was. Though she wasn’t a parent herself, the way some parents just threw their kids out like garbage infuriated her. It put her own situation into perspective.