by Cari Quinn
“This isn’t about me. You don’t see me crying in my cornflakes or skipping out on my responsibilities.”
“No, you won’t even take them on. Ryan can’t play. He’s going to go on stage at the show and he’s going to be hurting when all you have to do to play drums is flex those mondo muscles and snarl.”
“Wrong answer. These aren’t my responsibilities. I get that you want me there, even need me there, and I’d like to help but—”
“But you won’t.”
“You’re talking open-ended. A life sentence. I don’t even know what I’ll feel like doing a month from now, and you expect me to sign on forever?”
“You’d be surprised. Sometimes even forever doesn’t seem long enough.” Michael forced himself into a sitting position. “Okay, forget forever. Let’s just talk a couple months. How about that? Six months to start. If you decide by, say, mid-September that you’re sick of the band, then you’re free. No more phone calls, no more pressure.”
“And Stepmommy Dearest is okay with that too?”
“She will be,” Michael said confidently.
In truth, Michael had no idea if Lila would go for that plan. But she wanted Mal in the band, and six months of Mal was better than none.
Mal cracked his knuckles. “All right. You got yourself a deal. But now you’re really coming with me to Mom’s shindig next month, and I don’t care if you’ve got your wifey back by then. I’m not dealing with that shitstorm alone.”
“You got it. The way it’s looking, I won’t have my wife back next month or anytime, so you don’t have to worry.” He lifted his glass to salute Mal.
That it happened to be filled with last night’s water seemed particularly cruel, but whatever. At least he’d kept his oath not to drink alcohol.
He hadn’t touched a freaking drop.
His phone buzzed at his hip and he pulled it out. Lila. That was surprising not at all.
“One of these days you’re going to have to answer her,” Mal said.
“Why? You didn’t.”
“I can withstand a barrage from a woman way longer than you can, little brother. Might as well ante up and get it over with already. Maybe she’ll have good news for you about the little woman.”
Michael’s brain was fuzzy from crappy sleep. Mal’s couch sucked. “You mean Elle?”
“No, I mean your would be wife.”
“She’s not would be. She’s my will be wife—if she ever speaks to me again.”
Mal snorted. “Right.”
Michael took Lila’s call. “I have good news. Mal’s in the band.”
“Temporarily,” Mal added, walking to the doorway.
“Temporarily possibly forever.”
“Temporarily,” Mal repeated, offering Michael a raised middle finger on his way out of the room.
“Well, that’s some good news at least. Now when are you getting your ass back to LA?”
Michael pulled at a loose thread on his jeans. Showering and changing his clothes had become optional since he’d been at Mal’s. As had been taking note of how long he’d actually spent channel surfing on that crappy sofa. “I don’t know yet. I need some time, L.”
“What you need is Chloe back. And yes, I’m surprised I’m saying this too, but more than ever, I’m convinced you need that girl in your life. Whatever it takes, make it happen. Consider it a public service for your band and the world at large.”
Michael nearly smiled. “That ball is in her court. Talk to her.”
“Oh, I will be. Don’t you worry. And since I’m fairly certain you have no intention of coming to the award show, I’ll say this much—make sure you’re watching. We’re expecting some pretty big revelations.”
“Big revelations, huh?” Michael fought back a yawn as he heard the shower turn on down the hall. Guess he’d have time to finish his nap, since Mal was occupied. “That sounds ominous.”
“It just might be. Make sure you’re watching, Michael. I mean it.” She clicked off.
He rolled onto his back and tossed his phone on the coffee table. He might not have heard a word from Chloe, but at least he’d snared Mal for the time being.
Looked like he’d be glued to the TV tonight.
Chapter 30
“Mika, Mama. Chopter.”
“I know, sweetie. We can do yoga chopper. Finish up your oatmeal and we’ll—”
“Mika!”
Axl’s shriek sliced through her brain. Honestly, he’d been good for most of the last few weeks, but there were moments when he fixated on Michael. When Axl wanted his chopper rides of course. Story time had a few backfires, and one awful night where he’d been certain a monster was going to attack him in the hours between midnight and dawn.
It had taken staying up until dawn to prove that Michael had indeed slain the monster all those months ago.
Nights like that had tested her resolve not to sit in the middle of the floor and throw a hissy fit that would put her son’s to shame.
She missed him.
Missed him with an ache so big that her entire chest felt carved out. She slept in their bed—when she actually slept anyway—and she washed in their shower. She even managed to stand on their balcony and soak in the ocean scent without wanting to fling herself off the edge.
Every moment felt a little separate, a little less. The entire place felt less because Michael’s booming laugh was missing. His shoulders didn’t fill up the doorways, and his minty scent didn’t show up in the sheets anymore.
She’d had a particularly bad moment in the shower as she bawled over his body wash.
So, yeah…she’d passed heartache and landed squat in the middle of pathetic. She’d nearly texted him a dozen times. Usually at two in the morning when she was at her weakest. He wanted her to take some time to figure out if forevers fit in a few short months of knowing him.
She’d known within a half a heartbeat.
It seemed ridiculous to own that statement, but deep down, she knew it was true.
Her reaction to him on stage had certainly started her journey. Dancing in the club had cinched the lust factor. The only problem was that lust was easy. It was pheromones, hormones, and chemicals making the correct brew that ended in an orgasm if a person was lucky.
It was the love part that had snuck up on her.
The love part that she hadn’t prepared for.
The moment she’d seen the love bloom in his eyes for her son, she’d been so very lost.
Chloe crouched in front of Axl’s high chair. “I think we should go get Michael. Do you think that’s a good plan?”
“Mika.” He slapped the tray and crumbs and orange juice splattered both of them.
She laughed until tears started dripping from her stupid eyes. Yeah, it was well past time to go get him. She unbuckled Axl and swung him onto her hip. She was halfway out the door when she realized he wasn’t wearing any pants.
Some things couldn’t be corrected, no matter how hard she tried. Michael had broken her kid when it came to wearing clothes. She detoured into Axl’s room and got him dressed, grabbed her purse, then opened her front door.
Juliet and Ryan stood in the hallway.
“Oh, thank God.” Juliet pushed her back inside. “We need to talk, girlfriend.”
“What are you doing here?” A sudden and visceral fear left her breathless. “Is Michael okay?”
“No, he’s a hot mess. You guys are so fucking stupid.” Her dark eyes widened. “Uh, sorry child-like creature.”
“Fuck!” Axl said with crystal clear clarity.
“Sure, you can say that word no problem.” Chloe rolled her eyes. “Come on in.”
“You need to fix Michael. He’s broken, and I can’t deal with a broken guitarist in our band.” Juliet paced the length of her kitchen, then back to the fridge. She opened it and peered in. “Do you have something to drink?”
“Diet Coke or Dr. Pepper.”
“Bless you.” She rummaged around and pulled two out. She handed one to Ryan
and cracked the top on her own.
That was fine, Chloe didn’t want one anyway. Resisting the urge to kill Michael’s bandmate might take a bit more than she had in her reserves.
Ryan sat at the table. “Don’t mind Miss Rude here. Michael’s been out of touch since you guys had your meltdown. He managed to play the show, but then he split.”
“That’s not like him.” Chloe went to the fridge and pulled out a soda for herself, and a juice box for Axl. She plopped him back into his highchair and set the box down in front of him. She stabbed the box with the straw and took a quick sip so he wouldn’t geyser it everywhere.
“Exactly.” Juliet took a sip from her bottle. “Michael’s the responsible one. I can’t be taking up that job in the band. We might as well break up now.”
“No one’s breaking up.”
“Speak for yourself, Busted Hand Boy.”
Ryan rolled his eyes. “She only has two modes, unconscious and manic. Ignore her.”
Juliet propped her hands on her hips. “I’m standing right here.”
“Could you stand over there instead? You’re making the kid nervous.”
Chloe held up her hand. “All right. I appreciate the whole banter thing you two have going, but you need to tell me where my husband is right now.”
“See, the thing is, he’s not your husband.”
Before Chloe could open her mouth to give Juliet the verbal beatdown she needed, the woman flipped her long dark hair over her shoulder.
“But I have an idea about how we can change all that.”
Chapter 31
“This is a bad idea. In fact, I don’t want to do this at all.”
Molly and Juliet tag teamed her on the side stage at the Spectrum Awards. “We’ve gone over this. You want Michael back, right?”
“Of course I want him back.”
“Then, this is how it needs to happen.” Molly nodded as if it was all decided.
It so wasn’t.
In fact, she was pretty sure she was going to hurl all over her borrowed shoes.
Chloe swallowed down the spit that was trying to flood her mouth. “I don’t go on stage. That crap is all you guys. I’m perfectly happy—deliriously so—to stay on the sidelines.”
“Look, Michael is a good guy.”
“I know he’s a good—”
“Just listen,” Molly interrupted. She curled her fingers over Chloe’s shoulders. “I’m giving up accepting an award on national television because I believe in you two. So you’re going to walk on that stage and you’re going to tell the world that you love him.”
“Can’t I just hold a sign above your heads while you’re doing your speeches?”
“No,” they both shouted.
Chloe’s shoulders sagged. She nibbled the side of her thumbnail as one award after another was accepted. She’d rather hunt Michael down than do this.
Molly started bouncing. “Okay, we gotta go do the thing.”
Chloe was pretty sure even her freckles went pale.
“Sing. We’re going to sing, Chloe. You need to breathe or we’re going to end up scraping you up off the floor. And seriously, you don’t want to think about what’s on this floor.”
Yeah, that wasn’t helping at all.
“Don’t even think about escaping.”
Chloe turned to Lila. “Oh, awesome.”
Lila folded her arms. “I’m just here to make sure you don’t flee into the night like your…well, like Michael.”
“My husband. Because that’s what he’s supposed to be.”
Lila held up a hand. “Agreed.”
“Well, that’s something.” Chloe smoothed down the icy blue dress that was supposed to double as her wedding dress.
Wedding dress.
God, how dumb was she to do this? She banded her arms across her middle and bent at the waist. “Panic attacks are fine, right? Little dots aren’t terrible.”
“All right, calm down.” Lila came up beside her. “Just forget the crowd of people out there and pretend you’re talking into your phone.”
“Sure. Really big selfie stick.”
Lila let out a half laugh. “It’s all about control. You need to own it. This is nothing compared to getting that man back in your life.”
Chloe straightened slowly. “You know how I feel, don’t you?”
“I almost lost Nick because I was afraid. Don’t do the same thing. You were right, Chloe. We’re not so different.”
She swallowed hard. “I love him madly. I hope you know that.”
“I do.”
The panic subsided and Chloe could hear the applause from the crowd. Evidently, her insane freak out had only lasted three minutes and some change. Good to know. It felt like it was about five times longer. “Big girl panties activated.”
“Damn right,” Lila said. “Now go on and get out there.”
Chloe shook her hair back, then straightened her shoulders. Own it. Yep, she was probably going to own a front page spread thanks to her projectile vomiting on the front row. She took a deep breath and walked across the stage as Warning Sign’s name was called.
They’d been nominated, but as with a lot of award shows, they wanted to make sure the winners were actually at the telecast, so it wasn’t exactly a secret.
Molly, Elle, Ryan, Juliet, and West crowded around the podium. All of them hopped up and down for a second. Molly waved madly. “Thank you guys so much. We really appreciate it. And if you don’t mind we kinda want to do something really special for our lead guitarist.”
Don’t trip.
Don’t fall.
Don’t throw up.
Chloe got to the glass podium. “Hi. I’m Chloe Adams. Actually, it’s supposed to be Chloe Shawcross. And this is a proposal going out from me to Michael Shawcross. You see, we did a crazy thing a few months ago. We got married after only knowing each other a few hours. Well, we thought we got married. Turns out we weren’t quite as insane as people thought and at the last minute we didn’t go through with it. Mistake. Big one. I should have said yes, and now I want to do the ‘I do’s’ for real.”
The crowd went insane.
Chloe’s heart was going to explode out of her chest.
She held up her hands. “Wait. Wait a second, guys. Michael, meet me at the Little Elvis Chapel at one in the morning and let’s make it official.” The crowd became a wash of flashbulbs and watery faces. She blinked back her tears and smiled. “I love you. More than I could have ever imagined.” She stepped back and Molly and Juliet held onto her.
Good thing. She was pretty sure her ankles had dissolved.
The next few minutes were absolute chaos. Between the reporters and the people running the awards show, she was inundated with questions.
Lila handled them like a pro. Chloe was swept along between Ryan and West. A limo was waiting at the side door. They all piled in and headed to the private air strip where Donovan’s plane was waiting.
Donovan Lewis came through again.
Just how much was jet fuel? Did she have to give him her second born kid to cover the fact that they’d done this a second time?
Where was her kid? “Did my dad make it to the plane?”
“Dad and kid already on the plane. Even found a few stragglers with your dad.”
“Nick?” Chloe threw herself into Nick’s arms. “What are you doing here?”
He patted her back. “Li and I wanted to be at the nuptials this time.”
She sat back in her seat. “I just hope there’s a wedding to see.”
“My Magic 8 Ball says ‘you may rely on it’.”
Chloe blew out a breath. “I hope so.”
“No histrionics. I can see the tears from here. Put ‘em back in the box.”
Chloe laughed. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Well, my godson is getting a new stepdad. For real this time. So you know,” he shrugged, “I’m going to be there.”
She hid a smile behind her hand. Nick was a big
softie. He just didn’t want anyone to know it. And she was okay with that. The support meant everything to her. So many people had come out to help her make this happen, now she just had to trust that Michael would come for her—come for them. Since she and Axl were a package deal.
The ride was eternal. Traffic was a nightmare. When they finally arrived at the airport, she was the first one out of the limo. She ran up the steps to the jet, breathless when she got inside.
“What’s up, whore?”
Her heart stopped. “Jinx?”
“Damn right. What’s this you’re getting married? Got married already? Why do I not know these things?” The blond Amazon enveloped her in a tight hug. “I’m sorry you dealt with all this stuff alone. Dr. Nerdgasm kept sweeping me off my feet.”
“That’s okay.” Chloe laughed. “I wasn’t sure if he was actually real. Do I get to meet him?”
“Yes. I’ve got one helluva story to tell you. But I’ll hold until we get home. I require all the details.”
“Me too.” Ivy waved from her seat. She rushed to Chloe and the three women hugged. “How the hell did you get married?”
“It’s a long story. I missed you guys so much.”
Ivy sighed. “Sounds like Vegas was quite the trip for all of us.”
“You got that right. I supposed you’re not going to give me the details on your covert action either?”
Ivy grinned. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Mama!”
Chloe turned to her son’s voice and caught him mid-flight.
“Chopter,” he said with a gleeful shout.
She hugged him close. “Where’s Pop Pop?”
“We flied the chopter.”
“You did?”
He nodded. “Chopter.”
She collapsed into a chair with him. “That sounds super exciting.”
There was so much talking that the hour flight to Vegas went by in a blink. She tried to get the details of the mysterious Vegas trip out of her two best friends, but they were determined to hear her story first.
There were far too many people on the plane with them to get the full story out, but she did catch up her girls. By the time they got to the chapel, the entire band and her family had a plan for what she should do.