The room is restored to a guest bedroom. The remnants of college or high school Baylor gone.
Leaning up enough to cover the difference in height, I kiss him, brushing my lips against his. Tender. Sweet. Until his strong arm wraps around my waist and I can’t help my kisses from becoming hungry.
God, I want him both right now and for always.
Some sound from down below in the house breaks us apart from the kiss, but Baylor doesn’t let me go.
“Can we pickup where we left off when we get back to your place?” I ask against his ear and he nods, leaning in for another kiss.
We make our way back downstairs, the voices trickling up from the outdoor space where the family almost always ends up.
Piper and Liam, the kids of the bunch, are playing some board game in a corner, and all Baylor’s brothers and their partners are spread out either helping to make a meal or fixing a drink or just enjoying each other’s company.
I notice the attention falling on us. They have been friendly during my time so far in Bear Valley, but I can see each of them tracking my proximity to Baylor, perhaps even the bit of beard burn I’m wearing. And that changes things.
Something tells me each of these guys would fight anything that tried to hurt Bee, and it makes it all the more clear that someone did.
I would kill the bastard, too. The bastard that I am starting to believe might be me.
Theo is the one who keeps the moment from being awkward, as he detangles Baylor for help with something inside, leaving me with Ellen and Rita. There are kisses and hugs and small talk about how the album is going and filming in general.
I feel relaxed here. Maybe that’s because this moment, this gathering would have happened anyway, it’s not for me or about me. I’m just along for the ride for something that would be happening regardless of my presence. And that’s a novelty in my crazy life.
The Mann family dynamics are a constant, unerring universal law. Even if rockstars tag along. And there it is, once again, me being invited to something that’s not my party. I miss that.
My eyes track Baylor as he laughs with Matt and Quinn over by the outdoor kitchen area.
Caleb sits next to me and Bishop follows.
“I was hoping I could get your read on something,” Caleb says to Bishop, drawing my attention away from Baylor for a moment.
“What kind of thing?” Bishop asks, scooting forward.
“There have been some security breaches with Cas, and some uptick in online sleaze. More threatening than normal. And a note sent in a box of pig’s blood that I told you about. Since he’s filming in Denver, I reached out to a guy I know — Patrick with the Bureau?”
Bishop smiles. “Patrick is good people. We worked together.”
“He said you guys were still in touch and that I might be able to run a few things buy you? I just need another head to bounce this off of.”
Bishop smiles. “Of course. But, I’m no longer FBI. . .”
“I know. But I doubt you left your skill set with your badge.”
“What do you have?”
I watch as Caleb shows Bish a picture of the drawing, and explains the break in and the online nonsense. There is a smirk affixed to my face as I wait for Bish to talk some sense into my overprotective Marine friend and bodyguard.
That’s not what happens.
“And what was taken? In the break-in?” Bishop asks, his face showing something more than humoring Caleb.
“Just one award. Cas’s Billboard Music Award forMidnight Blue.”
Bish flicks his eyes to me. “You won that with Baylor?”
“Yeah,” I agree. “Bee has one just like it in his studio.”
“And these lyrics, the words making up the knife in the picture? What songs are those?”
