“What sinks in, Bear?”
“No time. We need to get moving. I hope you like a little El Camino in the morning.” Music blared to life, and I recognized the opening riffs of a song by The Black Keys. Baird, like me, had an eclectic taste in music. One minute he was listening to rap, the next techno, the next rock—whatever struck his mood.
I guessed we were done with the questioning portion of the morning.
I didn’t ask again, but I pondered his words all the way to my flat.
Not only was I tired from lack of sleep, but my body ached all over. And not just from Baird rolling me around in his bed last night but from walking around venues all day. Thankfully, the acting in love and happy part of the venue shoot was easy because Baird and I were still high from finally getting together.
On the way to the first venue, Baird told me about Braden’s proposal to use Blantyre as the location for the wedding ceremony and reception. I was fully on board, so as soon as we met up with the director and crew, they called the project managers to relay the proposal to them. They said if we could get permission to film there tomorrow so we at least had the footage, they’d talk with the higher-ups about switching venues.
The thought of another day of traipsing around luxury wedding locations might have made me want to curl into a ball if Baird’s presence didn’t inject me with adrenaline.
He could barely keep his hands off me.
At one point, during the second venue shoot, he’d waited until the crew was distracted and then he’d hurried me into the empty ballroom to press me up against the wall and kiss me breathless.
He’d been perfect all day.
My eyes were too sore for contacts, so I’d chosen to wear my glasses after Baird convinced me I looked hot. Bruno was being an arse about them.
“They reflect light! We can’t see her eyes, and they’re her best feature.”
Baird lost his good-boy charm in an instant. “Wrong. Her heart is her best feature, which is why she’s too nice to tell you to fuck off. I’m not. My fiancée’s eyes are sensitive today so she’s wearing her glasses, and if you say one more word about it, I’ll take Maia back to my car and we’ll drive out of here, leaving you to explain why your pissant behavior lost Pennington’s precious pennies today.”
The crew all went silent, though I saw an assistant or two trying to cover their smiles.
I didn’t bother covering mine. I beamed, like the proud fiancée I was.
Bruno swallowed hard, his face blanching as if realizing he’d just upset the fiancée of a six-foot-five Scottish goalkeeper. “Right. Of course. We’ll manage fine as we are.”
Will had never stood up for me like that. Neither had Mum. Grace had. Dad had. But no one since them.
Until Baird.
In the empty ballroom, when he finally let me up for air, I’d squinted up at him because he’dpushed my glasses up into my hair so he could kiss me. I whispered hoarsely, “Thanks for having my back today.”
Baird stroked my cheek tenderly, before popping my glasses back onto my nose. His gorgeous features sharpened into focus as he eased away from me. “You’re my family now, My. In my family, we always have each other’s backs.”
I grinned a little too giddily. “Same.”
If my smile gave away too much of my feelings, Baird seemed delighted, not frightened. He hugged me into his side, pressing a slow kiss to my temple before we reluctantly rejoined the crew.
By the time we got into the car to drive home, I switched my phone back on to a ton of texts from friends and family. Grace was annoyed we’d left the party before they’d arrived and insisted that we make it up to her, Dad, and Lockie. Even though I was exhausted, I promised her we’d have dinner with them in the coming week. Baird agreed amiably. It was refreshingly unlike Will who always hemmed and hawed and insisted he needed to check his calendar a thousand times before committing to spending time with my family.
I had a missed call and text from Beth. A text from Lily, one from January, and even one from Luke. I really needed to apologize to Luke for bailing on his graduation party. However, the fact that all their texts were filled with cheeky innuendo about why we’d left early meant my responses could wait.Nosy buggers, I thought with a small smile on my face.
That was seconds before I dozed off.
I woke up to Baird trying to lift me gently out of the car. I assured him I was awake when I was really only semiconscious, and I sleep-drunkenly got into my flat with his help.We had this to do all over again tomorrow, and I just wanted to snuggle into Baird’s chest and sleep for a hundred hours first.
Instead, Baird insisted I stay awake long enough to eat the takeout he’d apparently picked up on the way home. I’d slept through him stopping to go into a Chinese restaurant to collect food!
“You were totally out.” He stroked my cheek after I watched him place lettuce wraps on a plate. It was the exact right thing to order for me.
He saw me gaping at the wraps and stated, “Lettuce wraps when you’re not that hungry. Kung pao chicken when you are. And I got vegetable spring rolls.”
It was weird. Even after all the lovely, amazing things he’d said to me when he confessed that he’d wanted me romantically since the beginning … it was at this moment when it finally hit. Our entire friendship, Baird had been so into me, he’d soaked up every minute detail. Including the fact that when my stomach was feeling a bit sensitive or I wasn’t hungry, I always ordered lettuce wraps.
