He was going to be a father…a freaking father. That was a reality he knew and though it was more than a little scary, it was an exciting scary. The kind he wanted to run toward and not away from.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately.” Isaac grinned at Liam as he walked backstage, the crowd chanting his name at ear-splitting levels. That was something new. “But you better keep it up. That, my friend, was incredible.”
“Thanks.” Liam tipped back a cold bottle of water, so thirsty it was kind of ridiculous that he hadn’t noticed it until now.
“Go take a breather. We’ll see you onstage for “Practice Makes Perfect,” and you better bring your A-game for the guitar solo,” Isaac called after him.
“Always do.” Liam grinned as he headed for one of the rooms at the end of the hallway.
The second the door closed behind him, he reached for the back of his T-shirt and pulled it over his head. It had been hot out on the stage and he needed a clean one that wasn’t sticking to his skin.
But before he could grab another shirt he was reaching for his phone. As was the norm of late, when he hit the Home button the screen lit up showing texts from Harper. He found himself grinning like an idiot—something else that was becoming the norm—as he entered the code and pulled up their text conversation.
My three facts of the day:
1. When I was in the seventh grade I played the part of Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame for our school play.
2. I know the lyrics to every N’SYNC song by heart (I know. Don’t judge me.)
3. I’ve seen Jurassic Park more times than I can count. And when I see it on TV I have to watch it.
Her last text was followed by a picture of a TV, the Tyrannosaurus rex from the movie running across the flat screen. She was zoomed out far enough that he could see her legs propped up on an ottoman. There was a yellow blanket spread across her lap and Luna was nestled between the folds, her little black head just peeking out and looking up at the camera.
Liam studied the rest of the picture, taking in what was around the TV. It was sitting on a black entertainment console with candles, picture frames, and books filling the shelves. There was a floral painting hanging on the light green wall above it.
Tomorrow he was going to see the room in person. He was going to see her. That fact added to the current euphoria pumping through his body.
The baby wasn’t the only exciting thing he wanted to run to—sprint to more accurately. He wanted Harper even more than he had in May. Even more than when he’d spotted her across that bar and been drawn to her like a freaking moth to the flame.
Even though she’d left him without a word, even though she’d waited through all those weeks and still not called him, even though he’d been a mess, it hadn’t changed the fact that he wanted her.
Seeing her again in Jacksonville? Having her in his arms again? Yeah, that had confirmed it all. He was without a doubt in love with her. Really and truly head-over-ass in love for the first time in his life. That was what had gotten into him.
Oh, look at that, the ridiculous grin on his face was only getting bigger.
“Well, that’s a smile if I’ve ever seen one.”
And just that fast, his smile was gone. Every single time Liam heard that voice, his entire body tensed. Actually it was more like a cringe. He took a second to brace himself before he looked up to find Kiki Jean Carlow.
He understood why the woman was in Los Angeles; she owned a home here and spent the summer months in the city. What he didn’t understand was why she was in his room.
She was leaning against the door frame that led to the bathroom, one of her arms stretched above her blond head. The move pulled up the bottom of the low-cut shirt she was wearing. She somehow managed to expose all of her tanned-toned stomach—complete with twinkling diamond belly button ring—as well as her chest.
The move did absolutely nothing for him. She did absolutely nothing for him.
“What are you doing in here, Kiki?”
“I thought we could take advantage of your downtime. Don’t you have an hour before you need to be onstage again?”
“Yeah, that won’t be happening. You need to go.” He turned away from her, walking to the small closet in the corner and grabbing a clean shirt. But before he could pull it over his head, hands were running across his bare chest, skimming down his abs to the top of his jeans.
He moved fast, snatching her hands away from his body and turning around. “What are you doing?” He let go of her and stepped away.
“You should really stop denying the attraction between us, Liam, and just give into it already.” She looked up at him, pouting her lips and batting her eyes. “Besides the fact that we’d have a lot of fun, it would be fantastic publicity. And as we’re going to be working together, you should really start playing nice.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m going to be in your new video. Or didn’t you know?”
Liam’s mind reeled. The next video he was making was for “Forever.” Over his dead body would Kiki be in the video for the song that was about Harper.
“I don’t think so.”
“You don’t believe me? Just call and ask your manager. He was the one who talked to my agent.”
“I don’t care what he has to say. You aren’t going to be in it. And you need to get out of my room.” He moved farther away from her and headed for the door. He opened it and pointed to the hallway where more than a few backstage people passed by. “Now.”
“Okay, Liam.” She smiled as she walked to the door. “But it’s just a matter of time before we get together.” She reached up, running her fingers across his still bare chest as she passed by him.
It took everything in him not to slam the door behind her. The second it was shut and locked he had his phone out, pulling up his manager’s number to get this sorted out.
Because there was no way in hell.
* * *
Harper had seen her mother a number of times since telling her the baby news. The first handful of encounters hadn’t been exactly pleasant. They always involved someone dissolving into tears—Delilah—or someone shouting—Delilah again.
But after everything that had happened in Jacksonville, Harper had resolved that she was very much done crying about this.
She had her father’s full support, she had her friends by her side—all of whom now knew the full scope of what was going on, and she had Liam. Sure she and the father of her child were still in the process of figuring things out, and for now, that was enough.
And though her mother wasn’t in any way, shape, or form as accepting of the situation as her father, she was still more than happy to make as many demands of the situation as possible.
The one that Harper was currently giving in to? Liam was flying into Tallahassee in two hours. And their first stop after he landed? Her parents’ house for dinner.
Yeah, Harper was picking her battles, and Delilah’s insistence that she meet the father of her future grandchild didn’t seem like a smart one to fight.
And besides, at the end of the day, she really wanted to fix things. There was no point fighting about it anymore. What was done was done. There was no changing this pregnancy. Only moving forward.
Their relationship had never been the easiest, and differences or not—because there were a lot of differences—this was her mother.
And as it had been made very clear to Harper, there was no starting over, only catching up. So Delilah was just going to need to catch up, and Harper would wait until she did. Again, this was her mother after all.
Before Harper went to pick Liam up at the airport, she stopped by her parents’ house to drop off Luna and the fresh-baked apple pie she’d picked up from Café Lula.
“Paul?” Delilah called out. “You’re home early.”
Harper walked down the hallway, leaving Luna and Darby in the entryway while they did their customary sniff-over. “Dad’s still at the office,” she said as she walked into the kitchen.