“What?” he asked, as he swiped his keycard to open the door.
“You can lift me over the flipping threshold for once, if you want. Just this once.”
He grinned. “Really?”
When she nodded, he swept her up into his arms and carried her into the room, kicking the door shut behind him as he headed for the bed.
She’d only wanted to prove that she could trust him to lift her — without worrying about whether he thought she was heavy, without trying to control the situation and gain the upper hand — but as she relaxed into the strength of his lift and let her head rest on his shoulder, she was struck by the sweetness in his eyes and the happiness and affection that hovered in the upturned corners of his mouth. He’s happy. We’re happy? The thought was both comforting and frightening. Wishes coming true…
As he laid her on the bed and settled beside her, he asked, “Nella-bella, about your training — how much, how often do you really need to be at your dojang in Seattle?”
Given the loving way he’d been looking at her, that wasn’t the question she’d expected to hear, but she knew the answer, having thought about it many times over the past few days. “At this level, I should be able to manage my own training a lot of the time, and Master Simran can fix me up to be a guest at other dojangs in our organization, wherever I am. I’d want to get home for a session with him now and then, and I have to do as many tournaments as possible if I’m going to make a serious run for World Champion this year — but again, we have those all over the continent, so…”
Eamonn seemed satisfied by this. “Whatever I need to do to make that happen for you so we can stay together, I’ll do it. Plane tickets, whatever.”
She’d fended him off from saying he was falling in love earlier, so he didn’t say it now, but she could see it in his face. Falling for you. Forever partner. Against all odds, she felt it too, wanted to hear it, wanted to say it, but the words wouldn’t come. Too soon. I can’t. So she sat up and said instead, “If you can flip me over, you can be on top tonight.”
He laughed. “Go easy on me?”
Later, as she drifted into sleep, wrapped in Eamonn’s arms, Nell felt surprisingly content. Cuddling. Who would have thought I’d enjoy it?
The next day dawned with bustle and perfection — bustle, because it was a show day and everyone had work to do; perfection, because the sky was a clear and glorious blue and Smidge would be performing with the Bad Luck Opals in just a few hours.
At breakfast, Sally handed Nell a Smidge security t-shirt and crew lanyard. “Here you go.”
Nell blinked. “Oh? But I’m not—”
“You are. We added you as security personnel this morning, subject to your agreement, of course. It clears you to go anywhere with Easy, we’re short one bodyguard because we only ever had four and the guys are five with both Easy and Rhys, and you can protect him like no one else.”
This was true. He’d be safest with her, and yet… “I’m his girlfriend. I don’t want to pretend to be an employee.”
Sally looked slightly embarrassed. “I understand that. But you know, if you’re going to be with him long-term, you’ll be with us. You’ll need a job; security is your natural fit, am I right? So, start as you mean to go on — crew shirt, sexy legs, and girlfriend hair. The world will just need to understand that Easy’s woman is also his bodyguard. You’ve got some cute shorts or a skirt or something, right? If not, one of us will find you something. I’ll do your hair, but I have to squeeze it in between all the million other things on deck, so be ready when I shout for you.”
I will need a job. That truth was undeniable. Oh, what the ever-loving hell, why not? “Okay. Incidentally, we’ve got Crys’s wedding dress issue under control now. Not sure if you follow drag queens much, but Johnny performs as Ripped Creme and — okay, I don’t know a lot about this, but there’s a competition show called Drag Dolls—”
“Honey, it’s my favorite show!” Sally lit up. “I’ve seen Ripped Creme in the trailers for the upcoming season, which is pretty much a guarantee of talent. The competitors design and make the most gorgeous outfits for themselves and then walk a runway in them and do wild stuff to prove the construction is solid and won’t fall apart. Those queens can sew the ass off your average wedding dress designer, and fast! Genius idea.”
“Thanks. I helped Crys book plane tickets for Johnny and his partner Tab, arriving this evening. I just need to know if there’s a room for them here or if we have to find them somewhere to stay.”
That drew a chuckle from Sally. “A rock tour can always make space for extra bodies to crash. Since Donnie took off, Quingshan’s had their room to himself, so I’ll get him to move in with Phil — as road manager, he doesn’t generally have to share, but he won’t mind for a couple of nights — and that’ll open up a room.”
“Thanks. I’ll let Johnny know,” Nell said. “Anything else I can do to help?”
“Rancho Rosal can provide a cake and champagne, and I’ve got the marriage license sorted, so that just leaves flowers… Could you call around, see if you can find a florist who’ll do it? Concert days are just too busy for me to have an extra minute.”
“Sure.”
Sally shot Nell a look of sincere appreciation. “Man, Blade’s going to owe both of us for making this happen. Got to run, I’ll text
