I flushed. “Thanks. I love it.” I’d mostly been living in Cooper’s shirts for days—or nothing at all. It felt good to be a bit girly again.
Daisy dabbed at the corner of her eye where a few tears had formed. “Were you able to salvage anything at the house?”
“Not as much as I’d like.”
“I’m sure Daisy would like to catch up more, Ms. Daly, but we have a schedule to keep. You can discuss what’s happened in the last few days when you’re on the road.”
Daisy gave Lila a stiff smile. “Sorry.” She backed up and sniffed into Oz’s chest as he looped one of his long arms around her neck to bring her in tighter.
“Thank you all for being prompt.” Lila nodded toward Cooper and Zane, who’d finally joined the group.
Cooper came up behind me and brushed his hand along mine. “What’s that thing?”
I shrugged. “We’re trying to figure it out.”
“And I’ll explain that. As you can see, we’ve made the best of this…unusual situation. Our current security situation required a little creativity. Luckily, Donovan has contacts just about everywhere. He paid handsomely to camouflage your residence on wheels.”
“In a truck?” Oz snorted.
“No one would think this is actually a state of the art tour bus.” Lila pulled a remote out of her pocket, and the nearly invisible door opened with a hiss of hydraulics. It popped out a little then glided to the side, showing off a gleaming set of steel steps with black grips. “After you.”
All of us stood there in shock. Finally, Jamie pushed through all of us and climbed the first stair. “Well, I want to see the secret lair. I don’t know what you people are waiting for.”
Curiosity got the better of me, and I quickly followed her.
“Teag, wait up.” Cooper crowded behind me.
I turned the corner and simply stopped in the middle of the aisle.
Oh my God.
“Is this the Tardis?” Jamie was sprawled in the back already, her long legs spread over the huge U-shaped couch taking up most of the space in the rear.
I wasn’t quite up on my pop culture like Jamie, but I understood the reference. It sure as hell hadn’t looked this big from the outside.
Lights shot down the floor and slowly went from dim to bright along a design in the ceiling. A motor rumbled under my feet, and the side panels of the bus widened, leaving a large area. A table lowered like a Murphy bed, and seats came out of the floor, creating an eating area.
Screens covered the back of the living area and blinked to life. A bank of machines were lined up in a skinny cabinet. It seemed to be a gaming center with blue-lit controllers stacked along the bottom. A charging hub with cables galore was on a shelf behind glass. Some of our instruments were bolted to the wall, and a skinny carpeted wall opened, revealing a smaller version of my keyboard setup tucked inside.
Jamie hopped up on one of the tables and took down one of her acoustics. “Man, this is freaking sweet.” She plopped down cross-legged on the table—because she was Jamie—and started strumming away.
I spun around and found a similarly stunned Cooper looking at the small kitchen. He was opening cupboards and finally, the fridge. He held up a water and I nodded. My mouth was bone-dry. I could definitely use a drink.
The entire room hummed with excitement and shock.
A deep brownish-gray wood stain complemented the soft gray leather of all the built-in couches and seating areas.
“Holy shit.” Jamie flipped down from her perch and opened the doors on the table she’d been sitting on. “There are amps in here.”
“Yes, this is a state of the art rolling studio.” Lila’s voice rose. “Upstairs, you’ll find sleeping quarters, if you’d like to check them out. There’s a stairway at the back.”
Jamie was climbing the table to put her guitar away, and I took the opportunity to duck through the small opening. There was another door half open that looked like a typical bunk area, but I followed the stairs up.
“Where’s the stripper pole?”
I snorted at Jamie’s question coming through the stairwell.
“Good question,” Cooper quipped. “It seems to have everything else.” His hand slid along my waist as he trailed after me. “Can’t wait to see the bedrooms. Think there will be headboards I can use for those handcuffs I ordered?”
“What? You did not.” I craned my neck to look at him behind me.
He grinned. “Guess you’ll find out.”
My panties were going to flame off before we even got out of the parking lot.
Upstairs, it was much more dimly lit, but there were doors spaced about five feet apart. None of them were labeled, so I went to one in the center. It was a pocket door with a little window that said unoccupied.
I opened the door and slid my hand along the wall, finding a light. There was an extra long bunk with a wide mattress. Not quite the lake-size bed Cooper had, but it wasn’t as small as my full-sized one at home. Well, the one I’d had—now it was a soggy, smoky mess.
Nope. Not thinking about that right now.
Cooper crowded into me. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.” He dropped a quick kiss on the nape of my neck. “No headboard. Too bad.”
I elbowed him. “Shh.”
He gave my ass a squeeze then went to check out the small closet tucked in the corner before flashing me a quick grin. “Pretty cool.”
The walls were charcoal gray and reminded me of the soundproofing in a studio.
Soundproof? Hmm.
I opened the door under the bed and found a small storage area and electronics. An IPad, chargers, and a
