Mysterious: Liam and Mia Duet Book 2 (NeXt 6) Page 2
Mia adds, “I need Liam to be my head of security for my upcoming tour, so he’s going to be working for me for a while.”
Her information clearly makes Wilder’s day, if his grin is any indication. “Good to know.”
Leave it to my brother to use a visit to see me after getting shot as a way to figure out how much longer he’ll get to have my condo all to himself. Not that I think he’s ever alone there. Something tells me he’s living it up at my place, probably having parties every night of the week.
My parents shoot him a look of disapproval before turning their attention back to me. “I’m so happy your job is going well,” my mother says and then adds, “other than getting shot, that is.”
I can never tell if my mother is just subtly funny or off the wall bizarre when she says things like that. My father turns to look at her like he’s sure it’s the second option, but he’s so used to her being like this that he simply shakes his head.
“What your mother means is it’s clear you and Mia have cultivated a good working relationship. Most employers don’t sit by the bedside of someone who works for them.”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I meant,” my mother says, blushing.
It’s all very strange and makes me wish Mia had moved her hand before they walked in, but still she keeps it resting on my chest. I’m sure my family thinks we’re involved romantically, which isn’t true.
At least not yet. Not really.
I glance over at her to see she has no idea anyone is paying attention to where she’s touching me. Letting my gaze drop to her hand on my chest, I smile when I lift my eyes to look at her.
Finally, she understands what I’m trying hard to say without saying any words. Yanking her hand back into her body, she stands up quickly, clearly uncomfortable.
“I’m going to go talk to whoever is in charge to see why you haven’t been discharged yet. I think I need to talk to the people who send the bill too since I don’t want you to have to pay for this. It was very nice to meet all of you.”
“Mia, I have insurance, so you don’t have to worry,” I say, but it’s no use.
She shakes her head, frowning back at me. “No, you were shot doing something for me. I’ll take care of it.”
The four of us watch her hurry out of the room, and when she’s gone, my mother says, “What’s it like to have a superstar be a fan of yours?”
And there it is. At least I didn’t have to wait long before one of them said something.
“It’s not like that,” I say, utterly unconvincingly. Even I don’t believe what I’m saying.
“You may not think so, but she does,” my mother says with a knowing smile as she looks over at my father nodding his agreement. “I’m not the only one who saw how much that girl cares for you, honey.”
“I think you definitely have a fan, Liam,” my father says with a twinkle in his eye.
“Seriously, guys, it’s not like that. She’s just upset because she saw me get shot. It’s nothing more. Don’t make a big deal out of this. Please?”
Wilder taps on my left forearm, and I turn to see him wearing a shit-eating grin. “If Grandma was here, you know what she’d be saying? You’re protesting too much.”
I shake my head and roll my eyes. “Nice butchering Shakespeare there, man. And I’m not protesting, so all of you stop it. I have to work with this woman. Don’t make it weird.”
“Nobody’s making it weird, honey. We’re just telling you what’s obvious to everyone,” my mother says sweetly.
“Well, stop mentioning it. Maybe we can focus on the fact that I got shot. How about that?”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, I know I said the wrong thing. My mother’s face contorts into an expression of pure sadness, and it looks like at any second, she’s going to start crying.
My father throws me a dirty look, just to reinforce my knowledge that I screwed up, so I quickly say, “But I’m going to be fine. Just some stitches. Nothing else. I mean, they wouldn’t let me out of the hospital if I was in bad shape, would they?”
A muted happiness returns to my mother’s face, so at least that’s something. Of course, she’s never more thrilled than when she thinks I’ve met The One. That’s how she refers to every woman I’ve gotten into a relationship with for the past five years. The One. They never are that one single soul who I want to spend the rest of my life with, but hope forever springs eternal in Abbi Jackson’s motherly mind.
“Will you be able to return to your job?” my father asks in his typical no-nonsense fashion.
I nod, happy to be talking about something other than Mia and how the two of us feel about one another. “Absolutely. She’s got a tour coming up, and I need to be there to make sure at every city she stops in that there’s the right kind of security. You should have seen what they used to do for her. The biggest new star in the music world and I swear they used to cross their fingers and hope everything would work out. She’s lucky she didn’t get kidnapped or worse with what her former head of security used to do.”
“She’s lucky to have you then,” my father says with a smile I know means he wants to bust my ass about how I’m breaking my number one rule I’ve always followed in my business.
Never get close to the client.
A nurse thankfully ends any chance of that conversation occurring when she walks into the room with papers for me to sign. My family takes that as their cue to leave and come around to where Wilder has been sitting.
Leaning down, my mother presses a kiss to my cheek. “Please be careful, honey. I worry about you, and this only makes me more worried.”
I smile up at her and see in her blue eyes she isn’t exaggerating about her concern. “It’s okay, Mom. I’ll be fine.”
“I love you, honey. Call more often so I can hear how things are going once you go out on the road with Mia, okay?”
My father nods, chiming in with his request for me to call home more than once in a while too. “Your mother’s right. We want to hear all about it.”
“I will. I promise.”
After she gives me another kiss, my mother tousles my hair that’s technically too short to mess up these days. “Good. Parents like to hear from their kids, even when they’re grown men. Stay safe, honey. Okay? We love you, Liam.”
My father simply smiles in that way that tells me he thinks he knows much more about what’s going on with Mia and me than I’m admitting. “Have fun.”
They turn to leave and Wilder taps me on the arm again. “Don’t worry about your place. It’s in tip-top shape. Just as you left it. But you won’t need that once you and Mia get together, right? Because I’m thinking we might as well keep it in the family if you don’t.”
Typical Wilder.
I look over at the nurse trying not to smile at my brother’s awkward attempt at making me promise he can have my apartment now and point toward the door. “Out! And keep my place in good shape for when I get back. Got it?”
My brother waves off my comments with a chuckle on his way out the door. “Yeah, yeah. I know what I saw, so just remember the whole keeping it in the family idea. And call your mother, Liam. You know how she worries.”
The nurse points to where I need to sign on half a dozen forms. Feeling the need to explain all she’s heard, I say, “That’s just my family. You know how family can be.”
“You seem to have a lot of people who care about you, including that young woman out at the nurses’ station. You’re a lucky man, Mr. Jackson.”
The look in her eyes tells me she thinks just like my family does. That Mia and I are involved. I guess there’s no point in protesting. They’re going to believe what they want to believe.
But I can’t deny something’s different between us now. I just don’t know what to do about that.
CHAPTER THREE
Mia
I sit on the edge of Liam’s bed as the staff bring in anything he could possibly want while
he rests like the doctor at the hospital said he needs to if I want him to be able to accompany me on the tour. I made them buy every magazine a man could want from the bookstore, and Cecelia made sure to buy all of his favorite food after I insisted he make me a list so he can have whatever he wants as he gets better.
When the guys finish lugging in a mini fridge so he doesn’t have to do anything to have a drink whenever he wants, we’re left alone for the first time since those few precious moments we had together in the hospital. Damn that nurse who couldn’t give us just a minute more.
“If you get hungry, Cecelia has strict instructions to make you whatever you ask for. All you have to do is tell her what you want. I gave her the list you wrote down, so she has everything you need. And if I have to hire a different chef to make something she can’t make, then I’ll do that.”
Liam shakes his head, like he’s embarrassed by all this attention he’s getting. “You don’t have to do all of this. I’m fine, Mia. Just a few stitches. You’re like my mother. She’s all worried too.”
I smile at the comparison to that beautiful blond woman I got to meet a few hours ago. “I’m going to take that as a compliment. I knew your mother would be pretty after seeing that picture of yours, but it didn’t do her justice, Liam. She’s absolutely beautiful. And your father? I can tell where you get your looks from. They’re so sweet too! Your mother told me about how you loved marshmallows in your sweet potatoes when you were a little boy, so I made sure the kitchen has all the sweet potatoes and marshmallows you could possibly want.”
His expression turns sheepish, and I swear I see a hint of guilt in his eyes. “What? What’s wrong?” I ask, suddenly fearful I’ve upset him.
“I haven’t eaten that since I was ten, Mia. I don’t even like sweet potatoes anymore.”
“It’s okay. I hear they’re healthy, so I’ll make sure Ainsley and Mitchell know we have them in the house. I just won’t mention the marshmallows so I don’t have to hear a lecture from him about how much empty calories one marshmallow has in it.”
I feel myself beginning to unravel after hearing about my mistake with something he doesn’t even like and hasn’t eaten in over a decade. I only wanted to make sure he felt like he’s at home as he’s recuperating. That’s all. He probably thinks I’m some stupid girl who just wants to buy everything in the world and bring it to my house because I’m feeling guilty that he got shot.
“Mia…”
He says my name in a low voice that sounds ominous. Like he’s going to tell me he doesn’t think he can go out on tour with me or he doesn’t want to after getting shot because of what I did.
My entire body tenses up as I wait to hear the next words that come out of his mouth. He remains silent for so long, though, that I can’t stop myself from filling the empty space with a bunch of chatter that means next to nothing.
“So, no sweet potatoes and marshmallows. I hope you told your mom so she doesn’t make them for Thanksgiving or anything. I’m sure you will so she doesn’t waste her time making something you don’t like. There’s a ton of other stuff down there, though, so don’t worry. You can have whatever your heart desires. I have to admit I was surprised the media were waiting outside the hospital when we left. Can you believe those vultures? Someone gets shot, and all they want to do is take pictures. I’m sorry about that. I should have gone out a side door or something so they didn’t swarm all over you.”
Liam leans forward and holds out his hand toward where I sit on the bed. “Mia, come here.”
Afraid of the serious tone of his voice and the somber expression he’s wearing right now, I slide up the bed until I’m right next to him. He takes my hand in his, and for a moment, everything inside me calms, but then I look into his eyes and see that seriousness in them.
“Mia, you don’t have to feel bad about what happened. I think that’s what all of this is about, isn’t it?”
I shake my head, refusing to admit the truth, especially to him. “No, not at all. I just need you to be in the best shape possible for when the tour starts in a few days. As for those goddamned reporters and photographers, that’s how I always feel, but you didn’t deserve to have to fight your way to the car after being in the hospital.”
His warm skin against mine makes me feel like my insides are melting, but I don’t see anything like that in him at all. I thought when we were out on that street that he was trying to tell me he cared but he didn’t think he should. Did I misunderstand?
“I’m going to be fine. Honestly. It wasn’t that bad. I guess I’m just a big bleeder, like the doctor said. And the press was nothing.”
The mere mention of him bleeding out on that sidewalk as I hovered over him praying for anyone to stop him from dying brings tears to my eyes, and I hang my head so he can’t see them. If I’m wrong and he didn’t want to tell me he cares about me, the last thing I want is for him to see I’m that affected by him getting shot.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
I shake my head again, but it’s no use. The tears come streaming down my cheeks like I’m some pathetic little girl who can’t control her emotions.
“Mia, look at me.”
When I refuse to do as he wants, he slides his finger under my chin and gently lifts it so he can see my tears. “I was so scared you’d die there, Liam. I didn’t know what to do. I felt helpless, and I hate feeling that. I control everything in my life as much as I can, as you well know, but I couldn’t do a thing to stop you from bleeding from that bullet.”
“I do know you like to control everything and everyone, so I imagine seeing me down for the count was a lot to handle. I’m fine, though. See?”
He flexes his bicep to show me his right arm works fine, and I smile. “So you can show off? That doesn’t mean you’re fine. You got shot, Liam.”
My teasing him makes him laugh. “Okay, I wasn’t trying to show off, but you don’t have to worry. It’s going to be okay.”
I hang my head and whisper the ugly truth I’ve hated since I saw him fall to the ground last night. “You got shot because of me. I don’t know how I’ll ever forgive myself for that.”
With a heavy sigh, he says in that way that sounds so reasonable when I want to be completely unreasonable, “You didn’t shoot me, so this isn’t your fault. And I don’t want to hear anything about how you left the estate and if I wasn’t there, I wouldn’t have been shot.”
Smiling, I lift my head to see him smiling too. “Well, since you’ve taken away my entire argument for feeling guilty, I guess I can leave you feeling utterly innocent of my crime. Thank you, Liam.”
“Go get ready for your first dates. You don’t have much time, and there’s no way I want to be the one your entourage blames when you aren’t on fire that first night. And you know they will.”
I can hear Ainsley and the rest of them already saying he’s a distraction I shouldn’t give into now that the tour is so close to beginning. Not that I give a damn what they have to say about Liam now. He took a bullet for me, and no matter how much he wants to claim I’m not to blame for him getting shot, the hard facts are if I hadn’t dragged him down to that part of town and I hadn’t run down that sidewalk making him chase me, he never would have been in any position to be shot by anyone.
“Thank you for not hating me, Liam.”
The words barely come out loud enough for anyone but me to hear them, but when he nods and winks at me, I know he heard me. I don’t know what I’d do if he hated me. Not after last night.
“If I didn’t hate you when I first got here, there’s no way I could hate you now. You saved me last night. Don’t sell yourself short, Mia. You called 9-1-1 and told them exactly where to go. A lot of people would have unraveled, but you kept your cool. Things might have turned out way differently if you weren’t there.”
I know what he’s trying to do, and even though I won’t argue with him about it, he’s wrong. I set everything into motion for him to get hurt last night. Whatever I did to h
elp doesn’t make up for what I did that made it possible for someone to shoot him.
Joking, I stand up from the bed and look down at him as I say, “Well, this hero needs to get working. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
“I will. Go rehearse so you’re ready for this weekend.”
For a moment, our eyes lock and I think I’d like nothing more than to kiss him right now. I wonder if he’s thinking that too.
CHAPTER FOUR
Mia
Happy after the time I spent with Liam, I practically bounce down the stairs and meet my mother and her assistant when I hit the first floor. She looks particularly dour today, but she’s probably just worried about what happened last night. I get that. She never handles when I go out on my own, but the fact that someone got hurt is likely making her ten times as stressed out.
“I want to talk to you about your security situation, Mia,” she says, frowning.
As much as I understand her concern, I’m not in the mood to discuss this. My security situation, as she calls it, is the best it’s ever been. That’s because of one person. Liam. Now that I know he’s going to be fine and right there with me when I go out on tour, I have nothing to worry about.
“Later,” I say, pushing her off like I will every time she brings this up.
“No, now. With Liam laid up, we need to address your security. I think we should bring Michael back.”
I stop, stunned by her suggestion. Spinning around, I try to make out if she’s serious or not. “You want to bring Michael back? Why? I don’t need anyone new, or in this case, old.”
Setting her jaw like she always does when she insists on something, my mother takes a step toward me. “Liam is upstairs in his bed, which is perfectly natural since he’s been shot. That said, he’s not in any shape to protect you, and you need someone by your side when the first shows begin this weekend. We’ve got the media camped out on the street because they sense a story here. If ever you needed security, it’s now. It’s too late to get anyone else to replace Liam, so Michael’s the logical answer to the problem.”