“Then it’s not too much.” Grinning, I added, “Besides, it’s not like you can’t afford it.”
He was wealthy. The apartment in Nashville was worth a lot of money, too. Like an obscene amount for an apartment.
We heard someone coming up the stairs. Hawk opened the door and grinned at us. “You two hiding?”
I was sitting in the visitor’s chair while Wren sprawled on the couch.
“Yessss…,” Wren stretched the word and then his body.
“One of Luke’s cousins is a big fan,” I explained, making Hawk chuckled understandingly.
“Like capital B and capital F?” he asked as he sat in his chair behind his desk.
“Not quite that bad,” Wren said, relief evident in his tone. “It’s just that she keeps watching me.”
“Ah. The problem of being perceived.” Hawk nodded sagely.
My phone pinged. It was Abigail. The label had insisted on more security and the additional personnel had arrived.
I sighed. “Okay. I gotta go and talk to the new guys.” I got up and looked at Wren. “You okay here?”
His eyes were closed and he waved me away. “Go. Do your job. I’ll nap for a bit.”
“I have stuff to finish up before the festivities so I’ll be here,” Hawk murmured, already absorbed in the screen he was looking at.
“Okay. Call me if you need me,” I told them collectively, then left the room.
I jogged down the stairs and grabbed one of the ATVs to drive to the bunkhouse where we’d parked the RV we’d rented for the guys to sleep in and to use as a mobile base. It was the least obtrusive spot and we didn’t need it any closer.
The RV had been Wren’s idea when we’d talked about where to house the trio. The guys could then drive the RV back to the rental place on their way to the airport the day after tomorrow. Yes, it was ridiculous to get them to come all this way, but since it was a change in their routine, it was welcomed with good-natured ribbing about whether they needed to wear boots and cowboy hats or something.
Just for that, Wren had asked Jen for some BCR branded shirts and ball caps for them to wear.
The three men, Rico, James, and Kamon, were familiar to us. They also happened to be three of the handful of people I’d poach as soon as Wren decided to call it quits with the label. I had no love for the label with how shitty they could be about Wren’s needs, so while I’d try not to go full scorched earth for his sake, there would be plenty of smaller fires left behind.
“Hey, boss!” Kamon greeted me as soon as I parked next to the RV.
“That stuff will kill you,” I deadpanned like I always did when I saw him vaping.
“Lifewill kill me,” he replied with a grin.
We clasped hands and went to have a meeting. I’d leave distributing the “uniforms” to Wren.
After his nap, Wren texted me to tell me he was going to the house. When I made it there an hour or so later with the trio in tow to introduce them to the Harringtons, Wren was holding court in the living room.
He didn’t always feel social and often put on the mask of being jovial and with endless patience for people, but here, even though I could see it was a lot, he was still smiling his genuine Wren smile.
He had Emerson on his lap, the boy playing with the leather cords around Wren’s wrist as Wren talked with Luke’s brother, Noah. I waited for Wren to notice us, and when he did, his expression brightened even more. He got off the couch.
“My boys!” he called out, making everyone chuckle.
He handed Em to me, so I grabbed him. The baby immediately let out a happy sound and put his head on my shoulder, his face in my neck. Something moved in my chest, like a bubble of warmth started to slowly leak instead of outright bursting.
Wren hugged everyone in turn, then got them to follow him to the office. I shook my head and wandered into the kitchen. Emery sat at the table with a mug of coffee, and he gave me such a look that it made my heart stutter.
“Hey,” he said, his gaze going to Em. “He’s almost asleep.”
I swayed on my feet, side to side in an attempt to make the almost a reality. It was basically naptime anyway.
