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She lifted one shoulder. “Such is the life of Cupid’s minions. Now you head back to Kaiser, I’ll be fine. I don’t need help getting into bed.”
“I’m not moving until you’re settled, because I don’t trust you to actually rest of your own accord. You need to take it easy, Grams. I know you like to be active, but you have to promise me that you’ll follow the doctor’s advice to the letter.” My worry leaked into my voice, and her face softened.
“Don’t worry, I won’t dismiss this. I’ll be careful. I don’t intend to leave this world until you’ve given me some great-grandbabies. You and Kaiser sure will make cute kids.”
I let my head fall back with a groan. “Jesus Christ.” She never stopped. Ever. Righting my head, I flicked a hand. “Get in the damn bed.”
She huffed, pulling back the comforter. “I feel so cared for.”
Once I was sure that she was settled, I left the wing and returned to the kitchen. Kaiser still sat at the table, his thumb scrolling down the screen of his phone.
“Hey,” I said as his gaze met mine. “I’m going to skip the Vault tonight.”
“Figured you would.” He pocketed his cell but made no move to leave.
“You don’t have to stay.”
“I know.”
All right. Pleasure warming my chest, I said, “I was going to grab a drink and sit out on the back deck. Want a beer or something?”
“A beer would be good.”
After I’d made myself a cup of green tea—which he sniffed at with a grimace, like I’d made myself a mug of gruel or something—I nabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge and handed it to him. I led the way through the house and out the rear door that led to the patio. We went straight to the rattan corner sofa, settling beside each other.
He lifted something from the table in front of us, his brows winging up. “Want to tell me why this is here?”
Staring at the bridal magazine, I felt my jaw minutely tighten.I’m gonna throttle her.“Um, my friend Cat left it here by accident,” I lied. “Her and her fiancé are going to start planning their wedding soon.” The latter part was true, at least. Danton had proposed to Cat on her birthday.
Apparently buying my bullshit, Kaiser flung the magazine back on the table and sank back into the sofa without comment.
We both sat in silence for a while, sipping our drinks, enjoying the warm breeze. There wasn’t much noise. Only the sounds of grass rustling, the easy rippling of the pool water, and the distant gentle clanging of my grandmother’s windchimes.
Like during the drive here, the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. But then, Kaiser was at his most comfortable when surrounded by silence. Which I still found weird for a rock musician. Or ‘Rock God,’ as I’d often heard him called. It was a title he’d earned.
Even though I’d gotten used to being around my long-term idol, a part of me still couldn’t quite believe that he was sitting beside me. And so utterly relaxed. I wondered if he let himself relax this way around many people. He didn’t talk much of how he spent his spare time, so I wasn’t sure if he did much socializing.
“Do you still see anything of your old bandmates?” I asked him.
“Sometimes,” he replied, crossing his legs at the ankles. A line dented his brow as he added, “They call a lot.”
I felt my lips curve. “You sound so put-out by it.”
“I don’t like talking on the phone. You know that.”
He didn’t like talkingperiod, but whatever.“They’re all married now, right?”
He nodded. “All got kids, too. I’m godfather to three of them.”
“That’s cool, I … Why are you shaking your head?”
“I’m not sure why anyone would want me to be a godfather to their kids.”
“Then you’re an idiot.”
He did a double-take. “What?”
“So you’re about as snuggly as a cactus. Big deal. You’re an inspiration to a lot of people. You have a shitload of talent and grit and self-belief. You didn’t waste it. You used it to get exactly where you wanted to go. And you didn’t blow it when you got there.”
