9. Chapter Nine
9
Mia
The morning light filtering through the dingy hotel curtains woke me with a start. For a moment, I forgot where I was, but the warmth of Evan's body next to mine quickly brought reality crashing back. We'd shared a bed, but nothing more – though the temptation had been almost unbearable.
An hour later, we were back on the tour bus, the memory of our night in close quarters still fresh in my mind. I desperately needed coffee to clear my head and refocus on my job.
When I walk out of the tour bus, prepared to get a ride to find some decent coffee somewhere, there’s a tall man leaning against a brick building across the street with a large camera slung over his shoulder. As soon as he catches sight of me and my dark hair blowing wildly in the wind, he immediately starts walking over to me with a smirk on his face.
The wind blows again, sending a large chunk of my hair in front of my face and blocking my view of who I assume is paparazzi. At least they didn’t get the nickname wrong – Windy City is definitely the right name for Chicago.
I push the hair from in front of my face, then quickly pull it into a tight ponytail in record time – the perks of being in the army – right before the man comes to a stop in front of me. He’s still smirking, the sight making my fists clench, and he clears his throat.
“He doesn’t want to talk to you,” I say with my emotionless stare, not even giving him a chance to introduce himself. “So, you can go right back to where you came from.”
“Always so hostile, Miss Summers, aren’t you?” He says with a soft chuckle.
It throws me off how quickly it fades and is replaced with a glare that almost rivals my own. “I’m not sure what you want, but it doesn’t matter.”
“The name is Travis, and I’m sure you’ll want to remember that here in two minutes.”
“ Travis ,” I mutter. “That doesn’t change the fact that the band isn’t taking any type of interviews at the moment.”
It doesn’t surprise me that he found us, considering Carmen’s itinerary is the one Evan’s previous manager had drawn up. Everywhere I looked before I started working for them, there was something new about one of the members on the front page of a magazine—whether it be good or bad.
Almost as if Mack purposely put them into the spotlight, even though it never once looked like that’s what they wanted. I’ve barely been around the guys, and I can already tell that’s the last thing on their minds. Don’t get me wrong, they don’t mind the occasional shot while out in the public or interviews during special events – the guys know what they signed up for – but there’s no way anyone would know where we were at if Carmen had listened to me.
I told her to change the itinerary, but she claimed that it was too close to the tour to be able to do that with everything she had to manage.
I’ll blame this on her.
“What if it’s not them I want to talk to?”
That makes my eyebrows jump, and I frown. “I’m not sure what you mean. Of course, they’re the ones you want to talk to; stop trying to get one over on me.”
“That’s the thing, Miss Summers, I’ve already got one on you… and that handsome bass guitarist you seem to enjoy being around.”
My blood runs cold, and he smiles, his pearly whites joining the party.
It can’t be… can it?
“Wh–what are you talking about?” When he doesn’t answer me, I take a tentative step forward and glare at him. “You have five seconds to talk, or you’ll be lying on the ground knocked out cold.”
His jaw ticks in response, and he huffs out an annoyed sigh. “I know you have a history together. How would everyone take it if you and the rockstar were all over the tabloids?”
This cannot be happening right now. I’ve done everything I could to make sure Evan wasn’t aware of how deep our past goes, and now this Travis guy is going to blow it all up in my face. My cheeks flush with anger and I grind my teeth together hard enough that I’m sure a tooth will crack.
Sensing my reaction, Travis smiles and clears his throat. “Of course, I could always make the story go away with a little bit of push.”
He’s not serious.
Just as I go to answer and ask him what his terms are, the door to the bus gets pushed open, and a shadow casts over me. “What the hell is going on out here?”
Travis flicks his gaze over my shoulder, his mouth popping open, and it doesn’t take long for the money signs to show in his eyes. They’re like flashing neon lights.
“Evan,” I say without looking back at him. “You need to get back inside. Now.”
This could all be a trick, someone working for the stalker, and Evan’s just walking right into it without a care in the world. He said he would take things more seriously.
“Just a few questions,” Travis says while pulling out a small notepad from his back pocket.
While he flips through the many pages filled with words, Evan angles himself closer to my back enough that I suck in a sharp breath – just in time for a gust of wind to blow through, not making my reaction seem all that inappropriate.
“I will not be answering anything,” Evan grinds out. “How did you find us?”
The guy scoffs, then glances around the area. “Are you kidding me? It’s not that hard to see the big bus sitting in the middle of an empty lot. If you don’t want to be found, you’ve gotta do better than that, man.”
Unfortunately, he’s not wrong, which is why I tried insisting that things get switched around. Everyone already knows that the guys are in the city today. They’ve got a show to put on in about five hours, so it wouldn’t surprise anyone to find the bus parked somewhere busier. At least if it was more crowded, Travis wouldn’t have been able to ambush me because he’d spend more time pushing through the crowd.
“Are you sure you want to take the risk of not answering my questions?” Travis asks, arching a brow while sliding his gaze lazily over to mine before winking at me.
“If you look at her one more time,” Evan growls out, my eyes widening at the sudden anger pouring off him. He could be standing another foot or two away from me, and I’d still be able to feel the sting of the heat.
I look between the two guys, not at all missing the amusement shining in Travis’s eyes.
This is going to get ugly.
“We’re not answering anything,” Evan snaps. “Get away from here.”
“Looks like the past might come to bite you in the ass after all, Mr. Knight.” Travis whistles as he turns away from us and heads back across the lot. He doesn’t turn back around; he just disappears around the building until it’s only me and Evan standing outside.
With Evan standing behind my shoulder, I realize I’m shaking. It could be from the wind. I’m sure that’s what Evan will assume, but it’s much more than that. Everything is about to be out in the open – I could lose my job.
I whirl around and narrow my eyes at Evan’s frame. “You couldn’t just give him a couple of answers? Entertain the guy a bit?”
He blinks, surprised by my reaction, and steps away from me with a shake of his head. “Why would I do that? I’m trying to lay low as much as I can with the tour going on, and you’re the one who recommended that.”
“It’s me,” I blurt out. It’s the only way I can convince him to do what needs to be done.
If this story gets leaked, Liam’s life will no longer be private. I know how these people work. They’ll dig and dig until they find another story—and there’s that and more where Liam is concerned.
Evan’s eyebrows furrow. “What on earth are you talking about, Mia?”
“You were right,” I say with ragged breaths. “About me.”
When he still doesn’t understand what I’m getting at, I throw my hands out to my side and say, “I’m Summer, Evan, the one you met at a club six years ago.”
“What?”
Evan's face cycled through a kaleidoscope of emotions—shock, hurt, anger, and finally, a glimmer of something that looked like relief. His jaw clenched, and his hands balled into fists at his sides.
"All this time," he said, his voice low and rough. "You've known who I was, who we were to each other, and you said nothing?" He ran a hand through his hair, tugging at the strands in frustration. "Why, Mia? Or should I even call you that?"
The pain in his eyes made my chest ache. I wanted to reach out, to explain, but the words stuck in my throat.
“Travis is threatening to bring that out into the open, and we can’t let that happen,” I choke out, suddenly having a harder time breathing.
My heart raced, thoughts of Liam flashing through my mind. If this got out, how long before they dug deeper? How long before they discovered the little boy with Evan's eyes and my smile? I couldn't let that happen. I wouldn't let anyone disturb the peaceful life I'd built for our son – the son Evan didn't even know existed.
While he comes to terms with the truth, which is something I should’ve told him when he approached me about it in the first place, I pull at the t-shirt I’m wearing in hopes that it will help me get the air I need.
My head is swimming, tears stinging, and I feel like I’m going to fall over any second from now. I need air, but how do I get it when I’m standing in the middle of it?
Liam.
I need to check on Liam.
Evan is frowning at the ground and I rush past him while ripping my phone from the pocket of my pants. No one else is up yet, too busy getting their beauty sleep, and I sink onto the small couch with the device in my hand. I quickly move to my texts, then calls, checking that Kenzie didn’t try getting in touch with me about someone coming to my house, and my breaths start slowing down.
Kenzie would call if something like that happened.
Maybe I should call her anyway.
I’m about to press the call button, not caring if Evan can hear the conversation if it means making sure my baby boy is okay, but the door slams shut behind him as he enters the bus. He’s standing in the middle of the living space, staring at me with wonder and betrayal, without uttering a single word.
I can’t imagine how he would react if he found out about Liam.
At least I can keep one thing a secret still… as long as the tabloids don’t get a hold of the story.
“I didn’t mean to tell you like that,” I say, and he scoffs at my statement.
“I’ve got a feeling you weren’t going to tell me at all.”
“You’re right, I wasn’t… not because I didn’t want to,” I lie. “I’ve got a job to do, one that requires me to investigate everything that’s been happening, and I can’t do that if I get fired. That’s exactly what a story like this will do.”
I groan and run a hand through my hair, forgetting that it’s in the ponytail. “God, I can’t imagine what Carmen would think if she saw the story.”
When I look up at Evan, there’s tears in my eyes, and I whisper, “We can’t let that happen, Evan.”
He frowns, his eyes softening for a brief moment as he walks over to me, and I’m surprised when he pulls me against his side. His hand comes up to my hair, playing with the strands softly, and I find myself gravitating toward that touch.
“We both know I can’t do it, Mia,” Evan says softly.
That’s when the tears fall, my shoulders shaking with silent sobs, and Evan pulls away from me to wipe the tears away. I know he’s right. It sucks, but any more attention he brings on himself could harm him further – especially in an interview. I wouldn’t put it past the stalker to use whatever answers Evan gives as ammunition for his next attack.
Evan gives me a small smile. "I won't let anything happen to you, darlin'."
It’s the worst time for my body to turn into a magnet, pulling closer to Evan’s frame than it already is, but I can’t stop the action even if I try. He’s got me sucked in right now with the way he’s looking at me – like he’s going to save me from my downfall.
His words, so sincere and protective, send a shiver down my spine. I know I should pull away and maintain that professional distance, but my body betrays me, leaning into his warmth. His eyes, those impossibly green eyes that Liam inherited, search mine with an intensity that steals my breath.
"Mia," he whispers, his hand cupping my cheek. I should stop this. I have a thousand reasons why this is a bad idea, why I need to push him away. But at this moment, with the weight of my secrets crushing me and the fear of exposure looming, I crave his comfort.
I'm the one who closes the distance, pressing my lips to his in a desperate, hungry kiss. It's everything I remember from six years ago and so much more – all the longing, the missed opportunities, the what-ifs pouring into this one moment.
But even as I lose myself in the kiss, a voice in the back of my mind whispers a warning. This complicates everything. And there's still so much he doesn't know.
Before I can pull away, he leans forward and presses his lips against mine. I thought the kisses we shared six years ago were everything…this is so much more — everything we’ve missed out is focused on this one kiss with the way he’s devouring my lips.
The sound of footsteps on the bus stairs jerks us apart. Reality comes crashing back as Carmen's voice calls out, "Evan? Are you up? We need to go over today's schedule."
Evan and I stare at each other, both breathing heavily. The moment is broken, but the implications of what just happened hang heavy in the air between us. How can I protect him – from the stalker, from the press, from the truth about Liam – when I can barely protect my own heart?
My downfall is already starting, and the rockstar in front of me doesn’t realize that he’s in the center of all of it.
How could he possibly save me?