Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
MAIA
The music in the club was a wee bit too loud, but my friends were enjoying themselves, shouting over it to be heard, nursing their beers and cocktails.
Callan had pulled some strings and gotten the entire VIP mezzanine for us.
He said it was so we could dance in privacy if we wanted to since our escapades last time had gone viral on social media.
I was looking forward to this campaign being over so Baird and I could explore our relationship in a normal environment.
My fiancé had his arm around the back of the booth behind me, his side pressed to mine as he talked and joked with Callan, John, and Sebastian.
Ainsley had come with us and had brought a date, a gorgeous blond dude called Alex.
The two of them had disappeared down onto the dance floor thirty minutes ago.
I was being grilled by Beth and Lily about the wedding plans since the two of them, along with January, Belle, and Elle were my bridesmaids.
I was grateful they’d said yes, considering how quickly everything had come together.
Two weeks had passed since the bungee jump.
Bruno kept to his word, and we approved the final edit of the video.
The public loved it, so Pennington’s asked permission to follow us around on a “typical date night.” Baird had taken me out for dinner and drinks while the public stared at us, wondering why there were two camerapeople and a director following us around town.
It had been a whirlwind few weeks. Pennington’s really ramped up the schedule for the campaign, and we’d filmed everything but the wedding and honeymoon.
Thankfully, the company had decided it was more cost effective to book a studio with a pool and use green screen and just pretend they were filming us on our honeymoon than send an entire crew with us for the duration.
They had some footage from the resort they’d booked for us in Bali (I couldn’t say I wasn’t excited for that!), and Baird and I would take handheld footage that Pennington’s would edit together with theirs.
Our “honeymoon” shoot wasn’t for another week.
We had a break from filming for the campaign for a while, and I was glad because I wanted to focus on us.
After the bungee incident, Baird had agreed to reach out to the therapist the club had hired after his injury.
He’d had two sessions with her so far, and we were both optimistic it would help.
Baird assured me that just confiding in me had lifted a huge weight off his shoulders, and I felt incredible and humbled that I could do that for him.
Despite how busy we were, we’d managed to grab alone time. And while my period momentarily interfered with our sex life, as soon as it finished, we were all over each other. I swear I had a little more definition in my abs from how athletic the sex was.
And yet, my favorite standout moment of the last few weeks was just a few nights ago.
Christina informed me Becky would be accompanying me to Paris Fashion Week for some cooked-up reason she’d whispered in her boss’s ear, and I was stressed and pissed off.
Baird had given me a key to his place, and I was supposed to be meeting him there.
He’d called to tell me a property management work meeting was running late.
I’d decided to fill my time by running a bubble bath in Baird’s oversized, egg-shaped tub to decompress from the terrible news. I hadn’t had a bubble bath in forever.
I was luxuriating in said tub, Hozier playing from my phone, when Baird came running into the bathroom, giving me the fright of my life.
His cheeks were flushed, and he was already tugging at his tie.
“What on earth?”
He grinned even as he devoured me with his gaze. “I heard Hozier.”
It took me a second and then I burst into laughter.
Laughter that only got more hysterical as I watched him tear off his clothes like an excited schoolboy.
He knocked over a plant pot, stumbled into the sink trying to get his trousers off, skidded on the bath towel I’d laid down and nearly landed on his arse …
it was chaotic and hilarious. There were tears in my eyes by the time he lunged into the tub, sending water cascading over the sides.
I’d squealed as he reached for me, totally uncaring of the mess he was making. Even as he kissed me, I burst out laughing again. “I’m sorry,” I wheezed, “I just keep picturing it.”
He grinned at my teasing, completely unabashed by his less than suave seduction attempts. “You’re ruining Hozier.”
I snorted. “I think you ruined Hozier.”
“Aye?” He dipped his hand in the water between us and I sucked in a breath at the feel of his thumb on my clit. “You sure about that?”
“Hmm … maybe … maybe I can be convinced otherwise.” I gasped as he pushed his fingers inside me.
From there, Baird made languid, decadent love to me in his bathtub and we didn’t get out until we were both wrinkled and pruned. He made me scarily happy. For the fifty millionth time in two weeks, I held back the words I love you.
I didn’t know why I was holding myself back.
Correction: I did know why. I just didn’t like thinking about it.
I was terrified of rejection, abandonment.
Therefore, I was waiting for Baird to take that first step.
Beth brought me back from the memory to the nightclub with a teasing comment. “Can you at least tell us if the dresses will be 1990s ‘I hate my bridesmaids’ or twenty-first century ‘I want my girlies to look hot’?”
“You two would look hot in a bin bag and you know it.”
Lily shrugged. “You know I don’t care either way.”
Beth side-eyed her. “Make me look bad for caring, why don’t you?”
Lily grinned unapologetically, her dimples creasing her cheeks.
“You know I can’t stay even pretend mad at you when you pull out the dimples. No fair.” Beth flicked a cocktail stick at her.
“They’re lethal, aren’t they?” Sebastian dipped his head into our conversation. “I can never say no to her. It’s terrible. Dimple terrorism, I tell you.”
Lily chucked the cocktail stick at him in answer, and he chuckled and turned back to the guys’ conversation.
“I thought you were both coming to the store on Thursday to pick dresses?” That’s what the so-called wedding planner had told me. I’d had all the bridal party options already shipped to my department.
“We are.” Beth nodded. “That doesn’t mean I’m not curious.”
“All the options are good. Trust me.”
“I trust you.” Lily shrugged. “You’re the chicest person I know.”
“You’re determined to make me look like the annoying bridesmaid, aren’t you, wee cuz?” Beth narrowed her eyes teasingly.
“It’s not my fault you’re so nosy.” She stuck her tongue out at Beth.
I’d just let out a laugh that froze in my throat when the familiar opening synth pop beat of “Kids” by MGMT flooded the mezzanine.
No.
Bloody hell.
Not again.
Why was this DJ so obsessed with this song?
The blood rushed in my ears, my cheeks flushing, and I was vaguely aware of an insistent nudge against my upper arm. Turning blindly, I barely processed Baird’s concerned face and him gently trying to get me out of the booth.
Like I was on autopilot, I slid out, my legs shaky as the memories flooded in like clockwork.
Mum standing in the kitchen, looking much healthier than the last memory I had of her, grinning as she spun me around, shouting the lyrics at the top of her voice. Her cupping my face in her palms to whisper them, bright tears in her eyes, like I meant something to her.
Like she did love me.
“My.” Baird tugged me toward the middle of the mezzanine where there was a little more room to maneuver.
I tried to pull my hand away. “I need to leave.”
He hauled me into his arms, a tight band around my waist as I tilted my head back to look at him in anger. What was he doing?
“She doesn’t get to do this to you,” he said, just loud enough to be heard over the music. “This song … it’s ours now. Okay?”
“Baird …”
“Whenever you hear it, you’ll think of this. Us.” He abruptly let me go and started jumping on the balls of his feet. “Control yourself …” He shouted at the top of his voice, grinning encouragingly at me.
My heart thumped in my chest.
Baird kept singing and bopping more than dancing, totally loose and uninhibited. He ignored the guys shouting good-natured abuse at him, his gaze fixed firmly on me.
“Control yourself …,” I whispered, forcing my legs to move.
He reached for me, twining his fingers through mine as his movements vibrated down my arm, making me move too.
My voice grew louder, my hips looser as I focused on Baird.
And instead of the memories of Mum, I let the memories of the past few months flood over me.
Baird’s confession about wanting to be with me, the way he knew me, really knew me, his protectiveness, his encouragement, his belief in me.
The way his body felt wrapped around mine, his sweet kisses, his hard kisses … his utter devotion.
I laughed as Baird tossed his head like an idiot, his hair that he’s growing out flying around as he winked at me, trying to keep me with him in this moment.
It was then that I realized how unfair it was to wait for him to say the words I love you when he’d been making all the first moves from the very beginning.
Knowing the song by heart, I knew when the last refrains of it were dying, and I stopped dancing.
Baird did too, concern puckering his brow as he waited to see if he’d done the right thing.
Be brave, Maia. Be brave for him.
My heart thumped so hard I felt sick, but I took a breath and then I let it out on three words, “I love you.”
Baird’s expression slackened.
Oh shit.
“I—”
He abruptly stepped into my personal space, his grip on my hips almost bruising. “Say that again,” he demanded harshly.
I refused to look away as I licked my very dry lips. “I love you, Baird McMillan. I’m in love with you.”
There. I’d said—