Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
LOXLEY
I couldn’t remember the last time I spent the day alone, doing nothing. I’d always wondered how I’d use that time if I ever got the chance.
Most of the day passed in near silence, except for the soft scratch of my pen against paper as I jotted down lyrics whenever they felt right.
I’d squeezed in a workout as well, if it could be called that.
Miles had a gym, but I found an app that specialized in workouts you could do lying down, and that felt much more my style.
I also found the joys of ordering on . There were endless amounts of options, and I hit order on everything I saw. Bras, underwear, band t-shirts, jeans, shampoo. I even found a cute pink vacuum that I didn’t need but had to have.
Afterward, I created a profile on Miles’ Netflix account and finally binged the first season of Bridgerton. I’d always wanted to watch it but never had the time, or the privacy, to enjoy it. By the time I reached the last episode, I was both satisfied, and annoyed at myself for waiting.
Dusk was settling in when I heard Miles’ patrol car creeping up the rocky drive.
My heart did a weird, annoying flip, and before I could stop myself, I ran from the front of the house to the back, flopping onto the couch by the big window.
I draped my arm over the cushions, feigning nonchalance.
It wasn’t that I was lonely. Or that I was waiting for him.
It was just…he promised me pork chops. And then burned them.
He was supposed to redeem himself. And I really loved pork chops.
And I was starving.
“Honey, I’m home,” Miles called out, his voice teasing as he came in through the kitchen door.
Laughing, I hopped up and skipped in to meet him, my subtlety abandoned. “Did you bring new pork chops?”
He lifted a bag and gave it a shake before tossing it onto the counter. “Fresh and ready,” he said, setting his keys and a manila folder beside it. “Let me get out of this uniform.”
I barely heard him. My attention had dropped to the way his arms stretched against the hem of his short sleeves, muscles flexing without effort.
Then my gaze drifted lower, to the way his thumbs hooked into his belt, just above where his holstered gun rested against his hip.
He leaned into one leg, easy and unbothered, like he had all the time in the world.
“You done?” he teased.
Heat crawled up my neck. “Shut up.”
He chuckled and walked off toward his bedroom. I huffed, grabbing the bag of pork chops hastily, causing the folder he had set on the counter to fall to the floor. The papers inside spilled out, and I looked down at the mess.
Staring back at me was a picture of me. On the red carpet. A past version of myself, dressed to perfection, posing for the cameras at an awards show before the tour started.
My stomach clenched.
I hated that dress. I hated the song I’d been nominated for. And most of all, I hated that I hadn’t been allowed to thank my brother in my speech. “He’s deceased, and mentioning him will take focus off the songwriters. They’re the ones who deserve the praise and celebration.”
I was glad I lost.
“Hey, I was thinking—” Miles started, but his voice faltered when he saw what I was holding. “Oh…”
“Doing some research?” I teased, but my voice landed more on the side of sad rather than playful.
Miles didn’t answer right away. His jaw twitched as if he wanted to say something, but thought better of it. Then, with a sharp breath, he reached out and snatched the picture from my hand. “That’s actually something we need to talk about. But I was going to wait until after dinner.”
“We can talk about it now,” I shrugged, bending to pick up the rest of the folder. I handed it to him without even glancing at the contents. “I wouldn’t blame you for looking into things. I just wish you’d picked any other picture but that one.”
“I didn’t choose this one, Lox.” His voice was steady, but there was something weighted underneath it. He slid the picture back into the folder and tossed it onto the counter like he wanted it out of sight.
I watched him in the dim kitchen light, taking in his appearance.
He put on black athletic shorts, a plain white t-shirt that clung to the shape of him, and bare feet were against the cool tile.
His hair was tousled, as if he’d run his fingers through it a few times.
It shocked me that he was alone in life.
No girlfriend or wife. He told me he had two brothers and crazy grandparents, but he seemed like the kind of smalltown guy that would want a companion. Someone to come home to and love.
It didn’t make sense.
Then again, I knew what it felt like to have people assume they understood my life just because they’d read about it. It wasn’t fair to assume Miles wanted a wife, or some perfect companion to come home to.
But it was fair to wonder more about him. Especially when everything about my life was accessible to him with just a few clicks of a keyboard. Even if none of it was true.
“My captain called me into his office today. Told me it was being passed around quietly to a few departments that Loxley Adams is missing.” He exhaled sharply. “I spent all day pretending to look for you in case whoever took you brought you to Harmony Haven.”
“Took me?” My stomach twisted.
“That’s what the report says.”
“Sam watched me drive away,” I gritted out, my teeth clenched so tight my jaw ached. “He knows no one took me.”
Miles smirked, but there was no real humor behind it. “Well, considering you’ve had a few confirmed stalker incidents, some social media threats from unhinged fans, and no official bodyguard, it apparently adds up to you being kidnapped.”
“Sam just knows this makes a better story than me being pissed off.”
“The other things are true, though,” he pointed out, watching me carefully.
“Yeah,” I sighed, shoulders dropping. “This life isn’t always a glamorous one.
But I know Sam is spinning this angle for clout.
That way, when he’s forced to talk to the media, he can sell a sad story.
Something that’ll get people downloading my music.
” My voice turned bitter. “Because that’s all he really cares about. ”
Miles let out a slow breath, then reached out, giving my shoulder a gentle tug so I was fully facing him.
“Well, I’m not saying anything,” he said, his tone softer now.
“If you want to take time for yourself, you don’t owe anyone an explanation.
I’m just gonna get my uniform on, climb in my car, and patrol while I look for you. ”
The words settled between us for a second, heavy with the absurdity of it all.
Then, at the same time, we cracked, and laughter spilled from both of us, filling the kitchen and chasing away the tension.
“Sorry,” I said between breaths, rubbing my forehead. “I’ve created a mess.”
“Nah,” he grinned, then without hesitation, pulled me into a hug—warm, solid, safe. “But you may need to consider if there’s someone you trust, someone you can reach out to, so the world knows you’re okay.”
“My mom,” I shrugged as Miles pulled away from the hug and finished unpacking the pork chops. “But she’s so lost when it comes to this world. She’s happy in her small house in her small town, letting the world leave her alone. I can’t drag her into this.”
“Don’t you think she’s gonna worry about you?”
“Unless the news that I’m missing goes public, she won’t even know.” I shifted uncomfortably, realizing how bad that sounded. “I don’t exactly call her every day.”
“How often do you talk to her?”
“Once a month, maybe…” I winced. I suddenly had the urge to check in with her, just to hear her voice, to see how she was doing.
“It’s not intentional, but I’m always doing something for someone, or there’s somewhere I have to be.
Even when I’m just sitting on the bus, I’m not alone.
Sam is there, making me practice interview questions, or sign pictures for him to sell at events. ”
“Hey, I get it,” Miles sighed, glancing at his phone for the recipe while seasoning the pork chops. “But you don’t want them knocking on her door, either.”
I doubted anyone would go knocking on my mom’s door.
They barely knew she existed. My mama said from the moment she saw me she knew I’d be a star.
And she pushed me to follow that dream when it became my own.
But as I got more into the spotlight, my mama had quietly backed away, trusting me to handle myself as the adult I was.
Trying to shift the focus off myself, I glanced over at Miles. “How often do you talk to your mama?” I teased. “Bet you’re a mama’s boy.”
He snorted but didn’t look up from the counter. The silence stretched just long enough to make me think I’d overstepped. I opened my mouth to apologize, but then he spoke, and his words took me by surprise.
“I talk to my mom when it’s my week to mow the lawn,” he said, a small, fond smile pulling at his lips. “In fact, I gotta do that next Wednesday.”
Something in the way he said it made my heart plummet.
“What about your dad?” My voice had lost its playful edge.
“Dad’s there too.” His smile didn’t falter, but his eyes held something deeper. “Watching me, making sure I edge the driveway.”
Miles didn’t say anymore. Instead, he handed me a pork chop, and I took it wordlessly, seasoning it as he pulled a pan from the cabinet and heated the oil.
He checked his phone a few more times, cross-referencing whatever his grandma had texted him, then finally leaned back against the counter, arms crossed over his chest.
“Just gotta wait for this to heat up,” he said. “Then when they go in the oven, we have to make sure we don’t forget about them.”
“Between the two of us, surely we can manage that, right?”
“As long as we don’t get distracted.”
The way he said distracted made my toes curl. He knew. He knew I was attracted to him, and he was teasing me, stretching out the moment just enough to make me fidgety. I turned my attention back to the pork chops, pretending not to notice the heat creeping up my neck.
“So, next Wednesday, you have to mow your parents’ lawn.” I cleared my throat. “Is that your next day off?”
“Yeah, and honestly, it’ll probably take me all day.” He exhaled, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “They’ve got twenty acres up off the main highway, headed more toward Atlanta. But that just means you’ll have the house to yourself again.”
“Yay.” I shook my hands in mock excitement. It should have been a good thing, but I liked when Miles was around.
He was easy to talk to. He was funny. And he made me feel like I had a friend in this world. Someone who didn’t see Loxley the country singer, but Loxley the girl who needed to breathe.
The one he’d plucked off the roadside and tucked away just long enough for her to find herself again.
And I appreciated that more than he would ever know.