Page 49 of Backstage with a Billionaire Rockstar

I take a deep breath and lead her up the stairs, then through the cabin. Liam is bouncing excitedly in one of the seats, Kenzie next to him with her finger scrolling absentmindedly along her phone screen, and I come to a stop. Mia gasps behind me, trying her best to squeeze between me and the doorway, and I chuckle before letting her through.

“Mommy!” Liam says excitedly, jumping from his place on the seat and wrapping his tiny arms around her legs.

“Baby,” Mia says as she bends down to give him a big bear hug. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

Liam smiles, then glances at me and nods. “Evan said it was our secret. Sorry, I kept it from you.”

When the woman I know I’m falling more and more in love with looks up at me, I almost expect for her to get angry with me and demand that he be taken back home. That’s not at all what she does, though. Instead, she rises from the floor and walks away from Liam to step into my arms.

“Thank you,” she whispers against me. “This is really what I needed after everything.”

Kenzie clears her throat from her chair, an eyebrow arched. “Do I not get a big hug?”

Mia chuckles, then pushes away from me and goes over to her best friend. They share a hug, where I’m sure Kenzie says something to her, and Mia’s cheeks are red when she pulls away.

I wonder what Kenzie said to her.

“Let’s get going then,” I say to everyone, ruffling Liam’s hair as I walk past him and take one of the other empty seats.

Mia sinks into the one next to Kenzie, the two of them talking animatedly about going to a private island, and Liam slowly comes over to me. “What’s up, bud?”

He shrugs, then looks between me and his mom. “Do you like each other?”

“We do,” I say softly. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah, you’re pretty cool,” he says with a big grin.

After a few moments of silence, I assume that he’s done asking me questions, but he angles himself closer to me and asks, “Are you going to get married?”

That wasn’t what I was expecting.

I wrack my brain, trying to come up with a good answer for him, but the only thing I can imagine is an image of Mia walking down the aisle toward me. Eventually, I’d like to have more kids, but what if that’s not something she wants?

No, I’ve seen the way she is with Liam, and I’m willing to bet she’d love to have more kids running around.

Liam is blinking at me, waiting for my answer, and I clear my throat with a nervous smile. “Well, bud, I guess we’ll have to see where the future takes us. Let’s not rush things too much, yeah?”

He nods, then leans back into the leather seat. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Now, all I can think about is marrying the woman sitting across the aisle from me…and it doesn’t seem so bad.

19

Mia

Kenzie and I are relaxing on the beach, not another soul in sight, and I’ve never felt so relaxed since starting the job as Evan’s bodyguard. Liam’s giggles grab my attention and I smile at the sight of him chasing after Evan through the ocean ahead.

“He’s good with him,” my best friend says, clearly catching where my attention has shifted.

“I know.”

The best thing that Evan could’ve done was bring Liam and Kenzie along for this trip. When I got onto the jet, every worry I had immediately vanished when Liam rushed over to me with a big smile on his face.

I’ve got no reason to be worried anyway. We’ve been here for a few days now, and have had no issues since arriving. There hasn’t been a single package from the stalker, no random notes arriving on the front steps of the large vacation home Evan owns, and I couldn’t be happier.

It’s what he’s desperately needed as well after everything that’s happened.

Evan is smiling brightly when he runs back over to me and Kenzie, running a hand through his soaked hair, and he sinks next to me on the towel. Liam isn’t far behind and he’s looking at something in the palm of his hand, not a care in the world about his surroundings.

---