Page 103 of Baking With A Rockstar

Closing my eyes for a minute, I let all the sensations run through my body. Once I’m confident enough I’ve got it all under control—mostly, at least—I open them back up and stare at him. “You’re such a tease, you big meanie.”

I grab some cups from the cabinet and juice from the refrigerator, then walk toward the patio door, purposefully swinging my hips a little more than usual. “Are you coming?” I turn around and wink at him over my shoulder, almost unable to hold back my laughter.

“You little minx, you.” He runs after me, reaching me in no time.

I squeal when he picks me up and carries me outside while I snuggle as close to his chest as the cups and bottle allow. “Mmm. I could get used to this.”

“You better.” He puts me down in front of the outdoor couch and gives me another long and passionate kiss that leaves me longing for more.

When I sit down, I purposefully scoot to the other side of the couch, holding my hands up in front of me. “I’ll stay right here until we’re done talking.”

Hudson chuckles, his eyes bright, both of his dimples popping out. “I promise I’ll behave now.”

“I believe it when I see it.” Shaking my head at him, I grin. “Now spill the beans. We don’t have long before people start arriving.”

“You’re right, sorry.” Leaning forward with his elbows onto his knees, he focuses on me. “You remember I’m due for another album, right?”

I nod, remembering one of our conversations about his music. “Which is why you were so freaked out about not being able to write.”

He flinches at my words but nods. “Exactly. The good thing is, they loved the new music I wrote. More than loved it, actually. They said it was some of the best music I’ve ever written.” He stretches forward to tap my nose with his finger. “All thanks to you, of course.”

I shake my head at him, knowing full well I didn’t actually do anything. “I’m so glad they liked it. Why do I hear a but coming, though?”

Hudson lets out a big breath. “Because they wouldn’t let me out of touring for that next album.”

I swallow loudly, knowing what that means—a lot of time away from Hudson, for at least the next year. “But we were able to meet somewhere in the middle. I’ll only tour in a few major cities and won’t be away for long at a time. And maybe you could even come with me for a few gigs, if you want to.”

“Wow. It’s not perfect, but it doesn’t sound too bad either.” My heart feels like it weighs ten pounds less. “I’m so happy.”

He gives me a big smile. “Me too, believe me. They were actually a lot more lenient and welcoming to my ideas than I thought they would be. I made it clear this would be the last tour I’d be doing for them, but that I’d still love to record for them in the future if they were interested, and they agreed.”

“For real?” is the only thing that comes out of my mouth.

“Yup.”

There’s a lot of stuff I still have no clue about in the music world—especially the business side of things—but I know we were really lucky with this outcome.

He pours us both some juice and takes a sip. “I told them I’ll be busy with my new project, and they know how excited and passionate I am about it. Surprisingly, they were very accepting of that too. I think they were afraid to lose all the money versus just some of it. But in the end, it works for me. So, I’m all for it.”

Now it’s me closing the distance between us, putting my arms around his neck to give him a big hug. “That all sounds great. I’m thrilled for you, for me, for all of us.”

“Thank you, sweetheart, me too.”

I pull back, studying his face. “But wait, what new project were you talking about? Have you been keeping secrets from me?”

“Maybe a little, sorry.” He beams at me, a slight blush on his cheeks, but it’s obvious he’s very excited about whatever it is. “I’ve actually been thinking about it for a while, but I wanted to be sure first that I could work things out with my management team. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone, in case they made things hard for me.”

“Well. What is it?” My thoughts are so all over the place I’m drawing a blank.

“I want to work with Dahlia at the Arts Center. Remember when she was talking about wanting to expand and integrate some other areas too?” He pauses to point a finger at himself. “Well, I’d love to handle the music part. I think it would be so awesome to work with the kids and to help out wherever I can.”

My heart squeezes, and I lean in again to kiss him. “That sounds wonderful, and you’ll do so great. And the kids! They are going to be over the moon to learn from you.”

He shrugs. “I hope so. Dahlia doesn’t know yet, so I hope she’ll be happy too.”

I stare at him in bewilderment. “Are you kidding me? She’ll be out of her mind happy. Not just to have you working at the academy, but also because you’ll be around so much more. Your whole family is going to be ecstatic.”

“Are you okay if I tell everyone tonight when they’re here anyway? I don’t want to take away from Mira’s birthday.”

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