Page 26 of Baking With A Rockstar

The man has come up beside me, and I try to peek over as unsuspiciously as possible. Even though I can only stare for a moment, I notice right away his profile looks strangely familiar.

“Hi, Mira, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He holds out his hand and after staring at it for a while, Mira puts her own little one in his, as if she knows exactly what she’s doing.

Then his attention shifts to me. “And who do we have here?”

He turns to face me, and my mouth drops open when I get a good look at him. I’m so shocked that I’m not even embarrassed about the gasp that comes out of my mouth.

Hudson clears his throat, apparently realizing he has to do the introduction for me. “This is Charlie. Charlie, this is Gabe—”

“Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.” I momentarily space out, not even feeling bad for interrupting him. My brain feels like total mush, and I don’t think I can control whatever is coming out of my mouth, even if I wanted to. I point a finger at the man standing in front of me, restraining myself from poking him in the chest. “Youare Gabe Mitchell. You’re freaking Gabe Mitchell. I can’t believe it. You’re, like, my favorite author in the whole world. You have no idea how much your books have helped me get through this last year. Wow.”

The man in front of me chuckles, and I’m immediately mesmerized by the sound of it. Reluctantly, I pull my gaze away to look at Hudson. “This isGabe Mitchell. What the heck, Hudson? Why didn’t you tell me you know him?” Realization finally hits me, and I slap both of my hands over my mouth. “Wait a second. Oh, no freaking way, this is yourbrother?” I’m not sure what’s possessing me, but I punch Hudson lightly on the arm.

In response, his eyebrows draw together tightly while his mouth sets in a grim, straight line. “Last time I checked, he was, but that might change soon. How in the world can you know who he is when you had no idea who I was?”

Gabe holds up his hands in a time-out position. “Wait a second. Please tell me you aren’t kidding right now. She really didn’t know who you were when you met?” Gabe doesn’t need to wait for an answer from Hudson because the sour expression on his face says it all. Gabe throws his head back and laughs loudly. He claps his thighs a few times too, probably making a few heads in the backyard turn our way. “This is the absolute best thing ever. Was poor Hudson baby not recognized?” Gabe uses a baby voice for the last part, making me and Mira giggle while Hudson frowns even harder.

“What’s going on over here?”

“We could hear you laughing all the way at the house.”

I turn toward the female voices, stunned by the sight in front of me.

Hudson grumbles behind me. “Great, just what I needed.”

“You won’t believe what I just found out.” Gabe points toward me. “My lovely new best friend here recognizedmeright away but didn’t know who Hudson was when she first met him.”

The two women burst into laughter, their high-pitched tones almost harmonizing. I take a closer look at them, blinking as I take them in.

First of all, they are both quite tall—definitely taller than my five foot, seven inches, from the looks of it—and they must be twins. While one has blonde hair piled up high on top of her head, the other one has long dark brown hair with a rainbow assortment of colors mixed into it. Other than that, they both have the same beautiful face, their features identical mirror images of each other.

“Charlie, these are my sisters, Dahlia and Rose.” Hudson is standing beside me now, groaning like it actually pains him to make this introduction.

“Thisis Charlie?” Rose—the one with the colorful hair—shares a look with her sister, both of their eyes going wide.

Not sure how to take their little exchange, I nod and shake hands with both of them. “It’s nice to meet you.” Since my hand is shaking, I put it behind my back the second I can. These Mitchell siblings all seem bigger than life, and I’m not sure how to deal with that at the moment.

The twins grab each other’s arms before Rose turns back to me. “Oh no, trust me, the pleasure isallours.” She leans over to her sister without taking her eyes off me. “Grandma is right, she really is perfect.”

Well, if my nerves weren’t shot before, they definitely are now.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about this family, it’s that frankness is a Mitchell trait.

Dahlia takes a step toward Hudson. “So, this must be little Mira then. Gosh, Rose, look at her. She’s absolutely beautiful.” Dahlia plays with Mira’s fingers while Mira soaks up the attention, and after looking at me for reassurance, she climbs into Dahlia’s arms.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who’s enthralled by this family.

I watch Gabe and the twins gush over Mirabelle while Hudson silently stares at me.

When I finally acknowledge his burning gaze, I can see a whole lot of determination in his eyes—I’m just not sure for what. “Hudson, what—”

Before I can say anything else, he grabs my hand. “Can we talk for a moment?”

Chapter Eleven

Hudson pullsme toward the little gazebo that’s only a few feet away. He walks so fast down the narrow path that I have a hard time staying on my two feet—cobblestones and heels definitely don’t mix well.

“Slow down, Hudson. What’s gotten into you? You’re acting like someone’s after us.” After I say the words, I turn around quickly to make sure there actually isn’t anyone behind us.

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