Page 51 of Gage (Love Under the Lights 1)

“I can’t believe that garage was wide fucking open,” Vaughn grumbled.

“Or that not one of the goddamn cameras down there is actually working,” Gage seethed. “What the fuck is that about? It’s LA, for fuck’s sake. Cameras are a necessity.”

Allie and I exchanged looks because we both agreed. The majority of the condo building did as well. It was an ongoing argument with the company that purchased the building last year. We all paid an association fee, and security features were supposedly included, but since the building had gotten new owners, things had gone downhill fast.

“You aren’t staying here,” both men announced in unison.

Gage said this while staring at me. Vaughn was busy staring at Allie.

“I’m sure it’ll be—”

“No,” Gage said firmly, cutting me off. “Your safety isn’t guaranteed here, and that’s nonnegotiable for me.”

“For me too,” Vaughn grumbled. “No one with a speck of honor would leave you here. Both of you,” he added after a second. I honestly thought he might have forgotten that I was even there since he was so locked onto Allie.

“He’s right,” Gage said. “You can’t stay here.”

“Fine,” Allie sighed. “We’ll go to my parents’ house.”

“No!”

Again, both men spoke at the same time.

“You’re staying with me,” Gage announced.

“And you’re staying with me,” Vaughn told Allie.

As surprised as I was by the fact that Gage wanted me to stay at his house, I was stunned by how adamant Vaughn was about Allie going home with him. I wasn’t surprised by the fact that she grabbed his arm and took him down the hall to her bedroom to talk. Alone with Gage, I cocked my head.

“Are you sure about this? Steady dating is a big step for you to begin with. Moving in together, however briefly, might be too much for you to—”

He held up a hand. “You belong with me, Morgan. If you think for one second that I don’t want you to pack your shit and come home with me, you’re wrong.”

His tone was firm, but still, I hesitated. Things were so good with us. I was afraid if we took on too much, too soon, he’d feel trapped.

“Pack, beautiful. Just take the clothes you’ll need for the next few days. I’d say take more, but you have to hurry.”

“Hurry?” I asked, confused.

He chuckled and shook his head. “Gotta get you to the El Capitan for Kimmel.”

I squeaked as my eyes flew to the clock, and I realized that I needed to pick an outfit and haul ass. As I hurried down the hall to my room, I decided that packing just the essentials and a few days’ worth of clothes was better than rolling into Gage’s house with a ton of luggage anyway. I figured it wouldn’t take long to know if he felt crowded by having me there. If that happened, I’d make other arrangements and move on as quickly as possible.Twenty-FiveGage“Um, Gage. What is that?”

I slammed the trunk of my Rolls shut and set Morgan’s bag on the ground, looking up at her to see what she was asking about. She was pointing at the cherry red car parked in front of my house. “A Mini Cooper.”

“Gee, thanks, Mr. Obvious.” She rolled her eyes before walking toward the car and trailing her fingers over the white racing stripes on the hood. “Seeing as how I drive one, I know what kind of car it is. What I don’t know is why there’s a brand spanking new Mini in your driveway?”

I was tempted to correct her by calling it our driveway since she was living with me at the moment, but I didn’t think Morgan would find it funny. She’d made a few comments throughout the day that’d made me think she was still worried about how I was going to handle her staying with me. I’d let the remarks slide because it wouldn’t have been cool to get into it while she was in the middle of all the post-Oscar win frenzy. I also figured the best way to prove to her that I was completely okay with having her in my space was by showing her, and I had no problem doing that. Starting with making sure she had everything she needed. “Since you’re currently without wheels, I asked Shawn to call the dealership and have a car delivered so you’d be able to get around if our schedules don’t mesh.”

Her hand lifted off the car like she’d gotten burned, and she whipped her head around to stare at me with wide eyes. “You bought me a new car?”

“I would’ve just loaned you one of my other cars, but everything except for the Rolls is stick and I noticed that yours was an automatic,” I explained as I moved to her side to pull open the driver’s side door on the Mini and double-check to make sure they’d gotten it right before adding, “And so is this one.”

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