Page 82 of Perfect Order
Gliding past Beckett, he reaches out to get her attention, but she disentangles herself as she makes her way to stand directly in front of me. Her free hand reaches out for mine, and I clasp hers like a lifeline. Maybe it is for both of us. “How was it?” Leanne asks me anxiously.
“If you sing half as well tomorrow, they’re going to be clamoring for a new record the day after,” I tell her honestly.
Her pert nose wrinkles. And I laugh aloud. I’m about to pull her in my arms when a shadow descends over us both.
He’s muscular, tattooed, and anxious. Crap. A pissed Beckett Miller I can handle, no sweat. An emotional one is an entirely different story. “Ky? Kane? Everything all right here?”
I open my mouth to explain, but Leanne beats me to it. She reaches over and touches his arm briefly. “When you were in Texas, I reached Kane instead of you one night. He’s…helped.” She turns her face upward at me and smiles.
Beckett blinks. “He did?”
“We have some shared experiences, Beckett. It’s not a club others should be in.” She moves away and lays her head on his chest briefly. “But I’ll never be able to thank you for literally carrying me during the worst of it.”
He swallows convulsively. “Okay, Ky—”
“Lee,” she reminds him. “Remember, that’s what she used to call me. Lee. I can’t be someone I’m not without her.”
Beckett’s head tips to the side as he tries to reconcilethisErzulie with the one he’s known the last several years—hell, even the last several months. I recall everything Leanne charged through until her laser focus cut through the possibilities of what happened to Kylie. But to an outsider, it must have appeared as if Erzulie spiraled out of control. I can’t help but appreciate the fact that despite our talk last night, he struggles a bit before accepting. “Okay…Lee. Just remember, we’re all here if you need us.”
“I wouldn’t be here without knowing that,” she reassures him.
Beckett looks like he’s about to say more, but he’s called onstage. “Kane, we’ll talk more later.”
He’s a few feet away when I mutter, “Must we?”
Leanne begins to laugh softly.
Beckett hears her and whirls around, shock evident on his face. Then the shock morphs into a look of resigned acceptance, a brother passing along the responsibilities of watching over his sister to another. I feel Leanne’s hand on my arm as Beckett is tossed his mic and begins to sing on the upbeat. “He is pretty special, isn’t he?”
“Not as special as you,” I tell her honestly, drowning in the dark blue eyes staring up at me.
Her lips curve. “How about I get out of this get up and we figure out when we’re going on that first date you promised me?”
I wrap an arm around her waist and nod at Kristoffer Wilde. He frowns for a moment before slipping out his phone. I figure by the time I’m done escorting Leanne to Costume, he’ll be looped in on the fact I know everything. At least, I hope. We reach the doors she needs to enter. I hate to let her out of my sight for a second. “What were you thinking?”
“Anywhere with you, Kane. I just sang you a whole bunch of ideas. Pick one.” Her smile is filled with challenge. Then she slips inside.
As the words to “Come Away With Me” float through my mind, I’m glad I have an idea to start our tomorrow, which—God willing—will lead to a forever with this complex woman.
After forever, I’ll leave the rest of eternity up to her.
Kane
It’s my parents’ wedding anniversary—fifty-two years today. Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad! They’ll kill me for telling the world, but their first date could have been a catastrophe if my dad wasn’t smart. Apparently, my dad was supposed to go out with my mom’s sister, but he brought a buddy along to make up the slack. Good planning, Dad. Even better Aunt Shirley fell for him.
Now, for a chance at a Zoom call with yours truly, tell me about your best or worst first date.
— Moore You Want
Leaning across the hall from Costume, I wait for Leanne to emerge. Expecting her to be tricked out in something flamboyant to match the Hollywood vibe suffocating the already smoggy air, I’m pleasantly surprised to see her emerge in a pair of worn jean shorts, a black tank, and an unbuttoned flannel, which floats behind her as she dodges around people to make her way to me. Her trademark blonde hair is tucked beneath a baseball cap, dangerously proclaiming her a Sox fan amid Dodgers territory. My lips curve at the sight. Proclaiming her allegiance to her favorite baseball team is likely the least dangerous thingQ?za’s ever done.
The only thing I want to change is when she whips out enormous sunglasses that take up over half of her face, hiding her eyes from me. I understand why she’s slipped them on. It’s not to hide from me; it’s to protect us both once we leave the shelter of the arena. But she has no idea of the pains I’ve gone to in order to protect her identity—including exposing my own feelings to the one person who could have made today impossible by sending my ass on a plane back to New York.
Despite how uncomfortable last night was, I hold more respect than ever for Beckett, and I know once he finds out the truth about Kylie, he’s going to be completely gutted. It’s obvious he truly does consider her a kid sister and—with that understanding—appropriately grilled me after I explained how Erzulie and I were discovering feelings for one another. To say he has an overprotective streak is putting it mildly, I recall with some amusement.
“She’s vulnerable, Kane!” he shouts. I merely recline on his couch while the wild man paces back and forth, fuming. “She could just be looking for comfort. Have you thought of that?”
“It’s not like that, Becks. If it were, I would have kept my distance. I didn’t think I had the heart to fall in love with her, yet it wasn’t that. She threw me a lifeline when I didn’t realize I needed one. Somehow, she wrapped herself inside me when I wasn’t looking.” Starting with the first time we crashed into one another years ago.
