Page 33 of Reckless

“Yeah? What’d you buy?”

“A bunch of stuff at this funky new and used clothing shop. I have a friend, one we all went to school with,” she said, indicating her bandmates, “and she makes outfits for tours and appearances, that sort of thing. I’ll send the clothes to her and I’ll go see her the next time I’m in LA to get an idea of what she’ll create for me. I also bought a painting, a small one of a street scene. I have an alcove in my house. I want to put it there.”

“That’s a cool way to remember where you’ve been.”

“It is. That alcove is where I put various things I pick up while traveling, Stones, picture frames, I’ve got ornaments and glass of all types. The painting will be perfect there. Eventually after that one fills, there’s another alcove on the other side of my living room.”

“When I’m home and you’re home at the same time, I want to see it. Your actual and metaphorical alcoves.”

She snickered, but he couldn’t say much more as they’d arrived and Omar turned back to talk to Miles as they all loaded off.

He kept her hand as they walked from the van to the double doors leading to the backstage areas they’d use. And he never heard the sound of pictures taken with someone’s phone.

CHAPTERELEVEN

“What are you doing tomorrow?” Miles asked her as they lay curled up in his bed a few nights later. They’d had the first of two shows in Atlanta and the following day was totally free.

“Nothing until the evening.”

He paused, wanting to ask what she was doing in the evening even though it wasn’t his business.

“Want to go exploring? I’ve been in Atlanta multiple times but usually because I’m here to perform. I don’t know much about the city otherwise,” he said.

“How about thrift shopping? There are several thrift stores I want to hit. My brothers live here so I have a general idea of where everything is.”

“Okay, that sounds fun. Can we do lunch and stuff too?”

“Sure. Buying things makes me hungry.”

That made him laugh and pull her a little closer so he could kiss her shoulder.

“You’re going to need to uh, mute yourself a little. Downplay all that Miles Brown. Otherwise, you’ll get recognized within five minutes.”

“Mute myself?”

“Yes. Wear a cap and some sunnies. That way you’ll look more like one of your fanboys than yourself.”

He harrumphed which only made her giggle and then roll from bed.

“I think if you stayed all night here but brought a change of clothes with you, you could leave in the morning, and no one will know you slept in my bed except me, and I really like that idea.”

She looked at him, taking a long leisurely visual stroll from his toes to his head, both of them. “Okay. That might work. But not tonight because I don’t have a change of clothing. I’m doing yoga in the morning with Nora and Poppy so they’ll be waking me up at nine. That’s six hours from now. I need the sleep and we both know if you and I are naked in the same bed, neither of us is getting any rest.”

That was true and he couldn’t deny it. He couldn’t keep his hands off her when they were together this way. He could barely resist not touching her in public and had forgotten why he shouldn’t, and they’d held hands more than once in front of others. Usually just the other band members, but still.

They needed to have a conversation about next steps in their relationship. He hated having to hide it. He wanted to put an arm around her shoulders after the show ended. Wanted to be able to kiss her when the mood struck.

“We’ve got media tomorrow, but we should be back by the time you’re done with yoga. Then we can head out?” He’d have a car service reserved for their day. So they could have lunch drinks and not have to haul their purchases with them all afternoon.

He got up to walk her to the door, trying to mask his annoyance that they were still doing this. Annoyed by himself. There’d never been any of this with the others who came before Harlow.

And still, he found himself backing her against the closed door and kissing her senseless. Told her all he felt about her that way until he stepped back, satisfied by the dreamy look she wore.

“Goodnight, beauty. I’ll see you in the morning. Text me when you get back to your room.”

After they’d finished their workout, Nora, Harlow, and Poppy took a swim and then came back to Harlow’s room to have some juice and chat for a bit. Maddie was off doing media that morning so it was just the three of them.

“I have to get ready for my day with Miles,” Harlow told them and darted into the bathroom for half an hour to shower and put on some makeup.

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