"What?" I asked. "You love me too?"
"Yes, I do," he said, his lips were so close to mine that I could feel the warmth his breath as he spoke.
I leaned back in his arms, pulling him toward me, and causing our mouths to finally meet.
Things had changed between us since the last time we kissed. I felt really serious about him now. I honestly couldn’t see anyone else in my life. I honest to goodness believed we would be together forever.
It was with this assuredness that I gave myself over to him in that kiss.
I began kissing him softly, tenderly, letting our mouths meet time after time in little wet caresses. His kiss was like sugar on my lips. He did it again, and this time, he sucked my bottom lip into his mouth. The warm slickness of it caused me to lean into him even more, and he deepened the kiss for a second before he pulled back, barely breaking contact.
"I have been waiting for this all week," he whispered next to my mouth. "I felt like I would go crazy waiting."
"Waiting for what?" I asked, pretending not to know what he was talking about.
And then, Taylor Patterson kissed me.
He kissed me better than I've ever been kissed. He pulled me close and covered me with his warm mouth. He took control, kissing me deeply for a minute before pulling back and smiling at me. He kissed me again after that, and then again and again.
We stood in that living room and talked and embraced for at least an hour.
We didn't even bother sitting on the couch.
Maybe we would have gotten ourselves into trouble sitting on the couch. Maybe he knew that.
I wasn't sure how much time had passed (I thought at least an hour) when Taylor said, "I'm sorry, baby girl, but my phone is blowing up. I hate this, but I need to look at it."
I nodded before placing one last chaste kiss on his cheek. I turned and pointed toward the hall as he pulled his phone from his pocket.
"Do you mind if I look around?" I asked. I didn't want to get in the way of his business or crowd his space when he was trying to talk on the phone, so I thought I could show myself around.
Taylor didn’t answer my question. "It's your dad," he said, pushing buttons on his phone. "Hang on. I think your dad might be here." He was speaking in a choppy tone as he read whatever was on his screen. "Hold on," he said again. "I'm gonna try to call him. I think he's trying to get into the hotel."
He put his phone to his ear, and I waited, listening to hear what he would say.
Chapter 18
Taylor was apparently calling my father.
I really didn't get much information other than that, and I was somewhat confused.
"Hey, this is Taylor," he said, smiling as he stared at the floor.
He was quiet as he listened to the person I assumed was my dad on the other end.
"Yes, sir. I'm sorry. We're here."
He widened his eyes at me as he listened to my dad on the other end. I widened my eyes back at him, asking him what was wrong even though I knew he wouldn't answer me right away. He smiled in such a way that let me know everything was okay.
"She's right here. We're here at the hotel, we just didn't have our phones on us."
He paused again, listening to whatever Dad was saying.
"Oh, goodness. Yeah, we're on our way," Taylor said nodding. "We'll meet you downstairs at the front door."
Taylor looked at me as he pushed the button to disconnect. "I guess your parents are on the run from some of his fans," he said.
"On the run?" I asked. "My parents?"
Everything about that statement was wrong.
"Come on," Taylor said, pulling me by the hand. "They're fine. Everything's fine. We've got to go let them in the front door. "I'll tell you on the way down there."
I went with Taylor out the door and toward the elevator. We headed to the main one since it was a little closer.
"Your mom and dad were having coffee down the street and some women recognized your dad and started following them. I guess there's a few of them, just kind of pestering your dad—trying to get his picture and everything. He was laughing, so I know he's fine."
Taylor reached out to push the button for the elevator. It only took a few seconds for the doors to open. It was easily twice the size of the private one, but it was equally as beautiful—ornamented with marble, wood, and bronze.
I didn't really take it in because I was so confused. Two things were wrong with this scenario, and they were really big things.
One, my dad never got chased around.
He never even went anywhere without a driver and Nick or one of the other guys. He had been in the game long enough to know he got recognized when he went out in public. He knew how to avoid being followed.
The second and most important wrong thing was that my parents didn't hang out.
They never hung out.
They saw each other in passing when necessary over the years, but there was never any coffee shared.
This was the second time recently.
I was thinking about all of this as we moved downward in the elevator.
Taylor reached out and grabbed my hand, and I took his gratefully, snuggling into his arm and holding onto him with both hands.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I was just thinking about my parents. Are you sure Dad said he was with my mom?"
"He said 'Kim'," Taylor said. "And then, he referred to her as 'Blue's mom', so I think that sort of narrows it down to her."
I let out the breath I'd been holding. "Yeah, I think so," I agreed.
He reached up and touched my chin with his other hand, and as I shifted to look at him, he lowered his face to kiss me. The soft, sweet display of love made me smile. It was a great relief to realize that none of my questions or worries about my parents were great enough to overshadow Taylor's kiss. It didn't matter what my parents were doing as long as they weren't in any kind of danger.
I smiled at Taylor. "You're the best," I said. I meant it. I felt totally safe and secure by his side. I wanted to ride up and down this elevator with him for the rest of my life. It dinged and we stepped off and into the lobby. We had to go around the corner to get to the lobby. I half-expected my parents to be standing at one of the windows or even inside the hotel, but they were nowhere in sight.
There was a huge revolving door with swinging doors on each side. They were all made of glass, but the windows were lined with fancy paper that said Coming Soon and Patterson Place Beverly Hills in repeating lines. It was nicely done—brown paper bag color paper with black and gold print. I thought about getting a picture in front of it when we drove by earlier, but I didn't.
Taylor walked right up to the paper-covered revolving doors. I had no idea what he was doing. I was about to ask him that exact question when he leaned in, speaking close to the door.
"Are you on this side?" he yelled.
I was standing close to the door, but I glanced at Barb and Steven who were in earshot and had looked up from their work when they heard Taylor. They were a ways off, but their movement caught my eye, and I made eye contact with Barb, both of us smiling before she forced herself to glance away.
"Yeah, we're here." My dad's voice came from the other side of the door, causing me to experience a wave of panic.
"The revolving door is missing a component, so it's gotta stay locked," Taylor said. "I'm opening the door right next to you, though."
I watched as Taylor walked the few steps from the revolving doors and unlocked the regular glass door that was right beside it. It was also covered in paper. My parents came in, one behind the other, laughing and shaking their heads as Taylor closed and locked the door behind them.
They were giggling like teenagers.
They might as well have been holding hands.
I scowled at them, unable to reconcile these people with the same Alec and Kim who brought me into this world. Individually, they were both prone to lightheartedness, but for as long as I could remember, they were all
-business when they were around each other—cordial and quick. Distant.
Mom wiped the corners of her eyes like she'd been laughing so much she cried. She slapped Dad's shoulder playfully. "Alec Charles, I cannot believe you're fifty-five years old and you still have women crying over you like you're Justin Bieber."
First of all, she was using his middle name. Second, she was teasing him. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was flirting. She went to poke at him, and I watched as Dad caught her hand in mid-air.
"You're the one who insisted we go for coffee," he said.
Taylor, seeing that I was transfixed by my parents, took a step closer to me and reached out to hold my hand. I glanced at him, feeling thankful for the distraction. I smiled and gave him my hand, stepping closer to him. Mom and Dad saw us moving, and they both stopped what they were doing and glanced our way as if noticing us for the first time.
"Hello," Mom said still grinning. "Sorry we had to bother you." Her eyes left us, beginning to roam all over the room as she took in her surroundings. "This is absolutely gorgeous, though, Taylor. I’m so glad we came by." She looked at Dad with wide eyes. "See? I told you they were here," she said. She looked up. "Oh my gosh, it's so worth it to come by here. This place is amazing."
"Your mother had me running down the sidewalk and an alley, and then through a building to get here," Dad said, explaining the situation.
"The better question is how did you two end up at the same place at the same time?" I gestured to their feet to indicate their physical proximity.
They both pointed at each other.
"Really, it was Violet," Mom said. "She had asked your dad to come by, and Indie and me were still over at her house when he got there." Mom glanced at dad, who nodded letting her know the story was straight so far. Mom gestured around her. "Then, your dad said he hadn't seen this place, so I told him I knew where it was and would bring him by. And then... I wanted a cup of coffee, so we went to that café down the street… and we were gonna walk over here to see the place after, but…" she hesitated, looking at Dad. "And long story short, two women became four or five. They followed us around the block and through a bookstore. I think they got a few pictures of your dad and me together, but it was all fake. We kind of stood together, and... we were just messing around, trying to act like we were having a moment so they'd leave us alone."
"Wait, we were just messing around when we did that?" Dad asked with a scowl.
This joke caused my mother to shake her head and roll her eyes at him before bumping into him with her shoulder.
I just stared at them, unblinking.
"So then, finally," Dad said. "We came around the corner and ducked in between those doors out there, and that's where we lost them. We stayed in there till you called us back. If that paper wouldn't have been on the doors, we might still be running."
"It would have been better if they were open," Mom said. "Then we could have just come into the hotel and gotten lost in Taylor's office or something… or upstairs in his penthouse." She laughed. "Even behind the front desk would do."
"I thought you were enjoying being wedged behind a non-moving rotating door with me," Dad said.
"I'm not saying it was terrible," Mom said. "I'm just saying… it would have been better if the door was open and the place was operating."
Dad shrugged, unconvinced before looking around. "This is awesome, Taylor. I wasn't expecting it to be quite so, uh, fancy, I guess. That's not the word I'm looking for… I was gonna say 'nice' but that's not right, either. It's awesome, it really is. Old school."
"It is old school," I heard a voice say.
We all glanced over at Barb and Steven, who were on the other side of the lobby, both looking at us wearing concerned, guilty expressions like they were mortified with themselves for interrupting.
"I always tell Barb how 'old school' this place is," Steven said, still speaking loudly from the other side of the grand room. He and Barb started walking toward us. "I didn't mean to… I know you were just getting hassled, and I don't mean to… I just overheard and I… anyway, Barb and I both thought you were Alec Stone's daughter earlier when Taylor introduced us to you, and we almost said something then, but…"
"We're huge fans," Barb explained reluctantly, shaking her head. "We've seen you guys play about eight times, and we're just big supporters. We have been for years. We pre-order all your albums and everything."
"Yeah," Steven said. "We got married to one of your songs."
Barb glared at him. "We didn't get married to it," she said. "You don't get married to a song. We danced to it at our wedding," she explained. "It was our first dance."
"Seriously, it's an honor," Steven said with a shrug. "A real dream come true."
Dad stuck his arm out to shake Steven's hand, and he nodded and bowed tentatively as he approached.
"It's something we can take off our bucket list, huh, Barb?"
His words were breathy and he was shaking. I had seen quite a few people in this condition as a result of meeting my dad.
"I don't know if I can live up to all that," Dad said, smiling. We all watched as he greeted both of them, shaking both of their hands and asking their names. They were trying to play it cool, but I could tell they were huge fans. They were both shaking and Barb had tears in her eyes.
"Barb and Steven own the company doing our interior paint and wallpaper," Taylor explained. "They're wallpaper experts."
"It looks really beautiful," Mom said, looking around. "You've done a great job."
"Hi, Miss Kim," Barb said, barely making eye contact with my mom. "Thank you for saying that, it means a lot coming from you. I always thought you two were the best couple. And your girls all turned out so pretty. I love their names, too. We named our dog Indigo because we liked it so much."
She bowed and kind of ducked behind her husband, looking worried like that might have been the wrong thing to say.
"I'll have to tell Indie she had a furry namesake," Mom said with a smile.
We spoke to Barb and Steven for a few more minutes before heading up the elevator. Taylor had told my parents each separately about the hotel—how he customized all the rooms and how each floor had a different feel.
My parents wanted to see everything floor by floor, but they settled for going straight to the penthouse since Taylor didn’t know exactly where all the other crews were working at the moment.
The four of us got settled in the elevator—my parents on one side, and Taylor and me on the other, all of us facing each other.
"I have not run that much in a long time," Dad said, smiling and shaking his head at me and Taylor.
"I haven't laughed that much in a long time," Mom said. "My face hurts." She looked straight at me. "We tried to call you like ten times," she added. "I told Dad you never have your phone turned on. Finally, Dad thought of calling Taylor. He promised he always answers, and even that was a fail. That was hilarious. We called him from the street, thinking for sure he would answer and we'd be saved. Then, it went to his voicemail and your dad looked at me with those sad eyes like we were doomed."
They both laughed.
"I try to answer calls if I can," Taylor said. "I'm sorry I couldn't pick up."
The elevator door opened as he was speaking and my parents moved to get off.
"That's okay," Dad said, smiling. "We were only in danger for our lives."
They got off the elevator behind us, and Taylor glanced at me as we led the way. "I'm not sorry about why I couldn't pick up," he whispered where only I could hear.
Chapter 19
Roughly a month later.
Halloween fell on a Saturday this year, which meant trick-or-treating would be busier than ever at my mom's. This was saying something because it was a huge holiday in her neighborhood as it was. She lived in a large, gated community with lots of young families. There were lots of kids in the neighborhood to begin with, but there were even more for trick-or-treating. Every house gave out candy, an
d all of them gave the good stuff.
There wasn't a rule about it, but no one really got into the horror side of things around here. There were always a few monsters, but it was basically just a family-friendly block party where we all dressed in funny costumes. Everyone in the subdivision brought their grandkids, cousins, and friends for the event. Each year there were so many people walking the streets that it was difficult to get through in a vehicle.
My mom always got really into it.
She didn't hold back or try to cut costs when it came to choosing the candy she bought or her costume. She rented top-of-the-line, stage-worthy costumes—none of this stuff you can pick up in a plastic bag from the store.
Most of the time, my sisters and I dressed up with her, and most of the time, our costumes were the cheap ones that we bought at the last minute.
I had actually put a little thought into my costume this year. It was still one of the cheap ones from a department store, but I did try it on to make sure it fit.
"A bride?" Mom asked as I came down the stairs into the living room.
No one in my family had seen my costume, and they began commenting all at once. I smiled and nodded, twirling for them at the bottom of the stairs.
I would never in a million years choose this actual dress for my wedding. It was like one of those plastic Barbie dresses, and it came with a little veil and a bouquet of plastic flowers.
"It's because she wants to marry Taylor," Indie said, teasing me from the living room.
I made a face and shrugged playfully like so what.
"I thought Taylor was coming," Kai said.
I nodded. "He is. He's on his way."
Indie, Kai, and Leo were dressed in circus-themed costumes. Leo was still a little young to have a real opinion about what he wanted to be for Halloween, so my sister had talked him into being a lion since it went with his name.
My sister and Kai were dressed as lion-tamers. Indie had shown me their costumes already, so it wasn't a surprise. I acted like it was, though, flinching and squealing like I was afraid of the fierce lion when he came up to growl at me. Leo cracked up at my reaction, and I chased him away with my hands out like I was going to tickle him.
The Suite Life (The Family Stone Book 1) Page 14
