by BA Tortuga
“Oh, just thinking.”
“Has he always been a Michael? Not a Mike or a Mick or anything?” Simon asked.
“No, his legal name is Michael Lucas, after his uncle who passed away when I was pregnant.”
“Oh. Wow.” Simon hugged her. “I’m sorry, but that’s a great name.”
“Isn’t it?” She beamed at him. “I think it suits him to the bone. He is our avenging angel—he defends and loves us all.”
“Mom…”
“It’s true. You’re my gift from the universe.”
Simon nodded, eyes on him. “He’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Y’all…” His cheeks were red hot. What did a guy say to that?
“Just say thank you, baby.” His mom patted his hand, then went back to her tacos. “Next time I think I’ll cook.”
“The girls are home from camp two Fridays from now. Do you want to have a big dinner on that Saturday? They miss you. We can cook out, if you want.”
“That sounds good. I can bring the fake beast, and you can make the sides and grill.”
“It’s a plan.” That was a good sign. His mom flat refused to hang with people she didn’t care for. Mom’s veggie burgers were good too, and he wanted his girls to learn about all sorts of food so they never shied from meat or tofu, fish or lentils.
“Which one do you use?” Simon asked. “My manager likes Beyond, but my bus driver swears by Lifelight.”
“I like Beyond fine, but I make my own with lentils and chickpeas. They’re not exactly like burgers, but they’re smoky, and the girls eat them up.”
“Oh, I love chickpeas. Have you done falafel waffles?” They were off and running again, and Michael fed a few bites to Haley, hanging out, watching people he loved be happy. It was a good place to be.
It was a little weird, and he wished Rhi could be here, watching this too, because she would have laughed her ass off.
It was what it was. That was how he’d survived so much in his life. He knew that was how he would keep going. He wanted things, but if life took them, he’d go on for his girls and his mom and move forward.
“I’m going to head out, son. I have ten thousand loads of laundry and a tent to clean out. Enjoy your little mini vacation. I’ll see you about. Maybe we can have lunch next week.” Mom looked around the house like she was missing something. “It doesn’t feel right without kisses from my girls.”
“I know. I wake up every morning and go ‘where are they?’”
“Well, come give me a hug.” She held out her arms.
He hugged her tight. “Love you, you old woman.”
“I’ll show you old, you brat.” She chuckled and kissed his cheek. “Have a nice day, you two.”
“Call when you get home.” She wasn’t far, but he worried.
“I’ll text. Bye, Simon.”
“Nice to meet you! Thank you for the tofu.”
“Anytime. See y’all soon.” She left, and Michael just made sure she got off okay.
Simon came to loop both arms around his neck when he walked back in. “Okay?”
“Yeah. She was tickled to meet you. You can tell.”
“Oh, good. She’s a neat lady. Both practical and out there. I see where you get it from,” Simon teased.
“I am her son, through and through.” He wasn’t embarrassed about it at all.
“You are.” Simon leaned. “I’m glad it went well. I like her.”
He nodded and held on. He’d done it. He’d told Mom. “You got plans for the rest of the day? I’m going to have to go car shopping soon, but it doesn’t have to be today.”
“I don’t have anything. I need to make some calls, but not today. I could go with you. If you want. Or we could just be bad and do something silly and fun.”
“I like bad. I can be good tomorrow, right?” Hell, he could officially wait for goodness until picking the girls up, but that was pushing his luck.
“I think we can do that.” Simon took his hand. “We could just have wild monkey sex all day. Or we could go find something super decadent to eat later to make up for the tofu.” That grin was infectious.
“There has to be an ‘or’?” He didn’t think they needed an or in that sentence. He was voting for an and.
“Oh, I like how you think.” Simon tugged at him, heading for the bedroom.
“It’s my accountant brain.” He followed along, happy as a clam. “Always looking for loopholes.”
“I can see that’s gonna be very useful.” Simon pulled him right to the bed, and he had to laugh, even as his cock hardened in his jeans.
Yeah. They would play today. Why not? Real life would intrude soon enough.
Chapter 15
“Yeah. No, that’s fine. Okay. Right. Bye.”
Simon hung up and rolled his eyes. Talking to the head of his security team, who was a desk jockey, was always a balancing act. He had to pretend to be grateful that the guy did his job while not being sarcastic and getting himself assigned to someone he didn’t like.
Today was going to be another balancing act anyway, with three of his bodyguards and Minnie showing up and them having to get the girls at camp.
Last night they’d dared to go to a restaurant for supper, and they’d been swamped by fans. Then more reporters had been camped out at Michael’s house, and the rifle had come out.
Then, apparently someone had made a connection with the girls’ camp, and this morning there had been pictures of Mickey and Chloe plastered on the web.
Talk about publicity.
Beth was actually—well ecstatic was a strong word, but she wasn’t crying in her beer. Michael, on the other hand, was grumpy and worried about the girls and had decided to get them halfway through session. Neither Michael nor the girls were tickled, and Simon couldn’t blame them one bit. It was time to integrate his real life with his happy vacation. He sighed, pushing his hair off his face.
“I need a haircut.”
“That’s not in my wheelhouse, and I go to an old dude’s barber. Mom trims the girls’ hair…”
Yeah, no. He had a stylist. In fact, he couldn’t wait to see what Patricia would do with Chloe. Mickey might just stab her with the scissors.
The thought made him chuckle. “I’ll make another call.” Patricia would fly into Aspen. She loved to shop there…
Michael chuckled at him and went to make some phone calls of his own. He’d decided he wanted to buy an SUV like the one he was renting, one with dark-tinted windows, and he needed a truck as well, so he was trying to make some deals.
Simon had delicately offered to help, and Michael had…well, kinda ignored him. So, that was too soon, he guessed.
It was okay. This was very new. Still, it was his fault the old truck had been wrecked, so he would simply have a new one delivered, once Michael had done his talking.
The SUV he could always pay off after a few payments were made…
Simon stood and stretched after he sent Patricia a text. She would call back when she wasn’t busy. He loved that about her. No stress.
“What time do we go get the girls?” He was missing them, ready to get hugs and hear stories. He hoped they wouldn’t hate him for all this bullshit.
“We’ll leave around three. They’ll have to show off all their crafts and things before we leave. This is the perfect time to get them, because a good chunk of campers are heading out today.” Michael sighed, shook his head. “I think Mickey’s okay with it, but—well, anyway. I thought we’d pick up wings on the way home instead of cooking.”
“That sounds good. What kind do they like?” Clearly it was the girls who liked wings, because Michael never mentioned them when he talked about food. He’d grab a bunch and some fries for the guys too. They’d be in by the time they got home.
“Mickey wants the Korean spicy. She loves the burn. Chloe really just wants the chicken nuggets.”
“That’s a good compromise.” He would eat all of the above, as well as garlic parme
san. “What are your favorite?” Simon found himself asking all sorts of questions like that. He wanted to know everything.
“Oh, I like them all. I think my absolute favorite is the honey mustard. I love mustard, you know? It’s that tart-almost spicy thing.” Michael grinned at him, and the expression was wicked and wonderful and knowing.
“Mmm. We should share some honey mustard.” That was yummy too. He mentally added fifteen minutes to his jog tomorrow. With Gage coming in, he’d have a jogging partner, and Michael wouldn’t worry about him so much.
Michael had enough to do without formal exercise. Every time Simon woke up, Michael was up and outside feeding something or fixing something or moving something. The man was never still, not even asleep. His mobile face went through a dozen expressions a minute when he was dreaming.
It was the cutest thing he’d ever seen in a lover. Seriously. It was adorable.
Simon adored everything about Michael, though. Everything. And the songs they were writing. He could rhapsodize about those for days. In fact, he’d sent one to his rep at his publishing company yesterday, hoping to sell it on to a country artist he knew well.
There was something special about the way Michael saw the world, about his love of old-school country that suited him to the bone. Simon would never have put some of the combinations together that Michael did, but he could feel it expand his horizons, working with his lover. Creatively, that was his jam.
“Sounds perfect. I need to run to the dealership and sign papers and pick up the new SUV Monday. So we’re all set there. I picked a red one out.”
“Oh, red is nice.” He leaned against Michael when his lover came to wrap an arm around him. “Hey. Been a productive morning, huh?”
There was a hint of tension in the strong body, a barely-there vibration. “It has been. What all have you wrought this morning?”
“Minnie is driving in from LA with a car full of shit for me. She’ll be in tomorrow. The guys are coming in this afternoon. Three of them so they can rotate. They’ll just get a hotel to begin with,” he added when Michael started to look concerned. “I sent ‘Giving it My All’ to Beth and Frank. They’re having a demo cut this afternoon. They want to send it to Cole Lyons.”
“Yeah? That’s cool. That was fast.” Michael squeezed him a little. “So, have you met these guys? They’re going to be nice to the girls?”
“I know them all. Gage is my favorite bodyguard, and Tuck and Liam are solid citizens. I made sure to get guys who’ve been around kids a lot, and Gage has six nieces and nephews.” He chuckled, thinking what a zoo that had to be.
“Six. So two should be a breeze.” Michael chuckled softly. “I know I’m silly to worry, but…”
“Hey, no, you’re not. It’s freaky to have people popping up out of the woodwork. I had a guy I opened for back in the day who told me, you started to think it was normal, but it’s so not. People who don’t have to think about it hate the idea of all the paparazzi and all.” He got it. Michael might never love it, but Simon knew he would learn to take it in stride. He was imminently practical. “Minnie is amazing—into fashion and music, and she is dying to meet the girls. She’s used to the photographers. Her mother is a senator.”
“A sena—Jesus.” Michael looked a little pale, but he firmed his lips. “I just don’t want strangers on my property. It’s posted, clear as day. This is my babies’ home. My home. Yours too, if you want it to be.”
Oh.
Oh, that was…
Oh.
Simon flushed with pure happiness, his belly going tight. “I love you.” That was what came out when he opened his mouth.
“I love you too.” He got an almost gentle kiss, which would have turned into something infinitely more fun if someone hadn’t knocked on the screen door. Loudly.
“Boss, sorry to interrupt, but we’re here!”
Michael’s eyes widened, but Simon just rolled his. “Gage, you have shit timing.”
“Can we come in?” The guys didn’t really wait to be told yes. “Sorry. We got to Aspen last night, but we waited for the go-ahead this morning to come down to Carbondale.” Gage grinned at him, whipping off his sunglasses like that Horatio guy in CSI: Miami. “Man, that was a fun drive.”
“Freak.” He said it fondly. “This is Michael Johns. Michael, my lead bodyguard, Gage Destinos.”
“Mr. Destinos.” Michael held out one hand to shake. “Pleased.”
“Oh, he’s a Texan. You can tell. Tuck, he’s one of yours!”
Tucker Hanslik chuckled, coming back from a little tour of the house, he would bet. “Whereabouts, Mr. Johns?” he asked. “I’m from Wimberley.”
“I was raised in Salado. Pleased to meet you.” Michael’s face was carefully neutral, unemotional. Simon told himself not to freak out. This was new to Michael, but he couldn’t disrespect his lover by not giving him a chance to handle this.
Simon’s natural inclination was to simply deal with stuff, but Michael was an adult. He deserved that respect.
“Same here, sir. And this is Liam. He’ll be doing nights, while Gage and I will take turns on day shift. Gage will be with you most of today.”
Gage nodded. “Sorry we just barged in.”
“Should I make up the guest room? I can wash the sheets. Haley’s probably been—”
Speaking of Haley, the little beagle came in, baying at the top of her little doggie lungs, warning everyone back from Michael and Simon.
“Oh, hello.” Gage chuckled. “We can sit down and talk schedules in a bit.”
“Haley. Baby girl. It’s okay.” He knelt down, humming softly, petting her. “She’s not mean. Just protective.”
She licked his cheek.
“Can I greet her?” Gage asked Michael, which pleased Simon a lot.
“You can. Her name’s Haley.” Michael smiled at Gage, and Haley wagged for him, letting Gage pet her nose.
“She’s adorable. I love a hound dog.”
Tuck and Liam had faded away, and Simon would bet they were on the porch or maybe checking out the property. One way or the other, they’d realized this was Michael’s place, and they were being good. He appreciated it, because Michael was new to this life, and they were going to have to introduce the girls to it too.
It seemed to make Michael feel good that Haley liked Gage, and Michael stood, offering Gage a smile. Oh, excellent.
He wanted to fist-bump Gage, but that would probably send them backward. So he just smiled when Michael wasn’t looking. “I’ll show Gage around. Is that okay, honey?”
“Sure. Should I make up the guest room?” Michael was frowning, eyebrows drawing out.
“No. No, they’ll stay at a hotel, and the nighttime guys, especially, will stay out of sight. The only time they’re right on me is on location at a gig or if there’s a threat.”
“Hopefully, you’ll forget we’re here,” Gage said.
“Okay. Thanks. I’m going to go out to the barns and check on my guys.”
Michael headed out to the barn, and Simon let out a breath. “This has been a steep learning curve. The girls come home today, early, and I think he’s freaking out a little.”
“Two eight-year-olds, right? That’s an amazing age. Do they understand that you’re a media darling?”
“I think so?” He chewed his lower lip and shook his head. “They’ve heard of me. They know I write songs. I’m not sure if they know I was once as big as Taylor Swift…” He sighed softly. “They found them at camp, Gage. Michael’s pulling them early.”
“Good. If this is long-term, they need a detail.” Gage’s face was serious as a heart attack. “Children are vulnerable, and I want that avenue blocked off tight as a nun’s cooch.”
“From your lips to God’s ears.”
One of Gage’s eyebrows went up, but when you lived with a cowboy, you learned the lingo. “Well, luckily here, famous is a standard. Are we going to be here, even once you leave?”
“We’ll see who fits in best.�
�� He glanced at the door, but Michael was out of earshot. “Michael and I have a lot to talk about. But I won’t be going back to LA full-time.”
“No?” Gage looked utterly shocked. “Really? That’s a good thing, yes? It feels like a good thing to me.”
“It is. I’ll relocate here, or we’ll get a place in Aspen and keep this for the animals… I’ll sell the place in LA and get something smaller, less flashy. Maybe out in the hills so when the girls come, they can have animals and privacy.” He’d thought on it a lot. Simon grinned. “I imagine Michael might dig in a little, but I have the resources.”
“Well, I—”
“Get out of here, you motherfucker! I will get my gun!” Uh-oh. There went Michael.
“Go.” He waved Gage out, then peered out the door to see what was going on now. Better for him to stay out of sight.
Gage and Tuck were on it, moving like sharks to cut the looky-loo off. He had no idea where Liam was, but he would bet he was flanking Michael.
Sure enough, Liam deposited Michael in the house, and his lover was livid, eyes flashing with pure rage. “Someone was in the barn! In my motherfucking barn! I threw him out.”
“In the barn?” He reached out, hoping Michael would take his hand. “I’m sorry, babe. This is all new, so everyone wants a piece.”
“A piece? I’ll show everyone what happens when you try to fuck with my family!” Michael roared, motioning outside toward the guys. “They’ll deal with this? That’s their job? Because I don’t want anyone touching my animals.”
“They’ll deal. Someone will stay in the barn, I bet.” In fact, he would text Gage and let him know to go buy whatever they needed to camp out. This was getting ridiculous.
“We need a better security system or a stronger fence or something.”
“We’ll look at it this week. I would like Gage to sit down with us and talk to you about it. He’s really good at getting the most out of a system.” Would Michael go for that?
“Okay. I want you safe. I need the girls safe. I’m okay. I’ll beat these assholes down.”
His cowboy. “I know you will, but if we can cut them off at the pass, that will help a lot.”
