Author: Bella Andre

“Is there a problem with the house?”

“Nope, the house is great. I was filming a promo at EMP this morning for the Seattle show this Saturday, and the manager was talking about all the kids who come through the music section of the museum and don’t really want to go home at the end of the day when they’re locking up.” Ford’s eyes shuttered. “I was one of those kids, and I know if I’d had a place like that to hang out in, all that music history, all that inspiration from the original Experience Music Project building, it would have helped.” When he looked back at her, his eyes were clear again. And full of excitement. “I want to open a place in Seattle for kids to come and play music with each other. A rock camp. We’ll bring in musicians, local ones and some of the big-time guys, too, who owe me some favors.”

“It sounds amazing, Ford.” His excitement was infectious.

“It will be, but I need you to help me find the perfect space.”

“I’m already two steps ahead of you.” As soon as he started telling her about his idea, she’d mentally flipped through a few of the available commercial spaces near the EMP Museum. She quickly pulled them up on her computer and printed out the two top contenders. “How do these look?”

He scanned the info and nodded. “How quickly can we get into them? Any chance you’re free now?”

She whistled through her teeth. “Wow, you’re serious about this, aren’t you?”

“I’d like to announce the project at Saturday’s show if I can.”

Of course she wasn’t free. But somehow Ford kept convincing her to bend all of her usual rules without even trying.

“Orlando,” she said when she’d buzzed her assistant, “is there any chance you could take over another couple of showings this afternoon?”

Orlando was clearly more than ready for the additional responsibility she kept giving him, and as he greeted Ford, then gleefully went off to find her clients great homes, she knew she’d need to start looking for a new assistant soon so that she could let Orlando join the ranks of her other full-time Realtors.

“I’m pretty sure rock stars like you should be spending all their time partying in bathtubs full of champagne and groupies, not creating a musical haven for kids,” she said right before they jumped into a cab outside her office. “You keep surprising me.”

“I was a stupid kid before.”

“We both were.” Still, though she knew both of them had grown up over the past five years, and she’d forgiven him for the way he’d left her, there were still some sore spots inside.

Sitting beside him in the backseat, she felt as if there were a magnet trying to pull their hands together. Stubbornness dictated that she keep her hand on her lap even though she knew how good it would feel to slide her fingers into his.

“One thing I should probably mention,” he said just she was about to open the cab door in front of the museum, which was a block from each of the properties in either direction, “there’s going to be a small film crew with us this afternoon.”

“A film crew? You told the press we’re going to be looking at these properties?”

“No.” He looked a little uncomfortable. “There’s a documentary being made about my music. Natasha was at the museum this morning filming when we came up with the idea for the camp.” By the time he finished explaining, he had already pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Forget I mentioned it. I’m going to tell her it’s a no go this afternoon.”

On a soft curse, she put her hand over his to stop him from calling off the film crew. “I’ve never known anyone who pushes as hard as you.” Mia sighed as she worked through her frustration at having cameras sprung on her. “But I’m sure she’s right and you should get this on film. You’re doing something big, something important.” But since she’d agreed to be his Realtor that also meant that she might also be forever caught on film with Ford, regardless of what happened between them in the future. “I can deal with the film crew.”

Her fingers were barely wrapped around the door handle again when he said, “There’s one other thing I should probably mention.”

Of course there was, she thought as she looked back over her shoulder at him. “What now?”

“Natasha already knows who you are.” Before she could ask how, he explained, “While she was going through old clips, she found a couple of us from the night we met. I hadn’t told her about you, hadn’t told her anything at all about my personal life. But she saw you and she knew.” The cab driver was clearly riveted by their conversation, but neither Mia nor Ford gave a damn right then. “She confronted me about how I could possibly have been stupid enough to let you go when you obviously meant everything to me.”

Mia’s head was spinning. “That’s why you came back.” Her words were barely above a whisper.

“She helped give me the final push, but I was the one who finally owned up to the fact that I’d wanted to come back every day for five years. I’m sorry it took me that long to let my pride go. More sorry than you’ll ever know.” He scowled. “Pride could have ruined everything if I’d let it.”

He was right about pride, about the way it could ruin lives. And she knew she needed to do some heavy thinking about her own pride where Ford was concerned. Because while it was one thing to be careful about not making the same mistake a second time, it was another entirely to be stubborn simply for the sake of winning. Especially if “winning” meant not being with him.

Unfortunately, by then the cab driver was starting to look really closely at Ford, and the last thing she wanted was her very personal conversation with one of the world’s biggest rock stars to end up on TMZ tonight. It would be too easy for the driver to grab his cell phone and record the rest of their conversation. Thinking back, she was pretty sure they hadn’t said each other’s names or what either of them did for a living. At this point, it would be pure speculation on the driver’s part that he’d had a rock star in the back of his car.

Nodding in the driver’s direction, she said, “Thanks for the ride.” Turning back to Ford, she said, “Let’s go, Jeffrey. We’re late for that documentary they’re filming about your secret acne problem.”

Ford was laughing as he slammed the door shut behind them. “Jeffrey? Acne?”

She patted his perfect face. “Don’t worry, you’ll grow out of it one day. If the girls are smart, they’ll wait for you.”

He was still laughing when she went to say hello to the intelligent woman who was standing beside two men with big cameras. “You must be Natasha. I’m Mia. I hear you’re the one who’s responsible for bringing you-know-who back into my life.”

“And?”

Mia looked back at Ford, and as a group of tourists coming out of the EMP Museum recognized him and surrounded him, she said, “The jury’s still out.”

She’d always admired how great he was with his fans, but this time Mia wished he wasn’t quite so friendly as they vied for autographs. Some of the women were standing just a little too close...and when one of them asked him if he would sign her breasts, Mia’s hands actually fisted at her sides.

So far this week they’d only been together at the tower house, her cousin’s winery in Napa, and her office. How could she have forgotten that women threw themselves at him everywhere he went? Or that groupies would do anything to try to get Ford into bed with them.

She’d never been an insecure woman, but who wouldn’t be threatened by that? No matter how over the past she thought she was.

“I’ve been on the road with Ford for months,” Natasha said, “but do you know one of the first things that really struck me about him?”

Mia could barely drag her narrowed gaze away from the fan who by now was practically topless. “What’s that? How talented he is?”

Natasha shook her head. “That he never once went off with a groupie or brought one onto his bus.”

Now the other woman had her full attention. “Never?”

“Nope. Not even once. When I realized he wasn’t even the slightest bit interested in the girls who threw themselves at him, I knew for sure that he was one of the good ones. And,” Natasha added after a weighted pause, “that was when I also knew that his heart must already belong to someone.”

“You’re not just making this documentary about him because it’s your business, are you?” Mia studied the redhead with new eyes. “You’re his friend, too.”

Natasha nodded. “He’s an easy man to like.”

And to love, Mia found herself thinking before she could stop herself.

Chapter Twenty

Ford was on a total high, the kind that only the stage—and being with Mia—had ever given him before. It had taken only a handful of hours for them to agree that the large warehouse half a block to the west of the EMP building was the best choice for the camp. Ford had asked Mia what a fair price for the building was, and when he promptly asked her to make a verbal offer to the seller, they accepted immediately.

Sure, everything was moving really fast, but it was all great stuff. A fantastic waterfront house in Seattle. The perfect space downtown for a camp for kids who could use music to get out of their shitty lives and into better ones.

And, he thought as he watched Mia going over the huge pile of contracts he’d just signed for the commercial property, the most beautiful woman in the world back in his life.

Since her employees had already shut down her office for the night, instead of heading there, Mia suggested that they print out and fax in all of the contracts from her condo. They’d ordered in Chinese and eaten it out of cartons while she took him through the seemingly endless paperwork—at least twice as much for the commercial property as there had been for the home he’d bought the day before.

She was all business while they did this, and while she was busy double-checking the final details of the contracts, he got up to study the photos that covered nearly every surface in her home. The windows of her condo were big and the ceilings were high, but there was so much color, life, and personality in her home that the large living room and dining room didn’t feel the least bit cold or hard-edged. The house he’d just bought was great, but he knew that if Mia shared it with him, she’d be the one who would bring real warmth to it.

Five years ago, when his fans had begun to multiply outside his hotel room, they’d decided it would be easier to disappear for a night to her place. Though her previous condo had been small, he’d loved it. She obviously had a knack for creating a comfortable home and because it was the first he’d ever really known, it had been a revelation to be surrounded by so many photos of her family and friends.

Perhaps, he admitted now, it had made him feel like even more of a loner, and that was yet another reason why he’d bolted the way he had at the end of that week.

He picked up a small frame that held a picture of Mia and her brothers from when they were kids. She was on her oldest brother’s shoulders and only one of her pigtails was still in, as if they’d been playing hard before the picture was taken. He looked at her over the top edge of the frame. Though her hair was glossy and perfect now, he could still so easily see the happy and carefree little girl she’d been in the gorgeous, polished woman she was now.

He put down the photo and picked up another of Mia and her parents, taken at her high school graduation. They were so proud of their daughter, and instead of looking like she wanted to bolt out of their hold, she was leaning into both of them as if there was no place she’d rather be.

It was nearly midnight by the time she announced, “All of the official paperwork is now on its way. Congratulations.” She held out her hand to shake his, and he used their grip on each other to tug her against him.