Bounty (Page 172)

Still watching him, she gave up on the present, got up and walked to him.

She didn’t stop, fitting her small, soft body into his long one, wrapping her arms around him.

He did the same with her, bending his neck, putting his lips to the top of her hair.

“You wanna go to bed?” she asked his chest.

“Fuck yeah,” he answered.

Maggie tipped her head back and smiled.

And Wood felt better.

Epilogue

“I’ll Crawl Home to Her”

Justice

“You look shit hot,” Krystal declared and I looked through the mirror at my girl walking into my dressing room, Bubba following her carrying Breanne on his hip.

“Krys, shi-ee-oot,” Bubba growled, curling his free hand around one of Breanne’s ears.

She tossed a glance over her shoulder at him. “Worse could happen, her first word bein’ shit.”

“How about we still avoid that, yeah?” he asked.

She turned to me, rolling her eyes.

I looked up to the makeup artist at my side and gave her a grin.

“You’re done anyway,” she muttered. “Come back to do a touch up and put the headpiece on before you go on.”

I nodded.

She wended her way through the bodies crowding my dressing room.

“Champagne, champagne and more champagne,” Jim-Billy called out, having instantly found his way to the refreshment area, a table laid out with snacks and big bowls filled with ice. Bottles of water and soda were stuck in one, champagne in the other. He looked to me. “Got beer, sweetheart?”

“Mini-fridge, Jim-Billy,” I told him.

“I’ll take champagne,” Lexie called out.

“Me too,” Faye said.

“Beer for me,” Twyla grunted.

“Yo.” I heard Lauren greet.

“Yo.” I heard Deke reply and I turned my attention to the couch where Deke had been sprawled since even before the stylist started working on me.

Lauren had thrown herself down close to him, in the opening of his arm stretched at the back.

Once down, he curled it around her.

I found Tate and saw him grinning at his woman with his friend. He felt my gaze and gave his to me.

I smiled.

Tate didn’t smile.

He walked right to me, lifted his hand and slid it inside my hair to the back of my neck. He pulled me down as he bent and I felt his lips touch my forehead.

The pressure at my neck lessened, I drew back and looked up at him.

“You ready for this?” he asked.

I nodded. “It’s gonna be great.”

“Yeah, it is,” he murmured, finally giving me a smile before he slid his hand back out and moved away.

“Just FYI, the rest of ’em are in the VIP section, savin’ us seats,” Krystal informed me.

“Cool,” I replied.

“Can we take beer to the VIP?” Jim-Billy asked.

“You can do anything you want,” I answered.

He gave me a broken grin.

“You decide if you’re gonna announce tonight that you’re recording again?” Laurie asked.

I nodded my head, though I answered, “No announcement. I think we’ll make it low-key. Drop the album. While Deke and I are on the road, I’ll hit some bars, honkytonks. Nothing planned. Still, it’ll hit social media, create buzz. Mr. T said that when the stuff was downloaded when I played at Bubba’s, my sales didn’t skyrocket, but they did get a push. It’ll be more fun that way and low pressure. I don’t need another gold record, just…” I shrugged, turning my eyes to Deke who had his warm on me, “to make music.”

“Sounds fuckin’ cool,” Twyla decreed.

“Uh, would everyone stop cussin’ around my kid?” Bubba asked impatiently.

“Dude, you’re bringin’ her to a freakin’ rock concert. And whatever Lacey Town does. What’s that called?” Twyla asked me. “Hip hop?”

“R&B,” I answered.

“And that,” Twyla said to Bubba.

“She likes loud music,” Krys declared, moving to her baby girl, putting out a finger that Breanne instantly grabbed. Krys dropped her face in her little one’s, sing-songing, “Don’t you, Bree? You’re like your momma. The louder, the better.”

Breanne giggled her agreement, shaking her momma’s finger excitedly then letting her go and reaching out with both hands.

Krys took her. The handoff complete, Bubba moved to the refreshment area.

He grabbed a Coke and popped it open.

“Lotsa flowers,” Ty muttered, having lounged in an armchair, his arm curled around Lexie’s hips where she was seated on the arm at his side.

“Yep,” I agreed.

“Folks wantin’ you back in the business?” Chace asked.

I shook my head and started pointing, counting them down.

“Dana, for doing this. Joss, to break a leg. Lacey, because we do that, big gig, a massive spray of flowers. I did it for her too. Mr. T, because his assistant sees to that kinda thing for him. Mav, because he’s finally got his head out of his ass.” My voice dipped and I pointed to some exquisite red roses, but my eyes shifted to Deke. “Deke.” I grinned at him before I pointed to the last. “And my girl Bianca because she’s not gonna be here but she wants to be here in spirit.”

“This is probably good,” Chace muttered.

“This is definitely good,” Deke muttered back.

In the interim, especially after what happened at my house, calls had been made and texts had been exchanged between me and Bianca. Once Deke was firmly on the road to recovery, a short conversation had been had that didn’t say a lot over the phone because I suspected she couldn’t say a lot over the phone and wouldn’t do it in person either.