Swallowing my disappointment, I dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. Emmie was already sitting at the kitchen table with her baby son when I walked in. Jagger gave me an adorable grin and a small wave as I went to the coffee pot for a giant mug of strong black coffee.
“Morning,” Emmie greeted. “Sleep well?”
It was the third night I’d slept at Emmie’s house and I’d slept better there than I had in the hotel. “Pretty good. What about you?” I turned to glance at her, taking in the dark circles under her big green eyes that she couldn’t hide with makeup.
“I got a few hours.”
I nodded, knowing for a fact that a few hours of sleep for Emmie was a hell of a lot more than she had been getting. I doubt she’d gotten a full night’s sleep since the attempted kidnapping of her daughter, Mia.
The housekeeper, Gail, came into the kitchen with an empty coffee cup. “Good morning, Miss Cassidy. Would you like something to eat?”
“I’ll just make myself some toast, but thanks.” I took a sip of my rich coffee. Somehow I’d gotten addicted to Jesse Thornton’s special recipe over the last few weeks. It had been the one thing that I’d basically been living off of after the hell Emmie and I’d had to deal with concerning the hospital, feds, press and any number of other shitty problems we’d been faced with. Now I basically lived off that damn recipe and my stomach was definitely not my friend for it.
“Okay. If you need anything let me know.” She placed the empty cup in the sink and went down the hall to what I assumed was the laundry room.
Emmie stood and walked over to the sink, rinsing out her cereal bowl before turning to face me. “Well, have you thought about my offer?”
I frowned down into my coffee. The day before, Emmie had made me an offer that I didn’t know if I was willing to accept or not. We’d made a great team working through the shit storm with Gabriella and the press and all the extra crap. Things could have been a hell of a lot worse if we hadn’t worked together like we had.
She wanted me to go into business with her. Meaning, turn her small client list and my slightly larger list—larger, yet not as well known—and merge. It was an amazing idea, offering me resources for the clients I already had that I hadn’t been able to before. Sure I had connections, but I doubted the president had the kind of connections that Emmie Armstrong did. With her as my partner I could open so many doors for my people.
It also meant moving across the country. Not seeing my family as often as I was used to. It was that thought alone that was holding me back. “I’m still thinking about it, Em.” I lifted my eyes and met her understanding gaze. “Can I have a few more days? I promise to have an answer for you by the weekend.”
She shrugged. “Take as much time as you need. I’m not going to take back the offer so consider it an open invitation.” She crossed back to the table and lifted her son into her arms. Jagger wrapped his arms around her neck happily, pressing a wet kiss to his momma’s cheek. “And just so you know, us being partners doesn’t mean you can’t still live in Tennessee. I know what’s waiting on you back there and realize how hard it will be to just uproot yourself like that. That’s the joys of technology, Annabelle.” With a wink she left me alone in the kitchen.
After eating my toast I grabbed the keys to my rental and headed out. It was only a few blocks from Emmie’s house in Malibu to the one Gabriella now lived in with her rocker fiancé. If I didn’t have to go into the city later I would have walked the short distance, but my lunch meeting was important and I didn’t want to be late. I parked behind Liam’s SUV and stepped out of the cute little sports car I’d rented.
There was another vehicle already in the driveway that I didn’t recognize. Figuring it was one of Gabriella’s relatives, I climbed the steps to the front porch and pressed the doorbell. Liam opened the door with a welcoming smile on his face. His clear blue eyes were so much more welcoming than the drug-clouded ones I remembered so well.
“Anna Banana,” he greeted with a grin. He lifted his coffee cup to his lips, taking a large swallow before stepping back. “Come in. She’s in the living room.”
I stepped into the house, dropping my keys on the table by the door. “How is she feeling?”
“Cranky,” he said with another grin. “Come on, I’ll protect you.”
Laughing, I followed him into the living room. My gaze went straight to the couch where Gabriella Moreitti was sitting with a fleece throw over her legs. She was sipping at a mug and pouting. As soon as she saw me, her eyes brightened. “Please tell me I get to go somewhere today?”
“I don’t care what Anna Banana says. You’re staying right there.” Liam bent and kissed his fiancée’s lips before sitting down on the couch’s arm beside her. “I mean it. You’re lucky I let your sexy ass out of bed.”
Brown eyes brightened, but she glared up at him. “No, you’re lucky I let your sexy ass out of bed.”
Liam shrugged. “Same difference,” he said with a sexy wink for her.
I snorted and pulled a few files out of my bag. “Sorry, babe. I haven’t come to spring you from your imprisonment yet. I just needed you to sign these before I send them to the record execs. Since your doctor says you can’t sing for a few more weeks, we have to postpone the scheduled time already set up with the producers.”
Her pout only got worse. “I’m completely fine. I don’t know why everyone wants to baby me. I could sing if I wanted to.”
“But you’re not going to,” Liam told her, not giving in when she turned those big pleading eyes on him. “Your new material will still be there when your doctors give the okay. Until then you aren’t going to do anything but sit here and keep me company.”
“Baby, I know you love me, but even I need a break from myself every now and then. I know you’re probably climbing your mental walls right now wondering how soon you can get out of the house for an hour to yourself.” Liam opened his mouth to protest but quickly shut it again when she grinned at him. “It’s okay. I still love you.”
“Okay.” I set the files on the stone coffee table in front of her and sat down on the matching chair across from her. “You can go over those and let me know what changes you want. I’ll drop them off on my way into the city.”
“Hey, Brie. Do you want more tea while we’re in here?” I glanced up as Natalie Cutter stuck her head into the living room. “Oh, hi, Annabelle.”
I smiled up at her before letting my gaze drop to the small baby bump under her white T-shirt. “Hi. How are you?” The few times I’d gotten to talk to Emmie’s assistant, she’d told me she was having some blood pressure issues.
Natalie smiled. “No headaches today, but I’m sure that will change by the time I get over to Emmie’s. Can I get you a cup of coffee or something while we’re still in there destroying the kitchen?”
“No, thanks. I just swallowed half a pot over at Em’s.”
“Brie?”
“No, thanks, Nat. And you don’t have to clean up in there, you know. We have a housekeeper who is supposed to be by later.” Gabriella lifted her eyes from the documents I’d given her. “Devlin couldn’t have made that big of a mess.”
“If it had just been Dev, probably not. But you know if you get those two together that they do more playing than anything else.” Natalie rolled her eyes and turned back toward the kitchen. “Let me know if you need anything. You should rest as much as you can.”
Gabriella grimaced. “Why does everyone treat me like a baby? I’m fine now.”
“And that’s the way we want to keep you,” Liam muttered as he lifted his mug to his lips. Draining the rest of his coffee, he stood. “I’m going to get another cup and see what kind of mess those two jackasses made.”