“No.” I pull up to a stop right in front of her. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “Why would I not be?” An unnamed emotion flickers there but it’s too quick to pinpoint.

“That was a lot and unexpected and . . . now that you’ve had a few minutes to decompress without Nathaniel or me staring at you, I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.” I chuckle. “I guess I already said that, didn’t I?”

Her expression softens but her guard stays up. “For some reason this whole past month has been a lot and unexpected so it’s just par for the course, I guess.” She bites her bottom lip and shifts her feet. “Which like I said, is why I guess I said yes.”

“Already getting cold feet?” I tease.

“Isn’t that normal before a wedding?” She smiles and looks down at her twisting fingers. Funny how she was so sure of herself in that conference room but now that it’s the two of us, she seems nervous.

“From what I hear. I’ve never been married before.”

“Me either,” she whispers.

“You sure you’re good with this? With . . . everything?” Without thinking, I reach out and tuck an errant piece of hair behind her ear. It’s something I’ve never done before, but it seems Hendrix has that effect on me. Asking someone to marry me. Chasing after them in garages. Tucking hair behind their ears.

“No.” She laughs nervously. “I’ll be fine. I’m not good at lying. Maybe I should have admitted to that before I signed on the dotted line that come to think of it, wasn’t really dotted, but I’m not.”

“It’ll be fine. We’ll stay in our little bubble. You’ll get to do your work. We’re currently writing our next album so that will force me to create more since I’ll be home more. We’ll figure it out. No big deal.”

But it’s a huge fucking deal. A woman? Living with me? Usually they come for the night, maybe stay for two, and then they’re gone. They never live with me.

“I know. It’s just . . . weird.”

I nod. My bandmates are going to lose their minds over this one. They’re going to give me so much shit. Here I am thinking about the change to my life when hers is about to get thrown in a blender and turned on without the top put back on. I fear she has no idea what she’s signed on for. The life I live and the people who demand everything from me isn’t for the faint of heart.

“Thank you,” I say softly. Contritely. “You’re doing me a huge favor. I promise to try and protect you as much as possible from the outside chaos and noise.”