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“We do not have time to go back to bed.” Kat tugged on a pair of jeans that smelled mostly clean and retrieved her bra from where it had fallen under the bed when Beckett tossed it the night before. “Meals for Missouri is counting on the band to promote its fundraiser. We have to—” She stopped short as she caught sight of Beckett lounging in bed, the sheets pooled around his waist, his thick-framed glasses perched on his nose. She ran her eyes over him, pausing at the trail of dark hair below his belly button and the prominent morning erection barely hidden beneath the thin sheet.

“You were saying?” he asked in that sleep-soaked tone that sent need arrowing down between her thighs.

She shook away the filthy thoughts crowding her mind and pointed an accusatory finger at him. “You’re going to make us late.”

He draped his arms across the back of the low headboard, a smirk tipping up the corner of his lips. “I’ll be quick.”

“Don’t believe him, Kat,” Nico called from the other side of the door. She stifled a laugh as Beckett scowled. “The car leaves in ten minutes.”

“Plenty of time,” Beckett whispered.

Another series of knocks on the door. “Don’t even think about it,” Zach shouted through the door.

Kat grabbed Beckett’s t-shirt from the top of his overnight bag and tossed it to him. “You heard the man.” She twirled a finger in the direction of his lap. “Put that thing away.”

Beckett exhaled harshly through his nose, but tugged the shirt over his head as he got out of bed, the outline of his erection very visible through the thin cotton of his boxer briefs. He reached for his box of contacts, but Kat stayed his hand with her fingertips on his forearm. “Maybe leave the glasses on today.”

“Yeah?” She nodded, pressing her lips together to hide her grin. He smiled, his eyes crinkling, and caught her around the waist, tumbling her back onto the bed and kissing her. “Alright, Luna. Whatever my girl wants, my girl gets.”

“How about getting out here so we can go?” Jackson hollered through the door.

Kat pressed her fingertips to her lips to keep from laughing as Beckett hung his head in defeat, his forehead resting on her collarbone. “Be right out!” she called back.

“Can’t fucking wait until we check into the hotel,” he muttered.

The green room at Rise and Shine, Missouri was a small kitchenette with a variety of mismatched lounge furniture down the hall from the main set. Monitors hung on every wall, two showing the live feed from the soundstage where the show was being filmed, another with a tiled view of each set, a third with the filming schedule scrolling continuously. The members of Midnight Storm looked out of place in the shabby space, their tight-fitting denim and tanned muscles at odds with the avocado green sofa and vinyl and chrome stools.

Kat eyed the schedule and checked her watch. “You have twelve minutes until they film your segment. Did you all look over the talking points Jo sent?”

“Meals for Missouri is the largest provider of emergency food relief in the state,” Logan parroted.

“They supply food to fill the gaps left by school lunch and breakfast during school vacations,” Nico added.

“The bake-a-thon is their biggest fundraiser and accounts for thirty percent of their operating revenue,” Zach said.

“Sign up on their website or stop by their office to register,” Beckett said.

Jackson didn’t even look up from his guitar as he continued strumming it quietly in the corner. “Together we can make sure no one in Missouri goes to bed hungry.”

“Very good. Gold stars all around,” Kat said.

A young woman wearing a Rise and Shine, Missouri t-shirt and a headset appeared in the door to the green room clutching a cardboard coffee cup. “Did someone ask for a dirty matcha? Extra pistachio?”

Zach reached grabby hands towards the PA. “You are a lifesaver.”

“I didn’t know we could place a coffee order,” Jackson said, frowning.

“I’d be happy to get you something, Mr. Hayes,” the PA said, a blush creeping into her cheeks.

“That won’t be necessary,” Kat said. “You guys are on the air in nine minutes. After you film the Meals for Missouri baking segment, you’ll have a break before the acoustic version of ‘Hurricane’ to close out the show. You can get your own coffee then,” Kat said.

“It’s really no trouble.” The PA grabbed a pad of sticky notes and a pen off the kitchenette counter and handed it to Jackson. “Write down your order and I’ll have it waiting for you after the baking segment.”

Jackson’s eyes twinkled as he accepted the sticky notes from the blushing young woman. “Thanks, sweetheart. I appreciate it.”

“If you’re done flirting,” Kat said pointedly, “we should head to the kitchen set.”

Nico hopped up off his stool and flung an arm around her shoulder. “Kat, I was thinking, there’s just one problem with this whole thing.”