AKA Lexi Frost (Lexi Frost Series) (26 page)

“
Teri understands my marital dilemma,” Paul said as soon as the door closed behind Tim. “She said she doesn’t even blame me, so I think Flynn’s return to bachelorhood won’t be a swing factor. We’re doing okay.”

“
And the boys?” Tim asked, knowing this would be a problem and sensing Paul didn’t want the reminder that women changed their minds. There was a pattern of women showing poor judgment where Flynn was concerned.

“
I screwed up with Kenny and Dev. I think I’m accidentally on the right path.”

“
Supporting the want-to-be-a-rock-star dream? No offense, but you can’t offer what Flynn can.”

“
I know. I need to show Kenny I can be an asset before Flynn knocks on Teri’s door. I had a good talk with Dev last night, although I still sense some hostility there.”

“
How far will you go? With this little fantasy I mean?” After spending the day with Dev and his friends, Tim had doubts about the boys’ chosen career. To begin with, he wasn’t convinced it really
was
Dev’s chosen career. Only Kenny seemed driven enough to get anywhere; the others were dead weight and immature. Well, Jess and Dev were immature, it might not be fair to lump Bryan in that category. He seemed more introspective, but he was so quiet Tim had a hard time getting a good read of his character.

“
As far as it takes for them to make it, or realize they’re not going to I suppose.” Paul hesitated. “What I need is to solidify my relationship with Teri, at least in her mind.”

“
Move in together,” Tim suggested immediately, then realized it wasn’t time yet.

“
Has to be Teri’s decision and she’s not ready. Not yet.” Paul shook his head. “The way she’s raised the kids, she might balk at that. She’d be worried it would send the wrong message.”

Tim found himself considering arranging Sara
’s untimely demise again. If Paul couldn’t divorce her, it was the only way to free him. Paul wouldn’t agree, so Tim never mentioned the idea. He just fantasized from time to time.

Paul shook himself
, concerning Tim about the effect this information had on him. It was a black cloud looming on the horizon, a hint of a storm that may or may not come.

“
I’ll watch the situation,” Tim promised. “Flynn can’t approach her until his divorce is final. That gives you time to get the boys on your side, the girls already are.”

“
I need to close that window of opportunity,” Paul agreed.

“
And you need to make sure Teri loves you completely. So much that she can’t think of living without you,” Tim reminded him.

“
I can do that.”

Teri and Paul had barely sat down for breakfast in the restaurant’s private dining room before Tim appeared and whispered in Paul’s ear.

“
I should take this call, honey,” Paul explained to Teri as he stood. “Hopefully I won’t be long.”

“
I understand.” Teri patted him on the butt as he turned away. He turned back briefly and smiled at her before walking toward the door.

“
Tim?” Teri stopped the messenger from making a getaway.

“
Yes?” Tim’s face was carefully neutral, which Teri found suspicious.

“
What’s up?”

Tim didn
’t give anything away with his expression as he watched Teri. “Are you asking to be social or specifically fishing for something?”

“
The call, it’s about Blaine?”

Tim sat in Paul
’s vacated seat. “Yes,” he said quietly. “How did you figure that out?”

“
I was expecting Sara to call and negotiate on Blaine’s behalf. When I asked Paul, he said he hadn’t heard from her.”

“
Chad and Olivia were out of the country. They just got back and got the memos on the revised rules,” Tim explained.

“
Is that her?”

Tim gave a slight nod.

“You’ve been dealing with Sara for years, right?”

Tim gave another nod. Teri looked down the table at the kids. They all seemed to be involved in their own conversations
, ignoring Teri and Tim for now.

“
So, how is this going to play out?”

Tim managed not to flinch at her question
. Teri suspected he knew it was coming. The man was just too good at – well, everything. Her mind wandered briefly into a fantasy about trying to hook him up with Nicholas, but she dismissed it. Not that she questioned Tim’s orientation, she was fairly sure he was just stuck in the closet like her old friend. But Tim was so efficient and organized and Nicholas was . . . not.

“
She’ll argue they’re not children and he has no right to treat them as such,” Tim continued the conversation, interrupting Teri’s small daydream. “Tell him he’s a bad father, remind him they chose to go back to Arizona for a reason. He’ll remind her that he controls the purse strings so he can make the rules.”

“
But Arizona is a community property state. She gets half.”

“
Only if she divorces him. She doesn’t have access to his accounts. He gives her an allowance too. The only thing he asks is that she stays out of his life. Technically he could cut off the kids and she could support them, but he made sure her generous allowance isn’t quite generous enough to allow that without sacrifices from all of them. She’ll play ball in the end.”

“
But it’ll ruin his day.”

Tim didn
’t answer.

“
I don’t know what was on the schedule for today, but I’m pretty sure Paul and I could be excused.”

“
You haven’t seen the kids’ haul from yesterday yet,” Tim pointed out.

“
I can do that later. Someone needs to keep Paul company and cheer him up,” Teri smiled. “He’ll probably need tomorrow off too.”

“
And you’ll need to keep him company then too, I suspect. Will he need tickets to that Broadway show you wanted to see?”

“
I don’t fool you for a second trying to convince you that what I want is in Paul’s best interest, do I?”

“
No, but as it happens you’re in Paul’s best interest right now, so I’ll play along.”

“
Does that mean I’m going to get my way more than you’d like?”

Tim hesitated and stared at Teri.
“Yes. And I really wish you hadn’t figured that out just yet.”

“
Sorry, I’ll be good now.”

“
I’ll arrange for the tickets, but you still need to have dinner with the kids. Deal?”

“
Deal,” Teri agreed.

“
Mom?” Teri and Tim both looked up to see Dev standing over his mother.

“
What is it, baby?”

“
Mom,” Dev groaned, reminding her he hated the affectionate term she used without thinking.

“
Sorry, let’s try that again. What is it, sweetheart?”

“
I thought it over and I’ll do the job for Oskar.”

Tim sighed in relief.
“Oh, thank God.”

“
Why do you care?” Dev asked, seemingly irritated by Tim having an opinion on the matter.

“
Oskar has my number, he called twice last night and once this morning to see if you decided yet.”

“
Okay. That’s just weird,” Dev’s brows pulled together with his frown.

“
Dev, are you sure?” Teri asked.

“
Yeah. Mom, Kenny’s not pushing me into anything. I can say no to him you know, I’ve done it before.” Color filled Dev’s face.

“
I remember. You never did plaster the holes in the downstairs hall from the last time.”

“
Oh, yeah, we’ll fix that. Anyway, I told him what Paul said. I can still skateboard, I just won’t compete as much. Maybe just exhibitions.”

Paul returned and Tim stood to give him back his seat.

“Dev was just explaining why he’s taking Oskar’s offer,” Tim filled Paul in. Paul sat, directing his attention to Dev.

“
Well, on the band, you know how I was going to be drums then Kenny moved me to bass when more girls started showing up?”

Teri nodded.

“He got rid of them because they were a distraction, but Kenny’s never hidden the fact that part of the reason I’m
in
the band is because of the girls. It’s annoying because they’re silly. I know when I’m older and date I won’t think so, but right now they really are - all caught up in their hair and nails and stuff. Anyway, since that’s part of my job, working with a fashion designer and being the kid showing the line isn’t a bad idea. It kinda all fits together. Someday when the band starts getting attention, it’ll increase our fan base a lot really fast.”

Teri didn
’t know what to say. She looked at Paul, then Tim. Both were smiling.

Paul picked up his water and gestured a toast to Dev.
“Dev, you put a lot of thought into this. Kenny’s lucky to have you on board.”

“
Um, thanks,” Dev flushed. “Anyway, just thought you should know.” He gave Teri one last glance and quickly returned to his seat.

“
Paul? What just happened?” Teri asked weakly.

“
Honey, your little boy’s going to be a rock star someday.” Paul kissed her forehead and she leaned against him.

“
I’m not ready.”

“
We’ll get him through it.”

“
I’m clearing your schedule for today, with the exception of Jackson Palo,” Tim said. “Oh, and I’ll call Oskar, if you don’t mind. Otherwise he’ll just keep calling me.”

“
Set it up, Tim,” Paul agreed.

“
Teri said you wanted to see me.” Kenny walked up to Paul as he barbecued in Teri’s backyard a couple of weeks after they returned from New York.

“
I want to talk to you if you have some time.” Paul finished putting the steaks on and closed the lid.

“
Fancy.” Kenny eyed the new barbecue.

“
I enjoy outdoor cooking and I insist on all the latest toys. Teri doesn’t understand, but she tolerates the space it takes up on her deck.”

“
She puts up with a lot.” Kenny thought about Paul’s wife and sat down in the nearest chair.

“
Yes, she does. The reason I wanted to talk to you was the band.”

“
Dev thinks you’re trying to buy us off.”

“
He indicated as much to me as well. Teri won’t take money from me. She insists on working and paying her own bills. She will let me do things for her and for you kids when I pitch it right. I can afford the shopping sprees, and that way it’s an expenditure she doesn’t have to worry about. With that in mind, I’ll continue giving you kids gifts because it makes it easier for her. But there’s only so much I can get away with.

“
You know I have an office and apartment here in Seattle.”

“
I know.”

“
Since Jess can’t hold down a job, I’m putting him on my payroll. It’ll be easier.”

“
Why tell me? Tell Jess.”

“
I did, I’m just letting you know. I want to extend a slightly different offer to you. I realize how determined you are to make this band work. Dev seems to be applying himself and making decisions to that end. I can’t offer a lot of advice on the music industry. You know it’ll be hard. Putting you on the office payroll frees up a little time that I suspect you could put to better use. Specifically, I’d like you to take some classes.”

Kenny sighed. Here we go again with the backup plans
, he thought and sagged against the back of his chair.

“
Hear me out, please. I’m not quite so concerned about what you’ll do if you don’t make it; I’m more concerned with giving you the best possible chance to succeed. Jess’s job is to take care of the yard. I’m also paying for private lessons on voice and diction. If you can think of anything else let me know, we’ll throw it in there. He’s the singer, and from what I can tell that’s all he does.”

“
And brings in the girls.”

“
Fine. I think Tim took you to one of the better salons in New York for hair styles? Perhaps a dermatologist too to help keep you all looking young and fresh a little bit longer. Tim tells me image sells a band as much as their music.

“
Back to you. Your classes aren’t decided yet, but I think psychology might be a good idea.”

Kenny glared at Paul.

“Bryan and Dev are still in school anyway. I’ll pay you to take a couple classes. I’m not suggesting a degree, and if you have a compelling reason why it’s such a bad idea let’s talk about it. I have a reason why I think you should.”

“
Fine, why?”

“
Because you’re going to have to handle Jess and Dev. Jess is a nightmare and you know it. The girls love him and he loves them. How long until he gets one pregnant? Let’s say you sign a deal, go on tour, and he’s faced with underage groupies? Or seduces a girl with a jealous boyfriend? How about if you’re getting ready to close a deal and the producer happens to have a teenage daughter? The fact that he can’t keep a job doesn’t concern me so much as the reason why. You have to get him under control, Kenny.

“
I know something about controlling people; big business is partially about mind games. Obviously I’m no good with teenagers; you guys are just out of my league.” Paul smiled.

Kenny nodded in agreement.
“So you think I can play mind games with Jess?”

“
Dev already does, the difference is he does it to bait him. Learn to use his techniques, maybe add some new ones to keep Jess in line. The general consensus is that Jess has a brain, he just doesn’t use it. If that’s the case, he can be taught and therefore reined in.”

“
And if he really is stupid?”

“
Replace him. If you want this, I don’t see any other choice. He’s lost three jobs that I know of because he couldn’t stop himself from sleeping with a pretty girl. He doesn’t think about the consequences.”

Feeling like a traitor
, Kenny nodded. Paul was right; he just didn’t want to admit it.

“
As I said, Dev already manipulates Jess. He can be your ally. Bring Bryan in on it too if you need to. Now, Dev is a different problem.”

“
How is Dev a problem?” Kenny couldn’t believe Paul would say anything about Teri’s son.

“
He’s a good kid, but he does have problems. Some serious ones for your purposes. He had his first photo shoot last week, did he tell you about it?”

Kenny shrugged. Dev didn
’t really say anything to him.

“
He reacted pretty much like the first time. The photographer was thrilled at the overwhelmed look on his face when he was surrounded by six pretty girls. It’ll be a successful ad campaign. What teenage boy wouldn’t want to be in his place? The problem is, that was very stressful for him. When Teri and I told him we’d back his decision whichever way he wanted to play this, we didn’t realize just how much girls upset him. Cassie and Tiffany are familiar, as are the girls at school, but Dev can’t really cope with girls he doesn’t know personally. He’s shy, Kenny. That’s going to be a problem if you want him there to attract girls.”

“
But there are girls at the skateboard competitions.”

“
Does he talk to them?”

“
Well, no. Dev thinks girls are silly.”

“
Maybe. Or maybe they just scare him. Teri and I talked about having Dev see a psychologist in New York. When she mentioned it to him, he . . . well, he declined. I’m no expert, but I suspect part of Dev’s stage fright might be related to the girls. If you’re taking a few psych classes to learn to handle Jess, you just might pick up on something to help out Dev.”

Paul
’s observation stunned Kenny. He never realized Dev might actually be afraid of girls. Sure he ran from them, but when they’re bothering him all the time, who wouldn’t? Dev had a few friends that were girls, but now that Kenny thought about it, Dev grew up with them. He was in kindergarten with most of the girls he talked to regularly. Paul was right; Kenny had two big problems that he didn’t even know about.

“
So, psych classes, huh?”

“
That’s my suggestion.”

“
Listen, Paul, I’m not really good at the whole school thing.”

“
Tim can find a graduate student to tutor you, you’ll be fine. Also, off the record, I’m consulting with a psychologist in New York about Dev. She’s not happy with the second hand observations, but I’m paying her to think of it as long-distance therapy. I’ll let you know what she comes up with.”

“
Like what, skateboarding competitions again or something?”

“
I told her about that. She doubts that’s really having much impact anymore aside from stress reduction from exercise. We’re going to see if we can arrange some carefully controlled situations to ease Dev into being able to recognize what’s causing him stress and then deal with it. I suspect a lot of it will be in New York, but that’s really just a guess.”

“
Paul, tell me the truth, why are you so interested in making the band work now? Before, you shrugged it off as a pipe dream.”

Paul hesitated
, quiet while he checked the steaks. “Off the record?”

“
Sure.”

“
Did Teri tell you about meeting Blaine?”

Kenny sat up
, stiff and attentive. “No, she forgot to mention that.”

“
I assure you, she didn’t forget. I wouldn’t mention it to her either. I wasn’t sure when to introduce Teri to my children. I even considered not introducing them at all. I suppose that sounds strange to you.”

Kenny thought of his conversation with Blaine Lovett. He wouldn
’t want Paul’s son anywhere near Teri either.

“
No, it doesn’t.”

“
Tim and Teri returned from shopping early. Teri met him in my office. It didn’t go well. I never expected my children to follow in my footsteps, Kenny. It didn’t matter what they chose to do with their lives, I would have supported them. They chose to do nothing. By the time I was Blaine’s age, I had a wife, three kids, and a multi-million dollar company. He has an allowance, hostility, and a string of disappointing decisions.

“
Teri took it all very well; she didn’t react to Blaine’s behavior. That wasn’t the first time I noticed differences between her parenting style and mine. And as I sat there and thought of how Blaine, at twenty-five, still had no sense of direction, no passion, no goals, I thought of that brief conversation we had. How I insulted you by asking about backup plans. I have no idea if you have talent, but you have a goal and passion. I respect that, and a helping hand never hurts.”

“
So you’re giving us a helping hand.”

“
A little bit here and there. The thing is, art comes from experience. You have to experience life to write about it. I could call a studio and say ‘here they are,’ but it wouldn’t be doing you a favor. You’re not ready yet, Jess and Dev aside. You need the struggle to earn your fame, at least a little bit. It’ll give you something to write about, and something for the fans to admire.”

Kenny nodded.
“Thanks.”

“
I just hope I’m actually helping. One more thing, have you settled on a name for the band yet? I’m just curious because I’ve seen several on flyers.”

An embarrassed grin spread across Kenny
’s face. “We can’t seem to pin it down. Bryan goes along with just about anything. Jess always proposes something too suggestive. I want something with a story behind it, like we named our band this because of some incident or another sort of thing. Unfortunately most our funny stories involve Jess and a girl and can’t be repeated. Dev wants something like a common phrase so it’ll be easy to remember and what he considers classic or timeless.”

“
Funny thing about stories, Kenny, you can make a story to suit a name if you need to.”

“
I can’t trust Jess to get it right.”

“
Have Dev pick up a book of phrases or clichés or whatever he’s looking for and pull some out. Then think how you can orchestrate a story involving whatever you decide on. The story can be about Jess, set the stage and let him walk into it. Dev should enjoy it, tricking Jess like that. Once you have a name, I think it’ll help you pin down your image. I’m just guessing, don’t quote me. Then you can stop wasting time playing under a new name every couple of months while you fight about it. You’re not getting any exposure that way.”

“
You’re really into manipulating people,” Kenny frowned. He wondered again about Paul’s motives - making friends with him, therefore the band, therefore Dev to get in tighter with Teri. Paul didn’t need to get in tighter, he was already sleeping with her and couldn’t marry her. It was as good as it got.

“
Yet another helping hand I’m giving you: a real life lesson why you should be wary of businessmen and attorneys. We’re very good at manipulating people, image, situations, and perception. Watch for it. And another reason psych classes might help: it’s hard to play a player, Kenny.

“
Now do me a favor and send the girls out, will you?”

“
Putting them on the company payroll?”

“
Jess has the lawn, you’re off the hook because you’re helping with Dev, but someone has to help with the house.”

“
Bryan likes to vacuum. He thinks it’s Zen.”

“
I know. He’s on my list too, but he’s not here.”

Kenny laughed.
“Yeah. He’s determined to spend some quality time with Brenda. Having a steady girlfriend cuts into his week. I’ll send Cassie and Tiff your way.”

“Dev, give it a rest,” Kenny sighed in irritation two months later. His psych book lay open in front of him, demanding his attention. The assignment was boring, so Dev’s pacing proved more distracting than usual.

“
Why are you taking that stupid class anyway? Paul sits you down for a warm fuzzy chat and two days later you register at a community college?” Dev demanded, finally coming to stand behind Kenny. “He’s got everyone in his back pocket.”

“
He presented a good argument.”

“
Jess? Kenny, c’mon. Jess is fine.”

Kenny bit back his concern for Dev. The kid was pretty perceptive
about some things, and it wouldn’t help for him to find out Kenny and Paul were more concerned about him than Jess.