Blue-Eyed Soul (3 page)

Remey leaned forward, holding up one hand. "Hey, no, none of that. I absolutely am. Music education is... well, it's a pet project of mine, among a few others. I'd love to do a benefit gig."

"Oh... wow, okay. I didn't expect you to say yes so fast. Is there... is there someone we should deal with to set it up?" Aleks asked, taking a cell phone from his pocket. "Like... an assistant, or publicist, or whatever."

Remey tilted his head to one side, then shook his head. "No. I'll have to let my label and publicist know, but you can set it all up with me. My assistant is on a well-deserved vacation, and she could use a reminder she doesn't run my life, even though she likes to think she does."

Aleks glanced up, his expression surprised. "Oh. Okay, well... do you have an e-mail, then? Maybe some kind of business one I can use to get a hold of you to discuss the details?"

Remey laughed, tilting his head curiously. "Well, I do, but wouldn't it be easier to call me? Or come over maybe? With everyone assuming I'm too busy to be bothered, my dance card is wide open."

Aleks blinked and gave Remey a curious look of his own. Was he too obvious with the flirting? He wasn't really in practice after the last two years on tour. Aleks looked down at his phone again. "Sure, if you want to give me your number, I can call to figure out the details. My schedule isn't quite as open, I'm afraid. Are afternoons okay to call?"

"Sure. I could come by the school after classes sometime, maybe, to meet in person if you'd like?"

Aleks lifted his brows, looking up to meet Remey's gaze. "You could, but I'm not there most afternoons. I pick up my daughter from preschool at four."

It was Remey's turn to be surprised. "Oh. You have a--I didn't know, sorry." He had a daughter. Which meant... oh God, no wonder Aleks had seemed uncomfortable this whole time. He was straight and Remey was flirting and... oh God. Remey could feel his cheeks heat and he kind of wished the ground would open up now. Usually he had pretty good gaydar.

"Oh!" Aleks chuckled and shook his head. "No, I'm not married. If you thought that. Not that you did."

Remey's stomach began to unknot. Maybe he hadn't misunderstood. Thank God.

Aleks flipped to another screen on his phone and turned it to show Remey. "Willow Grace, my daughter." The pride in his voice was obvious.

Remey leaned in closer, his smile widening as he studied the picture of an adorable little girl, maybe three or four years old, coppery curls rioting around her laughing face. "Oh my gosh, she's absolutely precious. Willow, you said? What a pretty name. She looks like a handful, though. How old is she?" Remey wondered what the story was there, why Aleks had a daughter, but no wife... or girlfriend or partner. Maybe he did and wasn't saying so. Just because he wasn't married didn't mean he was unattached, and Remey pushed back a fresh wave of embarrassment.

Aleks laughed, sliding the phone back into his pocket. "Willow's three, and yes, a handful, if an adorable one."

Remey grinned. "Good. Kids her age are supposed to be handfuls... or so I've heard. I don't have any of my own. I've thought about it, but..."

"I guess the Hollywood machine makes it a whole lot harder, doesn't it?" Aleks asked, a good bit of the warmth gone from his voice, and Remey could have kicked himself for bringing it up. His fame seemed to be a major stumbling block for Aleks, which Remey could sort of understand. No one wanted to have paparazzi around all the time, least of all him, even if Rory, his publicist, insisted Remey couldn't buy the attention if he tried and how he ought to be glad the paps seemed to like him so much.

"Well, yes, but not only that. Touring wreaks havoc on pretty much everything."

Aleks nodded. "I bet. Well, anyway, like I said, calling would probably work best because if I'm not at the school, I have Willow."

Remey tilted his head. "You could bring her, you know. I'm not allergic to children."

Aleks's brows furrowed. "You want me to bring my three-year-old?"

"Is it a problem?" Remey asked, brows furrowing.

"No, no. I just... she's three. She touches things. All things. Usually resulting in them getting smudged and/or broken. I have this nightmare image of Willow racing through your house with your Grammy clutched in her sticky little hands." He shuddered and laughed. "She's the light of my life, but God forbid she resist a shiny thing. Or she takes them with her when she leaves. She's got this new thing where she doesn't grasp that other peoples' things are not Willow's things."

Remey laughed and tucked one leg up under himself on the loveseat. "I don't mind if you bring her. Or, if it'd make you more comfortable, I could come to your place." He grinned. "This way, if anything gets broken, it's yours."

Remey could tell Aleks did
not
want to like him. Which only made Remey want him to even more. He wasn't used to people not liking him, especially when he'd not given them any reason not to.

Aleks gave Remey a sideways look and smiled. "Alright. You could come to my place, I mean. Better safe than sorry."

Remey's breath caught in his throat and he didn't answer at first. It was the first time Aleks had smiled at him, and oh, Remey wanted it to happen again and again. It turned his face from intriguing to absolutely staggering, at least in Remey's opinion. After a few seconds, Aleks lifted his brows in question, and Remey dragged his brain back to the conversation. "I'd like to meet her. She sounds like a great kid."

Aleks smiled again, relaxing. "She is a great kid, and that's not even me being biased. Maybe a little," he confessed, and Remey laughed, settling more comfortably on the loveseat.

"Where is she today? I mean, you said if you're not at school, she's with you, and since it's Sunday..."

"She had a play date with her friend Mackenzie, who lives a few streets over from you. They're in the same class at preschool."

"Play dates?" Remey asked, a smile tugging at his lips. "Gosh, that seems so weird. I mean, when I was growing up, and I bet for you, too, you went over your friends' houses or they came to yours, or everyone met up outside and played. Kids are so scheduled now."

Aleks's eyebrows went up. "I wouldn't have thought you were familiar with small-town life."

Remey grinned. "Aleks, I grew up in a teeny little town in Louisiana, and I lived there until I moved to L.A. eight years ago. I know all about small town life. That's why I decided to settle down here."

Aleks shrugged. "I think it's the parents who are over-scheduled, not the kids. Single parents more than most." He shook his head. "I'll let you get back to your Sunday. Is tomorrow afternoon okay? The sooner the better, I think, as far as getting the details worked out."

Remey nodded, a little taken aback by the abrupt withdrawal. "Sure. What time and where?"

Aleks pulled a receipt from his wallet and scrawled his phone number and address as well as a rough little map on the back, then passed it to Remey. "Say about four-thirty? If it's alright... if you don't have plans."

Remey took the receipt, shaking his head. "No, no plans. I look forward to it." He glanced toward the kitchen, then back at Aleks. "Are you sure you don't want to stay, talk some about it now? I don't have everything unpacked yet, but I could make tea?"

Aleks hesitated, then shook his head. "No, I should get back. But thanks, for agreeing to participate and everything. I'll let everyone know."

Remey smiled, a little flicker of disappointment going through him, as Aleks got up from the couch. He had no right to be disappointed. They barely knew each other, but Remey wished he knew why Aleks seemed not to like him. He'd warmed up and opened up a little, but here he was, closing right off again. Remey pushed the thoughts from his head as he rose from the couch and went to retrieve Aleks's coat and scarf from the rack by the door. "I'm glad to do it. It's an important cause, and it's important to me as well."

Aleks nodded, winding the scarf around his neck and tucking his hands into his pockets. "Well, thank you. The committee thinks you'll be a big draw, so hopefully that'll be true. I'll see you tomorrow."

Aleks was gone before Remey could do more than say a polite goodbye, and he heard the paparazzi clamoring as he closed the front door and leaned against it with a sigh. If Allison could see him, she'd smack him good for being so stupid. She'd told him a million times at least that not everyone had to like him. Remey knew she was right, but there weren't many people he knew of who disliked him and it bothered him Aleks was one of them, when they knew so little about each other. He'd have to find a way to fix it, if he could.

"I don't know why someone else couldn't have done this, that's all." Aleks propped the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he crouched in the hallway and helped Willow off with her coat and mittens. "Hold still, Squish."

"What I don't know is why it matters. Why
wouldn't
you want to do it? It makes perfect sense. You're the music teacher, he's the music star, and who else is going to be in charge of a benefit concert?" As always, his brother Stevan had far too many logical things to say.

If Aleks wanted logic, he'd listen to his own common sense. It was apparently far more entertaining for his mind to dig its heels in and refuse to listen to reason in regard to Remey Dufresne.

"I don't care if it makes sense," Aleks insisted, finally getting Willow's outerwear off. She took off like a shot for the living room. Aleks sighed and hung up her coat, then shrugged out of his own. "I'm running late and he's going to be here any minute. Or not. Maybe he's on Hollywood time and will show up 'fashionably late' or something. I have to go, Stevan."

Stevan snorted. "Fine, but FYI: you're acting like a tool. Be nice. Quit bitching. Call me when he leaves and tell me all about it. Jess freaking loves him and wants all the deets."

Aleks rolled his eyes. "Tell her she can read all about it on TMZ in the morning. I'm sure every breath will be reported in obnoxious detail." He clicked off his phone and tucked it in his pocket. "Willow Grace! I hope you're picking up your toys in there. We have company coming, young lady!" he called as he headed for the kitchen.

The sound of the doorbell stopped him. Aleks groaned. He didn't have time for this, but Stevan was right. Who else was going to arrange this concert? If they pulled it off, it could fund the center for months.

He tossed the mail on the kitchen table and strode for the front door. Remey smiled up at him when he opened it, holding a basket full of fruit and squash. "Hi, I'm not early, am I?"

"Hey... No, sorry, I was running late."

"Aleks, who dat?" Willow came scurrying into the entryway, though she skidded to a halt when she saw Remey.

"Willow Grace, what have I told you?" Aleks began in a warning voice, and Willow shot him a dimpled smile, dark blue eyes mischievous.

"
Daddy
, who dat? Did you come to play with me?"

Remey laughed and passed the basket to Aleks, hunkering down to meet Willow's eyes. "I'm Remey. And you're Willow, right?" She nodded, studying him intently. "I came to talk to your daddy, but I wouldn't mind playing with you some later, if your daddy doesn't mind."

"We'll see," Aleks said from over his head, and Remey straightened, unbuttoning his coat. "Squish, you need to go and finish picking up your toys. Now." She went tearing off again, and Aleks sighed, holding out his hand, the one not weighed down with the basket. "Here, I'll take your coat. What's this for?" he asked, gesturing with the basket.

Remey shrugged as Aleks hung his coat. "I stopped at the farmer's market yesterday afternoon and bought way more than I can possibly use, but it all looked so good. And my mama was always adamant about bringing a little something when you went to someone's house..."

Now Aleks felt even worse that he hadn't brought anything with him to Remey's the day before. He gave Remey an apologetic look. "Thanks, I appreciate it. Let me put this in the kitchen."

Remey followed him. "I could've come by later, you know, and given you more time to settle in after you got home."

Aleks shook his head. "No, because I need to cook dinner so Willow can eat and have her bath before bedtime. This is the most convenient time I've got." Which wasn't very convenient today, but he didn't have much choice.

Remey leaned against the doorway as Aleks set the basket on the counter. "It's been a long time since I lived right in the middle of nature. I guess I went a little overboard with the produce."

Aleks glanced over at him, hands in his pockets. "You missed the best time for all this. Most of what you got was from storage. If you're still around next year..."

"I will be," Remey said, almost in challenge, and after a second, Aleks nodded.

"Then you'll get to taste everything the way it should be tasted--fresh. Want a drink? I have beer, wine, juice boxes?"

Remey laughed, the same scrunched-up, whole face laugh from the other day, and shook his head. "No juice box, but I'll take a glass of wine, sure."

Aleks nodded and got a glass from the top shelf of an upper cabinet, rinsing it and wiping it dry before he filled it. He passed the glass to Remey, then took a bulging file folder from the kitchen counter. "Come on. Willow should be done cleaning up the living room by now, so we can sit there while we hash out the details."

Remey looked around a little as Aleks led him back to the living room, where Willow was sitting on the area rug in the middle of the room. Her Dora doll was clutched to her chest and one finger lodged in her mouth as she studied a picture book. She perked up when she heard them coming, scrambling to her feet.

"Daddy! I cleaned up all my toys... see? Can play now, right?"

Aleks bent and nudged her finger out of her mouth. "How about I put a movie on for you in the den, okay? Daddy needs to talk to Remey about boring grown-up stuff, but as soon as I'm done, I'll make spaghetti for dinner, okay?"

"Sketti, yes, please!"

Aleks glanced over at Remey. "I'll just be a second. Go on and take a seat. This shouldn't take too long, I promise."