Songbird (15 page)

I didn’t sigh when he followed me into the
bathroom and held out my phone. Nicholas didn’t believe in personal
space when it came to me. At times—like now—it was annoying.

“Out.” I pushed, none too lightly so I could
close and lock the door. Securing it was the only way to keep him
out. Apparently sitting on the toilet didn’t even deter him when he
wanted to talk. Found that out the hard way in San Francisco.

“That’s not nice, Songbird. What did you want
to do for dinner?”

“What are you craving?” I took care of
business quickly because he generally got restless when I locked
him out. Within three minutes he would start to knock and ask if I
was done.

I washed my hands before reaching out and
unlocking the door. When I stepped back to brush my teeth the door
promptly swung open and Nicholas stepped in sitting comfortably on
the edge of the tub. I checked the messages with one hand while I
brushed.

“We always get what I want.” He shifted
around, getting comfortable on the narrow porcelain ledge. I wasn’t
sure he was allowed to gripe about getting his way. “I want to eat
what you want.”

I had to spit to respond, “And if I want
something you don’t like?”

He shrugged. “I like food. And as long as
there’s desert I think I can be placated.”

“You mean patronized.”

He lifted his shoulders again. “Same meaning,
different word.”

“What about Guy, Arc, and Max? What do they
want?” He followed me out of the bathroom and I checked my bag for
clothes.

“They’ll eat what you want too. It’s
okay.”

“Why are you suddenly catering to me?” I
turned with a handful of clothes to pin him with a stare. He was
making me uneasy with his affability. Nicholas didn’t cater to
anyone on the norm. “Even in your calmest of moods this is
unnatural. What’s really wrong, Walker?”

He glanced away, out the window. “Nothing.
There’s nothing wrong.”

“Nicholas. Don’t lie to me. It’s blatantly
disrespectful. What’s wrong? Remember our rule?

He half turned away and his shoulders
hunched. He clearly didn’t want to discuss this.

“Nicholas.” My tone held warning, “What is
wrong?”

He turned completely, his back fully to me.
His voice was barely audible. “Can you swear to me right now that
you’re not afraid of me?”

I set my clothes down and walked up behind
him. I didn’t know why we were revisiting this again but it was
clearly eating at him still. I wrapped my arms around him the best
I could and squeezed lightly. Hugs were always good for lifting
moods. And they were good for a girl’s dreams. “I will never be
afraid of you, Nicholas. Never. I swear it.”

His hand rested over the one I held against
his gorgeous abs a moment then squeezed lightly. “Get dressed, let
me go get the guys for dinner.”

“Nicholas, what brought this on? We discussed
this last night.” I stepped back releasing him. “I fell asleep on
the bus, not because I was afraid of you but because I was too
tired to walk any further. I didn’t go back to sleep after you woke
me last night.”

He turned suddenly and looked down at me. His
eyes searched and doubt filled the green depths. He looked so
tormented, so troubled I knew I needed to give him something more.
I had to do something that made my words more than just sound and
air.

Max was right. Professionalism wasn’t going
to stick here. Nicholas needed me to be more than that. I only
hoped I wouldn’t hurt myself in the process.

I didn’t think about what I was doing.
Thinking would lead to doubt and doubt often ended with inaction. I
brought my hands up and ever so lightly framed his face with them.
Our eyes stayed united when I rose on my toes and pressed my mouth
to his.

The touch was beautifully gentle. His tongue
touched my lips briefly and drew back. A question without words. I
parted and allowed him the entry. The beautifully gentle touch,
turned into heartbreakingly sweet.

I craved more; I could feel it in my stomach,
in my legs, but I kept my touch light and gentle. This wasn’t about
sex. This was about my trust and faith in him. My libido would just
have to cry silently.

His hands came to my hips but didn’t pressure
for anything more. And still our eyes held together unflinching.
Emotion churned in his, swallowing the amber around his irises and
swirling together until I couldn’t tell which one dominated. Not
that it mattered. I could feel the tension draining out of him,
feel his hands relaxing on my hips.

I had to break the contact first; I may wear
heels all day but I wasn’t built to stand on tiptoe without
assistance. I dropped back down to the flats of my feet but left my
hands on his face. Nicholas didn’t speak; he only watched and
waited.

“I am
not
afraid of you.” I watched
the words sink in. I watched the darkness deepen in his gaze before
clearing away to green and gold like they should be.

I lowered my arms satisfied. The calm gaze
was exactly what I had wanted. The churning stomach was just a side
effect I’d have to dismiss.

His hand was gentle when it rose and brushed
lightly along my face. He didn’t speak for a moment, just traced
the contours of my face. There was something new in his focus,
something I didn’t recognize but it wasn’t uncomfortable.

“I… I like you. You don’t break under my
moods or back down when I start to shout. I… I don’t think I could
handle it if you started pulling away because of what I did.” He
bent placed a light touch on my forehead then stepped back breaking
contact completely. “Thank you, for being strong enough to
withstand me.”

“Thank you for being you, Nicholas. I don’t
think you’d be half the person you are if you were malleable.”

His lips quirked flashing his dimple before
he stepped out and left me alone to dress. I moved carefully to the
bed and let my knees give out. I couldn’t fool myself. Nicholas,
perhaps, but not myself. I was in way over my head. And I was
sorely afraid I was falling in love with a man I couldn’t have.

I called the front desk and arranged a
meeting room before joining the waiting guys. A mass text to the
heads of state—Obi, Denton, production manager, stage manager,
light operator, sound engineer, etcetera—informed them of the
mandatory meeting at eight sharp. Lateness would not be tolerated
and could be grounds for termination. A kinder text asked our
drivers to please be present for a meeting, since adjustments
effecting drive times were being made.

On the band text–and I sent them a text just
to cover all my bases even though we were going to dinner–I
included Henry and simply stating tour meeting was being held at
eight and they had to attend or else. Of course I was bombarded
with questions the moment I came into sight in the hall.

“What’s the meeting for?” Arc rocked on his
heels before following like a puppy down the hall.

“You’ll see at the meeting.” I waved him off.
“Where are we eating?”

“The restaurant downstairs.” Guy pushed the
button for the elevator. “They’ve closed off a section for us and
Henry has the security guys on a perimeter.”

“Nice.”

“You’re seriously not going to tell us what
the meeting is about?” Arc pouted. “What kind of loyalty is
that?”

“Everyone will find out at the same time.
That’s what it is.” I focused on Guy. “What kind of food do they
serve?”

“American Cuisine for the most part.” Max
leaned against the wall as we waiting for the crawling
electronic.

“I can handle that.”

“They make awesome fudge brownie a la mode.”
Nicholas smiled and I wanted to lick the dimple.

Down girl,
I told myself.
Friends.
We are friends. Only friends. Nothing more than friends.

“Can you at least give us a hint?” Arc’s
bottom lip rolled out and his eyes glossed. “Pretty please.”

“The tour.” I smiled blandly at his instant
frown.

“Give up, Arc.” Guy shoved him back a few
steps. “She’ll tell us tonight.”

“I want to know now.”

“Oh, shut up.” Nicholas reached out and
tapped the back of his head lightly with the flat of his hand. “No
one wants to listen to you cry during dinner.”

“I’m not crying.”

Max raised a brow and snorted before Nicholas
could even open his mouth. “Yes, you are.”

“That’s just down right mean. We’re friends.
She can confide in us.” Arc sent me another pleading look about as
effective as the first one.

“Lose lips sink ships. You would sink like
the Titanic.” My dry tone was rewarded with laughter.

“Cold, Stilts. Cold.” Arc slumped the whole
way down to the floor in an impressive fetal position.

“Get up.” Max yanked on the limp body and
cursed when Arc turned into dead weight.

Nicholas reached out and tugged on the end of
my ponytail. When I turned to look he smiled and dropped his hand.
I lifted a brow and he shrugged. He apparently just wanted to pull
my hair. The child was back; I just hoped his temper wasn’t.

When the elevator pinged Arc was up in a
blink and the first one on. Before we could move he hit the button
and left us all standing in the hall.

“I’m going to kill him.” Max ran a hand
through his hair. “Chop him into tiny pieces.”

“Relax.” Guy pressed the elevator button
again. “We’ve got plenty of time.”

Even with curious diners and an occasional “I
love you” shouted, supper was pleasant. Arc would probably walk
with a limp since Nicholas and Max kicked him under the table every
time he mentioned the meeting. Good thing the concert wasn’t until
tomorrow night.

My phone rang close to the end of the meal
and I saw Ezra’s number. “Excuse me guys. I have to take this.”

I hurried out of earshot. “Sheridan.”

“Get some sleep?” Ezra didn’t waste time on a
greeting.

“A few hours. What’s up?”

“New schedule has been set. There’s a lot of
unhappy people but the rescheduling seemed to calm a few of them.
Las Vegas was a bitch. The vendor copped an attitude so you may
have problems when you arrive.”

“I can handle it. Anything else?”

“Business rooms have been set up for
interviews. There will be a dozen or so locals. Because of the
changes, I made it an open invitation so you may have more.
Hopefully, the idea of one interview instead of half a dozen will
placate him.”

“The idea that he will have several unused
hours each day to wander and just be unseen and normal is probably
going to be more appealing.” I grinned to myself at the thought of
a decently happy Nicholas. “Have you sent the final schedule
over?”

“Yes. There’s a snag in Chicago. We’re still
working on getting a new vendor since the old one wasn’t even
trying to cooperate.”

“It’s very last minute. I knew that when I
suggested it and it’s been calculated into the figures. Chicago
would be a hard blow to lose.”

“We’re not losing Chicago. We’ll just have to
go somewhere else. I’ll let you know as soon as I have it.”

“We have thirteen days to get there. If we
don’t have something at the end of the week we need to scratch it.
It’ll still be less of a hit than letting Nicholas trash any more
property.”

“Unfortunately true,” Ezra muttered something
I didn’t bother trying to make out. “Like I said. I’ll let you know
when I know.”

“That’s fine. I’ll run over the changes
tonight with the schedule you send over. We’ll worry about changes
as needed.”

“You’re awfully calm about this.”

I shrugged. “No point in stress. What needs
to happen will. I firmly believe that.”

“As you say.”