Songbird (19 page)

“Nick, great to see you again.” She leaned in
and kissed his cheek, lingering entirely too long. “It’s been a
while.”

I had no claim on Nicholas. I reminded
myself. None. We never defined any borders.

Like fucking hell. The border was defined
when he crawled in my bed and gave me mind boggling orgasms first
thing in the morning. That was definitely a line.

I kept my face polite and wondered if I could
have a voodoo doll made after all. For Nicholas, I decided when he
hugged her a little longer than polite.

“Valerie. I didn’t realize you were my first
appointment today.” And he sounded entirely too pleased about
it.

Her eyes shifted to me. The glint was
unmistakable. “Why don’t we ditch your chaperon and talk?”

“I’m Bianca Sheridan. The Tour Manager.
Nicholas has five other appointments after this one. If you’re done
with the pleasantries you can start with your interview. You have
thirty minutes.” I smiled and it was anything but polite. “I don’t’
tolerate tardiness.”

“Sadly, true.” Nicholas sat in the closest
booth. “Can we get some coffee?”

I sat next to him forcing the blonde to take
the seat across. Just to make my point I stretched out my legs—one
of the advantages of being tall—in front of Nicholas’s legs. Let
the bitch try to play footsie.

“How’s the tour been?” Valerie asked and
didn’t quite successfully hide her frown at me.

“Punctual.” Nicholas grinned. “My tour
manager is a genius with time.”

The rest of the questions were standard and
honestly, boring. Why did no one think of new and creative
questions? The same fare every time was bound to be tedious to
answer.

Near the end Nicholas bumped my shoulder. “If
I agree to let Henry walk me to the bathroom, would you let me
out?”

My lips curved against my will. “Sure.” I
stood letting him out and remained standing when Henry walked over.
“Mr. Walker needs the loo.”

Nicholas winced. “Really, Songbird?”

I waved him off. “You have five minutes. We
have a schedule to keep.”

Valarie waited for Nicholas to be out of
hearing range before standing to face me. “You’re awfully
possessive of the man.”

“My job.” I cut off the words and turned to
watch Henry standing outside the bathroom.

“He’s obviously not sleeping with you.”

“I only take out the trash.” I gave her a
pleasant smile.

Her mouth formed a perfect “o” before she
recovered. “Well, you won’t have to worry about me.”

“I know I won’t. We’re leaving tonight and
there are no backstage passes for San Diego.” I tilted my head at
her. “The only thing I’m currently worried about is keeping Mr.
Walker on schedule.”

When I saw Nicholas emerge I walked forward
with Valerie at my side.

“Nick, it was good to see you.” Valerie
leaned in and kissed him again. “Bianca and I were just talking
about the concert. Do you still give out passes to your
favorites?”

I kept the smug smile off my face. Certainly
to gloat over this point wouldn’t be professional. She didn’t know
to the extent Ezra had given me control.

“Passes are approved or denied by Bianca.”
Nicholas rolled his shoulders in a dismissive manner. “I appreciate
that the responsibility of keeping track of them has been taken off
my shoulders. One less thing for me to worry about, you know?”

“Indeed.” Her mouth thinned. “I’ve been told
there are no passes for San Diego.”

“Timeline is probably too tight for
entertaining. Again, Bianca’s responsibility. It’s great that all I
have to do is sing and make my appointments. She’s the best tour
manager to date.” Nicholas draped an arm over my shoulders. “I love
the freedom it gives me.”

“I bet.” Valerie’s smile went brittle around
the edges. “I’ll see you next time you’re in town then.”

Nicholas managed to shrug with his arm draped
over me. “We’ll have to see. I have no intentions of coming back
out here any time soon. See you around. Maybe.” He tugged me toward
the door leaving her gapping at his back.

I doubted he realized how he had snubbed her.
Or maybe he did know and it had been intentional. I pondered it and
waited until we were out of eye sight to duck out from under his
arm.

“Professionalism, Mr. Walker.” I said and
climbed into the waiting vehicle.

“What did Valerie really want? I doubt it was
a backstage pass.” Nicholas commented sliding in beside me and
crowding my space. My elbow missed its target but the action was
still enough to make him slide back a fraction.

“My guess? A turn in your bed.” I shrugged.
“Could you tell me how many of your other lovers I’m going to come
face to face with?

“Jealous, darling?”

I crossed my arms and looked straight ahead.
I would not give him the satisfaction.

Nicholas drummed his fingers on his thigh.
“Honestly, I’m not sure. I don’t remember most of the last tour. I
was in a constant state of drunkenness. I managed down to buzzed
for singing, but,” he shrugged, “I don’t like touring.”

“Obviously,” I quipped.

“I told you. No more girls.”

I glanced over at him. “There’s no need for
you to change your habits, though I do disapprove of the
alcohol.”

He scowled. “What about you?”

“What about me?” I tried to shrug but the
action was more an uncomfortable shoulder jerk.

He stared long enough to have me shift in my
seat. “You’re joking right?”

I was saved from answering by Henry parking
and hopping out to open the door once more. Nicholas, however, was
having none of my avoidance and grabbed my arm before I could slid
out.

“A moment, Henry,” he said and yanked the
door closed.

“Walker, there are people waiting—” I was cut
off by his crushing mouth. The angry man was back, but this time he
didn’t frighten me. I fisted a hand in his hair and yanked. When
his only reaction to my pull was shifting closer I did the only
thing left to do. I bit his lip. Hard.

He jerked back and a little drop of blood
stained his mouth. Surprisingly, he licked his lips and then
grinned. “We’ll have to explore that later, but for now I want you
to understand something. I do know what monogamy is and I do
believe in it. When I’ve decided to dedicate to one person, that’s
it.”

I nodded keeping my mouth firmly shut and
knocked on the glass. Henry opened the door and said nothing when
Nicholas stepped out disheveled. He did send me a worried glance
that I gave him a thumbs up for.

“Walker’s sugar is dropping, Henry. Can we
find a chocolate bar or something?” I said sliding out.

“Your mouth is swollen.” Henry’s tight lipped
disapproval was apparent.

“Better than black and blue.” I squeezed the
big man’s arm then dropped my voice as Nicholas was speaking to the
reporter already. “I’m fine. His mood is dropping. I didn’t think
he’d need a chocolate bar this early in the day; I left them on the
bus. See if one of the guys can find some sugar. He does prefer
chocolate.”

I kept my distance for the rest of the
morning; or at least I tried. Distance was difficult in a Lincoln,
but I did my best. When he was being charming with reporters it was
easier to stand back as a safety net and keep his mood in
check.

When the scheduled time came to meet up with
the guys Nicholas’s dour mood rose a fraction. He may not like
publicity but he liked the music. Too bad they walked hand in
hand.

“I’m going to run down the checklist really
quick,” I waved to Nicholas already stepping away. “Henry will
escort you to the dressing room.”

Nicholas stepped forward and wrapped an arm
around my waist. “You need to eat. Half a muffin and a cup of
coffee doesn’t count as food.”

My struggle to get out of his grasp failed
and I was forced to glower up at him. “Let me go, Walker.”

He dropped his head and I turned mine away.
“You need to eat.”

“I will. After the checklist.” Curious eyes
were starting to gather and I shifted uncomfortably. “Let me go.
You’re making a scene.”

His brows furrowed. “Making a scene?”

“Yes. There are people watching. Let me
go.”

His brows drew lower and his eyes threatened
thunder. “Why is being seen with me a problem?”

“Professionalism. The same reason it was a
problem in Los Angeles,” I replied and jerked away again but his
arm held firm.

“And if I wanted to kiss you?” His voice
dropped to a growl.

“Don’t.” I glanced helplessly at Henry.

“Nick.” Henry stepped forward but stopped
when Nicholas’s head snapped up to lock eyes with him.

“Stay the fuck out of this.” Nicholas curled
his lip. “Just stay the fuck out of this conversation.”

“We can continue this at lunch. Let me check
in on the crew.” I gentled my voice hoping to placate him enough to
let me go. I should have found a better way to agree to lunch
before this had gotten out of hand. There were a lot more people
watching than there had been moments ago. The last thing I wanted
was to lose respect from the crew for sleeping with “the boss”. Or
even worse, for it to get back to Ezra.

“Let me go.” I placed a hand on top of his.
“Please, Walker. Let me do my job.”

His eyes shifted over mine, studied and he
relented, letting go. “We need to talk.”

I concentrated on keeping the friendly smile
on my face. “Sure. Go with Henry.”

I watched him walk away before turning in the
other direction. An older man I didn’t know by name stepped out of
an office and smiled at me.

“I’m Greg, Manager of this establishment. I
haven’t seen you yet.”

“Bianca Sheridan.” I held out a hand, “I’m
the Tour Manager.”

“Oh good. You can help then. Your production
man didn’t have instructions for what to do with the press people
that showed up. They’re up in the balcony right now. Perhaps you
can handle that?”

I didn’t huff. I didn’t curse. I closed my
eyes and counted to ten. Petty should have been expected but I
hadn’t considered Jimmy would lose all consideration for
professionalism. Jimmy knew what to do about press that didn’t have
stage passes. When I was sure I could smile and mean it I nodded.
“Yes. Can you show me where?”

“Sure. Sure.” Greg led the wall down a tangle
of halls and up a few sets of stairs.

The balcony seating was impressive and the
stage perfectly set to be seen from any angle. The crowd of
reporters—sixteen, I would kill Jimmy later—were snapping pictures
of the stage and anything else they thought they could put in their
article.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” I greeted with the
professional, polite smile that bordered on indifferent. “Thank you
for coming to Nicholas Walker in San Diego. Would everyone please
pull out their stage passes so they can be approved before going
down to the stage?”

As a collective they looked stunned. One
brave soul ventured, “Stage passes?”

I put on the polite confused face, “Yes. All
who were approved for preshow and backstage access have stage
passes.” I knew damn well none of them had a pass. I hadn’t issued
any for San Diego. I hadn’t seen the point when the morning had
been filled with more than enough interviews to cover all the
bases.

Feet shifted and no one would meet my
eyes.

“I see. I’m very sorry, but if no one has
stage passes I will have to ask you to leave. We’re very busy with
the anticipated show and cannot include any additions that haven’t
already been approved.” I gestured towards the exit.

“We were told to wait here for approval.”
Another brave soul ventured.

“I am the Tour Manager.” I spoke firmly now
tired of this. I had to check the rest of the stage and pray Jimmy
at least had some pride in his work. If not, well, the guys would
be pitching in. “I can’t at this time approve any additional people
backstage. I apologize for any misinformation you have been given,
but at this time, everyone who has been approved has already been
contacted and the according passes have already been issued.” I
turned to the vendor manager. “Please show them out.”

I left him there to deal with the rest of the
mess. I went hunting for Jimmy. He still had to finish this one
show. If he had abandoned this I would make sure Ezra was notified
in time to have the severances canceled. Deliberately undermining
my authority was not atypical of a wanna-be alpha male. And even
though this was his last show with us, the move still rankled a
little.

The crew must have known I was head hunting
because no one crossed my path as I mentally went down the
checklist as well. Everything looked in order, lights were being
tested and instruments hooked up. At least the regular crew knew
enough to complete their tasks before moving on. Since the guys
would have brought their instruments over after checking out of the
hotel—thank you Guy for being responsible—I knew they were
around.