Taking Something (5 page)

Of course her seductive stretching worked on me because I watched the sliver of skin she’d exposed and probably even licked my lips as I thought about what could happen in that studio if we were alone too long. But her inviting me to make a move with her little peep show would have to wait. She'd already informed me that her assistant would be joining us as soon as she’d picked up her breakfast order from some high-end bakery all the way across town. Oh, and after she’d stopped by her jeweler to pick up a custom cell phone case she'd ordered months ago.

In less than one hour, I had learned exactly what made Sadie Sinclair tick. It blew my mind that she was willing to risk her fame and fortune by putting out an album that was completely different from what her fans were used to. I was starting to think that she wasn't really a think-things-through kind of gal. No hit songs plus no fans equaled no money. Which equaled no fancy house, no car service, and no kiss-your-ass-every-second assistant. It was a simple equation. To me, anyway.

“Okay,” she smiled, pulling her headphones. “I'm ready!”

I turned on the track and she started her trademark “oohs” and “aahs” before the first line. She actually made it all the way through the first chorus before she realized it was just like all the other songs she had already sung. She glared at me as she tossed her hand up for me to stop the music.

“This is garbage, Nick,” she said, shaking her head. “Not at all what I had envisioned.”

“Look, babe.” I smiled, walking from the mixing board over to her side of the studio. “I know on the surface this song sounds a lot like the stuff you wanted to get away from, but it's the lyrics that mean something different.”

“Really?” She tilted her head. “To me it sounds a lot like the 'Why won't you love me?' bullshit I've already sung about.”

“It's way deeper than that,” I insisted, even though I knew it was total bullshit. “You need to tap into your soul. Sing from pain. From experience. Real artists connect to their fans through their words. You've been in love before, right?”

She stared at me with her superiority. Of course she'd never been in love. She was too worried about gaining admiration, not giving it.

“Guess I haven't found the right guy.” She smirked.

“Okay then.” I placed my hands on her shoulders and stared into her coal-lined green eyes. “Imagine wanting someone so badly that it hurts.” I stepped closer to her, and her pouty pink lips drew in an unexpected breath. “You can't think straight.” I slowly moved one hand up and cradled her cheek. “All you want is for them to notice you. To love you.” I rested my forehead against hers. “To kiss you.”

Looking in her eyes told me two things. First, she was eating up every single word I was saying like she was fat kid in a cupcake factory. Two, she was already head over heels in love with me, even if she didn't know it.

“Can you do that?” I whispered, nudging her nose with mine.

“I think so.” She tilted her head up, practically begging me to touch my lips to hers.

“I know you can,” I said, hesitating just enough to make her crazy before I stepped back and dropped my hands. “You got this. I can feel it. I'll cue it up and we can go again.” I went back to my side of the booth before she could change her mind.

“Pretty smooth,” a voice said behind me. I jumped, nearly sending the roller chair I was trying to sit in across the room. She laughed as I reached out and pulled the chair back toward me. “Not so smooth.”

I turned to find a pair of dark, almond-shaped eyes staring at me. They were the same shade of brown as her hair that, according to the pictures I'd seen online, usually hung down around her face. Today she had it piled in a mess on top of her head. Judging from the six large bags she'd tossed down in front of her and her rosy cheeks, she been on a wild-goose chase for her boss that morning.

“You must be Gia,” I greeted her, grinning sheepishly from my near ass busting.

“And you must be crazy if you think you're going to be able to talk her into singing more than one of those songs. I've been working on her for months and she's pretty much made up her mind that she is the next great singer-songwriter.”

“Are we going again or what?” Sadie called out through the speaker. I looked at her, saw that she was quickly becoming irate and impatient, and nodded. Sadie hadn't even noticed that Gia was in the studio. She was too busy searching the internet on her cell phone for breaking news stories about herself. She'd already made me read one that had said she was the best dressed at some event she went to last week.

I gave my head a slight shake. I’d let myself get distracted. I needed to focus my attention on Sadie. Not the mouthy brunette trying to contradict my persuasion techniques. But Jesus, if I didn't find myself intrigued by her. Her legs stretched out in front of her as she focused intently on her work. Her full heart-shaped lips pursed together firmly.

“Yep.” I clicked the mic button so Sadie could hear my voice. “From the top.” I started the track and briefly turned my attention back to Gia.

“I'm Nick by the way,” I informed her. “And did you ever think that maybe you just don't know how to talk to her?”

“I know who you are,” she scoffed without looking up from her work. “And I've known that girl practically my whole life. Once she gets something in her head, it's damn near impossible to talk her out of it.”

“Well lucky for us then, 'damn near impossible' is my specialty.”

She glanced up with a small smile and I caught a glimpse of the cute little girl from the television show. “Well that's good then, because the way I see it, both of our jobs depend on her singing the songs
they
want her to sing. Neither of us can afford for her to tank her career.”

As quickly as her smile had appeared, it faded. A little part of me wanted to try and make her smile again, but I thought better of it. I didn't have time to be making pretty girls smile. I needed to get a job done, and according to Gia, it was going to be a lot tougher than I’d expected.

“Two songs,” I said as Gia was loading up her arms with the bags she'd brought in for Sadie. She dropped the one from the bakery into the trash. One bite was all Sadie had taken from the meal she’d insisted on her assistant picking up for her that morning.

“What?” Her expression said she wasn’t following.

I held up two fingers. “Two songs. That's how many songs I got her to sing from Hollace's track list.”

Gia rolled her eyes and continued gathering up Sadie's belongings.
Must be nice to have an assistant.
Apparently, it was code for pack mule.

“I know you're impressed,” I told her. “I mean, I'm kind of impressed with myself.”

“Oh, I'm impressed all right.” She laughed. “Your arrogance is like nothing I've never seen before. And I live in Hollywood, so that’s saying something.”

“You'll learn to love it.” I waggled my eyebrows at her. Those dark eyes of hers locked on mine and I felt myself get a little excited as I waited for her smartass remark. There was only one other person who had ever been able to keep up with me the way Gia was. Lila would have loved this girl. Unfortunately, I saw Gia's smile turn from genuine to fabricated as soon as we were interrupted.

“Did you get everything on the list?” Sadie asked when she finally emerged from the booth.

“Yep,” Gia answered.

“Good,” Sadie acknowledged without so much as a “thank you.” Just a “good.”

I shook my head. I might not have been the most moral person in the world, but as least I had manners.

“So, Nick,” Sadie began, linking her arm around mine like a cobra preparing to choke its prey. “What time are you picking me up for dinner?”

“Dinner?” I thought back on the day.

Did I ask her on a date? Promise her a night on the town in exchange for seeing things my way?

I didn't remember doing so, but it wouldn't be the first time I’d let my words run away from me.

“I mean, I know you didn't outright ask me to, but I could tell you wanted to.” As Sadie batted her eyes at me, I could see Gia rolling hers. She'd perfected the art of eye rolling, and if it wasn't so cute when she did it, I probably would have been annoyed.

“I'd love to,” I answered, not needing any persuasion. It was only going to take one date to convince Sadie that my word was gospel and that I only had the best intentions for her career. Not to mention, it wasn't going to hurt my reputation at all to be seen in public with her. “Seven?”

“It's a date,” she lilted, sauntering toward the door. “Gia, give Nick my address,” she added before she left.

I reached over and finished turning off the mixing boards as Gia jotted down Sadie's address on a piece of paper.

“What's your end game here, Kline?” she asked, holding out the paper. Even though I'd reached up to take it from her, she held a firm grip.

“Excuse me?”

“With Sadie. What's your end game?” She shifted her weight to one leg and let her eyes give me the once-over.

Is she on to me?

My attention was immediately pulled to the shapely curve of her hip as she rested a hand on it. I hated to admit it, because it rarely happened, but she intimidated me. Where Sadie was long and lean, Gia had curves. And from what I could tell, they were in all the right places.

“You don't think you're going to be Mr. Sadie Sinclair anytime soon, do you? Or are you just hoping the paparazzi will take an interest in you to boost your social status? I mean, seriously, do you think I'm stupid?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” I said, tugging the paper free of her hand. “Did it ever occur to you that I might actually like Sadie?”

She practically snorted in her effort to hold back her laughter. “Yeah. Okay.”

“She's not that bad.” I tried to shrug while keeping a straight face. She sure as shit was that bad. In one four-hour session, I'd seen her boss Gia around like she was trying to medal in it, tell me I was being a visionless idiot, and throw a set of headphones across the room because, in her words, they were giving her a migraine “with their constant fucking reverberation.”

She was high maintenance and not in the charming way Lila was—like she just enjoyed salon visits and new shoes. Sadie Sinclair was a world-class diva who got off on temper tantrums and putting everyone around her through hell.

“Look,” Gia said, refocusing my attention to the matter at hand. “I could really give two shits about who Sadie is shacking up with, but let me give you a piece of advice. She's about one more bad relationship away from a nervous breakdown. I know she stood in that studio and told you that she'd never been in love, but she has—with every single guy that has ever paid her any attention. So if you were smart, you'd tread with caution. The next guy that she falls in love with might not make it out alive.”

I knew I should have been trying to win Gia over. It would make things a lot easier if she were on my side, but something about her had me on edge. The woman pushed my buttons, and not just the hot ones. She had her finger firmly on the ‘irritate the shit out of me’ while pissing on my ‘self-congratulatory parade’ one too.

At first I’d thought it was because I had felt her staring holes in my back as I worked. She’d been watching me like it was her job. Which it kind of was, I guessed. Then I’d realized it was because I
liked
the idea of her watching me. And when I’d known she was, I’d caught myself doing asinine things to impress her. I needed to snuff out whatever it was between us and keep my eye on the prize.

“You sure that you're not just jealous?” I joked, letting her warning go in one ear and out the other. Bottom line: Sadie was good for my career. If she needed me to
love
her while we were working together, then that's what I was going to do.

Gia flinched and her eyes went wide like I’d slapped her. “Excuse me?”

“Sounds to me like maybe you’re just tired of Sadie getting all the attention. I mean, I'd probably be the same way if my career never took off.”

She shook her head. “You're a dick,” she said blatantly. “Have a great time on your date. Now I kind of hope you end up being the one that doesn't make it out alive.”