Why would she? She’d been the failure, until now. Thanks to Rissa and the rest, Taylor now had her own purpose, here in the group. Taylor ran her finger around the rim of the coffee cup. “He hasn't been around.”
Rissa jumped out of her chair and put her coffee down. “Wait. His last song, “The One,” is about a girl who never saw him.”
That song had a haunting sound which was why it had stayed number one for ten weeks running. She nodded and put her own cup down untouched as she was about to go see him. “It’s a great song.”
“Is it about you?” Rissa asked without blinking.
The blind girl who never saw Eddie? It couldn't be her. That had to be made up for a song. She shook her head and stepped back toward the door to go. “Don’t be silly. He’s just my friend. He’s like my brother.” Though her skin was way too aware of Eddie for him to ever be family. “Anyhow, I’m going to see him now.”
Rissa laughed. “And then you’ll be back to tell me all about it.”
Taylor’s cheeks must be red. She was hot and all her life she’d blushed way too easy. “There’s nothing to tell. It’s just breakfast.”
Without another word she slipped out the door and headed down the stairs rather than wait for the elevator.
Eddie was a friend. And right now, that’s all she needed.
2
Eddie Williams ignored the spike in his chest.
Today he would see the Goddess again. Perhaps it wasn’t fair that he thought of Taylor Jones as what Venus would look like if she was a flesh and blood woman.
Taylor’s smile glowed in his memories. If only he’d told her his feelings… but he'd hesitated, and a man unworthy of her perfect beaming sunshine of goodness had swooped in, and rather than cherish her, had tried to break her.
Until a few weeks ago when he’d heard her haunting voice on the radio and he'd recognized the way she’d played the piano keys, he’d thought he’d lost any chance, as she’d disappeared on him.
He made his way out of his penthouse suite and headed toward the lobby in the glass elevator, staring at the small crowd.
He’d never make it through unscathed. Too many people were here.
But this was par for the course now. He’d told his manager, and Tam, his assistant, he'd needed to be in Memphis last night, and to schedule a few stops in the middle of the United States because… well, because he needed to see his Goddess again.
Perhaps she’d tell him to leave her alone, but for once in his life, Eddie would find the courage to speak to the one woman that had never noticed he was alive.
The elevator opened and he slid out into the lobby.
The first few steps were fine, but then someone tapped his shoulder. A young girl in a green skirted uniform holding a mint chocolate box from a long table full of various cookies tossed her box toward her cohort, who handed them off to a woman in a yellow and white dress. “Oh, my goodness,” the girl said. “Can I get your photo?”
“Of course.” He posed with her at her stand. The other girls screamed, so he did a group photo with her friends.
Once he finished with the girls in braids, he spotted Taylor’s straight blonde hair that was as shiny as he remembered.
She hadn’t changed at all.
Not like him. Inwardly he’d grown quieter and more reserved, and outwardly he’d put on lean muscle.
Life on the road the past year and a half hadn't left him with much downtime, but he had a routine with the gym, and a trainer.
Her blue eyes were still as bright as she scanned the lobby, though she hadn’t seen him yet.
And then she waved at him and his heart seemed to grow as awareness exploded under his skin.
Seriously, she still had it, whatever 'it' was. He walked toward her like he was in a dream and no one else existed.
Until someone touched his lower back and snapped him out of the sequence.
He turned his head and saw a brunette with striking blue eyeshadow on despite the early hour. She asked, “Are you Eddie Williams? The Eddie Williams?”
Eddie appreciated that she was a fan, yet her fingers were uncomfortable from a stranger.
The sooner he was with Taylor, the better. But this was part of his job. He smiled at the woman. “That’s me. Do you want a photo?”
She practically jumped which gave them breathing space as she grabbed her phone and said, “I love you.”
He smiled for her camera but from the corner of his eye, he saw Taylor coming his way. As she approached, he told the blue-shadowed woman, “I hope you enjoy my next album.”
Taylor joined him and when she lightly touched his arm, goosebumps rose on his skin. He reached out and hugged her. She laughed and asked, “Wow, how are you making time for me?”
The blue-shadowed woman snapped his picture with Taylor. He ignored the twist in his gut that his secret was now exposed, and heat rose to his face as he asked, “Can we go to my suite so we can eat in privacy?”
Taylor shrugged, locked her arm with his and walked beside him as she said, “Sure. It will be like old times.”
He called for the elevator with his room key, his heart racing as he texted Tam, his assistant, to get breakfast for two delivered to his room.
With every other woman around him, he was fast with the witty comebacks and banter.
Taylor still made him tongue-tied. He leaned against the mirrored wall and winked at her. “I’m not that boy anymore, Taylor.”
The elevator door opened, and she patted his shoulder with a grin on her face, like she didn’t take him seriously. “No, somehow you got muscles though you’re on a world-wide tour. How are you managing? We’ve done three tour stops professionally and I’m losing weight.”
She tugged her waistband of her jeans to prove her point.
He followed her cute sway into the elevator. He’d get a second chance to confess all if they were alone. “You get a routine going, believe it or not.”
The doors closed and she gazed at him with those hypnotic eyes of hers. “Did you use the hotel gym?”
Eddie's adrenaline was a rush that had once made him afraid to ask her out. Then she'd left, with the wrong guy. He would take his shot now. “First thing I do no matter where I am.”
She tapped her hands in front of her as she smiled in that way that both fascinated him and paralyzed him. “That sounds super healthy. When did health become your thing? At Juilliard you were a fan of chocolate chip muffins first thing in the morning.”
You’re a star now Eddie. Any girl you want. Any. You’re not the skinny nerd anymore. His mind reeled as he leaned one hand on the elevator wall and faced her. They were close enough for him to brush her bare arm. “I save those for special treats now, but I don’t want to talk about health with you.”
She tilted her head and her hair bounced as she pouted, “Oh, any reason? I’d like for us to talk about anything, like we used to.”
The doors opened on the top floor. You lost your chance, again. He shook off the inner critic and walked beside her out the door. Once they were alone inside his suite, he’d tell her. His racing heart meant he had to, finally. It was time. Their shoulders touched. “What happened with Keith?”
“You really want to know?” They neared his suite and he pressed the electric key to open the door.
He pushed it open and let her enter the living room as he ran his hand through his hair. Get it together Eddie. “Yeah. You weren’t the curses type.”
Her eyes widened and she bounced in her step as she said, “You memorized my song lyrics.”
Heat rose in his cheeks. Taylor was an angel, right here on earth. No matter what she’d gone through, her pure goodness was a light. “You could have called me if you were in trouble.”
Her nose wrinkled and she shook her head. “And what? Ask for a backup singer gig working behind you?”
Perhaps, but if she'd needed a job, why not? And his backup singers were probably paid pretty good. Her heart belt buckle was cute, and her
jeans showed off her figure, but in school, he’d dreamed of those pink dresses she’d worn to class like it was her signature color. His palms sweated. “Would that have been so bad?”
Her face went red and she stilled. “Yeah, because then you wouldn’t be my friend, you’d be my boss.”
The online Nashville article he’d read last week featuring Taylor and her band talked about her going to a food bank that she later volunteered at. Taylor must be ignoring her parents if that had any modicum of truth. Either way, he’d never let her go hungry. He motioned for her to sit on the couch. “We used to collaborate together successfully for years in high school and then at Juilliard.”
“I heard the bridge in that first song and thought I'd recognized it.” She plopped into the seat like this was one of the couches in their old dorm and not a living room with a crystal chandelier and glass doors to a balcony overlooking Memphis.
If he sat too far from her, she’d wonder why. If he sat too close, he’d possibly crowd her.
His mind raced as he chose the middle seat and said, “I credited you.”
She shrugged and nodded. “And I appreciate the small monthly check that helped me pay a few bills.”
“What about your parents? Your father is a doctor.”
“I’m not following their rules for my life or taking their money.”
A knock on the door interrupted his fast-beating heart. He jumped up from the couch and opened the door.
Room service had arrived with multiple trays.
Taylor quickly stood and pointed toward the balcony. "Want to sit outside?"
It was a nice fall day in Memphis, and no one would see them in the penthouse, which had been created to provide privacy.
"Sure." He directed the staff to follow Taylor. They set the table with a white cloth, two empty plates, silverware, water in glasses and coffee cups while they hand-washed the metal seats.
Today he didn’t even bother to see what tea the Americans had brought him but accepted coffee. Taylor was enough sunshine to brighten his day.
They set up the food on a long tray beside them.
Eddie tipped them well and waited until they left. Taylor sat down and poured two coffees. He joined her and asked, “Taylor, what happened to you? You never once called me back.”
She turned to the service tray and picked up the champagne flutes with her tinkling laughter. “Is this a mimosa?”
Taylor was always flighty but now he wasn’t sure how to get her focus. Was she nervous? Why?
Eddie reached for her hand and ignored the jolt of electricity touching her always sparked in him as he said, “Just orange juice, but I can order champagne to make a mimosa.”
She sipped it and put it back down. “Just orange juice for me is fine.”
“Quit stalling. Tell me what happened.”
She continued to peruse the food choices on the cart, avoiding his gaze as she said, “Keith… he left me at a gas station. And I couldn’t just say “you were right” and have you fix things. I made my own stupid choices.”
If Keith were here, Eddie would punch the guy in the nose. “He what?”
She slumped into her seat and her blue eyes were moist like she was on the verge of crying. “Sixty miles out of Nashville, in the middle of nowhere, after we left New York together. We stopped for gas and then he just took off without me.”
If only Taylor hadn’t… “He’s a fool.”
She let out a small sigh like that seemed to stop her tears. “He didn’t love me, but he used my notebook.”
He moved closer and everything became crisper and more vibrant again like it always did when he was near Taylor. “What do you mean?”
She pivoted, like she might rest her head on his shoulder; she used to do that when they'd watched horror movies on a Friday night. But she didn’t as she said, “All my little melodies of us, you and me, together and happy… he’s using my work.”
So, Keith wasn’t just a fool, but also an intellectual thief. No wonder he was hitting the top 100 charts—using Taylor’s gifts. Keith had never actually had much talent from what Eddie could tell at the bar-venue concert Taylor had dragged him to years ago.
Not like Taylor, his princess. “We’ll have my lawyers sue him.”
“I always trusted you.” She shook her head and looked toward the food selection, choosing bacon and biscuits to put on both their plates. “But Keith, doesn’t matter now. He doesn’t have any more notes so it’s over anyway.”
“But it’s your money.” He came closer, not wanting the color of the world with Taylor in it to ever fade.
She shrugged and scooped scrambled eggs on his plate and pushed the hot sauce at him as she said, “I’m more excited about my chance with the Lipstick Outlaws.”
One of the sweetest things about Taylor was how she always remained an optimist.
Always.
It was her trademark in life that made him stop and dream about what she’d say in the middle of the night, with that internal happiness she always possessed. So, he was halfway around the world and the news had some American tragedy and his stomach would twist in wonder of where she was right now as she’d just disappeared on him.
They ate a few minutes in silence and then he refilled their coffee cups. “How did you meet your band?”
She added extra sugar to hers as she said, “Rissa, my best friend in Nashville—we spent time at open mic nights and songwriting groups. When she was first recruited to join the band, she tossed my name to Val, our manager. I had to audition and there were other pianists, but I’m good on a keyboard. It took me a while to figure out where I blend and not overpower the other members with the piano keys.”
The vision of Taylor taking control of her keyboard and being heavy with her keys made him chuckle. “You overpowered me for years.”
She laughed like she had the same memory of when they were thirteen, awkward with their own bodies, and still somehow, she'd made his horrible songs better. “You survived, and for the better.”
Her opinion and how he'd trusted her to red-pen most of his early stuff had made him stronger. Now he wrote like she might one day hear him. “So, you get credit for my career.”
Her sparkling eyes turned pensive and her cheeks lost some of their color. “No, I’m not the girl who broke your heart.”
How did she not know?
There was zero evidence of any other woman half as interesting. He placed his hands on the table and said, “Taylor…”
She avoided his gaze and looked toward the balcony before she glanced back at him. “What? Despite your British reserve, you’re clearly in love with someone and probably were when we were in school-”
“I was.” Heat rose in his chest.
It was time to tell her truth. And figure out a way to… seduce was the wrong word as Taylor wasn’t someone he’d ever forgotten… romance, seemed old-fashioned but maybe was the right idea. And step one of the plan, whatever that was, would be, tell her.
Her blonde hair fell over her shoulder as she tilted her head. “Who?”
“You really don’t know?” He reached for her hand.
Most of the women he’d met over the years enjoyed being touched, yet Taylor’s hand was the only one he ever remembered.
The time at the beach where she'd splashed water at him replayed in his mind, like it had when he’d written his first ode to her.
She scooted closer and their knees brushed as she said, “Eddie, I wish I did.”
This was it. Adrenaline coursed through him, but he stilled as he stared into the most beautiful blue eyes he’d ever seen. “It was always you, Taylor.”
Her face went white as she shook her head. “Don’t.”
“It’s the truth.” His voice broke, making him sound like he was still sixteen and not an adult.
She sat back straight like she didn’t know how to bend. “I don’t like lies.”
He stood since sitting next to her wasn’t working in his favor. He held o
ut his hand for her as he said, “I never lie.”
She jumped up and stood next to him as her lips pouted. “I know you don't. You’re Eddie Williams, British royalty and pop star.”
“Former royalty.” The closest relative to the throne had lived in the sixteenth century. “My estate in Derbyshire only has forty bedrooms, two grand staircases, and one chapel at the end of the gardens.” Hardly a palace, but it was home.
She cupped his face like she searched for something inside him as she said, “It wasn’t me you wanted.”
Everyone they ever knew saw the truth. Keith had known. The world knew. He took her hand and held it next to his heart. “It was. It is.”
“You want me?” She didn’t pull away.
Her nearness made him feel like he had in a million daydreams. Instead, he kissed her pinkie and said, “I want my chance to prove myself. I’d make a proper boyfriend for you.”
Taylor lowered her lashes, but he could hear her short breaths. “I… I swore off men.”
Good. She’d given her heart to the wrong men. She'd always floated in the wind like a leaf seeking its final place to settle. He squeezed her hand. “Then I can be your exception.”
His lips tingled. He wanted to know what kissing Taylor Jones would be like.
Was she hot for him? Cold? Might she love him too? Her pupils were big, almost drowning out the blue. “I came to you because I needed your help with Keith.”
The first of her loser boyfriends that never mattered in the end except for the broken heart she carried, but in school she’d been devoted to her music. Neither of them had dated, though he’d never wanted anyone but Taylor. While they hadn’t spoken since she’d left and he’d made an album a year and toured the world, he knew without words she’d had more bad choices.
At some point she’d see that he was her best choice. Hopefully. “I’ll have my lawyers talk to you and they'll take care of it.”
She took her hand back and the distance seemed greater than a few feet. “I’m sure I can ask my new label for help.”
He didn’t want to push himself on her--he remained absolutely still as he said, “You know you can trust me.”
Taylor’s Legendary Heart: Sweethearts of Country Music, Book 2 Page 2