by Brooks, Tori
“Ask your sister.”
“Don’t be difficult.”
“I’m not,” Kenny shrugged. “I made Jess walk away on the cruise, that’s true, but she kept me from doing the same. Then she crashed our studio appointment to invite me here, but you showed before I could find out what’s on her mind. She’s got plans, I don’t doubt it in the least. You’ll have to ask her what they are.”
Preston paused. “I imagine you can get women.” He let the statement hang in the air between them as if he expected a response. Kenny didn’t really want to give him the satisfaction of an answer; it would almost certainly be followed by some sort of warning that Paige was too much trouble or wasn’t worth it or something along those lines. Still, it might be worth it just to get this conversation over with.
“Usually.”
“Then find another one. Paige comes with baggage and complications you don’t need.”
“Nice.”
Kenny found his eyes caught by piercing dark blue ones as Preston considered him. He held his ground and let his opponent take his time, falling back into techniques he perfected on Dev and Jess.
Finally, Preston sighed and took a step back. “Did she even tell you?”
It was Kenny’s turn to hesitate. “I didn’t ask. It’s not my business. It’s not your place to tell me, but I assume you’re going to anyway.”
“Preston –” Paige’s voice made both of them turn to look.
“I have no idea what your plans for him are, Paige, but is it fair to him to draw him into this without telling him what he’s walking into?” Preston asked her.
“This isn’t about Kenny, it’s about you and Jondelle,” she said, shaking her head as if she could deny what her brother was going to do. Kenny could have told her there was no stopping Preston, and she was probably right in her assessment. He reached over and took her hand, pulling her to him. Sliding an arm around her waist, Kenny felt Paige deflate with the realization of what was to come.
“Paige always wanted to be a beauty queen,” Preston said. “It was silly –”
Kenny laughed. “Not that unusual. I have a younger sister that was the same way.”
“She was driven. There’s a company that wants to merge with ours. We’ve worked together for a long time. Hale’s son, Alastair and Paige were together for a while. She tossed him when she was a serious contender for Miss Great Lakes,” Preston said.
That was a pause, not a finale, Kenny decided. It wasn’t enough.
“What she failed to mention, was that she was pregnant. Paige was so driven to live her dream, she tossed Al and then went and had an abortion.”
Preston folded his arms and planted his feet as if preparing for an argument. Kenny still had one arm around Paige, who finally succumbed to tears on his shoulder. It was odd to have Paige crying on his shoulder, Kenny thought. With her heels, she was a few inches taller than him. The random thought left his mind as soon as he recognized it and a response formed instead.
“Preston, you’re upset about your sister’s decision and you’re lashing out, but you’re not thinking anything through first. You told her ex, now you’re panicking because it’s going to hurt your business. You don’t know where I fit into the equation so you tell me to try to push me away. But you didn’t stop to learn anything about me or even think about what I am.
“I know what it’s like to have that one in a million dream, the kind of dream some people would sell their soul to achieve. Sometimes you pay a heavy price, it’s unfortunate. If you’re looking for someone to condemn Paige for her decision, you’re looking at the wrong man.
“What I don’t understand is when families don’t support each other. I take it back, I get it. I’ve just never been a fan. Actually it’s a pet peeve, I suppose you could say. The more I learn about this whole thing and the further I get drawn in, the more compelled I feel to offer the support you didn’t.”
In his arms, Paige shifted to look at him. Kenny pulled her tighter but held Preston’s eyes instead of turning his attention to the woman who walked into his life and turned it upside-down. He had a cold feeling in the hollow of his stomach that it was going to get worse.
Preston shook his head, and Kenny chided himself for the childish impulse to grant himself a point for not breaking eye-contact first.
“She’s going to crash and burn, and you’re going to feel the backlash from that,” Preston said.
“First, have a little faith in your sister. Second, I think you overestimate how much the teenagers and twenty-somethings that listen to my music will care about this.”
With a last brief glance at his sister, Preston turned and left back the way he’d come. Kenny heard a door somewhere slam and impulsively declared himself the winner. Feeling Paige’s eyes on him tempered his celebratory mood, however, and her teary eyes reminded him it wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.
“That could have been worse,” he said with a smile, hoping to encourage a smile.
“I didn’t want to tell you like that,” Paige said softly. “I didn’t really mean to get you involved.”
“Then why did you call me over on the boat? Why am I here tonight? What’s your plan, Paige?”
She hesitated, and Kenny noticed again she was taller. It didn’t bother him, not really. He was five-ten, but so was she and she was wearing heels. Jess would have been a better match with his taller frame. Dev was tall, but too thin to truly show her off.
Of course neither could handle Paige. Could he? Clearly not, she still hadn’t answered him.
“Just tell me. You’d be surprised at how reasonable I can be. Don’t try to play me, I’ll figure it out sooner rather than later,” he prompted. “On the cruise, you were panicking. I was what? Your backup plan?”
Kenny could almost hear his heart break when she nodded.
“I heard the commotion, then saw Jess and Dev. I knew you were with them. And Bryan of course.”
“But he’s married so you wouldn’t spare him a thought. Why not Jess or Dev? Jess would have been easy.”
“He is who he is, but not what I want. I knew Dev was smart, but something about him seemed wrong somehow. I couldn’t put my finger on it.”
“Better not to risk it,” Kenny agreed.
“There isn’t as much information on you,” Paige said. “Most of what I knew was more of a guess, I think. Indirect observations from interviews, how you interact more than what you said.”
“What did you think you knew?”
“You’re smart. You’re the one who’s really in charge. You proved both of those theories before we met, so I guess it wasn’t just indirect observations anymore. You seemed content to be in the background. I don’t understand that.”
“Jess loves the fans and the media, the attention is like a drug to him. It’s toxic to Dev. He’s shy and can only handle small doses before he needs to escape. Bryan and I are in the middle. We don’t draw the attention Jess and Dev do, so it’s easier for us. We still sign autographs, get followed, get our pictures taken, all that nonsense. We see what it does to Dev and I think it keeps us from being jealous of the attention Jess gets.”
Kenny held Paige and walked her over to a large mirror on the wall. She caught her reflection and immediately leaned forward to inspect her makeup.
He was torn. He wanted her, although he suspected it was mostly a physical attraction. They were both driven, what else did they have in common? She needed him for something.
“You chose me as your backup on the cruise,” Kenny prompted. Paige stiffened. In the mirror, her eyes met his as he continued. “We talked and you were going to let the Miss North America title go. I can’t help with that and you’re unlikely to lose your Miss Great Lakes crown. At least that’s how it seemed after I got you to calm down and really think about it. Did something change?”
“Other than Hale being out for blood? No.” She turned to face him, Kenny appreciated the courtesy and the courage it took for her to do so. “I thin
k if I talk to Alastair, I can diffuse that situation.”
“He went crying to his father,” Kenny reminded her.
Paige looked away uncomfortably for a moment before facing Kenny again. “Alastair isn’t your problem.”
Kenny remained silent, encouraging her to continue.
“We kind of grew up together. He’s still growing up. To be honest, ‘Miss Great Lakes’ is only part of the reason I couldn’t have that baby.”
“Alastair as a father would have been that bad?”
“Long story short? Yes. Being tied to Hale would have been as bad in its own right. Not from the baby’s point of view, not for a decade at least. Eventually though. Almost immediately for me. People don’t think about that. Yes, there’s a baby to consider, but there’s also the extra family or pseudo-family you’re gaining that you’ll never be rid of.”
“Paige, you don’t have to defend yourself to me. I do want to know where I come into it now, however.”
“We met and I got to know you a little before you convinced me I didn’t need a backup plan. Or at least it wasn’t an emergency. I don’t have plans for you so much as I wanted to spend more time with you.”
Kenny stepped closer and turned Paige to face the mirror again. Looking at their reflection in the mirror, he wanted her more. She attracted attention, she craved it. The paparazzi would have an even bigger reason to chase him with her on his arm, and he was happy to let them take her picture. Paige belonged in his world. He had a while to decide if she belonged with him. For now, he could just roll with it.
“I can think of worse things to do with my time. Unofficially, I assume?”
Paige blushed.
“Preston mentioned something about you needing to be subtle.”
“It’s the ‘Miss’ part of my title. Partially it’s because of my job and the board, partially it’s because of Francois, my coach. I’m afraid you won’t be meeting him any time soon.”
“Fair enough. Now look,” Kenny gestured to their image.
“I can wear shorter heels,” Paige offered immediately.
Kenny shook his head. “I’m not worried about that. You’re courting the press now, but it’ll be different. Right now Jess and Dev are badgered almost constantly, Bryan and I to a lesser extent. With you beside me, I suspect we’ll be a popular target. More photogenic. It means you have to be camera-ready everywhere we go.”
“I already am.”
He smiled. Of course she was.
Paige turned to look at him and Kenny faced her. “You really don’t mind? What I did, I mean.”
“Abortion?” Kenny asked. “Pro-life, pro-choice, I haven’t really had a reason to think about it either way. It hasn’t come up in my life before now. It wasn’t something my parents talked about, we didn’t observe any religion when I was still living at home. Sorry to disappoint, but that’s just not a subject on my radar. Politics usually is, if for no other reason than to argue with Dev, but that subject just never came up.”
“Maybe because you’re not a woman.”
He cocked his head in concession of the point. “Maybe. Although I better come up with a better answer if this does go public, and my relationship with you does as well. I may be asked about it.”
Paige frowned. “I thought you said your fans won’t care.”
“They won’t. But at the moment we have a high parental approval rating and I’d like to keep that. It’s a hot topic, some people will care. Don’t tell your brother. And don’t worry about it, I’ll handle it.”
“Kenny?” she asked, stepping closer and slightly breathless.
“Hmm?”
Paige’s soft lips brushed his cheek as she spoke softly. “Will you call on your tour?”
“Sure.” He turned toward her lips and wrapped his arms around her as his lips pressed against hers.
The fullness of her lips was something almost exotic to Kenny. Ripe and moist, they gave when he pressed his own lips to hers. His tongue sought hers and deepened the kiss, claiming her as his own.
Paige cooperated in every way, but too soon she separated from Kenny with tender, darting kisses. It was just enough to tease him.
“Will you be back in time for the pageant?” she asked.
“I can arrange that,” Kenny agreed. He’d bribe Jess into catching pneumonia if needed. It was clearly the right answer, in evidence was Paige’s brilliant smile.
“If I get you tickets, will you come?” she asked, breathless once again.
His initial response was to simply agree. If he was going to be there, what if he did something more useful than simply cross his fingers or cheer from the audience?
Kenny smiled. “At the very least,” he told her and leaned in to partake of the lushness of her mouth one more time. He held her tight, feeling the length of her body against his and not letting her pull away again. Not that she tried.
Chapter Four
The European tour was torture for Kenny. At first he spent almost all his free time keeping Dev and Jess in line. Alec helped him peek over their individual shoulders for some clue as to what they planned for each other on stage to determine if intervention would be needed. Sometimes they even had to enroll Bryan’s help because Dev was just too good at keeping his plans under wraps. Bryan had the ultimate method of discovering Dev’s mischief: he asked. Unfortunately then he refused to tell Kenny, only whether it would be a problem.
If it wasn’t trouble on stage, it was the off-stage mischief that filled Kenny’s time. Jess and Dev after the show was almost as bad as during the show, although Kenny was getting used to it by the second week. At that point, their opening act started to become more interesting themselves.
Saison der Liebe wasn’t Kenny’s first choice as an opening band, but their label insisted it was a good fit. A Thousand Words had a following in Europe, as did Saison der Liebe, or Season of Love, and their styles were similar. Kenny even acknowledged the unofficial implication that both bands’ lead singers were promiscuous partiers.
Season of Love hadn’t burst onto the world market yet, their popularity was still limited to Europe. Kenny knew their label hoped the bands association would help Season make that final leap. It might work, he thought. Or choosing an opening act consisting exclusively of homosexual or bisexual men might reignite rumors that Dev was gay. Kenny preferred not to cause needless stress for the high-strung youngest member of his band.
It was too late to do anything about it now, he shook his head as he finished his latest meeting on the subject with Alec. None of them were homophobic, not even Dev yet, thank god. Kenny wasn’t counting on that lasting much longer. Not with Season’s lead singer staring at the kid all the time.
Speak of the horny little devil, Kenny thought as he caught sight of Gere Krüger down the hall. They were nearly three weeks into the tour with only two left to go. The end was in sight and Kenny could just let it go, wait it out. In two weeks, A Thousand Words could say goodbye to Season of Love and never see them again.
Except maybe for Dev. Alec just informed Kenny that Dev took a few hours today to visit a company he invested in several months ago, and Gere joined him. Bryan invited himself along too, so Dev was chaperoned, but Alec thought Kenny should know. It meant Gere was done settling for hungry looks. This needed to be addressed.
“Hey, Gere!” Kenny called, stopping Gere before he knocked on someone’s door. From this distance, Kenny wasn’t sure whose room it was, and he was mildly concerned it was Dev’s. “A word?”
Gere shrugged and walked on toward Kenny.
Kenny didn’t want to have this conversation in the hall and stopped in front of his own room, waiting for Gere to come to him.
“What’s up?” Gere asked.
You’re not that stupid, Kenny thought. He jerked his head as he opened the door, indicating should Gere follow.
Once inside, Kenny slid his key back in his pocket and led Gere to the small table in the corner. They sat and Gere watched Kenny, waiting.
Kenny sighed. “Dev’s not gay. If you haven’t figured that out by now, then you clearly need me to just tell you.”
Gere smiled and shook his head. Kenny couldn’t believe it, he was going to argue with him.
“Are you sure?” Gere asked in a tone that was more of a challenge than hopeful.
“Dev’s a friend. He’s smart, he’s shy, he’s a thorn in my side a lot of the time, but he’s like a little brother. Once upon a time it would have been a shock, a blow even. Now, it would probably be easier if he was gay. He plays the part well and I understand everyone’s confusion.
“We talked about it, openly and honestly, and he said he liked girls. That was back when they still scared him a hell of a lot more than they do now. He’s got a girlfriend now and if she hasn’t scared him to your side, it’s not in his DNA.”
Gere laughed. “Yeah, Dev mentioned you and Jess didn’t get on with Lindsay.”
Kenny didn’t like it that Dev was that open with a guy who was hitting on him. Then again, maybe it just meant he was being overprotective and Dev already told Gere he wasn’t interested. Maybe it was settled.
“So you know this isn’t going to happen?” Kenny asked, just to get Gere to admit it. He wanted confirmation this was over.
“The thing is, Kenny, you’re used to dealing with Jess. You look at me, and you see Jess,” Gere said. “I play the field, I get it. You don’t know me well enough to see the distinction.”
“Spell it out,” Kenny prompted.
“Jess likes sex. Hell, who doesn’t? But I’m not bouncing from one relationship to the next just looking for a good time. I like to have fun, don’t get me wrong. I’m looking though. I’m picky and I’m looking for someone special.
“Dev and I have a lot in common: we’re both meticulous about our appearance, we’re musicians but we don’t let our music consume us, we’re athletic, and we’re both of above average intelligence. I feel drawn to him because of where we’re opposites.”
“Your orientation,” Kenny suggested.