by Cat Schield
“I’m not just her assistant, I’m her sister,” Mia said, now as then. “She needs me.”
I need you.
He wouldn’t repeat the words. It wouldn’t do any good. She’d still choose obligation to her sister over being happy with him. And he couldn’t figure out why.
“Your sister is a spoiled brat.” Frustration and impatience got the better of him. “The only reason I agreed to work on her album is because of you.”
Mia’s beautiful brown eyes went round with shock, and although her mouth dropped open, no words emerged.
Her phone rang, interrupting the heavy silence between them. “It’s Ivy.” She looked almost relieved by the interruption. “I should get this.”
Nate had grown weary of her sister coming between them. He crossed his arms over his chest and let sarcasm slide into his tone. “By all means, take it.”
To his surprise, she put the phone on speaker. “Hey Ivy, I’m with Nate right now and you’re on speaker.”
After a short pause, Ivy’s soprano voice came over the line. “Hi, Nate. Has Mia apologized for me missing the meeting and asked if you could meet for a drink later to chat about my album?”
Mia winced and wouldn’t meet his gaze.
“Not yet,” he answered.
“Then I’ll ask.” He could hear the seductive pout in Ivy’s tone. “Please come by my house at eight.”
He understood the invitation for what it was and barely restrained a growl. “If you wanted to talk about your album, you should’ve come by today.”
Mia’s large dark eyes went round with concern. “Don’t upset her,” she told him in sign language.
Nate pretended that he hadn’t seen the plea. While on tour they’d discovered they both knew how to sign. Something he’d used to overcome her reluctance to talk to him. That they’d shared a secret language had drawn them together.
“Didn’t Mia explain that I had a conflict? I’m meeting with a representative for Mayfair Cosmetics. It’s all hush-hush, but they’re looking for the new face to represent their beauty line.”
“Can you meet for dinner?” Mia signed, her eyes worried.
Nate reined in his temper, reminding himself the reason he’d offered to work with Ivy was so he could spend time with Mia and hopefully convince her to pick him over her sister this time.
“How about I make a reservation for dinner at eight,” Nate said.
“Sure. Dinner would be wonderful.”
“I’ll text Mia with the details and this time you’d better show up.” While Mia stared at him in horror, Nate reached out and disconnected the call. “Studio time costs money. I have a dozen artists I’m currently working with. If Ivy’s not going to show up ready to work, then she needs to find a different producer for her album.”
“Oh, no, please. She’s counting on working with you.” Mia was breathless and anxious. “I’ll make sure she’s where she needs to be exactly when you say.”
“Promise?”
He held out his hand, impatient to revisit the feel of her. From the first Mia had appealed to him. She was as natural and competent as Ivy was artificial and flighty. But it was that electric charge that sizzled through him when they touched that he craved.
Her eyes were solemn and earnest as she placed her palm against his. “Promise.”
* * *
Mia hoped Nate wouldn’t notice the way her fingers trembled as they shook hands. In those delightful seconds, Ivy Bliss faded from Mia’s mind. There was only this tall, charismatic man with eyes the color of storm clouds.
For as far back as she could remember, Mia had been invisible. Why would anyone pay attention to the ordinary-looking child standing beside and a little behind the beautiful, charismatic, talented Ivy? And the difference between the twins had only intensified when Ivy had gotten a role in a television series and gone on to Broadway and a pop music career. Mia had become the quiet shadow at her elbow.
And then she’d met Nate. Never in a million years could Mia have believed that someone as talented and charismatic as the lead singer of Free Fall would notice she existed, much less be attracted to her. He’d seen her as a distinct individual with interests and goals. That was pretty heady stuff. No wonder she’d tumbled head over heels for him. What woman with a pulse wouldn’t have?
Then the tour ended and the real world overcame the fantasy one she’d dwelled in for two months. She’d had no choice but to turn down his offer to go with him to Las Vegas. Nate had been so angry with her that last morning in Sydney. He’d accused her of leading him on. It struck her as impossible that a nobody like her could be anything more than a momentary distraction to someone as incredible as Nate Tucker.
Given all that he’d accomplished in the music industry, it amazed Mia that he was only thirty-one. An accomplished singer/songwriter and producer, he’d had six Grammy nominations for producing and won two. His band had been nominated for twenty-nine assorted awards and won eight, including several Grammys and an AMA award for favorite pop/rock band/duo/group.
“Are you okay?” he asked, peering at her.
They were still holding hands. Mia’s cheeks heated as she released her grip. “Sorry.” She took an awkward step back and bumped into one of the chairs surrounding the large oval conference table. “I was just thinking how lucky Ivy was for getting to work with you.”
The dimple flashing in Nate’s scruffy cheek vanished. “Mia, about what happened in Sydney—”
“You don’t need to go there,” Mia said, forcing lightness into her voice. “It was a crazy tour. So much fun. I won’t ever forget it.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“Please, Nate.” She longed to surrender to the intense glow in his eyes and fall into his arms. “You need to focus on Ivy. And so do I. She’s really freaked out about this new direction in her career. I told her you were the best producer in the business and that together you would make platinum.”
“I couldn’t care less about her or her album. I’m only doing this so I can spend more time with you.”
His words sent a spear of yearning through her, but Mia shook her head. “Don’t say that. Ivy needs this album to be great.” Maybe if she had a hit Ivy’s insecurity would stop consuming her, and Mia could begin to live her life far from her demanding twin.
“How long are you planning to keep on being her lackey? Don’t you want to be free to explore what makes you happy?”
“Of course.” And she would have that life if Ivy’s new project catapulted her into the big time. “And someday I’ll have that chance.”
“For your sake I hope someday is soon.” The intensity in Nate’s gaze made her shiver.
“I have to get going,” Mia said, although now that she’d seen Nate again, the last thing she wanted to do was leave. “You’ll text me the details about dinner tonight?”
“Yes.”
As Nate escorted Mia to the lobby, she noticed he didn’t touch her again.
“It was good seeing you,” she murmured awkwardly. She wanted to throw herself into his arms and declare how much she’d missed him. But that would only make the problems between them worse.
Mia maintained a firm grip on her impulses. The connection they’d share on tour had been packed up and put away with the instruments, lights and sound equipment. Sneaking around behind Ivy’s back had been necessary and exciting, but it wasn’t something Mia intended to do any longer.
While on tour Ivy had been distracted by the traveling, flirting with Free Fall’s single band members and blowing up social media for her fans. In Las Vegas, she would be completely focused on her music and on Nate. Mia wouldn’t have any opportunities for time alone with him.
Ever since Ivy learned that she was going to work with Nate, she’d been more agitated and deman
ding than Mia ever remembered her being. Mia wasn’t a fool. She understood why Ivy was so reluctant to give her space. Heaven forbid Mia would get a life and walk away.
After leaving Nate, Mia was halfway through the errands she was running for Ivy when her phone began to play Ivy’s latest hit, her special ring tone. Mia held off answering for several seconds. But she’d already ignored a bunch of Ivy’s texts, and her sister would have a fit if she didn’t pick up now.
“OMG. Where have you been? I’ve texted you, like, a dozen times.” Ivy’s voice poured from Mia’s smartphone, scattering her thoughts to the wind. Behind closed doors the sweetheart pop star became a demanding diva. “I’ve been dying to hear all about how excited Nate is that we’re working together.”
“Sorry I didn’t respond.” In fact, she’d been lost in thought and hadn’t heard the alerts. “Traffic was crazy and there was an accident...”
“If you were sitting in traffic you should have called.” Ivy barely gave that a second to sink in before continuing, “Whatever. Tell me. Tell me.”
“Of course he’s excited to be working with you.”
“What did he say exactly?”
“That you’re going to make the best album ever.” It was lame, but her sister would freak if Mia shared what Nate had actually said. “But listen, Ivy—”
Her sister’s squeal interrupted her. “I knew it. He is into me.”
“I’m sorry. What?” Mia almost rear-ended the car in front of her when the driver stopped abruptly to avoid hitting an SUV that cut him off.
“Nate. He’s into me.” Ivy sounded quite pleased with herself. “I told you how he was hitting on me on tour.”
“Nate hit on you?” Mia’s stomach clenched in dismay at Ivy’s words. “When was that?”
When it came to her sister, Mia was like one of Pavlov’s dogs. She panicked at the first sign that her sister was scheming. Ivy made an art form out of keeping the focus on her. Even before Ivy became famous she knew how to manipulate a situation to suit her and often Mia received the full brunt of the backlash. Since then Ivy had pulled several stunts to stay in the spotlight. Mia had learned to keep her head down.
“All the time. How did you not notice?”
“Sure. Of course.” Mia was glad her sister couldn’t see her expression.
“And I never told you, but that last night in Sydney...” She let the confession hang in the air to build suspense.
“What about it?”
“We were together.”
A curse shot from Mia before she could stop herself. “Sorry, I almost hit the car in front of me. This traffic is—”
“Whatever. Did you hear what I said?”
“About you being with Nate that last night in Sydney?” Mia was torn between a laugh and a groan. Good thing she’d already put her romance with Nate behind her. Now that Ivy had decided she wanted him, any hint that Mia had feelings for him would be disastrous.
“I should’ve told you.”
Mia’s voice was uncharacteristically sharp as she asked, “Why didn’t you?”
“You don’t need to be such a bitch. I’m sorry I didn’t say something sooner, but I wasn’t sure if what we had was going anywhere.”
“And now?” Mia turned into the parking structure closest to the stores she needed to hit.
“Ever since I found out he asked to work with me on my new album, I’ve been convinced what we have is the real deal.” Ivy sounded at the same time dreamy and triumphant. “When will you be getting back to the house?”
“I’m heading to Rodeo Drive to take care of the stuff you wanted me to return.” Ivy loved to shop, but she could be fickle when it came to liking things once she got them home. “It shouldn’t take me more than half an hour.”
As self-absorbed as Ivy could be, when it came to her twin, she liked knowing everything Mia was up to. It had gotten to the point where Mia gave up on having secrets of her own. Or that’s the way it had been until Nate came along. That they shared the ability to sign had enabled Mia to have something all to herself that Ivy couldn’t barge in on and take over.
Mia realized she’d been counting on this album to launch her sister, hoping that it would be enough of a distraction to allow Mia to escape.
Was that how she viewed Ivy? As someone Mia needed to run away from? The relationship between Mia and her sister hadn’t always been so strained. Until the last three or four years, when Ivy’s career really took off, Mia and Ivy had been as close as two people who shared the same womb for nine months could be.
If anything demonstrated how much Mia craved a chance to get out of Ivy’s shadow, it was her clandestine flirtation with a man her sister had shown an interest in. And now Mia realized that despite the way she’d left things that last morning in Sydney, a part of her hadn’t given up on pursing a relationship with Nate.
In the beginning she’d simply enjoyed Nate’s charismatic presence. Not only was the lead singer of Free Fall a musical genius, he had killer dimples that rendered her speechless, and the sort of lean muscles that made her all too aware of her vulnerable heart, unsteady knees and tendency to blush.
At first she hadn’t taken his attention seriously. Fate had seen to it that Ivy was granted all the beauty and most of the talent. Most people outside their family didn’t even know Mia and Ivy were sisters, much less twins. Ivy had taken their mother’s maiden name because she liked the way it sounded, and Bliss worked great for marketing.
And then one day Nate had been backstage while Ivy rehearsed. She’d stopped the sound check and was shrieking at the drummer for messing with the tempo. Across the ten feet separating them, Mia saw the gesture Nate made, and amusement must have shown on her face because he snagged her gaze and winked.
Mia had signed, asking him if he knew what that particular gesture meant, and he signed back that he absolutely did. For the duration of Ivy’s sound check, they’d discovered through sign language that each had a hearing-impaired family member. That day something unexpected had happened to Mia. She’d made an unlikely friend. And in the weeks that followed, it became more.
Ivy broke into her thoughts. “Can you stop and get me a coffee on your way back? You know how I like it.”
Keeping up with Ivy’s demands required Mia’s full attention. For most of her life that hadn’t bothered her. But ever since Nate had come along and actually noticed her, not as Ivy’s twin or her assistant, but as a desirable woman, Mia spent more and more time thinking about a life away from Ivy.
“Sure.” Now all she needed to do was find a way to explain to her family that she wanted to strike out on her own. And that was not going to be easy. “I know exactly how it needs to be.”
Two
As soon as Mia left the studio, Nate got on the phone with Trent’s sister. Melody had been on the tour with him as the opening act for Free Fall the entire twelve months.
Because he knew her as not only a fantastic songwriter and singer, but also as the little sister of his best friend and business partner, when she’d asked what was going on between him and Mia, he’d told her. Melody didn’t like the way Mia was treated by her sister any more than he did. She’d grown up with a father who liked to bully people and had a particular sensitivity to such treatment.
Once she’d been clued in to what was going on, Melody had helped keep Ivy distracted so Nate and Mia could have as much uninterrupted time together as possible. At first Nate wasn’t sure if Mia had any idea how Melody was helping them, but she’d caught on quickly. Mia and Melody shared a talent for songwriting and during the hours they spent collaborating became good friends.
The difference in Mia when Ivy wasn’t around showed Nate how unhappy Mia was being her sister’s personal assistant. Yet whenever he broached the subject of leaving her sister’s employment to do something for herself, he
hit a brick wall.
“You told your brother I met someone while on tour?”
“I might have mentioned that you were a bit distracted.” Melody responded carefully, but there was laughter in her tone.
Nate closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. Melody had a romantic nature and succumbed easily to simple gestures of affection, like the dozen handwritten notes her boyfriend, Kyle Tailor, had tucked amongst the clothes in her suitcase. She’d discovered them halfway across the country and been over the moon that Kyle had done something so romantic.
Unfortunately, the strain of separation for so many months had led to trouble in their relationship. Nate blamed himself. If it weren’t for him, Melody never would’ve gone on tour. He’d been the one who persuaded her to leave behind the anonymity of songwriting and to join him onstage. She had a fantastic voice and deserved to shine.
Fortunately, Kyle didn’t blame him. If he had, it might have put a strain on their business partnership in Club T’s.
“He thinks it’s Ivy.” Nate spent the next minute listening to Melody’s laughter. “It’s not funny.”
“Oh, it is. Why does he think that?”
“Because I suggested I produce her next album. It’s the only way I could think of to spend more time with Mia. She’s determined we’re over.”
“I think that’s fantastic. The girl has a killer voice and needs a producer who can showcase it. Besides, no one but you can stand up to that father of hers and make sure her next album kills it.”
“I’m flattered that you think so.” Nate’s tone was as dry as the Mohave Desert.
“So how did the meeting go?”
“It didn’t. Mia showed up without her sister and father. Apparently they were taking a meeting with someone from Mayfair Cosmetics. They’re considering Ivy as their next spokesmodel.”
“Are you kidding? They stood you up? Don’t they realize who you are?”
“Obviously someone they can skip a meeting with.” Nate thought about his stern words to Mia about her sister and regretted taking his frustration out on her. It wasn’t her fault how her sister and father behaved. “I’m taking them to dinner tonight. Hopefully, they’ll show up this time. I’m going to be out of commission for a few weeks starting tomorrow.”