by Nicole Green
Jen shrugged. “I don’t know where he is right now, but he’ll be back. He said he’d catch up with you before the night was over. Not to worry about that.”
True to his word, Saeed came up to the table, huffing and puffing, in the middle of a set.
“Can I speak to you outside?” he hissed.
“Why?” she asked.
“Now,” he growled. He reached out to grab her arm, but Austin stopped him. The way he gripped Saeed’s upper arm seemed painful, and the grimace on Saeed’s face also indicated that was the case.
Austin spoke without relaxing his grip. “I think Melody asked you a question, and you’d better answer it if you want her to go anywhere with you.”
“Okay, okay,” he said. “Leggo my arm,” he snarled at Austin. Austin let go. Saeed glared at him before turning his hateful eyes to Melody. “You lied to me.”
“No, I didn’t,” Melody said.
“Yes, you did!” He insisted. They got a few dirty looks from nearby tables and some people shushed them.
“We’ll be right back,” Melody said to Jen and Chad. They nodded. She stood and gathered her clutch. She, Saeed, and Austin went outside.
“If you didn’t lie to me, what is he doing here?” Saeed jerked a thumb in Austin’s direction while looking at Melody. “You’re cutting deals behind my back with that sea witch, Ebony, and don’t you try to deny it.”
Austin spoke up. “The reason I’m here has nothing to do with you, but I will tell you this much. She didn’t lie to you. As far as she knew, I wasn’t coming tonight. You didn’t see me perform, did you?”
Saeed turned to Austin. If he were a cartoon character, there would’ve been dollar signs in his eyes. Saeed said, “But you could perform tonight. We could arrange it.” His eyes pinged back and forth between the two of them. “Exceptions can and will be made tonight. Just say the word. Say you’ll get on stage tonight.”
“No,” Melody said. “He doesn’t want anything to do with New Face.”
“I’m not talking to you,” Saeed said roughly to Melody.
“She’s right,” Austin said, stepping between Saeed and Melody. “After what I’ve seen, after the way you’ve treated Melody, there’s no way I would work with your company.”
“But you haven’t given me any chance to explain.”
“Don’t need to,” Austin said. His eyes were hard and cold as he focused them on Saeed.
“She can have her job back. Just please, come by the office tomorrow. Both of you. Let’s talk.” He looked frantically between the two of them.
“There’s nothing for us to talk about,” Austin said. He turned to Melody. “Ready to go back in?” He held out his arm.
She smiled. “Yeah.” She linked her arm through his, and they walked back inside together, leaving Saeed behind them and speechless for once.
Chapter Forty-Two
Melody met with Ebony for lunch a few days after the showcase. They had lunch at a popular restaurant downtown that Melody’s meager New Face expense account had never led her to.
“You know I’m not the type to mince words or play games,” Ebony said.
Melody nodded and sipped her water. Ebony’s reputation preceded her. “I’ve heard that,” Melody said.
“I know what I want, and I know talent when I see it. You could flourish if given the chance, and at Global, we want to give you that chance. We’re starting up a new sub-label, and we want to focus on the sort of repertoire it seems you were trying to build at New Face. A jazz fusion sound. A little something like Q-Tip meets A Tribe Called Quest. And maybe a little P.M. Dawn. That’s just a basic idea. You’d have complete control over developing artists for the label.”
Melody’s heart beat faster. This seemed too good to be true. She took a deep breath and tried to keep her cool. “Okay,” she said, taking what was carefully contrived to look like a casual glance at her menu before tossing it aside.
“As I’ve already hinted at, we’re looking for someone to head up A&R for this new label, and we want you.”
Speechless, Melody could only nod.
“Do you have any artists in mind?” Ebony asked.
“Actually, I do. Do you remember the man who was with me at the showcase?” Melody asked.
Ebony nodded. “Yes. The blond, right?”
“That’s him.” Melody went on to tell her about Austin while trying not to seem too eager. When she was finished, Ebony said, “Sounds promising. I’ll tell you what. You bring his demo to the Global offices downtown with you tomorrow. That is, if you think you’re interested in talking about a deal. I can let you have a little time to think this over if you need to, but we need to move quickly on this.”
“Yes. I’ll be there tomorrow. Yes,” Melody said. She wanted to scream it from the rooftops, but instead she inquired about exactly what Ebony had in mind as far as Melody’s rights and responsibilities, especially when it came to her freedom in acquiring and developing talent.
#
When Melody got home, she told Austin through kisses how well her meeting had gone with Ebony. Everything had been happening so quickly since the night of the showcase. Life was blowing by at the speed of light.
“Are you even listening to me?” she asked, laughing as he teased her skin with his teeth.
“Of course I am,” he said as he helped her out of her blouse.
“What’d I say then?” she asked.
He pulled off his shirt and tossed it onto the couch. “You said you’re going to make all our dreams come true, and I never doubted you would.” He pulled her to him and lifted her from the ground. “You already did that for me Friday when you opened that door and didn’t slam it back in my face.”
“I thought about slamming it,” she said. She really had. He’d come a little too close to proving to her that she couldn’t rely on anybody but herself.
He grinned briefly. “Yeah, but you didn’t.” He hugged her close. “I’m glad you let me in.”
She pressed her cheek to his chest. “I’m glad I did, too.” She pulled back and looked up at him. “We do need to talk, though.” She grabbed her blouse from the couch and held it to her chest.
“Okay.” His dark green eyes searched her face.
“We haven’t really talked about what we’re doing here. You and me,” Melody said.
“What do you mean by that?”
“You showed up, and we’ve been having amazing sex. And I’m happy that we’re getting your career going and that you figured out what you really want to do. What makes you happy.”
“You make me happy.”
She smiled. “I just think we need to take it a little slower. I’m not sure you know what you really want. In any case, I can’t trust that I’m nit. Not after the way you could just throw me away like you did.”
“But I couldn’t. I was miserable the moment you left.” Pain flickered through his green eyes. “I couldn’t see any peace until I followed you here.”
“How can I trust you won’t run off like that again? Especially when you’ll soon be surrounded by gorgeous women who will want nothing more than to sleep with you,” she said. She’d seen plenty of musicians in action. Not to mention her own greedy ex-husband. What had she ever seen in that man?
“You have nothing to worry about,” Austin said. “The only gorgeous woman I want is right here in front of me. Besides, you can’t be jealous of imaginary groupies when I haven’t even met with these Global people yet.”
“No. I mean…I don’t know what I mean.” She sighed and pressed her head to his shoulder. “I think you should take the spare bedroom for a little while. I need to think about this. We both do. To make sure we’re making the right decision.” She looked up at him. “Is that okay with you?”
He nodded. “If it’s what you need, sure.”
#
At least she didn’t kick me out, Austin thought. He kissed Melody’s bare shoulder. He ran his thumb back and forth over the skin between her should
er blades. It was good news about Global, sure, but nothing could compare to having his Melody back. He’d been so stupid to risk losing her forever while nursing his hurt pride. He wasn’t going to mess it all up again. He would give her space and anything else she asked for, but he planned on ending up with her when all was said and done.
She looked up at him. “You’re so quiet all of a sudden.”
He responded to that by kissing her, letting his lips linger over the soft, full mouth he’d missed so much in just the few days they’d been separated. “I was just wondering if I can take you out to dinner tonight.”
“Of course you can.” She grinned. “I’d like that.”
“Okay. Let me move my things into the guest room and grab a shower. And we’ll go,” he said.
“Sure,” she said. “I’ll go get ready, too.”
He walked to her room and grabbed his things. He checked inside his shaving kit to make sure the black velvet box was safely inside before tucking it under his arm.
He knew he wanted to marry her. He already had the ring—the family heirloom his mother had given him was tucked away in his shaving kit. He just didn’t know when to ask. After the way he’d acted, he wasn’t sure she would take him seriously. She might not believe that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her even though it was the thing he wanted most in the world.
Chapter Forty-Three
Austin and Melody went to a restaurant downtown known for its Southern comfort food—especially the fried chicken. They ordered and sat back sipping their drinks and talking about the meeting coming up with Global. The food she saw going past her on servers’ trays looked good, but the place made her miss Rose’s diner. Once again, she was sad about leaving Sweet Neck behind. At least she had an important part of it back with her.
She smiled and reached across the table for Austin’s hand. He gave it and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles.
“What?” he asked softly.
“Just thinking of how happy I am right now. That you’re here.” Her biggest fear was that it wouldn’t be permanent. He’d been so quick to believe she would betray him without giving her a chance to explain. And then there was the fact that she had no idea what would happen when he got his contract with Global. There was no question in her mind that it was when and not if. Would the celebrity life take him away from her? Maybe it wouldn’t be smart to take anything Austin said seriously. Falling in love with a musician hadn’t gotten her mother far. Not far at all. And falling for a music exec had gotten Melody less far than her mother had gotten.
“It seems like there’s some much more intense thinking than that going on over there.” Austin reached for her other hand, and she laid it against his palm. His big fingers closed over it, engulfing her small hand in his much larger one.
“I think you have some admirers over there,” Melody said both to change the subject and because it was true.
“Who?” Austin raised an eyebrow.
“Those two women sitting to the right of us.” Melody nodded her head subtly in the direction of the women’s table. “They keep looking over here and then giggling and saying something to each other and making these wild hand gestures.” She grinned. “And I don’t think it’s because of me.”
Their food came. After they thanked the server, they started eating. Austin didn’t say anything else about the women. She couldn’t tell if it was because he was much more interested in the food or if the idea of having admirers bothered him. If the latter was the case, he was going to have to get used to it. For a musician, admirers paid the bills.
Later, as the two women were leaving the restaurant, they stopped at Melody and Austin’s table. One was Korean-American and her friend was a redhead. They both seemed a little tipsy.
“Hi. We don’t mean to interrupt your dinner, but we have to ask you something,” the redhead said. She spoke with a faint Jamaican accent. She pushed her red braids back over her shoulders and looked at her friend.
Her friend nodded. “We just had to know—are you Grayson Meadows?”
Austin’s eyes hardened for a moment, and Melody thought he was going to deny it or do something worse like ignore the women or snap at them. Then he composed himself, pasted on a smile, and looked up at them. “Yeah,” he said. “I go by Austin now, though.”
They squealed and turned to each other. “I told you so!” the redhead said to her friend. She turned back to Austin. “I just loved your show. We both did.”
Her friend eagerly agreed.
“We were just wondering…” the friend started to say.
“Could we have a picture with you?” the redhead finished. She whipped out a smart phone. She looked across the table and smiled at Melody.
“Sure,” Austin said. It was clear he’d made their night by their reactions.
“Could you…would you mind taking the picture?” She held out the phone to Melody.
“No problem.” Melody took the phone. The women pressed in on either side of Austin—much closer than was necessary—and Melody took the picture. They then chattered on for a while, eventually asking Austin to sign whatever they could find. He signed a napkin for the redhead and a compact case for her friend. After a little more gushing, they finally said goodbye.
After the women walked away, he put a hand over the lower half of his face and closed his eyes. Melody pulled his hand away from his face and folded hers inside of it. He opened his eyes, and she smiled at him.
“It’s no use.” He heaved a huge sigh. “No matter what I do, I’ll always be Grayson Meadows. I’ll never be able to get rid of him.” He looked up at her with doleful eyes. “Will I?”
“He’ll always be a part of you, yes,” she said. “But just a part. There’s so much to you, Austin. You’re funny, smart, ornery—all sorts of things. And Grayson’s just a part of that. A part you learned from and that makes you the wonderful man I. Well. The wonderful man sitting in front of me.”
“What were you going to say?” He brought the heel of her palm to his lips and kissed it moistly. “The wonderful man you what?”
“There’s no point in denying it, I guess.” Rational thought was hard with his lips pressed against her skin. “I love you, Austin.”
“I love you, too, Melody.” The look he gave her melted her. She almost told him she wanted him to move back into her room.
“But we have to be sure that a relationship is what we both want.” That you won’t get swept away by your new career and the groupies that come with it, or fly off at the handle for something you won’t let me explain and leave me behind. For good this time, she added silently.
“I’m sure it’s what I want,” he said. “I’m just waiting on you.” He kissed the inside of her wrist. “In the meantime, I plan on doing everything in my power to convince you of just how serious I am.”
She could see some serious benefits coming out of that plan.
#
Thursday night, after their meeting with Global, Melody and Austin sprawled out on the floor with takeout from a great Korean place in Duluth. They’d picked up soup, some noodles, and kimbap. Austin sat with his back against the couch, watching Melody who sat across from him. She’d been pretty quiet since the meeting. She’d seemed so far away from him. The one thing she kept stressing was how fast all of this was happening. He’d definitely noticed. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but he could safely say he wasn’t thrilled.
“So what’s our next move, manager?” Austin asked. He popped a kimbap into his mouth. Flavor exploded on his tongue.
“I can’t be your manager. I’m thinking that’s a serious conflict of interest,” she said. “I don’t know what we’re going to do for a manager.”
“That’s what you really want, though, right?” he asked. “You push me to follow my dreams, but you’re going to work under someone else again instead of being your own boss.”
She stared into the bowl of noodles that rested on her lap. “I’m not ready yet. I don�
��t have enough money saved.”
“There’ll always be an excuse. Trust me. That’s one thing I definitely do know. I’m the king of excuses as you well know. You called me on my denial. Now I’m calling you on yours.”
She took a bite of her noodles and took her time chewing. When she was done, she said, “Right now, we need to focus on you. We have to find you a lawyer. The next meeting with Global is coming up quickly. Have you looked through that list of contacts I gave you?”
He stared at the paper that laid on the coffee table where he’d left it right after she gave it to him. “I’ve been trying to find somebody. It’s hard for me to put that much trust in a stranger, though.” The truth was he wasn’t in any particular hurry. The longer he put it off, the longer he didn’t have to think about the fact that everything in his life was about to change again. The last time he’d gone this route, it hadn’t gone well at all. Sure, the circumstances were different this time, but he couldn’t help but think about how big he’d crashed and burned the last time.
“The list of lawyers I gave you are business contacts of mine. These are people I know, Austin. Don’t you trust me?”
“That’s the same question I find myself asking about you,” Austin said. “Do you trust me, Melody?”
Instead of answering him, she looked down at the notes she’d made in the Global meeting. She could be downright infuriating when she wanted to be.
He reached over and put his fingers under her chin. Tilting her head up gently, he forced her to meet his gaze. “We haven’t talked about what’s going to happen between us since that night you asked me to move out of your bedroom. I respect that you’re not willing to jump back into my arms, and that I’ll have to work for it, but I would like to know where I stand with you. Give me some idea of how to go about fighting for you. Which I fully intend to do.”
He kissed the corner of her mouth, and she sighed. It was clear she wanted more. At least he knew she was missing his touch as much as he missed hers. “You’re distracting us from the most important thing right now. We need to find you a lawyer.”