We were at the hotel in the meeting room we’d had set up as a lounge for the after-party, having left the festival shortly after Zen Garden’s encore. We had planned to leave earlier, but the guys wanted to watch the whole show. We’d still made it here first, though, and were now hanging out and eating hors d’oeuvres while we waited for Billy and his band to wrap and join us.
The guys’ energy was high after such a great concert, but at the same time, the vibe in the room was bittersweet as everyone thought it was going to be Dave’s last.
“You do know how it’s going to go down,” Sandy said. “Either it will go perfectly, or it will go fubar.”
“That’s reassuring,” I said dryly.
She shrugged. “Just remember, no matter how it goes, you can always distract yourself with a Zen Garden. Rake some sand; restore your chakras or whatever. I know I’m going to.” Then she winked.
“You’re terrible,” I said with a laugh. “That’s not even a good joke. But I love you anyway.”
“I know,” she said and then her body stiffened as she glanced at the door. “Oh, I think they’re here. Be cool.”
Right, like that was a possibility, I thought.
Our security guy was nodding at the middle-aged couple who were standing at the door. The handsome man with striking blue eyes was dressed in a crisp, white button-down shirt with the neck open, tucked into a pair of khakis. The woman beside him was in new-looking jeans and a pretty pink blouse, her short blond hair styled perfectly. They looked stiff, like they didn’t do causal very often, or maybe it was because of where they were.
“Mr. and Mrs. Davidson,” I said, welcoming them with a big smile, intentionally blocking them from the room, not wanting them to be noticed until I had greeted them. “I’m Vanessa Capri, I’m so glad you could come.”
“Thank you for inviting us,” Mr. Davidson said, shaking my hand vigorously.
“Did you enjoy the concert?”
“Very much,” he said and then turned to his wife, beaming a smile at her. “Didn’t we?”
She nodded as she fingered her necklace nervously but abruptly stopped when she realized it was her turn for a handshake. “Nice to meet you,” she said. “And thank you for getting in touch with us. I...I have to admit, I am a little surprised. I don’t think either of us realized how big this band was. When our son told us he was signing on, I thought this was just a small, regional thing. I...” She shook her head, her hand lifting to the necklace again as she seemed to lose what she was going to say.
I opened my mouth to try to plead my case about why Dave needed to stay with the band, but never got the chance.
“Mom? Dad?” Crap, I thought as Dave came up beside me, making me realize I should have waited for them out in the hall. “What are you doing here?” Then he looked over at me. “Nessa? What’s going on?”
I cleared my throat as I figured I may as well get it out now, since he was unlikely to murder me in front of all these people, especially his parents. “I invited them. I wanted them to see how talented you are.”
He blinked at me several times before he turned back to his parents. “Wait. You were at the concert?”
His mother’s eyes were filled with tears as she nodded.
“We were,” Mr. Davidson said. “Though we wish you had invited us, we were amazed that you...how talented...how did we never know how amazingly talented you are?”
Dave’s eyes flicked apologetically to his mother, which said everything about why he’d kept it to himself.
“Me,” she said with a sigh as she wiped at her tears with her fingers. I reached over to the buffet table and grabbed a napkin, handing it to her. She nodded in thanks and then dabbed at her eyes, saying. “It’s my fault because of my father. You kept this all a secret from us because of him.”
Dave was frowning, emotion raw on his face. “Not all of it,” he said. “I didn’t keep all of it a secret. You knew I was playing with the band.”
His mother nodded. “Yes, but only the barest of details. I...we,” she corrected as she glanced over at her husband. “...never knew you were so good. I think you hid that from us on purpose.”
Dave’s head dropped, which was as much of an admission as if he’d said so.
“But you spoke to my father—Tony,” I said, “Before the tour.”
Mr. Davidson nodded. “Yes. But that was to reassure us that this wouldn’t be a big excuse to party. I don’t think there was mention of all this, the magnitude...”
“I was just supposed to be filling in,” Dave said with a shrug.
“What you did tonight,” his mother said, her voice reedy as more tears pooled in her eyes and overflowed. “He would have been so proud. He would have loved that so much.”
A sniff escaped Dave as he nodded, and I knew that was my cue to push them all out into the hall before what was supposed to be a friendly reunion became a big emotional scene, drawing the attention of the other guys.
“Why don’t you finish this conversation outside,” I said, pressing a palm to Dave’s back to gently guide him out into the quiet back hallway of the hotel’s conference wing that didn’t seem to get much use after business hours.
The three of them shuffled out without argument, leaving me to trust that my meddling would produce the result I was hoping for.
“What’s going on?” my father said, sidling up to me with a plate of apps in his hand. I plucked a cherry tomato off his plate and popped it into my mouth, chewing it before I said, “Dave’s...I mean, Will’s parents are here.”
His eyebrows went up. “And since this is the first I’m hearing of it, I presume this is your doing? The second half of your surprise to go along with that stunt at the concert?”
“Maybe,” I said wryly.
He looked out toward the door, but Dave and his parents had moved away so he couldn’t see. “Going okay?”
“Better than okay, I think.”
“That was a risk.” He picked up a carrot stick and swirled it through the puddle of dip on his plate.
“A calculated one,” I responded, not letting on how very nervous I’d been.
“You shouldn’t have done this. Especially not on your own.”
I didn’t let on that Sandy had helped a little. As his daughter, he had to forgive me. “I didn’t think you’d be on board,” I said “I’ll beg forgiveness now. And before he gets here with the Zen Garden guys, I should tell you that Billy knew, obviously, as he had his guys go along with it, but he wasn’t happy about it. I told him I’d take the heat, though, so don’t be mad at him.”
My father’s mouth turned up into a smirk. “I won’t. I know how persistent you can be—I actually feel bad for him.”
I smiled, not bothering to tell him how little convincing Billy had needed when I’d explained what I wanted to do.
He looked up at the door again. “So this plan of yours...think it’ll work?”
I shrugged. “No idea. Only time will tell.”
With another nod, he turned to smile at me. “Well, I don’t like how you did it, especially since you kept me in the dark. But even if it doesn’t work, thank you for trying.”
Then he smacked my hand before I could steal another one of his tomatoes.
A little while later, Billy and the rest of Zen Garden arrived. The guys ate and mingled, playfully trash talking each other while it was obvious they all respected each other as musicians and now, as friends.
When they realized Dave wasn’t around, my dad explained that he was taking a bit of time with his parents, but that he’d be back, so everyone just accepted that and carried on.
It didn’t take long for Sandy to get herself a seat on the couch between Ted and Eddie and when I caught her eye from the buffet table and lifted an eyebrow, she patted the sofa cushion next to her, implying I should come sit between her and Eddie.
I just shook my head. But then five minutes later, when I was tired of anxiously glancing out into the hallway, waiting for Dave
to return, I headed over and wedged myself into the spot.
Sandy patted my thigh. “So we’re the meat in an Edward sandwich, what do you think of that?”
“Huh?” I said staring at her, wondering if someone had brought booze to the party.
She rolled her eyes and pointed at the two guys in turn. “Edward and Edward.”
Ted, whose full name was obviously Edward, chuckled as I cringed. “Sandy, that joke is even too lame for you.”
She leaned into Ted and said, “My Edward thought it was funny.”
I wasn’t so sure, but he gave her an indulgent smile. I ignored that she’d called him her Edward, not wanting to touch that with a ten-foot pole.
“Hey,” Eddie (who was most definitely not my Edward) said, smiling down at me. “Good turn you did for Will earlier.”
I nodded, resisting the urge to look at the door again. “I think so.”
“He played that song like it’s in his soul,” he said.
“I think it is in his soul. But playing it on stage was good for him—a great tribute to his grandfather. Thanks for playing along, by the way.” Since I’d arranged it all with Billy, I hadn’t had a chance to thank the guys.
“Of course,” Eddie said with a smile and as I looked up at him, I smiled back, his hazel eyes crinkling at the corners. God, he has nice eyes, I noticed suddenly.
And then he gave me a slow wink.
All the contempt I had for musicians that had faded in the last few days came rushing back, because seriously? Was this guy blatantly hitting on me in this brightly-lit room full of people that included my father? I was about to get up, when he grunted. “Uh, sorry. Something in my eye.”
As I watched, he squinted and blinked, finally able to extricate the something. He let out a relieved sigh. “Stupid eyelash,” he said, holding up a finger topped with the offending tiny hair. “Amazing how something so tiny can create such a problem.”
“No kidding,” I muttered.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I said, not wanting to have to explain to him why I was anti-eyelash.
He held his finger up in front of me. “Want to make a wish?”
I glanced at the door and then back at the eyelash before I made my wish and, once I nodded, together we blew it off his finger.
“So,” he said a moment later. “How long have you worked for your dad?”
“Not long,” I said, “I’m just filling in for his tour manager, there was an accident right before tour and she hurt her—”
Sandy laughed really loudly at something then, jostling into me, which pushed me into Eddie. “Oh, sorry,” I said, steadying myself to keep from head-butting him.
He glanced down at where my palm was still on his chest and then looked up at my face, cocking his head as he lifted his eyebrows.
“Gah! Sorry again,” I blurted as I quickly removed my hand.
He seemed to take my inappropriate touching as some sort of signal. “It’s getting crowded in here,” he said, his eyes narrowing a little as he looked down at me through the many lashes he still had left.
I thought about what Sandy had said about finding a distraction amid the Zen Garden guys and I had to admit, in that moment, I was not averse to using their lead singer for just that purpose. It had been a long, busy stretch on tour and finding a little alone time with a hot rock star—one that I didn’t share a bus with—suddenly sounded very appealing.
“Want to get some air?” I said impulsively.
He smiled and nodded as we both stood. I glanced around the room, glad that my father was facing the other way as he, Billy, and a few other guys from the Zen Garden crew sat together, talking and laughing, so he wouldn’t notice me stepping out.
We were halfway to the door when I began to have a change of heart. I wasn’t Sandy. I didn’t really want a distraction. I was just about to turn to tell Eddie I’d changed my mind when Dave came into the room
“Oh hey,” I said, looking past him only to see he was alone. “Where are your parents?”
“They left,” he said, not seeming to notice that Eddie and I were standing together. “But uh, can I talk to you for a minute?”
I glanced over at Eddie, who just shrugged and sidestepped over toward the food table. “Sure,” I said, secretly relieved as I turned my back on Eddie. “What’s up?”
“In private,” Dave said, nodding over his shoulder toward the door.
I nodded and followed him out to the hallway, thinking he’d stop just outside the meeting room, but he didn’t. “Down here,” he said as he continued. “It’s too noisy there.”
My heart started to race as I began to worry that he was taking me somewhere private to freak out about what I’d done and I suddenly wished for a more public arena. Not that I thought he would hurt me, but now I was second-guessing how well I’d thought the night had gone for him. A simple ‘thank you’ didn’t require privacy.
He pushed open a door to a meeting room at the end of the hall and held it open for me. I ducked past him and he followed me in, pulling the door closed. It was a small boardroom, most of the lights off except some overhead pot lights that had been dimmed, reminding me of a dark Italian restaurant.
I laughed nervously as I turned toward him. “Is this supposed to be romantic—”
Dave’s mouth landing on mine halted me mid-sentence. I was about to pull away in surprise, but his hands came to my cheeks and something in my brain short circuited.
He made a humming noise in his throat that did something to my insides—incinerating all thought and reason as his lips moved against my mouth. I inhaled his scent, both familiar and exciting as it enveloped me. Then his tongue was there, tasting my lips until I opened and deepened the kiss, my eyes rolling back as I allowed myself to savor what I’d wanted to finish since the photo shoot in Times Square.
My hands snaked around his warm neck, pulling him closer against me until we were pressed together.
“Wait, Nessa,” he said, pulling back.
I followed him, desperate for it not to be over.
“Wait,” he said again, his hands on my shoulders holding me back. “I...Damn. I didn’t mean to do that.” He rested his forehead against mine, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling as he breathed hard.
“What’s happening?” I asked, my brain fuzzy from the kissing. Then I realized: kissing. We shouldn’t be kissing. But oh, God, the kissing.
He exhaled and his eyes fluttered open. He pulled his head back to look down at me. “I’m sorry. That was so not what I brought you here for.”
“No?” I asked, unable to hide my disappointment.
“No,” he said. “I wanted to thank you. For the concert, for my parents—I know it was you who orchestrated everything.”
I nodded. “You’re welcome.”
“But...why?”
I tilted my head. “What do you mean?”
“Why did you go through all the trouble?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
The way he stared at me told me that no, he wasn’t kidding.
“We’re friends,” I explained, almost insulted that he didn’t get it. “You said you wanted to play with your grandfather. I...well, obviously I couldn’t make that happen, but maybe the next best thing?”
He nodded, his eyes so intense on mine that I had to look down.
“But my parents?”
“I wanted to show them how good you are when you were too chicken to.”
“Chicken?”
I looked up at him into his narrowed eyes. “You were throwing an opportunity away.”
He crossed his arms. “You did all this just to keep me in the band?”
“Not all of it. The Legion Thunder thing I did for you. Even if you didn’t stay, I wanted you to have that.”
His lip quivered for a second before he dropped his chin to his chest.
“Thank you,” he said and then, “You’re right, though, I was too chicken to show
them.”
He took a breath and looked away from me. “But I’m glad they came. They’re proud of me.”
“Of course they are,” I said, incredulous. “You’re a freaking rock star.”
He snorted and then looked back at me. “Because of you.”
“No,” I said. “Because of you. I just shined a light on you, that’s all.”
“Well, if it wasn’t for you, none of it would have happened, so will you let me thank you?”
I rolled my eyes. “Sure, buy me a Hallmark card or something.”
He smiled and then as we looked at each other for a long moment, one that should have been weird, but for some reason wasn’t, he worked his jaw and then said, “Am I crazy or is there something real between us? I mean, I know I’ve been accused of falling too hard, too quickly, so maybe I’m not the best judge, but this feels...”
“Different,” I finished for him.
“More,” he added.
I nodded. Because it was different, more, like nothing I’d experienced before. Kissing Andy had been fun and I’d gotten caught up in it, but this, this felt...epic, intoxicating.
Just to be sure, I grabbed his head and pulled him down again, losing myself in him the second our lips touched. His hands came to my hips, tugging me against him until I began to have real concerns about my knees buckling. Kissing Andy had been nice, but this, this was what kissing was really supposed to feel like.
“Nessa,” he groaned against my mouth.
“Okay,” I said, as I pulled back, breathless. “Yeah. Definitely different.”
He nodded.
“For you, too, right? This isn’t you being a sap, getting all hearts and flowers?”
He leaned in again, brushing his lips over mine, his tongue lingering on my mouth. “Yes. No flowers, but maybe hearts. This is...wow. God, Nessa.”
“Wait,” I said, pressing a palm against his chest, feeling the thumping of his racing heart. “We can’t do this.”
“You’re right,” he said, pushing his hand through is hair as he glanced toward the door. “Someone’s going to come looking for us.”
“No, I mean we can’t be together,” I said, feeling like I was having déjà vu, except this time with him, it felt a lot harder to get the words out.
Going on Tour Page 21