by Brooks, Tori
“I’m serious, Brenda, get her out of here before Jess does something stupid,” the man said.
“I can handle Jess,” the brunette smiled sweetly.
“No. I do not want him injured. Please? Lindsay? Dev gave you a credit card. Just go use it.”
“Alec, I’ve been shopping. Then we had lunch and I got food poisoning for my trouble. I’m not loving Chicago as much this time as last time,” Lindsay protested.
“Go buy lingerie or something. Body oils, handcuffs, I don’t know or care. You just can’t be here. Go. Shoo!” He waved her off.
“Fine. I’m going to go buy a wig and come back in disguise,” Lindsay told him. She stopped when she saw Paige. Brenda wasn’t paying attention and bumped into her when Lindsay stopped suddenly.
“What?” Brenda asked.
“Hold on,” Lindsay told her.
“Lindsay, you were leaving,” Alec reminded her.
“Yeah,” Lindsay called over her shoulder. She watched Paige for a moment then sighed. “Here for Kenny or Jess?”
“Kenny.”
“Better choice.” Lindsay nodded. “I’m Lindsay, Dev’s girlfriend. He gave me the heads-up last night. Jess and Kenny kind of hate me, but it’s mutual, so it’s all good.” Lindsay held out her hand and Paige shook it in surprise.
Releasing her hand, Lindsay called back over her shoulder to Alec again. “Hey, Kenny’s got someone here to see him. I strongly suggest you send her back.”
“Why?” Alec asked.
“Trust me.” With that Lindsay left with Brenda, who Paige assumed to be Bryan’s wife, following close behind. Paige watched them go then looked to Alec for direction.
“I don’t trust her. Not as far as I can throw her. She’s good with Dev though. As good as Bryan at handling him.” Alec stared at her for a moment, then sighed. “I know something happened last night, but damned if I can get details. Fine. Come on.”
Paige followed him through a door and they were buzzed through another one into a long, dimly-lit room with glass along one wall.
It was like looking at an exhibit in an aquarium. The walls were dark in both rooms and the lights in the other room let Paige focus immediately on the figures in the glass ‘tank’ in front of her.
She took a tentative step toward the glass, watching Kenny lightly fingering his guitar.
“Paige?” Jess’s familiar voice caught her attention, and she looked over to find his surprised face watching her. Guiltily, she glanced back at Kenny, who now noticed her presence as well.
“I shouldn’t have trusted Lindsay,” Alec muttered behind her. “She was just getting even with Kenny and Jess for making her life hell, wasn’t she?”
“Maybe,” Paige agreed. She wasn’t willing to make an enemy out of Dev’s girlfriend quite yet, after all, Lindsay got her back here. She was going to have to face Jess sooner or later.
“So are we calling a time out?” Jess asked, already pulling the headphones off and sliding off the tall stool he was only partially sitting on.
“Freeze,” Kenny ordered and, looking toward a tech in the sound booth, made a slicing motion across his neck before turning toward Jess.
“You didn’t see that,” Alec directed. Paige looked behind her at him, thinking that was an odd thing to say, but saw Alec was looking at a tech sitting in a dark corner in front of her. The tech nodded.
“Jess, the same rules as last night apply today,” Kenny continued, apparently unaware of what was happening in the sound booth. Paige turned to watch, smiling at Kenny as if she were waiting for him and couldn’t hear a word he was saying.
“Oh, you’re good,” Alec whispered.
“Need someone to help you manage Kenny like Lindsay helps with Dev?”
“Kenny’s not bad, usually, but I wouldn’t say no.”
“Kenny,” Jess said, setting down his headphones.
“You weren’t serious about that statement about Cassie. You haven’t even talked to Paige. It won’t happen, Jess.”
“First of all, I don’t get Cassie. You think I don’t know that? Second –” Jess broke off and sat on the stool again, knocking the headphones onto the floor in the process. Behind him, Dev exhaled loudly.
“Dev, that better not have been a sigh of relief,” Jess called over his shoulder.
“It won’t last. It’s just nice to dream,” Dev answered. Behind the drums, Bryan quietly laughed.
“What?” Jess demanded.
“Talk to Kenny,” Dev answered.
Jess eyed Kenny silently. “You and Paige?”
“Maybe. The opening round looked promising. Is it going to be a problem?” Kenny asked. He took off his guitar and stood it in a nearby stand.
“What happened to the ‘she’s off limits because she’s wearing a sash’ speech?”
“She’s a temp,” Kenny said. Paige almost lost her composure at the slam, but forced herself not to give any sign that she heard the slight against her title. “Once she retires the crown, the rules change.”
“And then?”
“Look deeper than the fuck-me pumps, Jess. She has a brain. You don’t know how to play for more than a one night stand and I got the impression that’s not what she’s looking for. Or will be some time next year. If I’m wrong, I’ll give her your number.”
Jess paused and Paige felt it took him forever to consider Kenny’s argument.
“Good luck,” Jess said with a nod.
“Thanks,” Kenny said. He walked past Jess, patting his shoulder on the way by, and came into the sound booth where Paige waited.
“I really didn’t expect to see you today,” Kenny said.
“I’m sorry for just dropping by. I didn’t mean to cause trouble with Jess. Why didn’t you just mention that I know a lot of other beauty contestants? Won’t he want hook ups?”
Kenny froze. “You heard all that?”
Paige smiled. “Every word. So is it all worked out or will there be an encore?”
Alec laughed, earning a warning look from Kenny.
“Show’s over. We’re fine.” Kenny glanced through the glass at Dev and Jess.
“You’re not convincing,” Paige smiled, reaching over to tuck a strand of his hair behind his ear. It was longer than on their last album cover and she wondered what prompted the change.
“Hmm? Oh, it’s nothing.” Kenny returned his attention to her guiltily. Paige didn’t know what it was, but it wasn’t nothing. The mysterious Cassie, she’d bet. Now wasn’t the time to pry into that, she hadn’t established enough trust yet.
“All right. I’ll let that slide,” she said, reaching into her purse and pulling out a calling card. Most people didn’t bother anymore with such antiquated ideas as calling cards, but Paige liked them. They were handy sometimes. She handed it to Kenny, who looked at it in surprise.
“I wanted to invite you to dinner,” she explained.
“I thought you couldn’t date.”
“I can’t. But Sundays are my own time, usually. And it’s just me and my mother at home, although she makes herself scarce when I ask. You won’t even see her. The servants will be there, but they signed non-disclosure agreements.”
Kenny didn’t say anything, he just looked at her as if he was undecided.
“Are you going to make me beg?” Paige asked, repeating his question from last night.
“Would you? I can’t picture it,” Kenny responded automatically.
Paige smiled. “Please? Early dinner. How about six? Then we have all night to talk.”
“This isn’t playing with fire?” Kenny asked.
“It’s probably safer than talking with you for as long as I did on the yacht.”
Finally, with a nod, Kenny consented. “All right. Although I think you’re taking a big risk.”
“I’m not. I’ll explain it tomorrow,” Paige promised with a smile. “Just you though. No flowers, no bottle of wine, box of chocolates, nothing. Okay?”
“Do you even eat chocolate?�
� Kenny asked with a smile.
Paige looked affronted. “Of course. I pay dearly for it though, so not often.”
○ ○ ○
Kenny wasn’t intimidated by Paige living in a mansion. He did his homework after meeting her on the yacht. Her family’s money originated in shipping, then tobacco farming, but they moved north after the Civil War and returned to shipping, then a brewery, then back to shipping until prohibition ended. If you dug a little deeper to get specific dates, read between the lines, and remembered your history, it was sordid and colorful. Now they owned magazines, printed magazines. Kenny wondered if they were going to return to shipping. Piracy was profitable in Indonesia and the Indian Ocean. Besides, who bought physical magazines anymore?
What her family did made little difference to him. They didn’t seem to be a particularly loyal bunch either, but Kenny didn’t have to deal with them tonight. It was Paige he was interested in. He rang the doorbell, patting the plastic box in his front slacks pocket with a single rose bud in it. She said no flowers, it wasn’t technically a date after all, but he cheated.
Paige answered the door herself, something Kenny wouldn’t have counted on. She gave him a smile that lit up her face. At that moment, with the sun casting a warm glow on her combined with her natural radiance, Kenny felt he would have given anything to have her. That it’d be a year before he could even think of it was depressing almost beyond measure.
“Come in,” Paige said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. “I’m really glad you came.”
Kenny laughed at her excitement as he followed her. She led him through the entry, the living room, and out into the conservatory where a romantic candlelit table was set by an old brass and marble fountain. The drops of water hitting the pieces of brass on the fountain got Kenny’s attention: the fountain was out of tune.
He shrugged off his annoyance with the fountain as he found Paige unexpectedly in his arms.
The sensation of someone behind him made the hair on Kenny’s neck tingle, souring the moment. He reluctantly pulled away from Paige to look. An elderly man in a suit ignored them as he transferred covered platters from a cart to the table.
“Don’t worry about Jeeves,” Paige said, putting a hand on Kenny’s cheek and gently forcing him to face her again.
“His name is Jeeves? You’re kidding.” Kenny turned to look again.
“Yes. Well, no. I don’t remember what his name really is. Preston and I started calling him Jeeves ages ago, when we were little. Uncle Albert started it, actually, and it just stuck.”
Kenny wondered what Jeeves thought about that.
“Come eat. Roberta is a wonderful cook.” Paige took Kenny’s hand and led him over to the table. He started to sit, then stood again when the plastic box in his front box made it difficult.
“What is it?” Paige asked. Alarm in her voice made Kenny stop in his effort to dig the small box out of his pants and look at her. She would probably be embarrassed to know her anxiety was so plain on her face, but it amused him. For all her family history, money, and title, underneath it Paige was behaving more and more like a fan. He wouldn’t have guessed she’d be affected by his fame.
He freed the small plastic box from his pocket and handed it to her. “I know you said not to bring flowers, this isn’t really a date. But I smuggled in a little one anyway,” Kenny said.
Paige took the box, and looked at the tiny pink rose bud through the clear plastic with a smile. “It’s adorable. I sort of feel like it’s prom now.”
Kenny laughed. Technically the rose would count as a boutonnière, not a corsage, and a small one even for that, but he could see her point.
Dinner was delicious, conversation was casual. Paige seemed upset to learn Kenny was only in town a couple more days before leaving on their European tour. They finished recording already, she was lucky to catch them at the studio at all on Saturday. They were just touching up some things. Jess and Bryan were gone as of tonight. Kenny and Dev stayed behind to mix the songs.
He didn’t know what to think that Paige listened to all this with a medley of interest, acceptance, and something Kenny couldn’t yet identify. Jess once said if a woman was listening but you couldn’t figure out what else she was doing, she was planning. He said on the whole it wasn’t usually a good thing. Taking the source of that advice into account, Kenny considered Paige’s behavior so far.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Paige said looking at him through long eyelashes. Kenny knew that trick, but recognizing it didn’t make it any less effective. He realized he was spending too much time thinking about her and not enough time holding up his end of the conversation.
“Thinking about you actually,” Kenny said, deciding to just be honest and see where that took them.
“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me!” The furious exclamation from behind Paige made her jump and knock her wine glass off the table, shattering the fragile glass and spilling white wine on the marble floor. She looked at the glass, then turned to look at the man behind her. The man that looked remarkably like her, Kenny saw. Her brother, he assumed.
Paige stood with one hand on the back of her chair and the other on the table. Kenny wasn’t sure how unsteady she was, so he stood as well and moved around the table behind her. He put one hand over hers on the table to let her know he was there as a show of support.
“What are you doing here?” Paige asked her brother.
“Visiting Mom. What are you doing? I agreed to let you handle things for Mom’s sake, but ...” Preston gestured toward Kenny. “God, you’re just determined to go from the frying pan to the fire, aren’t you?”
“Preston, you know what? Just stay out of my business.”
“The thing is, what you do affects the family business. I’d love to just to stay out of it; let you sink or swim on your own. But you mentioned Alastair and the merger, and it got me thinking. I spoke with Hale and wouldn’t you know? Al told his daddy on you. Seems there needs to be a reckoning, Paige.”
Kenny caught Paige, putting his hands on her waist to hold her steady as she took an uneasy step back into him. She shook slightly, bringing up an all too familiar feeling in Kenny. He stared at Preston and pushed memories of his own father’s indiscretions from his mind.
“I’ll talk to Al,” Paige said. “I’ll fix it. Hale doesn’t need to get involved. It’s none of his business.”
Preston shook his head and laughed derisively. “You honestly believe that? I don’t. Hale doesn’t. Al clearly doesn’t because he told Hale to begin with. He was upset enough to go running to his dad with a fifth of Jack for a shoulder to cry on. I was going to take it to Mom after all and not specifically say what you did, just that we had a problem. We need to be proactive.
“Given everything that’s going on,” Preston gestured again to Kenny, “do you really think now is the time for you to start dating again?
“No offense,” he added, finally actually looking at Kenny but sparing him little more than a passing glance. Preston thought he was a prop, Kenny realized, while Paige originally thought he was –what? The answer to her problem? Until she decided she might not have a problem. Now he was something else.
Kenny didn’t have time to analyze what might be on Paige’s mind, her brother was sparing him more than just a passing glance after all. Kenny recognized the concerned scrutiny Preston bestowed on him now. It was the ‘I’ve seen you somewhere but for the life of me I can’t remember where’ look. He got it often when he wasn’t with Jess or Dev and ran into people who would certainly recognize one of them. Kenny could introduce himself and resolve the problem, but Preston was being an ass. Kenny decided he’d rather let him flounder for a bit.
“You’re in that band,” Preston said finally, pointing an accusing finger at Kenny. “The one on the charity cruise. I read about you in the paper – there was something about you weren’t even planned, you were just in town. You bought tickets – expensive tickets – then went on TV and the radio
and announced you were all excited about the event. The cruise sold out two hours later and there was a waiting list. They actually had scalpers for charity tickets because of you.”
“It was for a good cause.” Kenny gave him a tight smile while mentally cursing Dev. At the moment he couldn’t for the life of him remember what the charity even was.
“Is that where you met Paige? Drawn to a damsel in distress?”
Kenny laughed softly. “She’ll land on her feet just fine. We met on the cruise though, yes.”
“Kenny did me the favor of keeping the lead singer of his band from ruining my reputation by merely looking longingly my direction,” Paige explained. She turned her back on her twin, sweeping Kenny’s hand in hers in the process, but hiding it with the angle of her hip. Kenny saw the glint of moisture in her eyes and nodded in agreement.
“Jess didn’t mean any harm and most women enjoy his company. Although Paige isn’t most women and he needed a reminder.” Kenny met Preston’s eyes and held his eyes slightly too long for the statement to be truly casual.
Preston nodded. “Then you did my sister a favor and I appreciate it.” He smiled, but it lacked any sincerity. “Paige, can you run and tell Mom that I’ll be up in a minute? She’s bound to be wondering by now. I’d like just a moment with – I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
“Kenny Wright.” Kenny held out his hand and was almost surprised when Preston shook it.
“Why can’t you just go yourself? You don’t need to spend time –” Paige began.
“No offense, sis, but shoo. You’re not in a position to rock the boat.” Preston motioned with his hand to brush her off, never taking his eyes off Kenny.
Kenny squeezed her hand then cast her off. He was curious what Preston wanted. Paige hesitated, but finally gave Kenny’s hand a squeeze in return and walked off. Both men watched her before turning their attention back to each other.
“What’s your relationship with my sister?” Preston asked without preamble.
