“So, have you always ridden horses?” His tone seemed sincere and she felt herself relaxing. Talking about her passion was easy and natural.
“I have been showing since I was five but I was practically born on a horse.” she giggled, recalling the story her father told her of how her mother’s water actually broke while she was riding.
“So you’ve always known you wanted to ride?”
“Yes. It is as natural to me as breathing. I’m happiest when I’m around my horses, I feel complete with them.” she sighed.
“I’m surprised to hear you say that. Would your husband be offended to hear you say that?”
She knew he had been teasing but she felt herself bristle. “Kip has no concern for my feelings or what I do.”
“I’m sorry, Rebecca. I didn’t mean anything by that.”
She sighed and took another sip of wine. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t let my personal life interfere with my business.”
“Yet we always do. I believe everything we experience reflects in all of our choices and actions. I couldn’t have written most of my songs if I hadn’t gone through them in my personal life. It’s what makes us who we are.” he said softly.
Rebecca thought she heard a little remorse in his voice and wondered what he had experienced to put it there. Luckily, their lunch came and they were both distracted by the vast array of food that was placed before them.
“I didn’t know what you ate so I ordered one of everything. So many people now are vegetarians so I tried to cover my bases.” he laughed
She found herself caught up in his laughter and felt completely at ease with him. “I’m not a vegetarian but admit I had a fruit salad just a couple hours ago. The chicken looks divine if you don’t want it.” She smiled
“Please, be my guest but you have to try the prime rib, too. It’s not only visually appeasing, it’s absolutely succulent.”
Rebecca choked on her first bite of chicken. She wasn’t positive but she thought he wasn’t talking about just the meat.
Chapter Four
They made small talk while eating their meals and Rebecca enjoyed sampling every plate. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever imagine that she would be dining in a five-star restaurant, trying every course on the menu, sipping exquisite wine with a famous singer. It was thrilling and surreal, all at the same time. When they finished, Luke ordered a second bottle of wine and they sat back, enjoying the company and the conversation. Luke went back to asking her questions about her ranch and her desire, honestly appearing interested.
She wasn’t sure if it was the wine or him, but she felt oddly at ease and told her story openly, finding herself often lost in those gorgeous green eyes. She felt sparks of desire flash through her body when his dimpled smile appeared throughout her story. She flushed with embarrassment when she lost her train of thought as he laughed at one of her descriptions and he had to remind her where she had left off.
Her ringing phone startled her and she fumbled to turn it off, briefly seeing Kip’s name appear on the screen.
“Please don’t ignore your call because of me. I understand you have a business to run and I’ve already monopolized the last three hours of your time.” His smooth voice warmed her body like a well-aged whiskey.
“Thank you, Mr. Grayson but this trip is about you. Everyone else can wait until I’ve convinced you that we could both benefit from my proposition.”
Very fluidly, he leaned forward on the table, linking his fingers, his eyes focused on hers. “Well then, Rebecca, I’m interested in hearing your pitch. However, I have a studio meeting I need to get to in thirty minutes. Would you care to accompany me? It shouldn’t take more than an hour, then we have the rest of the evening to go over your pitch, no rush.”
Rebecca felt her heart pounding, unable to take her eyes off of his. The little voice in her head told her it wasn’t a good idea, this man made her head swim, but the rest of her body ignored the voice. Her eyes were lost in his, her heart beat faster and the warmth in her body continued to grow in her lower extremities. Her head was nodding before she heard her voice agree.
“Great!” he stood up, smiling and holding out his hand for her. “My car is around back. I can have it take you back to your hotel when we’re all done. I assume you took a taxi to get here?”
“I did. This is the first time I’ve been to L.A. and I didn’t trust myself to rent a car.”
“Perfect. Shall we go then?”
She slipped her hand into his, trying to ignore the spark that shot through her when they touched. He brought her back into the long hallway but instead of turning and going through the restaurant the way she came in, he turned the opposite way and strode down the hall. Opening the exit door to the bright sunshine outside, she saw a black Lincoln with tinted windows sitting at the curb, waiting for them. Luke opened the back door and ushered her inside. The soft cool leather enveloped her and she felt herself sink down into the cushions. He quickly slid in beside her, his long legs resting against hers as he told the driver where to head to.
She started to explain why she wanted his song when he very tenderly put a finger to her lips to silence her. “No disrespect, Rebecca but I want to hear everything that you have to say, without interruption, but unfortunately we are almost at my studio. After this meeting, I promise you will have my complete and utter attention.”
She flushed at the feeling of his skin against her lips and felt an overwhelming urge to nibble on his fingers. Her body felt overheated and her limbs felt heavy, as if she were drunk and she tried to focus on the subject at hand. “Of course, how forward of me, I apologize.” she stammered.
He smiled and as he moved his hand away, letting his thumb lightly caress her cheek. “No need to apologize. There’s nothing wrong with ambition and pride in your work. I find it admirable.” He stared into her eyes a moment longer before he opened the car door and stepped out, once again holding his hand out for hers.
She took it, glad for the distraction and being able to put some distance between them. She swore to herself under her breath that she had better get it together. While he had stared into her eyes, she had been drawn into the depths of them and caught herself leaning in to kiss him.
Losing her mind, that’s what was happening. All this sea air and the glamour was making her absolutely insane. She was here to pitch her idea to this musician, who happened to be famous, loved by millions and probably desired by just as many. And who was she? A simple horse rancher, definitely not world renown or lusted after. He must have women throwing themselves at his feet. She needed to focus on what brought her here, her future with her horses, especially now that she knew her marriage was ending. Her heart dropped at the thought of Kip, and she felt a slight panic as she realized she would have to hire a divorce attorney and all of the subsequent costs that would probably accrue. She needed this to happen with Grayson’s music more than ever, her ranch depended on it.
“Rebecca, are you all right? I seem to have lost you there.” Luke asked teasingly.
She smiled at him as she got out of the car, forcing herself to ignore the heat and sparks she felt coming from their touch. “Yes, fine, thank you. Just going over figures in my head.” she explained.
He frowned slightly before placing his hand on her lower back to guide her in the right direction. “Do you always have a one-track mind or do you ever just let yourself loose and play?”
“I play!” she stammered, surprised by his question.
He smirked as he opened a side door and guided her in. “When was the last time you played?”
“I played just before I flew out here.” she stated.
“I meant without your horses, something not work related. And be honest.”
She chewed at her bottom lip trying to remember a time but was only able to recall her and Kip’s honeymoon. Even then, they had both worked on their laptops from the beach in Florida and had actually cut their trip short by three days, both anxious to get b
ack to their work.
“I take it from your silence that you can’t recall anything?” He teased as he stopped in front of a glass office door and grabbed the handle but didn’t open the door. He turned and faced her instead, his face inches from hers.
“We may just have to rectify that while you’re here, Rebecca.”
Her name came out in almost a whisper and she felt his warm, sweet breath flow across her face. She involuntarily licked her bottom lip as she gulped. He hesitated a moment longer before opening the door and stepping aside to allow her to enter first.
She managed to cross the threshold without stumbling and entered a huge room that was separated in the middle by a large glass wall. On the far side of the room, she could see a large piano, several microphones and various types of guitars. On the side that they’d entered, there were several chairs, a large leather sofa along the side wall and a huge table of sorts, with thousands of levers and knobs that were lit up like Rockefeller Plaza’s Christmas tree. Two men were sitting at the long table, moving and adjusting some of the controls but turned to face Luke when they heard him clear his voice.
“Boys, this is Rebecca Gordon. She’s going to be sitting in for our hour together. Rebecca, these are the boys.”
They smiled at her and nodded their heads before turning back to their sparkling table. Luke pulled out a chair for her to sit in then patted her shoulder. “Sit back and relax. Hopefully you’ll enjoy yourself.” He crossed the room and opened another door that led to the other side of the room. He made his way to the piano and sat down, placing a set of headphones over his ears.
She heard his voice come through the speakers, asking them if they were ready. He started playing, his fingers moving gracefully over the keys, gliding and flowing, producing a beautiful soft melody. She was mesmerized by the sight and sound of him, the art that he was creating with his voice and his hands was breathtaking. When he started playing his second song, her body broke out in goose-bumps. She heard the dulcet tones of his voice and she understood Megan’s infatuation; he was seductive, both vocally and visually. She found herself physically responding to him. His eyes were alive with the emotions the lyrics of the song spoke of, closing with apparent sadness and despair when the song’s loved one went away. His body tensed and relaxed as his fingers flew magically over the piano, every part of him moving and reacting to the music.
She was wondering about the woman who was the object of the song when she realized the song had ended and Luke had started another song, faster and more upbeat. As he sang of seducing a tantalizing woman on the dance floor, he caught her eye and quickly winked. She felt the heat rise to her face and knew she was blushing. He grinned devilishly, dimples flashing as he continued to sing. She glanced over at the “boys” to see if they were laughing at her but saw they were too engrossed with their alien dashboard to have seen the exchange.
She was surprised by how fast the hour went, enjoying the music and the camaraderie between everyone as they joked and bantered with each other in between songs or when Luke messed up. She had been careful to avoid his eyes, uncomfortable with her own attraction to him and trying to remind herself that she was a married woman but the vision of Kip poised over the brunette at his office kept flashing into her mind.
As Luke came out of the sound booth, both control guys started talking to him, asking about band scheduling, recording times and remixes. She stood up when he waved to her and indicated that they were leaving, answering their questions and explaining he couldn’t stay any longer today. He opened the door for her, waving a hand goodbye over his back as he shut the door on the still talking men.
She jumped a little when he grabbed her hand and slid it through the crook of his arm, his touch sending warm tingles throughout her body.
He sensed her shiver and squeezed her arm, pulling her closer to his body. He knew she wasn’t chilly, the warm California air surrounded them, but he used the excuse to get her closer to him. He’d watched her while he sang and felt slight disappointment when she avoided his eyes. He had been thrilled at her reaction when he had winked at her, the rosy color that filled her cheeks complimented her. He decided that she wouldn’t have blushed if she hadn’t felt something between them as he had. The fact that she had avoided his gaze after that showed him she either wasn’t interested or she didn’t know how to deal with her feelings. He hoped it was the later. Now, as they walked side by side, he felt her body tense, on guard.
“I can turn up the heat once we get in the car, if you’d like.”
She wasn’t sure if the slightly provocative tone was truly in his voice or if she was just imagining it, so she looked up at him to see if his face revealed anything. Instantly she knew it was a mistake, his green eyes already on her face, flicking to her lips. She felt herself moving closer to him, her resolve to stay focused on business diminishing, her desire to kiss him overwhelming. When she saw him lean down towards her, she started to close her eyes and the earth suddenly rushed up to meet her. She vaguely felt the pain in her wrist and knee as the concrete scraped off the skin, the embarrassment of tripping and falling taking the majority of her attention.
“Oh my God, Rebecca! Are you alright?” Luke was already scooping her up into his arms and she cringed at the concern in his voice.
“I’m fine, really, just super mortified right now.” she stammered, trying to regain any dignity that she had left. “You can put me down now.”
“But you’re bleeding. Here, we’re almost to the car, then I’ll get you some medical attention.”
“No!” she yelped, not wanting to waste her business trip in a doctor’s office. “I’ll be fine, if we could just go to your office, I’ll freshen up in the bathroom and I can get started on my proposition.” She caught the gleam in his eye and quickly corrected herself. “My business proposition.”
He smiled and gently slid her into the backseat of the car, his face once again inches from hers. “Of course, Rebecca. I knew exactly what you meant.” He closed the door, sliding close to her and told the driver to head home. When she started to protest, he placed his hand on her uninjured knee. “Relax, that’s where my office is. I promise.”
He grinned again as he sat back and watched her take in the scenery. She was so intriguing and he didn’t understand exactly why. She was pretty, but not stunning as were the women he was usually attracted to. She was smart, held intelligent conversation but was married, though not happily. She wasn’t built like the models and actresses he normally dated. The models and actresses he dated were usually tall and very slender, size two or zero. Rebecca was tall but definitely not a size zero, more like a twelve if he had to guess. What he found nice was that she didn’t look like she would break if he hugged her too hard. And her legs, God, her legs went on forever and were exquisitely shaped. But it was her eyes that was his undoing. Every time she looked at him, he felt he could get lost in the depths of them and he had difficulty tearing his gaze away from them.
He hoped that if he could figure her out, he would be able to control or eliminate his feelings of infatuation for her. The way things stood right now for him, the thought of her flying back to Colorado actually caused a pain in his chest. He had to have more time with her to figure out the mystery of her and put it to rest. He would make it his priority to delay her departure for as long as possible. He wasn’t due to go on the road for a couple of days and the songs he was working on in the studio were just in the beginning stages, his next album not due for release for another sixteen months. The timing was perfect though not completely unplanned.
His managers had approached him months ago about a horsewoman who had wanted to use one of his songs for a performance. He had, at the time, waved them off, telling them to use their judgment on whether she could use his song or not. He received thousands of requests every year for some organization or another to use his music and management always dealt with it. This time, Patrick Johnson, his close manager, had forgotten the demo DVD on Luke’
s desk. It became mixed up with Luke’s stuff and Luke ended up taking it home. He had come across it one night while trying to work on a song, the words being frustratingly elusive to the music he had already finished in his head. After spending two hours trying to force the lyrics and a couple of glasses of wine, he picked up the DVD and popped it in his player. He recognized his song, Love Everlasting, immediately and sat back to watch the woman ride an extremely large and beautiful horse to his music. Within a few bars, he was completely mesmerized.
He knew the horse had to have been trained to perform the movements it was doing but it actually looked like the animal was dancing to his song, it’s rider gliding along with it, beat for beat. It was beautiful and magical. He watched it the first time, fascinated by the horse’s movement but watched it the second and third time, drawn to the woman who guided the horse through it’s paces. She looked like an ethereal being, astride her massive steed, creating a visual dream. He knew by the end of the night he had to meet the woman who made his music come alive with a horse’s dance.
He’d called Patrick the next day and told him he wanted to meet the woman who requested his song. Patrick had been surprised when Luke had made the request because Luke had never wanted to meet them before but he quickly agreed, knowing that Luke Grayson always got his way.
Grayson made it clear that he didn’t want the woman to know that the meeting would be with him. He wanted her to think that she would be meeting his personnel and he had enjoyed her look of surprise at lunch when she realized it was him instead. As they shared their lunch, he found her even more intriguing in person than she had been in the DVD. As their afternoon progressed, he wanted to learn more about her but he felt her wall of defense go up and knew he had to handle her with kid gloves. She was skittish and ready to bolt yet he wasn’t ready to let her leave.
Love's Everlasting Song Page 4
