Chart Toppers (Star Maker Book 3) (27 page)

She
shrugged her shoulders.
 
“I wanted
to see if I liked it.”

He
folded his arms in front of his chest and teased her.
 
“Somehow I remember
someone
that once had a beautiful, red, convertible 911 Carrera
that she wouldn’t let me drive.
 
I
never did get a chance to drive it.”
 
He shifted his eyes up mimicking a pensive state and stroked his chin.
 
“Hmm, wonder who that was?”

She
grinned.
 
“Ok, so maybe I should
have let you drive it, but Sull we were just becoming friends then.
 
I didn’t trust you yet.
 
I had just met you!
 
I was kind of afraid you’d crash it.”

He
shifted his gaze back to her, raised his eyebrows and grinned.
 
“You thought I’d crash your car when
you’re the one in this relationship that drives like a bat out of hell and
whose car has had countless visits to the body shop?”

She
giggled and then pleaded.
 
“C’mon,
they were just little fender benders.
 
Nothing major.
 
I promise
I’ll be careful with it.
 
Just let
me drive it.
 
Don’t make me beg.”

He surveyed
her carefully.
 
“Give me the real
reason you wanna drive it because this I wanna see if I like it bullshit isn’t
flying.”

She
laughed and shook her head.
 
“Ok,
ok.
 
I figured if I got your
blessing to drive it now, I wouldn’t have to feel guilty secretly driving it
around town when you’re on tour.”
 
Her face spread into a wide, charming smile that she hoped would compel
him to grant her wish.
 

He
shook his head and laughed.
 
“Oh,
that’s a good one.”
 
He returned
moments later with a handwritten list and his car keys, handing them over to
her.
 
He gave her a look of warning
and wagged his finger at her.
 
“Don’t
wrap it around a pole please, dear.”

She
giggled and winked.
 
“I’m good with
a sports car.
 
I know
exactly
how they handle.
 
You can trust me, babe.”

He
chuckled and nodded.
 
“Yeah, and that’s
exactly what I’m afraid of.”

Sully
and Kit watched Giselle as she took her seat on the private jet chartered for
the tour.
 
She seemed surprisingly
comfortable.
 
Sully leaned over and
chuckled.
 
“She’s going to walk off
this plane toward the end of the tour looking like a completely different
person.”

Kit
giggled.
 
“I know.
 
Hopefully, the road won’t eat her
alive.”

He
shook his head and grinned smugly.
 
“Naw.
 
She’s tough.
 
She works for you; she can handle
anything.”

Kit’s jaw
dropped, stunned by words and smiled, playfully shoving him.
 
“I’m not that bad.”

He snickered,
continuing to play with her.
 
“Not
that bad for a slave driver, no.”

She
punched him in the shoulder.
 
“Hey!”

Jimmy
pulled his newspaper down and looked at them both, pretending to be
serious.
 
“He’s right.
 
You are quite the accomplished slave
driver.”
 
He couldn’t hold his
serious façade anymore and burst out laughing.

Sully smiled
at her.
 
“Aw, babe, you know we’re
just joking.”

She chuckled.
 
“I like polishing lumps of coal and the
only way you can get them to shine is to put serious pressure on them.”
 
She winked.

Sully rolled
his eyes.
 
“Uh-huh, I get it.
 
Diamonds.
 
Haha, you’re a funny girl.”

Seconds
later they were interrupted by the sounds of the song, ‘Benny and the Jets’ flowing
through the cabin and moments after, a very familiar voice came over the
intercom system of the jet.
 

“Good
morning from the flight deck, rock stars, I’m your captain, Ben Russo.
 
I anticipate a smooth flight touching
down at JFK briefly to refuel then continuing onto Rome, Italy.
 
We’ve got a total flight time of
thirteen hours, so sit back, have a few shots and enjoy the ride.”
 

Everyone
on the plane, went nuts hooting and cheering upon hearing that Captain Ben was
their pilot once again.
 
Remo
started chanting “Captain Ben, Captain Ben,” and everyone else followed suit
until he hopped on the intercom once again.
 

“Thank
you, ladies and gents.
 
I’ll be here
all night.”
 
They laughed.

Kit strolled
over to Sean, who was sitting at the back of the plane leisurely drinking a
cocktail, a pre-tour luxury.
 
She
smiled.
 
“You were able to get him
again?
 
That’s so great!”

Sean
nodded and grinned.
 
“I called the
minute I knew we were going back out on the road.
 
I got into a bidding war with Poison’s
tour manager.
 
We’re paying a pretty
penny for Captain Ben.
 
I ended up
paying double his normal rate just to secure him for the entire tour.
 
He belongs to us now.”

Kit
giggled.
 
“So, he loves us is what
you’re saying, right?
 
Did you throw
in strippers, an eight ball of blow and a good bottle of scotch to sweeten the
pot too?”

Sean
laughed loudly.
 
“Aw, Kit, I love
when you come on the road with us.
 
You turn into one of the guys.”

She
winked.
 
“I’m glad we were able to
get Ben.
 
He’s a cool guy.
 
Awfully cute too.”
 
A schoolgirl’s giggle escaped from her
before she could suppress it.

Sean
raised his eyebrows, and his English accent drawled.
 
“Ooh, Kitty has a thing for Captain
Ben.
 
Oh yeah.
 
That certainly brings a little intrigue
and randiness to the Triple Tango tour.
 
I love it!”

She
giggled again.
 
“Yeah, I’m sure
Sully would appreciate a love triangle featuring Captain Ben and him.”

“Yeah.
 
You could bring a whole new meaning to
the Triple Tango tour.” Sean burst out laughing.

Kit mirrored
his outburst and doubled over, holding her stomach muscles that were now aching
with all the laughter.
 
She had
forgotten how much she loved working with Sean.
 
He was damned good at what he did, but
also had an amazing gift for making people laugh and diffusing tense
situations.
 
He had kept the band
from killing each other on several occasions because of it.
 

He was
a huge asset to Gypsy Tango’s team and their tour success.
 
She reached out and messed up his
dishwater blond hair that was disappearing at a more rapid pace than she
remembered.
 
“I love going on tour
with you, Sean-Bon.”

He
grinned and smoothed his wispy hair.
 
“And I love going on tour with you too, Kit-Kat.”

Their
conversation was interrupted by Sully’s booming voice.
 
He was on the intercom while their
flight attendant watched, laughing.
 
“Guys!
 
Hey, guys.”
 
Everyone turned to face him.
 
When he realized he had everyone’s
attention, he continued.
 
“I wanted
to make it known that we have a tour virgin in our midst on this flight by the
name of Giselle.
 
G, stand up,
please.
 
Reveal yourself, sweetie.”

They
all started laughing and clapped.
 
Bryan whistled loudly.
 
Sully
grinned.
 
He abandoned the intercom,
moving into the aisle in the middle of the plane now that he easily held
everyone’s attention. He looked down at her.
 
“G, all tour virgins have to be sacrificed
and that requires an initiation.
 
Those
are the rules when you roll with GT on tour.”

Kit
looked at Giselle and then at all of them.
 
“Go easy on her, guys.
 
Don’t
go as crazy with her as you did with Spence.”

Giselle
shot Kit a defiant look.
 
“Oh hey,
gatinha. I can hold my own. My daddy is Brazilian, and my momma is an Americana,
who was once a professionally trained Latin dancer.
 
I was born outside of Rio.
 
If there’s anything this girl can do
it’s drinking and dancing.
 
I was
born to party and samba.
 
Bring it!”

Sully
laughed and clapped his hands.
 
“Pick your poison, G.
 
What’ll it be?”

She
smiled.
 
“Cachaça, baby.”

He
giggled.
 
“Um, God bless you?
 
It sounded like you just sneezed.
 
What the fuck is that?”
 

She
sighed, tossed her shoulder-length dark brown hair back and shook her head.
 
“Amateurs.”
 
She met his eyes.
 
“I figured you big partying rock stars
would have already had a few caipirinhas under your belts at this point.
 
The ignorance on this plane astounds me,
really.”

Sully
stared at her in amazement, a slow smile spreading across his face.
 
“Oh, hey, don’t you go throwing big
Portuguese words at us now, Brazilian girl.
 
I don’t think we have that… ka… cha… What?
 
Kamchatka?”
 
His eyes suddenly lit up.
 
“Do you mean that nasty vodka, G?”

Giselle
laughed and yelled “Cachaça, Sully!
 
No, not Kamchatka, you dork!
 
That’s vodka and not at all what I’m talkin’ about.”
 
She surveyed all of them.
 
“Ok, you fools, tequila will do as a
substitute but I only shoot Patrón, so you better have the good shit on this
plane.”

He
nodded.
 
“Now, I do know that
poison.”
 
He looked at Bryan, who
was sitting closest to the bar.
 
“Let’s get her hooked up, Bry.”
 
He winked at Giselle.

Kit
walked over to Giselle, who was sitting at the front of the plane.
 
She grinned.
 
“G, you don’t have to do this.
 
You could do a shot or two and call it
done.”

Giselle
chuckled, her hazel eyes dancing with intrigue.
 
“No way!
 
This will be fun, Kit. I know my limits,
and I come from a long line of partiers in my family.
 
You won’t see me hung over the toilet on
the flight or barfing into a bag.”

She
surveyed her closely and then grinned.
 
“Ok, if you say so.
 
All I
know is that they practically destroyed my brother at the beginning of the last
tour.
 
He had to be carried off the
jet and into the limo.”

Giselle
laughed thinking about what a funny site it would have been to see Spencer so
wasted.
 
He was always so composed
when she saw him.
 
She giggled.
 
“And that’s what happens to preppy,
ginger, corporate white boys like him when they try to party with rock stars
like these fools.
 
They can’t handle
that shit.
 
I won’t be that girl,
Kit.
 
I assure you, I can handle
it.
 
I’ve been to carnival in both
Rio and Salvador twice.
 
I’ve got
four brothers.
 
I’m the baby of the
family.
 
Those guys will be lucky if
they can keep up with me.”
 
She
winked and flashed a wicked smile.

Kit
laughed and put her hands up.
 
“Say
no more.”
 
She held out her hand
welcoming her over to the table to take the seat next to Sully where she was
previously sitting.
 
Bryan had
poured four shots and placed the bottle in the middle.
 
Tony stood up and motioned for Kit to
take his seat across from Giselle and diagonally from Sully.
 
She sat down and sighed.
 
Let the tour games begin.