Chart Toppers (Star Maker Book 3) (30 page)

“Kit,
it’s Spencer.
 
He says it’s urgent.”

Sully
stared at her awaiting her reaction, his arms still folded in front of
him.
 
He tilted his head to the side
and raised his eyebrows.
 
Kit sighed
and swallowed hard.
 
“Tell him I’m
out of the office until tomorrow.
 
Hold all my calls for the night, ok?”

Giselle
looked at Sully and then at Kit and knew what was going on in an instant.
 
She nodded.
 
“You got it, boss.”

She
left the room as Kit returned her attention to Sully.
 
“See.
 
I told you I wouldn’t take any
calls.
 
I mean it.
 
You are my number one priority right
now.”

He
finally grinned and pulled her toward him to give her a kiss.
 
“Thank you.”

 
“I feel so British right now.”
 
Sully sat in his fluffy robe, sipped his
tea and laughed, speaking with an English accent.
 

Kit
giggled, sitting across from him in a matching robe.
 
“I know.
 
It’s nice, isn’t it?”
 
She hired a catering service to do a
full-blown high tea spread for them on their terrace that morning.
 

All was
going well, until just moments prior when members of Jade Riff started
trickling in.
 
They were soon
followed by Spencer, who attempted to interrupt their tea service, only to be
deterred by Kit, who held up her hand to stop him.
 
She gave him a glare and pointed sternly
toward the studio.

Sully
laughed watching her.
 
“This is
nice, Kitty-Kat, but it would be nicer if there weren’t people traipsing in and
out.
 
See, this is what I mean, babe.
I love this place, you know I do, but I don’t feel like it’s ours anymore.
 
It belongs to Flat 5 and KMK and Gypsy
Tango and Jade Riff and any other band who may work on their material
here.
 
I want to have a place that’s
just ours.
 
You and me.
 
And preferably somewhere bigger than our
condo.
 
I want a place where we can
raise kids in a normal environment, not a three ring circus.”

She
stared at him.
 
“And here we go with
the new house conversation again.
 
Sully, I am not having this conversation with you right now.
 
No.”
 
She shook her head and bit into a
delicious scone slathered with clotted cream and jam.

He
rolled his eyes.
 
“Fine.”

She
looked at him, her eyes narrowing.
 
“What is up with you lately?”

He stared
at her.
 
“What do you mean?”

She
shook her head and frowned.
 
“Something’s off with you.
 
You’re so cranky.
 
Is this
why you were so needy yesterday?
 
Is
something going on with you?”

He
rolled is eyes again.
 
“Needy
yesterday?
 
Thanks, babe.
 
I just wanted to spend time with my wife
after not seeing her for months, and she calls me needy.
 
Whatever.”
 
He turned his attention away from her
and stared out at the skyline view of Los Angeles.

She
chuckled and reached for his hand.
 
“Now, now.
 
Don’t go getting
overly sensitive on me.
 
I’m
serious; it seems like something’s bugging you.
 
What’s going on, babe?”
 
She stroked his hand gently.

He glared
at her. “This tour is intense, Kit.”

She
nodded.
 
“I know, babe.
 
It’s a faster pace.
 
More cities.
 
More fans.
 
Much more press.”

He
shook his head.
 
“You don’t get
it.
 
It’s more than that… It’s so
demanding.
 
It’s too much, Kit.
 
I’m concerned.”

She frowned.
 
“Concerned about what?”

He
sighed.
 
“That we’ll all make it
through this tour.
 
I don’t
know.
 
Even me saying that sounds a
little melodramatic and over the top, but I’ve got a weird feeling.
 
I don’t like it.”

She
nodded.
 
“The good thing is this
tour is running smoother than any tour ever has for you guys.
 
You don’t have to deal with a tour bus,
you’re constantly on a private jet or in limos, so that’s nice.
 
People love you wherever you go.
 
It’s good, babe.
 
You’re just a little tired, and that’s
understandable.
 
Think of it this
way, you’ve completed a third of this tour already.”

He closed
his eyes and shook his head.
 
“A
third.
 
Oh shit, that means that I
still have two-thirds to go.”
 
He
buried his head in his hands.

She got
up and walked over to him, massaging his shoulders.
 
He looked up at her and pulled her onto
his lap.
 
She gave him a quick kiss.
 
“You can do this.
 
You were born to do this.
 
You’re great on that stage, babe.”

He
gazed into her eyes and gently stroked her cheek. “I want you to come back out
on the road with us.”
          

She
stared at him.
 
“You know I can’t do
that.
 
The album doesn’t drop for
another six weeks, and we’ve still got a lot to do before that.”

“I mean
after the album drops.”

“I
don’t know if I can.
 
Things are
different now, babe.”

He
nodded and helped her off his lap.
 
He sighed.
 
“I figured you’d
say that.”

She
took her seat again and stared at him.
 
“Do you just want me to be a housewife and quit working so I can follow
you on the road?
 
Correct me if I’m
wrong here, babe, but that is not what I signed up for when I married you.
 
I thought you knew that.”

He
nodded.
 
“I know, I know.
 
It was just a thought.
 
I guess I got spoiled having you on the
road with us during the ‘Dangerous Curves’ tour.
 
This one is harder.
 
I wish you were with me, that’s all I’m
sayin’.
 
I understand that you have
work, and I don’t want to take you away from that.
 
That’s not my intention.”

She
stared at him.
 
“I’ll try to come
out and meet you on the road as much as I can, ok?
 
And you know I’m coming out for your
dates in Hawaii.
 
I’ve had that
blocked out in my schedule the moment those shows got booked.”

He
nodded.
 
“You know what I really
want to do?”

She
took his hand again and looked at him.
 
“What?”

He
grinned.
 
“I want to go to
Disneyland.”

She
laughed.
 
“Oh shit.
 
You should have told me that ahead of
time.
 
We could have planned it out
on that free day you had.
 
We won’t
be able to go like we used to.
 
We’ll have to go VIP now.”

He
chuckled.
 
“I’d be ok with
that.
 
Maybe next time I blow
through town or after the tour’s over.”

She
grinned.
 
“I’d love that.”

 
“Y’know I resent your urgent
messages.
 
If every message is
urgent, it gets old.
 
It’s like
you’re crying wolf all the time.
 
Stop that shit.” Kit scolded.

Spencer
sighed.
 
“Ok, I’m sorry.
 
I’ll pipe down.
 
There’s so much going on right now, and
all of it seems urgent to me.
 
I
have good news for you.”

Her
ears suddenly perked up.
 
“Good
news.
 
That’s a change.
 
Whatcha got?”

“’Jigsaw’
is charting well.
 
Jade Riff’s new
album debuted at number twenty-six.”

She
grinned.
 
“That’s nice to hear.
 
How are sales looking?”

He
chuckled.
 
“Fucking fantastic.
 
Seems everything you’re touching in the
studio these days turns to platinum, Kit.”

“What?
 
They’ve hit platinum already?”

“No,
but they will.
 
They hit gold in the
first week, and they’ve got good momentum.
 
Pete and Jonathan are happy.”

“Good.
 
I talked to Jonathan the other day.
 
He said ‘Triple Tango
’
is at nine times platinum.
 
It’s surpassed
‘Dangerous Curves’
in terms of sales, which is bananas.
 
I haven’t had a chance to tell the
guys.
 
I figured I’d spring it on
‘em when they’re here for Christmas break in six weeks.”

Spencer
laughed.
 
“Yeah, by then they’ll probably
be something crazy like twelve times platinum.”

She
grinned.
 
“Their sales are crazy,
yes, but not
that
crazy.”

“I need
a favor.”

She
growled, jokingly.
 
“Seriously?
 
Why do you pull this shit with me?
 
I’m all out of favors for you, Spence.”

“I’m serious,
Kit.”

She chuckled.
 
“So am I.
 
Ok, what?”

“It’s Tabitha.
 
She wants to quit KMK and leave the biz
entirely.”

Kit
frowned.
 
“What?
 
Why?
 
Isn’t she one of your best?
 

“Yeah,
she is.
 
That’s why I freaked out
when she told me.
 
She’s hitting the
wall.
 
Same old shit you used to
deal with before you made a name for yourself.”

Kit
sighed, disgusted, as she remembered how things used to be and sadly sometimes
still were even with her preferred status.
 
“Oh, you mean the Hollywood boy’s club that is the music biz?
 
Chauvinistic pricks trying to bring her
down or try to get her into bed with them before they’ll work with her or her
band?”

“Yep.
 
You got it.
 
Can you talk to her, Kit?
 
Maybe play mentor or something.
 
Meet her for lunch?”

She
rolled her eyes.
 
She wanted to
help, but her schedule was intense and taking time out for a leisurely lunch
wasn’t something she looked forward to doing.
 
Her voice was thick with sarcasm.
 
“Yeah, Spence, I’ll just pencil her into
my Thursday that’s completely free.
 
Not one appointment. Imagine that?”

He
groaned.
 
“C’mon, Kit.
 
I know you’re busy.
 
As I said, I’m asking for a favor.
 
She’s one of the best managers we have
on staff at KMK.
 
Do you want us to
lose her?
 
I certainly don’t.”

“You
always put me in the worst positions where I can’t say no.”
 
She played with him.
 
“I hate you.”

He
chuckled.
 
“So, that’s a yes?”

She
grinned. “It’s a yes.
 
I’m going to
transfer you to Giselle, and I suggest you kiss her ass in order to get Tabitha
into my schedule sooner rather than later.
 
Her favorite flower is a Gerbera daisy.
 
She calls it the happy flower.”

He
laughed.
 
“Hint taken.
 
Transfer me.”

Kit
burst out laughing hours later when Giselle walked into their office, carrying
a large bouquet of Gerbera daisies.
 
She smiled and played along.
 
“Who are those from?”

Giselle
shrugged her shoulders.
 
“I dunno. It’s
a gorgeous arrangement.”
 
She set
the vase on her desk and plucked the card.
 
She frowned and read it aloud.
 
“Here are some happy flowers so you’ll happily pick up the phone and call
me right now, Spencer.”
 
Kit laughed
again, loudly.
 
Giselle glanced over
at her, shaking her head.
 
“What is
so damned funny?”