Taking Something (17 page)

“Don't even worry about that,” I said, pulling my head back to look at her. “Your secret's safe with me.” As I stared into her big brown eyes, I could see the worry. The worry that I'd say something to him and break her trust. I hated it. I wanted—no, needed—her to believe in me. “I would never.”

“I know.” She smiled, and for a second, all was right with my world. I could feel myself falling for her. Hard. I leaned in, hoping to steal a quick kiss. If I could look at her mouth and feel the way I did, I couldn't imagine what feeling it against mine was going to be like. Just as I was about to find out, she turned her head, giving me the old bait and switch. Lips for cheek. I sighed quietly, knowing that I would probably never find out what it felt like to kiss her.

“Us seeing each other outside of work is a bad idea. You know this, right?” Gia said, pulling from my arms and opening the front door. “You need to worry about Sadie and I need to worry about Audrey.”

“I know.” It sucked, but she was right. I had enough to worry about, and the more time I spent around Gia, the more I wanted to tell Sadie I was done. But I couldn't. I'd worked too hard to get to where I was, and I couldn't let myself get sidetracked by a pretty girl and the hopes that we could be something. I'd never even kissed her for Christ's sake. Our connection might have been a fluke. Maybe the only reason I wanted her was because I knew I couldn't have her. Wouldn't be the first time.

“We're friends,” she reiterated, patting me on the back like we were teammates at a baseball game. “Just friends.”

“Yep,” I agreed. I told myself that the unsure look in her eyes was a mirage. I couldn't even let myself think that we could be more.

As cute as Audrey was and as much as I liked Gia, she was right. Nothing could come of our friendship or whatever it was. I knew her secret and I planned on keeping it, but I also planned on keeping my distance. Growing up in a house where men came and went on a regular basis, I wasn't going to integrate myself into Gia’s and Audrey's lives and then just disappoint them, but I couldn't deny the little bit of hope she’d left hanging in the balance when I left that night. She said that we
shouldn't
see each other outside of work—not that we
couldn't
.

“Sorry I'm late,” I apologized, not really caring what she thought but knowing that I had to make it seem legit. Sadie was curled up on her white leather sofa, staring at the fireplace in front of her. “How was your day?”

“It was fine.” Sadie wasn't her usual
chipper
self. She didn't question me or make a big deal about my being thirty minutes late. Instead, she just stared straight ahead, her eyes locked on the orange flicker of the flames. I walked over to the sofa where she was sitting and saw the empty champagne bottle that must have been entertaining her in my absence. “I didn't do much.” Her eyes were glazed and her cheeks were flushed.

“I see that.” I cautiously sat down next to her, waiting for her to hit the crazy button. As soon as I was seated, she laid her head on my chest and thumbed at one of my shirt buttons. “You okay?”

“Of course.” She looked up at me. This close, I could see the emptiness in her eyes. The fiery redhead I was used to going toe-to-toe with was missing tonight. “I'm Sadie Sinclair. I'm always okay.”

“Okay.” I nodded. I had no idea what had Sadie in such a docile mood. I'd expected to get ripped up one side and down the other for making her wait. I saw the candles she'd placed around the room and I was sure the champagne had been meant for us to drink in celebration of recording her last song. The white silk robe she was wearing clung to her skin, not hiding the fact that she was completely naked underneath. She really had planned out the evening for us. “I'm sorry I was late. I got into the music and lost track of time.”

“Stop,” she whispered. “I'm just glad you're here now.” I reached up and ran my hand through her auburn hair, leaning in to nuzzle her neck. She really was beautiful. It wasn't hard to pretend that I was at least physically attracted to her. When I reached her shoulder, I moved my hand to slip under her robe. She'd planned on us having a romantic evening together. Maybe I could get her out of this trance she was in.

As much as I like demurring Sadie, I felt a little bad about the disengaged look in her eye. I might not have loved her the way she thought I did, but I didn't like the way she was acting. I wasn't a complete monster. I had
some
compassion. Part of the reason I'd decided to go through with this charade was because she was kind of a bitch who used power, money, and sex to solve all her problems.

“Come here,” I said, placing my fingers under her chin and tipping her face up to mine. I gently pushed my lips against hers and waited for her to react. She didn't. She sat still, not pulling away, but definitely not pressing back. I leaned back to ask her again what was wrong with her.

Before I had the chance, she shook her head. “Can we not?” she asked quietly. “I think I just want to go to bed.”

“Sure,” I agreed, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her back to my chest. Something was way off. I debated about whether or not to ask her again but decided against it.

Asking questions had already gotten me in way over my head with Gia. The last thing I needed to do was let myself get attached to Sadie. Somehow over the past couple weeks I'd started to care about people’s feelings, and it was bad for business.

I was shutting down emotions left and right to avoid thinking about one girl. Imagine if I had to do that with two. Might as well kiss my career goodbye. I was going to stick this thing out with Sadie until I got a more permanent contract with Hollace. Then I was doing what Nick Kline did best. Hauling ass.

Maybe I could convince Hollace to station me back in Chicago and work with other artists there. And I had to come up with a way of convincing Sadie that an amicable split was best for us. I didn't have time for women and I certainly didn't have time to care about people.

I
F SADIE
only knew that over that past few days I'd been spending time over at Gia's when I’d told her I was working late. I was fairly certain that the
good girl
routine she had been feigning would have flown out the window—along with my contract. Ever since the night I found her drowning her sorrows in champagne, she had been oddly reserved. No accusations, no jealous girlfriend. Just calm and collected.

I probably should have reveled in the fact that Sadie was acting like a normal human being for once and kept my happy ass at home with her, but I never did what was best for me. And I hadn't planned to go to Gia's. Every day I reminded myself to stay away from her, but it wasn’t working. Each time I told myself I was going back to Sadie's, I had somehow ended up in a different driveway. I didn't want to screw up what I had with Sadie, but something seemed to pull me to that quiet little neighborhood outside Hollywood.

It wasn't like what Sadie would have immediately thought either. Nothing had happened between me and Gia. She'd made it perfectly clear that we were friends, and I was okay with it. It wasn't that I didn't wonder what it would be like to touch her, or kiss her, or more. I did. Believe me, I did. But somehow, I'd become the guy who was okay with just talking or hanging out. Something about her made it okay that there was nothing else going on between us.

She loved music as much as I did. She understood how the business worked. And better yet? She understood me.

It was about who you knew, who you were friends with, and sometimes, more often than not, who you were sleeping with. Sacrifices had to be made to get ahead. Unfortunately for both of us, we were sacrificing a lot at the altar of Sadie Sinclair to put a paycheck on the table. If we weren't talking about that, we were playing board games with Audrey or sitting front row as she turned the living room sofa in to her stage and belted out her favorite songs.

“Hey, Nick,” Audrey said one evening, taking a short pause from the routine she'd been working on. She was such a little entertainer. Singing and dancing came natural to her. It wasn't hard to believe, considering the blood coursing through her veins.

“What's up?” I asked, dropping the British accent she'd insisted I speak with. Just another night of playing reality show singing competition with my favorite six-year-old. I grabbed my drink off the coffee table and gave Gia a quick smile when I saw her look up at me from her laptop before I took a sip. She was taking the time that I played with Audrey to finish up on some work. Being Sadie's assistant was a twenty-four-seven gig. Sadie had insisted that Gia spend the evening finding every unflattering photo of her online and send a takedown request to the websites' owners.

“You know that Landry Westwood guy?” Audrey continued, her eyes full of curiosity.

I nearly choked on my Coke as I heard Gia's fingers practically squeal across the keyboard when she stopped typing. My and Gia's eyes immediately shot to each other’s and then back to Audrey's. I could see the panic on Gia's face as she wondered the exact same thing I did. The silence in the room as we looked at the big blue eyes staring at us was filled with tension.

What does she know?

“I do,” I finally answered, nervous about what Audrey was going to say next. Had she overheard the conversation between me and Gia the other day? “Why do you ask?”

“I just really like that one song he sings. You know that one where he says 'shake that thang, girl?'” She smiled ear to ear as she proceeded to dance around, repeating the lyrics over and over.

I let out a relieved chuckle and winked at Gia who let out the breath she'd been holding. “Yeah, I know that song.” It was a welcome relief to know that Audrey hadn't somehow found out, but I could tell that Gia's mind was still processing what would have happened if Audrey had asked a different question.

I couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen when the truth finally did come out. You can only keep secrets buried for so long, and it was only a matter of time before Audrey started asking questions that didn't end with a song and dance routine. Knowing all of the emotions Audrey was going to go through when she found out was the worst part. The betrayal, the anger, the sadness. It was a lot to process for anyone at any age. When I found out about my dad—and worse, that he didn't want me—I had been crushed. And then I’d let the anger send me down a path of self-destruction and revenge, which wasn't a good thing. I wanted to tell Gia my concerns, but I didn't want to upset the happy balance we had found.

For the first time in a long time, I felt like I had found a sanctuary—a place to escape—from the mind-numbing real world I'd made for myself. Maybe it was selfish of me, but I didn't want to lose what I had in front of me.

I would have much rather been in my new sanctuary than sitting across a fancy dinner table from Sadie, but duty called. I couldn't let myself get sidetracked more than I already had. I hadn't let myself forget what I wanted and why I was in Los Angeles in the first place.

Sadie and I made small talk as we ate. I occasionally reached over and squeezed her hand with mine or shot her a wink.