The Bass (9 page)

Chapter Fifteen

Her cell phone rang right on schedule the next morning. Smiling, Cat
picked it up without looking at the screen. No one else was idiotic enough to
call her that early. Only Shade had the right to break her morning routine.

“Hey babe, how’d it go?” she asked.

“Fucking amazing,” he said. Soft voices sounded over the line. Given the
time, she figured he was either in the dressing room backstage, or more likely
on his way back to the London hotel the band was staying in. Victorious was
scheduled for four shows in London before moving on to their next stop. They’d
done three with one more the following night.

“The crowds are good?”

“Hell yeah. They are fucking wild. Not exactly anything new, but I have
to admit it’s a totally different feeling when it’s an international crowd. I
can’t explain it. You’ll see what I mean when you meet up with us. What time is
it there, kitten?”

“Ten to nine,” she told him. Normally he tried to catch her before she
got to the office, but it didn’t always work out. Sometimes those with
backstage passes held them up longer than planned. Simon was being good about
the calls. He understood having to deal with separations during a relationship.
He, and his wife had gone through something similar when he’d first started out
and the woman had still been going to medical school. His understanding was making
the pros and cons list she had for taking Simon’s job offer harder to get a
definite thought on.

“Shit, I didn’t realize how late it was. The boss isn’t going to give
you grief about this is he?”

Leaning back in her chair, Cat felt her lips curl up. “No, he’s out for
the day at meetings with his advisor, and then has a luncheon with the
accountant. He won’t be back for hours yet.”

“Thank God,” he muttered. The line muffled for a moment before he was
back. “Sorry about that, Mark wanted to know what I was ordering from room
service.”

“How’s the food over there?”

She could almost picture his nose wrinkling up. Shade was a foodie, much
like the other guys to different degrees. They all had different thoughts on
the cuisine they got during the international trips, most was good, but not
all. “Not too bad. They’re treating us like royalty over here.” His laugh made
her toes curl in her shoes. “We were out the other day on the way to one of the
interviews Christine lined up, and had ourselves our first official Royal
sighting. It was pretty fucking cool. All the years we’ve come here it was a
neat first for us.”

“Oh, who’d you see?” she asked, curious now.

“Jeremy is ninety percent sure it was the Queen. I’m with him on it, and
Chase, too. Mark and Lance aren’t quite there. We’re hoping at least one crappy
photo we took will bring them over to our side on this.”

Cat laughed at his words, shaking her head. “I’m sure you can get them
to see the light, babe.” Waving in the co-worker who stuck her head around the
door, Cat tucked the phone between her shoulder and ear while she signed some
papers. “Is everything else going well? No more glitches I hope.”

They’d had a small technical issue during their first sound check that
had pushed the show back a half hour. Not something Victorious was known to
have happen, but not exactly unusual in the business. They’d gotten things
moving, and made it up to the fans by playing longer than originally scheduled.

“Nope, we’re smooth as silk. We have plans to do all our sound checks
earlier before the first shows whenever we have to have the gear moved from now
on. Tommy thinks it might be the difference in power sources that caused the
first issue, but he’s not completely convinced. Since he’s a worrier we’re more
than happy to go with whatever our resident genius tells us to do.”

Tommy was the man in charge. He ran the roadies, got everything in
place, and ensured all the equipment got from point A to B on time, plus
ensuring it was always in tip-top shape. Tommy was quite the character from the
stories the band shared. Cat couldn’t wait to meet the man in the flesh.

“Hopefully it’s nothing else,” she said. Passing the papers back she
smiled at the young woman who took them and left her office. “It does make some
sense, though. The Europeans have a different system than we do here in
America.”

“True, but we have parts specifically for that. It’s not like it’s our
first overseas trip. Tommy’s worried that it’s a sign or something like that.
Not exactly what we want to hear from him.”

Cat winced. “No, I can imagine not. Has he pulled out the kit yet?” From
what Shade had told Cateline about Tommy, he had what one would call ‘mystics’
in his ancestral tree. Folks who believed in things beyond what they could see,
hear, or touch. Born in the bayou, the man had grown up with voodoo
priestesses, and other mystics in his everyday life. While Cat didn’t subscribe
to such thought she knew that Tommy did. If he believed in something hinky in
nature messing with the band, and his kit could or did help, she was fully on
board with him doing whatever was necessary.

“Not yet, but he’s got it close by at all times. Well, the food’s here
now, kitten. Which means I’m going to let you get back to work. I need to get
some sleep before we get up for the show tonight. I will talk to you before we
go on. Be good, kitten.”

“You be good, rock star,” she teased. “Sleep well, and keep me in your
dreams.”

“Always, kitten.” He made some kissy noises into the phone that had her
laughing before hanging up.

Setting her phone aside she rested her head back on the chair for a
moment. The ache in her chest swelled for a moment. She loved talking to him,
and hearing his voice, but each time they hung up, the ache got worse. Cat
worried how she was going to survive the next weeks before seeing him again.
What had her scared to her core was the fact she’d have to leave him again when
their time was up.

Cat rubbed at the ache in her chest and forced herself to get back on
task. While Simon wasn’t in the office it didn’t mean the work stopped. If she
was lucky she’d have something to keep her mind off Shade for the rest of the
day.

****

For the next week her life was a hectic mess. Simon had projects going
full steam ahead that needed constant babysitting. Which meant he was in the
office less than he normally was and left Cat to deal with everything that cropped
up internally. Lori was a huge help. The woman put in some extra hours where
she could to give Cat the time to talk to Shade before each show.

The time difference was a pain, but they were making it work. She was
damn happy when the weekend rolled around. Friday was a late night for her. She’d
had her regular workload, plus some contracts requiring updating prior to the
office shutting down for Christmas. And then there had been several special
contracts Simon had needed couriered out before the day’s end. To say she
hadn’t been bored throughout the day was an understatement.

So when she got home all she wanted was a long, hot shower. With that
happy thought firmly in place, Cat stripped down on her way to her bedroom. She
could practically feel the pricy, but completely justified showerhead’s massaging
quality working its magic already. Nowhere near what Shade’s fingers could
accomplish, but it would do in the interim.

Twenty minutes later she had some take-out on order, her fuzzy pajamas
on, and was comfortably slouched before the TV. Flipping through channels she
happened across an interview Victorious had done.

Smiling happily at her find, Cat settled in to listen. The interviewer
asked the obvious questions like why the band was finally breaking its silence
with the media. Jeremy handled it easily, and soon the questions moved on to
the new album coming out. All the men spoke about the various songs.

Then the questions turned personal. Lance was first in the spotlight for
that one. He actually cracked a smile for the camera while talking about
Jennifer. When he laughingly admitted to having had a crush on the woman prior
to ever meeting her, Cat laughed softly. The man was blushing. Which led to the
band members doing a little good natured razzing on camera.

The interviewer congratulated him before turning to Shade. His question
had Cat sitting up straight in shock. “I’ve heard some congratulations are in
order for your bassist, too. Are we correct that you too have been seeing
someone recently?”

She didn’t have to look away from Shade’s face to know the other members
had all tensed. Each man was instinctively private, and would protect one
another’s privacy to their grave. It was pretty much
the
reason Victorious had always shied from the media. While they
loved to share their music with the world, they’d never quite accepted the need
the world seemed to have to delve into their everyday lives too.

Shade nodded slowly. “I am seeing someone.”

The interviewer didn’t seem to be getting the signal that Shade wasn’t
ready to talk more on the subject, and kept poking. “We’ve heard through
sources that you met her on this tour. And that perhaps some wedding bells are
in your future.”

Cat knew Shade well enough to see the anger flicker in his light brown
eyes though not a trace showed on his face. His smile was still a little cocky,
and he gave a shrug. “Not sure where you’re getting that from, but you are
wrong. My girl is not with me on the tour. While I wish she was, every single
day, life doesn’t always go according to plan.” He looked directly at the
camera and gave a wink.

Clutching the pillow she’d been holding tighter to her chest Cat let out
a sigh. God she loved that man. She fell back against the sofa cushions when
the interviewer finally took the hint Shade’s love life wasn’t up for
discussion. Shaking her head she smiled, and then sat upright.

She loved Shade. Holy fucking shit, she loved him. She’d always loved
him, but now she
loved
him. “Fuck me,” she whispered. “I’m in love with
Shade Benson.” The man currently waving a hand to the TV audience as music
signaled the show’s end. The man who was currently a world away on tour.

The fact the delivery guy arrived right then with her food kept her from
freaking out too badly over the realization. But she couldn’t stop thinking
about what the hell she was going to do with the new knowledge. Did she tell
him the next time he called? Or maybe she should wait until they saw one
another instead?

While chewing on a pizza slice, she realized the latter made the most
sense. It wouldn’t do to say something like that over the phone when she
couldn’t see his face. She needed to be touching him, and with his arms around
her when she told him. Which meant she needed to wait. Nodding absently to
herself, she made the decision. The moment she saw Shade in Paris she was going
to tell him she loved him. She only hoped he felt the same way in return.

Chapter Sixteen

Shade stretched his arms over his head. He was pacing his suite
anxiously when he should be resting. But he couldn’t do it, not when he knew
Cat would be there any time now.

The band’s security chief had let him know that his man at the airport
had reported in her flight was on schedule. She would be on the ground already,
and through customs soon, he hoped. Then it would be maybe forty minutes, give
or take, to get her from the airport and sneak her through the hotel to his rooms.

She’d be given a passkey that gave instant access to the hotel floor they
had booked out. Shade only hoped she wasn’t too tired from the long flight. He
needed to talk to her. He was worried about how off she’d sounded during their
daily calls over the past week. When he’d questioned her about it, she’d blown
him off with some excuse about a work issue, or distraction with getting ready
to fly out to meet him.

He knew it well could be exactly that, but his gut was saying otherwise.
Something was wrong. He hated not knowing what it might be. The distance
between them the last two weeks had nothing to do with where they were on the
planet. His biggest fear was she’d decided it was too hard to do this. He
couldn’t lose her, he wouldn’t. Only he had no idea what to do to keep her in
his life.

Frustration had him raking his hands through his hair again. The knock
on his door a moment later only annoyed him since he knew it wouldn’t be Cat
yet. Yanking the door open, he lifted an eyebrow at who he found there. “What?”

“Hello to you, too,” Jeremy said with a grin. He invited himself into
the suite. The fucker went ahead in making himself comfortable on the sofa.

Slamming the door shut, Shade stalked over to collapse into a chair.
“What the fuck do you want, Jeremy?”

Their lead singer clicked his tongue, and shook a finger in his direction.
“Is that any way to talk to a friend? Come on man, we all know you’re freaking
out about having Cat here. What’s going on?”

If not for the concern in his friend’s voice, Shade would have gladly
shoved him back out the door with whatever means available. Blowing out a
breath, Shade slouched down further in his seat. Because he needed to talk to
someone about the thoughts swirling in his head, he gave a little in the face
of Jeremy’s concern. “I don’t know. We’ve talked every day since we left L.A.
but something’s off. It’s like she’s pulling away from me.”

Jeremy shook his head. Sitting forward, he braced his arms on his knees.
“That can’t be, Shade. The girl loves you, and would do anything for you. I get
that the distance is a huge issue, but you guys have been keeping your
communication lines open. There has to be something else. I don’t know what,
nor do I want to guess, what it could be. You probably don’t want my advice on
this topic given I’m single and all. But I am going to give you some anyway.
Don’t jump on her the moment she arrives. You’re exhausted, she’s likely the
same, if not more so. Enjoy the fact she’s here, and worry about the rest when
you are both in a better place.”

The fact the advice was perfectly sound irritated Shade more than it
probably should. But he gave Jeremy a nod, and blew out a breath. “You’re
right. She’s had a long flight to get here. We’re both going to be tired, and
in no condition to have a rational conversation.” It sucked to have to say
those words especially when they were true. Shade needed something to loosen
the knot in his gut. But he wouldn’t push. If Cat wanted to talk he’d be there
to listen. No judgment and no pressure.

“Good man.” Smiling at him, Jeremy got off the sofa. “We’re here for
you, both you and Cateline if you need us. There’s nothing on the schedule for
tomorrow until the concert. Take the day with your girl to get reacquainted.
We’ll see you both for dinner before we all head out.”

Pushing to his feet, Shade clapped the other man on the shoulder. “Thank
you,” he said quietly. After letting him out, Shade stayed leaning against the
wood while staring blindly into the suite. He was damn lucky to have friends
like he did. Without them he might have fucked everything up all because he
could well have given in to the growing panic deep inside.

Now maybe he wouldn’t. He knew it would be better once Cat was with him.
The anxious tension he was feeling had to do with knowing she was close, but
not close enough.

The next knock on his door had his palms instantly breaking out in
dampness. Wiping them to his jeans, he made his way across the suite to pull
the door open. His smile was instantaneous at seeing Cat standing there. Taking
her luggage from the security guy who’d brought her to him with thanks, Shade
shut and locked the door.

After dropping the bags in the main bedroom he faced her again. “Hi,
kitten.”

She came straight to him, and wrapped her arms around him while
snuggling in close. Relief punched through him at the familiar action. Wrapping
his arms around her, Shade buried his nose in her hair to breathe her in. His
eyelids slid closed as he soaked in the heat her tiny body gave off while wrapped
tight in his arms.

“I missed you, too, Cat.” He gently wrapped her hair around his fist,
and tugged her head back to kiss her. She met him stroke for stroke with her
tongue. Shade drew her in tighter until she squirmed.

Letting her go, he wasn’t all that surprised when she jumped up into his
arms, her one hand instantly burrowed into his hair to hold tight. He met her
kiss again giving in to the frantic need for her.

Blindly he turned toward the bed, and by some miracle found it. Taking
her down to the soft surface, Shade devoured her mouth. He couldn’t believe how
much he’d missed her taste, her scent, and those little sounds she made deep in
her throat. Rocking his hips forward to rub his cock to her covered pussy, he
swallowed the tiny scream she let loose.

She pulled hard on his hair. “Naked, now,” she demanded.

More than willing to give her what she wanted, Shade set her free.
Clambering off the bed, he tore at his own clothing quickly. A moment’s clarity
had him scrambling quickly to find a condom from the box he had packed up
before leaving America. Sheathing his cock, he met her back on the bed.

Cat pushed at his shoulders until he was laid out flat on his back. She
climbed over him to rub her soaking pussy over his latex-covered cock. It was
his turn to moan when she rolled her hips at the same time she scraped her
short nails down his chest.

She sucked hard on his tongue while drenching his cock with her wetness.
Taking her hips in a firm hold Shade lifted her up enough to feel his cock
pressing to her heat. Cat knew immediately what to do. With a firm grip she
pressed him into her body.

Breaking the kiss, she threw her head back during her press down onto
him. She gave a violent shiver when he was fully sheathed inside her tight
body. “Too long,” she panted out. “Fuck me hard, Shade. Please, fuck me.”

With a growl, he rolled them over to put her on the bottom. Grabbing her
hands he laced their fingers together and pressed them up over her head. He
began to thrust. No technique, only pure need driving his movements.

His balls slapped to her ass with each nearly violent movement his cock made
through her slick folds. Faster, and faster he went. The pressure built to
volcanic pressures inside. But he couldn’t go over before her. He always made
sure she found her pleasure first.

To that end he dipped his head to bite her shoulder, and scrape his
teeth to her flesh. Releasing her hands, he cupped her ass with one hand to
angle her hips up. Her strangled scream combined with the clawing at his
shoulders told him she was right there. Two more hard thrusts and she latched
on. Her nails dug deep, and her pussy clutched his cock tight enough that he
couldn’t move. All Shade could do was fall over the edge with her, yelling her
name as his release tried to rip his spine free from his body.