A Summer to Remember(42)
“Yes, I know. Seth wants me to initially join Winter’s Regret as a keyboardist and then I will have a clear path to branch out…I don’t know if that is such a good idea…I mean working with the man I am in love with day in and day out. The groupies, being involved in a band where I am the only female and surrounded by a bunch of horny, good looking tattooed guys? It just might be a bit too much for my hormones.”
I smiled as I shook my head. “Okay, on your way, you, so I can get some work to do. Miami is definitely on but you better keep in touch and let me know what’s going on, okay?”
Talia’s green eyes paled. “How did you know I was leaving so soon?”
“Call it female intuition.”
She smiled at me before she grabbed my hands and held them within her own before she reluctantly let them go. “Love you.”
“Love you too, sweetie.”
I watched her leave my office and although I wanted to drop my ridiculous grin, I couldn’t fault her for wanting to be close to the man she loved. I would have done the same in a heartbeat if the situation were reversed and it was Paul we were speaking of instead of Seth.
That evening, Paul and I spent a perfectly satisfying evening at one of my favorite French restaurants. We talked about our work and Talia’s decision.
“I’m happy for her and just to let you in on the latest news, she left because she agreed to the keyboardist position. She’s tired of writing other musician’s number one hits.”
I sipped from a great year of Cabernet Sauvignon. “Believe me I understand her frustration but she was getting paid, not the artist, since she was the song writer.”
“Yes but this new album Seth and her are working on is going to be a masterpiece if what she did for Scarlet Fever’s newest album is any indication. She just has a knack for knowing what is right for different groups and sounds. She can compose a song for an artist like Joss Stone or a song for Kelly Clarkson. She just can assess music and has an ear that is a natural gift.”
Paul paused as he swigged from his wine before his crystal blue eyes settled on me. “Talia consulted both Jude and I before she made her decision and we went over her contract. We both agreed it was a good idea and Seth is no idiot. He knows she isn’t someone to be messed over and he would do anything to keep her. I can respect that and I couldn’t help but want them to finally be together.”
My right hand caressed his left hand on the table. “So, I’m assuming you knew about Miami in August?”
“Yep. I thought it would be a great idea and I really want to get you all to myself on a beautiful, exotic beach. Sue me already.”
I smiled at him before I shook my head. “You’re incorrigible, Paul.”
He leaned over the table and kissed my lips quickly. “Listen, I guess I should tell you a bit of news just in case it comes up later on. Savannah and Jude are messing around but it’s not anything serious so stop with the stars forming in your eyes or imagining their marriage and two children with a Golden Retriever in the yard. It’s just a little playful affair that people our age have, okay?”
“You mean they aren’t like you and I?”
“No one is like you and me, babe. I want to marry you and I couldn’t imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else but you but I don’t want you to think I am perfect because I’m not.” He was silent for a moment as he refilled our wine glasses. “I was your typical * jerk at Harvard and believed in the whole ‘sluts’ versus ‘virtuous women’. I admit I thought like a typical guy and my past isn’t exactly stellar.”
My heart began to beat in my chest with a stunning intensity. “What are you trying to say, Paul?”
“I’m saying there was a scandal when I was at Harvard but unlike yours, it never got out because I was a guy and the young woman involved didn’t come from a family as privileged as mine. You know I was in a fraternity, right? Jude and I were in the same fraternity. It’s for all the super wealthy kids who come from families with mega wealth.”
I drank down half my wine in a couple of long sips. “What happened while you were in the fraternity, babe?”
“One night there was a party and this young woman just got out of her head drunk. She was still coherent and there was a…train…pulled on her. I mean, literally, ten guys must have f*cked her right after the other, maybe more. I was the second and I think Jude was the first but after the sixth or seventh guy, I lost count. I was really drunk but not too wasted I didn’t use a condom.