A Summer to Remember(61)
“You’re right…I misspoke and I am sorry. None of us have ever done anything merely to make a man happy. It was a stupid question and I apologize.”
She bit her bottom lip. “I don’t know about that. Autumn seems to be into this movie star guy and we all know how Savannah feels about Jude. What about you? You can’t convince me you haven’t changed for Paul.”
That was a subject I had no intention of talking about. “Isn’t it about time for our massages? My muscles could use it.”
“Nice subject change but you are right.” Talia whistled and caught the attention of Savannah and Autumn. “Ladies, it’s time for our deep-tissue massages.”
The day at the spa was absolute heaven but by the time it was over, I was more than ready to shower, change and have dinner with the band. We were quite lucky because we got both Scarlet Fever and Winter’s Regret to ourselves without any interruptions. Their girlfriends and fiancées were not in attendance except for Talia who was a band member.
I had met my share of famous people but meeting the members of two of the biggest rock bands in the world was still a rush. The members of Scarlet Fever were a lot more charming than Winter’s Regret. The only member I scarcely liked was Kris Nieminen and I could understand why he and Talia had grown so close over the weeks.
“Now there is a hunk of a man,” I told her at dinner as we all enjoyed a myriad of delicacies and enough booze to make a whole platoon of soldiers drunk.
“He’s taken. His fiancée blew a gasket when she couldn’t come but it would have been so f*cking awkward. It’s not worth discussing,” she said as she sliced into her rare steak and gently placed it into her mouth.
I enjoyed a full plate of seafood and raw vegetables. “So, nothing is going on between you two then?”
Talia glanced at me before she focused on her plate. “Why would there be? I have Seth, remember?”
I let it drop as I turned to Paul who enjoyed yet another steak with steamed vegetables and a side order of jumbo prawns. “You want to watch your cholesterol intake, sweetie.”
“I never eat like this so let me enjoy myself here in Miami, babe.” He smiled at me before he kissed my lips quickly. “How was your day with the girls?”
“It was great but as we women do, it was full of unnecessary tension and drama. I still can’t believe Autumn is going out with Brandon Wilkinson. She talked non-stop about him the whole day. By the end of the day, I just wanted my ears to start bleeding because I was so sick of her mentioning him,” I explained before I shoved a slice of tilapia in my mouth.
“Your attitude has nothing to do with the ill-timed one night stand you had with him when he first arrived in Manhattan to see your brother?”
My face felt heated as I turned the color of crimson. No one had to tell me what I looked like because I knew what my face resembled when I was embarrassed.
“That was way back in June, Paul, and he’s the one who didn’t tell me he had a girlfriend. Then he felt guilty afterwards but that’s not my fault. What? Am I supposed to stay chained to TMZ and US Magazine? You know damn well I have a business to run and that is how we met. The cheapskate was supposed to buy a few pieces of art work but he doesn’t know shit about fine art. I think I sold him an atrocious painting that was pretty expensive by an up and coming artist who makes Jackson Pollock’s work look positively intellectual.”
Paul laughed under his breath. “And you don’t think that was kind of cruel?”
I raised one of my perfectly shaped eyebrows. “Um, it’s not my fault if the man has no taste. It was a f*cking ugly piece of art work anyway and I wanted to get rid of it the moment it entered my gallery. He happened to buy it but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good investment. The painter is a suicidal Russian with an extreme alcohol problem so it will probably worth quite a bit of money within a couple of years.”
We both got a great laugh out of that before dinner ended and because it was a dinner party, we were free to roam around and mingle with the band members. I walked outside to the large balcony and the humid Miami weather hit me with a wall of thick, viscous air I felt I had to drink to breathe. Since the whole Ashley situation, I smoked occasionally though it was a habit Paul detested. After all the alcohol I had consumed that day, I needed a nicotine kick desperately.
I watched as Kris, the guitarist from Winter’s Regret, spoke with an attractive brunette who looked concerned. “I don’t like you spending so much time with her. She is a band member and that’s it. Don’t make it more than what it is. I can’t take you doing what you did to me again. I have to think about people other than myself and if we are going to get married then you have to take your responsibilities seriously.”