Part 31 (1/2)
”What about Kate? She's going to need me.”
”If they're smart, they won't come anywhere near here when they hear about the press invasion.”
”True.”
”So you'll come?”
She opened the front door for him as she ended the call. ”Give me ten minutes to grab a quick shower and throw some clothes in a bag.”
”That's about all I've got.” He'd already accepted that he wouldn't have time to go home and change. Good thing his meeting was only with Buddy, who wouldn't care if Ashton met him wearing jeans. Buddy's mantra was the more casual the better.
True to her word, Jill came running down the stairs ten minutes later, wearing a sweater and jeans tucked into boots. Her hair was contained in a ponytail, and she carried a backpack. She stopped short when she noticed him smiling at her. ”What?”
”You look like an eighteen-year-old coed.”
”I was in a rush.”
”I didn't say that was a bad thing, darlin'.”
”Oh, that's right. The men in your family like them young.”
”That's not nice,” he said with a laugh as he ushered her out the door.
”Sorry,” she said with a sheepish grin. ”That was a softball.”
He held the door to the truck for her and then walked around to the pa.s.senger side. When he was in the driver's seat, he reached into the backseat for a jacket he kept there. ”Want to put this over your head so they don't recognize you?”
”You really think that's necessary?”
”Unless you want Kate to find out we're together before you're ready to tell her, I'd say it's necessary.”
As he pulled up to the gatehouse to punch in the code she'd given him the day before, Jill squirmed down in the seat and pulled his jacket over her head. The instant the gate swung open, Ashton hit the gas, propelling the truck forward too quickly for the reporters to react.
He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a few of them giving chase, but they drove quickly out of range. ”It's safe to come out.”
Jill popped up and ran a hand over her hair, glancing back at the mob scene outside the gate. ”Wow,” she whispered. ”So much for the story dying a natural death.”
”You need to warn your sister that she's coming back to a hornet's nest.”
Jill withdrew her phone from her bag. ”d.a.m.n, it went right to voice mail,” she said. ”Kate, it's me. The media is camped at the gate. You might want to avoid the house for the time being. Call me when you get this message.”
”Let me try my dad,” Ashton said, dialing as he drove. ”Great. His went right to voice mail, too. Dad, you guys might want to avoid Kate's place. I heard it's crawling with reporters. Call me when you land.” He glanced over to find Jill staring out the window, nibbling on her thumbnail. ”Hey.”
She turned to him.
”Don't worry. I know it's easy for me to say, but this'll die down eventually.”
”Will she have a career left when it's over? What if all the mothers of those devoted teenage girls won't let them listen to her music anymore?”
”I don't think it'll come to that.”
”It could if she doesn't address the fact that she made a mistake.”
Since Ashton couldn't argue with that, he didn't try. Rather he reached for her hand and held it all the way into town. When they were getting close to his office, he said, ”What do you think about coming to my meeting with Buddy? Maybe between the three of us, we can figure out a next step for Kate.”
”You'd do that?”
”Of course I would. Buddy's label has a lot invested in her. It behooves all of us to figure a way out of this.”
”Oh.”
Ashton pulled into the parking lot next to Buddy's Escalade. ”What does that mean. Oh?”
”I thought maybe you were doing it for Kate and not because of business.”
”I'm doing it for you, silly.” He leaned over to kiss her.
”Oh.”
”There's that word again.” Tugging on her ponytail, he said, ”She's second only to Buddy in terms of sales for Long Road Records, which makes her problems Buddy's problems-and mine. But more than anything, I want to see that worry line between your brows disappear.”
She reached up to feel for the line in question. ”I don't have any lines.”
”Yes, you do. Let's go see what Buddy has to say about all of this.”
Inside, they exchanged greetings with Ashton's a.s.sistant, Debi, who sent him a secret smile when she saw him with Jill. Debi had helped to arrange the car to pick up Jill before their trip to Malibu and had called him out about his crush on her months ago, urging him to act on it.
When Jill wasn't looking, Debi gave him a thumbs-up.
Ashton rolled his eyes at her and ushered Jill up the stairs to his office where Buddy Longstreet was sitting in Ashton's chair, feet on the desk, like he owned the place.
”Comfortable?” Ashton asked his G.o.dfather.
”Very,” Buddy said, watching as Ashton held a chair for Jill and waited until she was settled before he sat in the chair next to hers. ”Fine mess your sister's gotten us into.”
Jill winced. ”Yes.”
”When's she coming home?”
”Today.”
”Good. She needs to get her a.s.s out there to defend herself.”
”That's what I told her,” Jill said. ”But apparently she's got other plans.”