Page 40 of California Love Songs
Damien’s heart immediately sank into his sneakers. With Arch still on the line, he opened his email. There was no subject line from his brother, just a large attachment, and then there it was: a page from a well-known gossip site with a photograph of him and Opal at the airport. They’d managed to crop out his sister, of course, to make it look all the more compromising. The headline was damning: Rock star Davenport greets new mystery woman at Monterey Airport.
Damien felt a sudden burst of fury. There he was at the airport with a beautiful young woman, helping her with her luggage. With just the two of them in the frame, it looked like he was picking up someone special. In fact, zooming in, you couldn’t even really see her guitar.
For a second, he seethed in silence, and then Arch said, “You still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here. Erin and I only picked her up two hours ago. How the hell has a gossip site got photos already?”
“Some lucky pap was in the right place at the right time.” No one understood better than his movie-star brother how the paps could screw with your life. “Who is she, anyway?” Arch wanted to know. “I mean, if there’s a new woman in your life, I figured you might have told us about it first.”
Damien shook his head even though Arch couldn’t see him. “She’s not a new woman in my life. Her name’s Opal. She’s a young musician, and I’m mentoring her.” He’d been planning to tell his family at brunch, but Mila had completely stolen the spotlight with her engagement announcement. After that, it hadn’t occurred to him to mention Opal was coming. He hadn’t seen the news as particularly exciting compared to his sister getting married.
Arch said, “Once they see this, and the sleazy headline that goes with it, people are going to think you’re doing a little more than mentoring. Anyway, I just thought I’d let you know. So you can keep your guard up. People know you’re back home now.”
“Thanks for the heads-up. I appreciate it.” He found himself saying, “Do you ever wish you’d gone into business with Dad or become a vet or something? Found a job where nobody cared who you were dating, what you ate for breakfast, where you lived, or followed you around taking photos?”
Arch laughed. “At least my breakfasts are more exciting than your plant-based pancakes.” He paused to consider Damien’s question more seriously. “I had to think about this a lot when I met Tessa, because she hates the limelight so much. Fame has its price, for sure. But no. I wouldn’t choose a different path. Would you?”
Damien sighed. “I always figured fame was the price of the band’s becoming successful. It’s afforded me a lot of amazing opportunities. And I love to travel. But sometimes I wonder what my life would have looked like if I’d stayed in Carmel.” And dated Crystal.
Would they have been married by now? Kids? Did the idea scare or excite him? He didn’t know.
“I doubt Dad would have wanted me in the family business. I don’t have the talent for building that Finn does. I visited them onsite yesterday and they barely trusted me with a pen.”
Arch laughed. “I’m surprised they even let you set foot on-site. So when you say you’re mentoring this young woman, she’s obviously here in Carmel. She must be good for you to invite her to your studio.”
“Oh, she’s very good.” He was as sure of that as he was sure of anything in life.
“You know, as soon as the sibs and Mom and Dad get hold of this, everybody will want to know what’s going on. Why don’t you invite her to the next family breakfast?”
“Yeah, I will. Thanks.” It was actually a great idea. If he got the rest of his family on board, that would definitely help him fight rumors of a nonexistent romance.
More important, he needed to get Crystal on board. Because as soon as the word romance had entered his brain, all he could think about was his arms around Crystal and how warm and sexy she’d felt. The sensation of her lips pressed against his hadn’t faded. What was wrong with him? He’d kissed countless beautiful women in beautiful locations all over the planet, but he didn’t think there’d ever been a single kiss that rocked his world the way that questionable kiss between old friends had done.
He couldn’t wrap his head around it.
And now he realized that he’d proved Crystal right. Hadn’t she been the first to say that the press would jump to conclusions about his mentoring?
He ended the call with Arch, feeling a lot more glum than he had only ten minutes ago. He wasn’t worried about the paps getting onto the grounds of his place. He was very low-key about it, but he had a security firm on retainer, and he always let them know when he was in town. Right about now, they’d be unobtrusively patrolling the grounds, making sure everything was okay. He couldn’t do anything about paparazzi hanging around on public property, but there was no way they’d encroach on his home.
As he approached the studio with the tray and heard the sound of Opal warming up floating on the breeze, his mood immediately lifted. It was easy to think that becoming a rock star was mostly luck, and he was the first person to admit a lot of luck had played into his path. But what people didn’t see were the hours and hours of practice, the lyrics that got chucked in the trash never to see the light of day, the tweaking to make each song better—never accepting the first version of anything. Making sure every song was the best it could be before anyone heard it.
Looking at Opal now, tucked up on a stool, already bent over her precious guitar, he knew they shared the same work ethic. He had a pretty good feeling they were going to get on fine, so he tried to put aside his annoyance over that pap’s picture. Watching her strum a few chords, he debated whether to even tell her. What difference would it make if he waited a couple of hours until they’d put in some work? Why start her visit on a negative note? They’d keep it peaceful and drama-free, at least for a few hours.
He set down the tray, handed her the glass of mineral water, and said, “Let me hear some of your new stuff.”
Opal immediately looked both excited and bashful. “Sure. But I want you to be super honest with me, and as critical as you have to be.” She was so serious and earnest when she looked at him that he was reminded of his younger self, caught on the wave of her enthusiasm.
He promised his absolute honesty, because that was the best way to help her career. So he took a seat and, with some nervous anticipation, nodded that she should begin.
She took a deep breath and then that incredible voice of hers poured out of that tiny frame. It was raw and raspy, deep and rich with emotion, and although she stumbled a couple of times, which he put down to nerves, by the second verse he could see the song take over. Then she was gone, fully immersed in the music, and he was right there with her. It was a little rough, and he saw where it needed work, but he was as convinced as he had been the first time he met her that this girl had serious talent.
When she finished, the confidence drained from her face and the nerves returned. Her eyes looked a little troubled as she asked, “What did you think? Honestly.”
He just let his smile beam out to speak for him. “I’ve got some ideas on how you can make it better, but as raw material, that was absolutely amazing. I can’t wait to get started.”
She heaved a huge sigh of relief. “I’m so glad. I was so nervous about coming here. During the whole flight I kept asking myself, what if it doesn’t work out? What if you feel like you made a mistake?”
He shrugged that off. “I wouldn’t have invited you here if I didn’t think you had this in you. Now, let’s get to work.”
