Page 22 of The Music of Love

“No?” I reply, grinning.

“Yes!” she gasps.

“No, yes?”

“Oh my God,” she stammers. “I—yes, Cal. I love you too.”

Reese begins to giggle, but I seal her lips with mine, and she immediately stops. I wrap my arms around her and cement the moment in my mind, like taking a mental photograph.

Just then, from the left of us, I hear the sound of chatter. I break our kiss and look and see a group of people in the distance walking toward us, picnic gear in their hands. “Oh, shit, Reese! We’ve got to go!”

“What do you–“ She glances over and sees them too and immediately slides off me and tugs her skirt and blouse down. “Oh, shit!”

Still hard, I pull my pants up and grab my guitar. Laughing, giggling, we both run back in the direction of the car. What an incredible moment together. And there will only be many more to come.

16

Reese

If ridingin that crazy car to Cal’s performance venue was a new experience, then riding in his private jet to Los Angeles is something out of this world.

First, we didn’t have to go through the nauseating TSA security at the airport or check our bags. We just basically drove onto the tarmac where the plane was waiting for us, then got out and boarded.

Two super friendly, smiling flight attendants were there to greet us, and a guy took our bags for us and loaded them. I even met the pilot, who was really nice and said his name was Mike.

There were insanely comfortable seats, tables, couches, pillows, televisions and screens with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The food was restaurant quality. I had fresh fruit, a salad, and sushi. Cal had caviar, but I admit I was a little too scared to try it. “Maybe another time,” I told him. And for dessert, I had an amazing cupcake.

The whole thing was crazy. By the time I had taken in the experience, eaten, and talked to Cal about Los Angeles and the music business, we were already more than halfway to Los Angeles.

When we touch down, there’s another one of those insane cars waiting for us with a suited driver. “Whatisthis thing, Cal?” I ask. “I feel like I’ve seen it on TV or something. Like rappers driving around in them or something.”

“Rolls Royce,” he says as we slide in the back. “Phantom. And maybe you’ve seen one or two rappers in one. They cost a lot. But they’re worth it.”

“They definitely are comfortable,” I reply as we pull away from the jet. “And…how expensive?”

Cal shrugs. “Five-fifty.”

My jaw drops. “Five hundred thousand?” He just smiles back and nods. “Jesus, it’s going to take me a while to get used to your…lifestyle.”

“Well, Miss New Manager”—he grins—“get used to it. Because it’s going to be like this from now on.”

The ride through Los Angeles is a bit overwhelming. The city is massive, the freeways wide and packed with cars, and every now and then when we come up over a hill and I get a view into the distance, all I see is more and more city.

“Wow,” I say to Cal. “It’s big, isn’t it?”

“What, the city?” He chuckles, squeezing me on the knee. “Yeah, it is. But you’ll get used to that too. And there’s a whole lot to it that you’ll come to enjoy.”

I lean over on his shoulder and take a deep breath of his scent. My heart is beating quickly. I’m very excited. “As long as I’m with you.”

Cal squeezes my knee again and kisses the top of my head. “Right back atcha.”

Pretty soon, the city starts to look more and more like what I’ve seen on TV. Things get hillier, and the houses get a lot nicer. And then I see it. The big Beverly Hills sign.

“No way. You live in Beverly Hills?”

Cal chuckles. “I also have a house in Malibu,” he replies. “That’s by the beach. But I figured since we just got off the plane, we’d stop here since it’s closer.”

“Musically talentedandsmart,” I tease. “What a catch you are.”

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