A Valentine Duet Read online

  Chapter 3

  Elena impatiently paced back and forth in the studio waiting for McFadden to get there. This was the fourth day this week he was running late and quite frankly she’d had enough of him. She had stuff to do too, hell she had more going on than he did. Yet she made it her business to be there, every day and on time. His blatant disrespect made her blood boil and she feared she’d launch into a fit of rage and attack like a lioness does its prey. Looking down to her phone she pondered whether she should give him a quick call, but a voice in the back of her mind protested. Calling wouldn’t make a difference, he would simply lie and say he was on his way and arrive there a whole hour later. Ten more minutes – that’s all the time she was giving him; if he wasn’t here by then she was leaving and her next stop would be Aaron Goldstein’s office.

  Their producers, Jerry and Steven, looked equally as irritated as she was. They been here arranging and putting the music together even before she arrived. And now it seemed like their day was still not over. She wanted to begin recording her part of the song but both men suggested that she wait for McFadden. The sound of her mobile phone ringing caught her ears and when she answered she realized that it was just her personal assistant, Jenny. Elena had sent her off to pick up her dry cleaning and would meet up with her at the hotel later. They spoke for a few minutes and ended the call with Elena asking her to come over to the studio when she was done.

  Pulling out the lyrics sheet from her brown leather tote bag hanging on her arm, she tried to memorize the words of the song. “One Happy Valentine,” she read the title out loud and laughed to herself. Maybe she was cold hearted, a bit cynical if she wanted to admit it to herself. But Elena had always found the fact that people gave so much attention to one day of the whole year to do silly things together. What happened to the remaining 364 days? The way she saw it, a lonely heart on the fourteenth was better than a broken heart on the fifteenth. Focusing her attention back on the song in her hand, Elena continued reading through the lyrics. Just then the door to the small studio came open and the man they had all been waiting for finally strode in. He greeted them and walked over to the isolation booth as if he were not aware he was hours late. Or worse, didn’t care that he was hours late.

  He had an unapologetic attitude, yet he was so darn sexy; she hated who he was but loved looking at him. He was like a beautiful cactus; she knew he’d hurt her if she were to ever get too close. But his risky green-blue eyes were somewhat seductive and his full head of silky jet black hair made her want to run her fingers through it. A handsome heartthrob indeed, she’d heard all about his relationships with the ladies. He gave new meaning to the word man-whore, running through a jungle of women like a cheetah.

  “Hi everyone, sorry I’m late,” he said, but he looked anything but, at least to Elena. Devil-may-care grin on his face, he made Elena wish she had paid more attention in her self-defense class, learned how to karate chop something. Then she would have walked over and put a scar right on that pretty boy mouth of his. With his luck, he may end up looking more like a handsome rogue than an ugly villain.

  Trying hard to not stare at him, she shifted her gaze to his side. He had his guitar case in one hand and car keys dangling in the other. The dark shades that covered his eyes complemented his bad boy appearance perfectly.

  A familiar, yet unwelcome, feeling swept through Elena and she nearly cursed at herself for being attracted to such an arrogant man. “Tardy again, aren’t we?” She rose to her feet and walked all the way to the back of the control room where the producers had been playing around with their mixing equipment. The small kitchenette tucked away in the corner was her destination. “This was not the time we agreed to meet here,” she spat at him, when it seemed that the producers were going to ignore his tardiness.

  “No, it is not,” he said to her, then went looking for a chair.

  Fuming with rage this time, Elena walked to him and stood in front of him until he was forced to look at her. Then she immediately regretted her decision. At over six feet, he towered over her. But not in a threatening way. Rather his height was just perfect for her and…. No, no, no. She was not going to go there. She was not going to let him affect her like this. Steeling her chin, she lifted up her head to stare into his eyes and found him silently laughing at her, almost as if he knew what being this close to him was doing to her. Then as if to dare her, he slightly flexed his chest, the tips of his pecs which was very close to her breasts. Breasts with nipples that were slowly beginning to harden. But Elena knew that taking a single step back was akin to defeat, so instead she planted her feet firmly on the floor and fixed her gaze on him without taking her eyes off him. Thank God for thick padded bras, Elena thought. Her nipples would have been drilling a hole in his chest by now.

  “I said,” she repeated as she lifted her shoulders in a bid to add a few inches to her height, “why did you come late?”

  “Oh sorry.” He looked sincerely apologetic and Elena faltered in her attack. “Saw a couple of stray kittens on the way over and I stopped to rescue them. Had to drive them over to an animal shelter a couple of miles out of the way. Then Trixie, that’s the smallest kitten of the bunch by the way. Yeah I named them, I mean they were just so cute,” he said with a wink before continuing. “Anyway, Trixie wouldn’t drink her milk unless I fed it to her. So I had to wait to do that. Anyways, they are fine now and I know they will find good homes.”

  Swamped with emotion and almost berating herself for assuming the worst of him, Elena immediately apologized. “Oh, I’m so sorry for accusing you like that. The kittens are fine now right?” she asked, forgetting for an instant that she hated his guts and placing her hand on his arm. His finely sculpted muscular arm. But at that moment, all she was seeing were fluffy white kittens in a cardboard box being bottle fed by a gorgeous hunk, this gorgeous hunk. “I have always thought of getting a cat. But was not sure I could really take care of her. Where is this animal shelter, maybe I could go and adopt one?”

  “Oh that,” he said, still looking solemn. “That particular shelter is in my head. As is the talking parrot I used to pick this pretty woman up from a club just a few days ago.”

  Elena stared at him, dumbfounded and cursing herself for getting played so easily. “You’ve got to be the vilest, most repulsive and repugnant man I have ever known.”

  “You forgot to add sexiest to that list,” he said with a wink, and she could feel red hot air blow from her nostrils. “Come on, don’t deny it. There is a part of you that…”

  “You can hold it right there,” she interrupted him. Then with a flip of her hair, stalked off to the sink.

  “Fix me something to drink as well while you’re over there,” Tom ordered, placing the case on the floor next to him and retrieving his guitar. He made himself comfortable on the chair as he positioned his instrument across his lap. “Don’t forget my drink,” he reminded her.

  How dare he walk in late and try to boss her around! The little devil on her shoulder encouraged her to curse him out but the more sensible side urged her not to. Deciding to be the bigger person, Elena ignored his request, knowing that if she responded she wouldn’t be able to control her tongue. He was just trying to get a reaction out of her – a negative one at that. The built up anger and frustration she was harboring within were enough to make her explode. She already had a reputation in the music industry for being hot tempered; the last thing she wanted was to add fuel to that fire. The sound of water boiling in the electric kettle got her attention and she quickly grabbed a cup from the cupboard, washing it out under the faucet. Some hot tea was all she needed to help her calm down.

  She added a teaspoon of honey to the cup of green tea she’d made herself before bringing it up to her lips and taking a sip. The warm liquid was soothing as it trickled slowly down her throat and as she indulged, Elena could feel her body becoming more relaxed. In the background she heard the sound of McFadden’s guitar as he stroked the strings with his fingers while
singing the song. Turning to him, her eyes fell to his and a half-hearted smile graced her lips. He knew the words, without having to use the lyrics sheet. Perhaps she was being too hard on him, judging based on his personal life and not his talent.

  He stroked the strings as he spoke to her, singing what he was saying. Trying to resist the chuckle was hard, like a handsome devil he was using his charm to soften the tension between them. Elena strode to the isolation booth and tried to sing along with him, but she found herself mixing her lines up. He laughed at her; he laughed long and hard as if he hadn’t laughed in years.

  “What is so funny?” She walked back out to finish her tea.

  “You,” he said simply. “You get this look in your eyes when you are frustrated, almost as if you wished the song was a physical entity and you want to wrap your hands around it and throttle it.”

  “Are you saying that I have a temper?” she asked him as she came back with the mug in her hand.

  “No. That is not what I am saying,” he replied with his hands lifted up in mock surrender. “What I meant is that you like everything to go your own way and you are not satisfied until they do. You know like a perfectionist, but in a good way.”

  “I’m not a perfectionist,” Elena protested as she stood akimbo. “I don’t always want to have my way with everything.”

  “You sure?” he asked her, looking up at her and she was instantly reminded of the scene in his house. She still had no idea why she had agreed to meet him in the house to write the song together. But still it was not like he forced himself on her, at least not physically. He had just done a million little things that ended up forcing her to… No, she was not going to think about that. They had both agreed tacitly not to bring that momentary lapse in judgment up and so far he had not said a single word about it. He had not even tried anything funny with her and that was what she wanted. That was what she wanted, she told herself again when she realized it was hard not to admit that his easy dismissal of her hurt a little. How the hell could he go from kissing her until her toes curled, to being photographed waving bye to a sexy blonde woman from his door in the early hours of the morning? Yes, it hurt a little that he could kiss her like that and forget her the next minute. But Elena reminded herself that the last thing she wanted was to be one more name in his ever growing list of sexual conquests. Besides, she was not attracted to him in the least. Not at all. So she shouldn’t be bothered.

  “Let’s get back to work,” she finally said, escaping his questioning gaze as she moved away from him to grab a seat and try to figure out the notes she was having trouble with.

  A few minutes went by before she joined him again with the lyrics in hand. Finally after several attempts they finished recording the entire song. In a few more days they would leave New York and begin their US tour.

  Chapter 4

  “Good Evening Chicago! How you doing tonight? What a beautiful crowd you are!” His fans went wild as he walked to the edge of the stage and shook hands with several overly excited young women in the front row.

  “Today I, and my sexy friend, Elena will be performing a new number off her forthcoming album. In stores everywhere on Valentine’s Day, make sure you go get it,” Tom informed with a huge smile on his face.

  “Thank you, thanks, darling…Hello Chicago!” Elena joined him on stage, giving him a quick peck on the cheek as another round of cheers sounded through the lively crowd.

  Tonight was the third show in his three week cross country tour and he had twelve more shows to go. As expected, working with Elena had turned out to be like hell on earth most times. She gave him a hard time about damn near everything he did. She’d even tried to chastise him about his social habits, trying to discourage him from going out to the clubs during his free time. But unlike the other men she probably bossed around, he was his own man, living by his own rules. For as long as he could remember, he always did whatever the hell he wanted. And Miss Elena Monroe would just need to take a chill pill.

  Thankfully, so far they’d managed to put up a great facade, pretending to be good friends in front of the cameras and press. However, behind closed doors their rocky relationship hadn’t changed much. She was still the self-absorbed, know it all Brit. He didn’t understand her; it wasn’t like he had anything against the British, he actually loved their accent and the air of sophistication that most of them had. But Elena - Elena Monroe was different. He couldn’t wrap his mind around what it was he felt towards her. Surprisingly unlike her, he did not harbor any negative feelings. And if he didn’t’ know any better, he’d think he was secretly attracted to her. No, it couldn’t be. Tom tried to shoot down that thought immediately, watching her from the corner of his eyes as she sang the lines to her verse of the song.

  Elena strode to him, a smile on her face and he replied with one of his fake smiles as they joined together in singing the chorus. They ended the song holding hands while staring each other in the eye. The crowd applauded and cheered them, some people throwing roses on the stage while several others screamed, requesting an encore.

  “Do you think we should, Elena?” Tom teased.

  “Why not, love. Let’s give the people what they want.” Elena smiled and together they joined in the first verse.

  As they sang together her eyes caught his and a warm unspoken gesture was conveyed. She was such a stunningly beautiful woman; curvy in all the right places, her curly red hair wild but sexy. If she wasn’t so hot tempered, he would not mind taking her out to dinner somewhere nice and elegant. She was not like other women he’d dated; he could tell that she had a taste for the finer things. It was kind of frustrating though, the way she could get under his skin with just one look. Nothing could make his hackles rise faster than her calling him out on yet another bad behavior of his. And she did that a lot.

  Don’t do this.

  Don’t do that.

  Do this.

  Do that.

  So many rules in her world, so many do’s and don’ts that he wanted to grab her and kiss her until she shut the hell up. Hell, he had done it once, and it had worked pretty perfectly. Right until the point when he realized it was not just about kissing her to shut her up anymore. Instead it became something else, something deeper and it touched the core of him. A core no one had ever been able to get to and that scared the living hell out of him. Hell, he had no idea she was that good a kisser. It was as if all that good girl façade had been the Trojan horse hiding a much more daring woman underneath. One that made him see stars with just one touch of her lips. And to think he used to see her as shy and straight laced. Focusing his attention back to the crowd, they ended the repeat of the song on a high note, their voices in perfect harmony. He stood there smiling at their fans as they showered them with admiration and praise. If only their relationship in real life could be this great!

  A few days had gone by and as they made their way to the popular Addy James talk show, Tom took Elena’s hands in his seconds before walking out before the audience. Addy had been a radio personality turn talk show host with whom he’d become good friends. When he decided to break out on his own, Addy had set up a couple of media appearances on talk shows. Tom thought it would just be him goofing around on camera with an audience. That was where he met Addy for the first time. She was the first one to actually believe he could do it, and while other hosts try to put him on the spot by demanding to know if he really thought he could accomplish anything without his band, Addy was the only one who encouraged him on her show. Now he made sure he did not complete any tour without stopping by her show and as usual she was glad to have him. The older woman welcomed them to her program, congratulating them on the success of their song that was beginning to build steam in the ratings.

  “So Tom,” she asked, after he and Elena had taken their seats on the couch reserved for guests of the show, “how has your tour been?”

  “Great, Addy,” he replied with his trademark smile. “But then I have the best fans in the world, so you k
now my tours have always been great.” This time his smile was directed to the audience and yells, screams and applause rang out across the studio. He waited for the applause to die down a little, before continuing. “Of course, this particular tour has been made all the more special by the presence of one of the best artists I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Elena Monroe, everybody,” he said, as Elena smiled and waved to the audience. The roar of applause was yet again deafening and Elena realized that like Aaron had pointed out, the song had only helped to expose each of them to the fan base of the other.

  “Wow, Tom,” Addy commented with a hand to her chest. “I don’t think I have ever heard applause that loud on my show before? Elena, you should feel happy at getting such a reception on your first time on the show.”

  “I do, Addy, I really do,” Elena replied, beaming smile on her lip as she spoke sincerely. “They make it all worth it.”

  “They do, don’t they?” Addy said to her. “But then some of them would imagine that getting to sing a love song with Tom McFadden was reward enough. Won’t you agree?” she asked Elena.

  “Hey,” Tom jumped in before Elena could reply, and just in time, too, as she was stumped on how to answer that question. The idea was to present themselves as a possible couple without actually confirming that they were in a relationship. “I think I am the one lucky to get to work with someone as sexy as Elena. Besides, you’ve heard her British accent. Tell me that is not sexy?” he asked the crowd as they dissolved into laughter amidst shouts of yes, yeah and hell yeah. Elena blushed prettily as she could not help burst into laughter. Tom was definitely in his element as he worked the crowd.