Page 52 of Never Too Late
She grinned at him. ‘You sound like Johnny talking about his beloved fly fishing.’ She stopped a passing waiter and grabbed two glasses of champagne. ‘I don’t know about you, but I could do with a proper drink.’
The sunlight shining in through the blinds woke her early and she opened her eyes and blinked. A movement beside her made her turn her head and she saw him propped up on one elbow, staring down at her.
‘Buongiorno, signora.’
‘Buongiorno, signore. It’s good to see you.’
‘Not as good as it is to see you. I’ve been watching you sleep for maybe an hour now.’ He reached down and brushed a lock of hair from her face. ‘As shows go, it was one of the best. I could have spent all day just looking at you.’
She rubbed her cheek against him and stared up at him. ‘You don’t look too bad yourself.’ She kissed the side of his chest and then looked up again. ‘So, what’s the plan? How long have I got you for?’
‘I think the question should be, how long have I gotyoufor? Dad told me last night that you guys are off to San Francisco tomorrow, then Seattle, Vancouver, and any number of places in Canada before coming back to the States again en route to Mexico.’
She shook her head ruefully. ‘And didn’t you say you’ve got a tour in Germany coming up?’
‘Starting on Tuesday.’
‘As soon as that? And you flew all the way from Europe just for a couple of days? I’ve been meaning to ask: did you manage to get yourself fixed up with a new accompanist?’
‘I’d have flown all the way just for the sake of a couple ofhourswith you. As for my new accompanist, the answer’s yes and no. Yes, for the next few weeks – an old friend doing me a favour – but I’m going to have to start looking properly before the end of the month.’ His eyes twinkled. ‘I don’t suppose I can lure you away from Royalty? I’m afraid the money’s not so good.’
‘I know which I’d rather do, but I’ve promised your dad and the others now, so I’m stuck.’ She corrected herself. ‘Sorry, that sounds so ungrateful, but you know what I mean.’
‘I know; I was just kidding. Of course you’re committed. By the way, I’m a bit concerned about Dad. It sounds as though he’s getting as obsessive about the band as he used to be. I hope he doesn’t scare the other two off.’
‘Johnny and Ben said the same thing. Hopefully they’ll have it out with him. I’m the new girl, so I feel it’s not up to me. So, what this means as far as you and I are concerned is that I’ve got you for today, and then that’s about that.’
As she spoke the room phone started ringing and she stretched over his body to answer it. His skin felt really good against hers and she was almost purring as she picked up the phone.
‘Morning, Steph, Sol’s team have booked us an interview at CBS at eleven. The car will pick us up at ten thirty. Don’t be late, okay?’ It was Keith and he barely gave her time to reply before hanging up, presumably so as to be able to bully the other band members into getting up as well. She dropped the phone but stayed where she was, now looking down into Rob’s eyes from above.
‘We don’t have a lot of time.’
As she bent down to kiss him, she heard him murmur.
‘Mustn’t waste it then…’
Chapter 24
The rest of the month was a blur of different cities but remarkably similar hotels, limos, private planes, interviews and studios. Steph worked her way through – and even augmented – her stock of new clothes, gradually got used to having cameras pointed at her, and refined her answers to stock questions like, ‘How does it feel to be the first woman in Royalty?’ She enjoyed seeing places she had only heard about until now, but found that she had very little free time for sightseeing, and on the rare occasions when she could get out, an increasing number of people were starting to recognise her face and stop her for photos or autographs. Although such fame had been her dream since her teenage years, it made her feel very self-conscious.
All the time Rob wasn’t far from her thoughts. They called each other most days, but with the time difference this meant that the moments she really would have liked to hear the sound of his voice – like when she was getting ready for bed – she knew that he was probably sitting down to breakfast. It made their relationship feel ever more insubstantial. She had cried when he’d left her to fly back to Europe and even now, weeks later, the thought of him could produce a poignant mix of smiles and tears. There was no longer any doubt in her mind that he was The One, and she relayed this information to her mum who asked the inevitable question.
‘What are you going to do about it? Presumably you’ll be back over here in a few weeks. Are you planning on getting together with him? Maybe go and stay with him and his lovely dog?’
‘You can’t imagine how much I’d love to, Mum, but it’s not as easy as that. We’ve got our first concert coming up at the beginning of December, and Keith says we’ll need to spend a lot of November in the studio in London practising for it. He’s even talking about what he calls an “impromptu” concert here in the States before we leave, and we’re going to be in a studio in Detroit for a few days this week, to get ready for it. I barely have time to eat and sleep.’
‘So what you’re saying is that your job’s going to keep you and Rob apart?’
‘That’s exactly what I’m saying, at least for quite a few months or even a year, as we go on tour, promoting the reformed band and the new album.’
‘Well, surely if he feels the same way about you as you do about him, he’ll wait until you’re freer. He does feel the same way about you, doesn’t he?’
‘I think so… in fact I’m pretty sure he does, but the truth is that we’ve spent so little time together. Maybe if we remain apart for too long he’ll change his mind. Don’t forget his track record with women.’
‘Rubbish. You’ve told me yourself you think he’s a changed man. He’ll wait for you, I know it.’
‘But how long for?’
