FanGirl Squeal (RockStars of Romance Book 1) (32 page)

“Whatever you say,” I answered as I tucked the card under my
bra strap and started to walk back towards the restaurant.

“Hey!” Cash called.

I looked over my shoulder. “What?”

“I love you.”

“Right back at cha.”

I tried to be cool but I wanted to jump out of my skin. I
felt like that Al Green song,
Love and Happiness
. Whatever Olivia thinks
is petty. Cash will fire her before he lets her get away with talking about me.
I trust him to do right by me.

Cash sat on the piano bench watching the torrential rain
drench the City of Angels. It was his favorite kind of rain; heavy and loud
even though the sun was still shining bright in the afternoon sky. It would be
over in a few minutes. Since he was a kid, Cash had always been fascinated by
the cunning deception of the weather.

A loud thud immediately followed by, “Ow Jill, my ass!” and
a fit of hysterical giggles drifted down the long hallway that led to Brittany’s
room. Cash didn’t budge from his piano. He’d warned her too many times not to
practice in the house. Brittany was going to break her neck practicing cupies and
shoulder stands with Savannah and Jill as her spotters, and it was going to be
all her fault.

He looked at the reminder going off on his phone then rested
his head on top of the piano and groaned. He took a deep breath and stood up
then Cash grabbed his car keys out of the metal bowl on the bookcase.

“Girls!” he shouted down the hall. “I’ll be out for awhile.
I swear to God, you better not kill yourself. And text me if you want me to
bring back food.”

“Bye!” Brittany shouted in return.

Cash started out the condo but Savannah ran up to him.

“Hey, where ya headed?”

In her tight shorts and t-shirt, Savannah certainly didn’t
look like a soon to be twenty-eight year old. She looked like she could be on
Brittany’s cheerleading squad.

“Got to meet with Olivia and Bryan then I’m headed to the
studio to finish mixing this song for Eva,” Cash replied uneasily. Only half of
that was true. He kissed Savannah’s cheek then wiped at the sweat beads on the
bridge of her nose.

“Olivia’s in town?”

“Um...yeah,” Cash stammered. “She’s got a new client out
here.”

“Oh.” The word may have been short but Savannah had a keen
way of making that single syllable word as sharp and venomous as a rattlesnake
bite.

“Are you going to finally do something about her talking
about me in public?”

Savannah had every reason to be upset with Olivia Stone.
Cash’s manager hadn’t exactly been shy about voicing her opinion about Cash’s
choice of a significant other. After Troy informed them all of the gold-digger
comment, he’d asked her to keep her opinion to herself. A few days ago, while
doing press with her new client, she mentioned that part of her job was to make
sure that her clients didn’t throw away their careers by cavorting with anyone
wanting a bit of VH-1 fame.

Savannah, her friends, and her family were calling for
Olivia’s head on a spike.

“If you want me to handle it, that’s fine,” Savannah said. “I
don’t mind spending a night in jail for slapping the shit out of that broad.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Cash promised but he wasn’t sure
how.

He had to fix it and fix it now. With the entire Ford family
in town for the weekend, he had to be on his Ps and Qs.

As Cash pulled his Mercedes out of the driveway, he was
having trouble wrapping his head around the mess his life had become in just a
few short months, a mess that he was desperately trying to clean up while
keeping it a secret.

Every time he looked at Savannah, he could hear Victoria’s
voice screaming, “Tell her! Tell her! Why are you keeping your child a secret?
Are you ashamed of her?”

The timing was never going to be perfect but he couldn’t
tell her now, not with her parents, grandparents, and sister in town. He didn’t
know how Ashley had managed to put together a surprise birthday party at her
favorite spot in Malibu, but she had. It was tomorrow night and her closest
friends were all going to be there. Of course, Ashley hadn’t bothered to put
Cash on the guest list. He received the details from Troy. One thing was
certain; he had to get Olivia in line or fire her before things got totally out
of hand and Savannah really did slap the shit out of her.

“After her party,” Cash said out loud. “I’ll tell her after
the party.”

He pulled in front of Spago and cut in front of a line of
cars waiting to be valet parked. Cash got out and tossed his keys to a young
valet, pausing his confident stroll just long enough to give the boy time to
recognize the Grammy winning artist.

“No scratches and no joyriding!” Cash barked at the
attendant before walking into the packed restaurant. It was an asshole move but
Cash was beyond caring about that. He spotted Olivia and her assistant sitting
with Tracy and Erin.

Bypassing the cheerful hostess, Cash marched over to his
team and sat in the only empty chair at the table.

“What the fuck, Liv?” he growled without any of the
customary or polite pleasantries that his momma had taught him.

“Listen kid,” Olivia shook her head at her client. “Don’t
ever start a conversation with me like that.”

“I pay you, remember! It’s not the other way around. I’m
telling you this for the very last time, Liv, stop talking about my girl.
Anyone asks you about me and Savannah, your automatic response needs to be ‘I
don’t discuss my client’s personal lives.’ Am I being clear or do you need that
in writing?”

Tracy calmly placed her hand over Cash’s and subtly shook
her head. “We’re in public,” she reminded them. “Please lower your voice.”

“Cash,” Olivia said, “why did you hire us?”

Her condescending tone only irritated Cash further. He
motioned for a waitress and ordered a gin and tonic.

“I hired you because I needed someone to manage my career.
If you can’t do that without injecting your personal opinions, then I’ll just
do it myself. I don’t need another mother. I have a damn good one.”

“Mother?” Olivia questioned with an irritated sigh. “If
warning you of the ramifications that dating a gossip blogger will do to your
career is acting like your mother, then so be it. What do you know about this
girl? Do you know if she has a record? Do you know about her family? Do you
know about her ex?”

“I didn’t do a background check on my girlfriend,” Cash
replied.

“Maybe you should have. You’re not the first celebrity that
your darling Miss Ford has hopped into bed with.”

Cash sat back, frozen still while the cool gin and tonic
trickled down his throat. What secret was Savannah keeping from him that his
manager knew? It had to be bad if Olivia was bringing it up.

“What are you talking about?”

“Does the name Damien Blake ring a bell?”

“The basketball player?”

“Yes.” Both Tracy and Olivia nodded.

“Apparently, they dated awhile back,” Tracy informed him
gently. “Before he got traded to Atlanta.”

Cash shrugged his shoulders and gulped his drink. Who cares
if Savannah had an ex that she hadn’t told him about? He hadn’t exactly been forthright
about his exes, one in particular. He couldn’t be mad that she dated an NBA
player.

“What does that have to do with the price of paint?” Cash
asked. “Obviously, it wasn’t serious because A-she would have told me about him
and B- they’re not still together.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Olivia argued. “She’s an opportunist.
She may run a clean blog, but she has a history of using people. All you have
to do is talk to people who have worked with Savannah and you’ll see that my
resources check out. So when I say that she’s looking for fame by dating you, I’m
telling the truth and that will impact your career.”

“Whatever,” Cash muttered. He didn’t trust the information
that Olivia was feeding him. Savannah didn’t have an opportunistic bone in her
body. Then again, he never thought that Victoria would cheat on him either.

“Cash,” Tracy said. “I know you like her. I like Savannah too.
When I knew her in college, she was a great girl. I was definitely onboard with
you and her until Olivia brought this to my attention. But you know her line of
work. You have to be careful. And for as long as I’ve known you, you said you’d
never get involved with a blogger or a fan. She’s both. What changed?”

“What changed?” Cash asked incredulously. “What do you think
changed? I met a girl that I fell for and I don’t give a shit about her job.
That’s what changed. Why is she a problem for you? What has Savannah done in the
four and a half months we’ve been together to make you think that she’s using
me? Tell me!” he shouted. “What has she done? Has she written about me on her
blog? Has she called the paparazzi and let them know where we’d be? Has she
asked to move in? Has she asked for money? What has she done?”

“Meanwhile, I have Victoria’s lawyers calling me trying to
make support arrangements for a child that isn’t even born yet. She wants me to
buy her a house! One of the richest actresses in Hollywood is pregnant with my
child and she’s demanding that I buy her a house! So tell me, which one of them
is worse for my career? Which one is the opportunist?”

Olivia’s expression was bewildered, but Cash didn’t care. He
was too upset to care about anything at that moment.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the lawyers?” Olivia asked.

“Because it’s none of your business,” Cash replied. “I have
great lawyers to talk to her lawyers. I need you to focus on the Cash Myers
brand. I need endorsements. I need to be working on other projects for awhile
because I’m not going on a major tour until my daughter is at least two or
three.”

“Two or three?” Tracy exclaimed. “You can’t not tour for
three years! You have loyal fans who expect new music and tours.”

“I don’t care. Things change. What part of I’m having a
child are y’all not getting? I don’t want to be on the road for the first few
years of her life. I’ll do appearances and whatnot, but I’m not going on the
road for nine months at a time. It’s not happening,” Cash stated with finality.
“I gotta go. I have an appointment.”

Leaving his manager and stylist to sort out his anger and
frustration, Cash hurried out of the restaurant and waited for the valet to
bring his car. He had never gone off on Tracy before but between her and
Olivia, he was completely tired of Team Cash. They needed to get on his agenda,
not the other way around.

After ducking and dodging a Prius that followed him from
Spago, Cash pulled into a parking garage of a medical building and took the
stairs to the fifth floor. He walked into the OB/GYN office and walked straight
over to the receptionist.

“Mr. Myers,” she said excitedly but kept her voice low
enough not to confirm who he was to the four pregnant women sitting in the
waiting area. “Miss Williamson is already in the back. You can go in. Room 3”

She buzzed the door open and Cash strolled to the private
examination room. Victoria was already sitting on the examination table. She
was leafing through a magazine when he opened the door and walked in.

“I didn’t think you were going to make it,” she commented
without looking up from her magazine. “Thought you’d be too busy playing house
with your blogger chick.”

Cash sat on the chair next to her. “Don’t start, Victoria.”

“Did you tell her yet?”        

“Tomorrow is her birthday. I’m going to tell her when we get
back from Malibu.”

“Must be nice to just up and go to Malibu for your
girlfriend’s birthday while the mother of your child is living in a hotel.”

Cash rubbed his temples and squeezed his eyes shut. “It’s
not like you’re staying at a Motel 6. You’re at the Beverly Wilshire.”

“Want to go house shopping after this?” Victoria asked.

Cash sucked his teeth and gave her a scathing glare. “I’m
not buying you a house. I bought a seven million dollar condo in New York for
us, remember? Why don’t you buy that from me?”

Victoria wrinkled her nose and rolled her eyes to the
ceiling. “I want to live in California.”

“Then buy a house in California,” Cash retorted sharply.

He eyed the growing bump that was only partially hidden by
Victoria’s shirt. She was doing a good job of keeping her pregnancy a secret.
He guessed that she didn’t want to deal with too much media scrutiny. He
reached out and placed his hand on Victoria’s belly. She flinched and pushed
his hand away.

“What’s with you?” he asked in surprise. “I can’t touch you?”

“Touch your girl,” Victoria hissed.

“What’s going on, Vic?” he asked. “You never talk about
Savannah. Now you act like you hate her. What’s up?”

“Paul dumped me,” Victoria wearily stated. “He said he
thought he could deal with the baby, but he can’t. I told you he was going to
break up with me.”

“He’s a punk then and you don’t need a guy like that,” Cash
assured his ex. “Ain’t nobody asking him to raise my child.”

Victoria turned her eyes away from Cash just before a flood
of tears cascaded down her face. Cash hopped up and sat on the edge of the table.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him.

“Vic, it’s okay. Don’t cry over him.”

“I’m not crying over him,” Victoria wailed. “I’m crying over
us.”

“Don’t cry over us,” Cash chuckled.

“You don’t understand! I made a mistake, Cash. I loved you
and I screwed you over. And I can’t take it back, but it doesn’t mean that I
ever stopped loving you. I was just stupid. And now I’ve messed up things
permanently between us.”

“You and I are good, Victoria. I told you that I’m over it.
I will always love you, especially since you’re the mother of my child.”

Victoria looked up at Cash with tear-filled blue eyes. “Do
you promise?”