Free Blood and Guitars by Heather Jensen Page B

me.
“It’s good to get out of the house for a few,” he admitted with a
chuckle. “It’s seriously been so long since I’ve eaten here that I
nearly forgot about the place.”
    “You’re missing out, then.” I watched him
pick up the menu and scan it with his eyes.
    “What’s good?”
    “It’s all good.” The waiter reappeared with
ice water. He clasped his hands behind his back and smiled at me
patiently. “I’ll take a bowl of Max’s soup of the day,” I
began.
    “What is it?” Karatz asked me curiously.
    “No idea.” I shrugged. He raised an eyebrow
at me appraisingly. “I told you, it’s all good.” He chewed on his
lip as if considering my words as I finished ordering a sirloin
steak sandwich.
    “And for you, sir?” The waiter gestured with
a nod of his head to Karatz.
    “He’ll try the soup, as well,” I
interrupted.
    Karatz gave a shrug and smiled at me, before
adding a rock shrimp and crab sandwich to his order. The waiter
bustled off to get our orders in to the cook and I took a sip of
the lemon water he’d placed in front of me.
    “I know you didn’t just miss my pretty face.
There’s a reason you called me last night, kid. But I don’t do
business on an empty stomach so we’ll ignore the elephant in the
room until our stomachs aren’t growling.”
    I smiled, realizing just how much I’d missed
having him around. “Whatever you say,” I replied. I asked him about
his wife, certain that she and the new baby would be a topic that
would pass the time until our food arrived. I was right. The soup
was clam chowder. I poured a packet of soup crackers into my bowl
and watched as Karatz dug right in without hesitation. He seemed to
enjoy it. My sandwich was delicious, and Karatz wondered out loud
after eating half of his why he didn’t come here more often.
    I ordered a plate of warm chocolate soufflé
for each of us as dessert and Ken gave me a look in between bites
of Tahitian vanilla ice cream that said it was time to talk
business.
    “We’re back in the studio,” I said to him.
“At least, we’re starting.”
    “How’s it going so far?” He seemed
interested. I took that as a good sign.
    “It would be better if we had your magic
ears,” I added.
    He smiled and took a bite of his soufflé.
“You got a pile of songs for me?”
    “I … er … not exactly. But I do have a
hit.”
    He cocked his head to the side and looked at
me. “What does Celebrity Dent say?”
    “I don’t care what the label says. We want
you. Besides, Wes will go to bat for us.”
    He smiled again and I truly worried for the
first time that he was going to turn me down. “Life’s crazy at
home,” he began. “Joshua is up half the night-”
    “Let me stop you there,” I said. “I know this
is asking a lot. But we can’t do this without you. We’ve only laid
down one track. You’re the only one who can get us the budget and
the studio time we need to make this next record worth while. We’re
ready to take it to the next level. We need our sound to evolve a
little, you know, and you’re the guy who does that for us.”
    Karatz gave me a puzzled look and then let
out a chuckle. I gave him my best blank stare, wondering what I had
missed.
    “Look,” he began. “I’m not trying to explain
to you why I can’t do this. I’m trying to explain to you why we
have to do it at my place.”
    “Huh?” I said brilliantly.
    “I just finished putting in the studio at my
new place, and it sounds like I did it just in time, too,” he
stated. “The truth is, I’m anxious for something to do, but there’s
no way Serena is going to want me gone all day for however long it
would take to get this record made, and I’d hate to miss out on
Joshua that entire time. The way I see it, we can make this work if
we can use my studio. Then you’ll have your producer, and I’ll be
near my family for the process. It’s a win-win.”
    I shook my head in disbelief, smiling at him.
“You had me worried