Free Real Time by Jeanine Binder Page B

picture the look on Nick’s face right now. Sounds like you are having a fun, eventful day.
    Any more fun and I’ll be in a nut house.
    Once the laundry was finished, Kate called her mom to confirm she would be home, before driving out to Westwood where they lived. Kate pulled her car into the driveway behind her step-dad’s, glad he was home too. Allen had been more of a father to her than her own dad and she enjoyed spending time with him. She got a big hug from him when she came in the door and her mom whisked her away into the kitchen. Kate sat down at the breakfast bar, watching her mom pour two cups of coffee, and setting one in front of her.
    “We missed you, baby,” Nancy, Kate’s mom, started. “Six months was a long time to be gone.”
    Kate nodded. “It was a long time. But it was good – hard work, though.”
    “So you’re going to continue working for Nick Marshall?”
    “For now,” Kate confirmed. “It was a challenging experience. Nick’s a perfectionist and it shows when he’s on tour.”
    “You didn’t have any problems did you?” Nancy asked.
    “Nothing major. It took me about a month to get used to the pace. Sometimes I would hit the bed so tired at night.”
    “But you like the job, right?”
    “I do,” Kate answered, and paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. “Nick and I are starting to see each other.”
    “You mean like boy-girl kind of seeing?”
    Kate laughed at her mom’s description. “Yes, Mom, boy-girl kind of seeing. We didn’t start off this way – we’ve just found we’re attracted to each other.”
    “Isn’t he a lot older than you?” Nancy asked.
    “Not so much. Thirteen years – Nick’s forty-six.”
    “He’s your boss.”
    “I know,” Kate confirmed. “Nick’s having the same issue. He sees it not much different than a manager dating his secretary – we are working through the pieces slowly.”
    Allen stepped up behind Kate. “I asked Michael Grayson about him when you first took the job. See what kind of man he was, reputation. He has a powerful name and tons of money.”
    “They work at competing studios,” Kate said. “Did he have anything nice to say about Nick?”
    “A lot actually,” Allen replied, surprising her. “He said it’s been Nick turning Empire Records around. They were starting to see a lot of losses and it was looking bad for a while. And his own popularity hasn’t diminished. Michael said you don’t see that often in singers who have been in the business a long time.”
    “Most places were completely sold out. Nick even added a bunch of extra shows to try to meet the demand. And, the crazy thing is, most of the fans there are girls between seventeen and twenty-five, screaming his name like he’s some young teen idol,” Kate told them.
    “Michael also said he didn’t know how Nick was able to juggle both. The studio business is demanding on its own.”
    “He spent a good portion of his time on the phone with them when we were touring, so I think he’s pretty engaged. He was funny on the phone this morning – seems it’s been one of the ‘everything goes wrong’ kind of days.”
    As if on cue, Kate’s cell phone started to ring. She saw it was from Nick and excused herself, walking away into the living room to answer it.
    “Hello.”
    “It’s me, love. I am heading home now – almost to my car.”
    “I’m at my mom’s house. She lives in Westwood, so I’ll be a few extra minutes,” Kate told him.
    “No problem. I’ll leave the front door unlocked – got a key made for you this morning.”
    “Want me to bring anything? Pizza, Chinese?”
    “I never turn away good Chinese takeout,” Nick said. “Just don’t get anything too spicy.”
    “I’ll be there soon.”
    Kate walked back into the kitchen. “That was Nick. Need to go get some food and then meet him.”
    “Come for dinner on Sunday?” Nancy asked. “You can bring Nick if you want.”
    “Let me ask him and I’ll let you