His eyes softened. “It will be because I’ll be with you. I’ve never been to either of those places, so you’ll have to show me around a little.”
At that moment, I fell in love with him a little more. “I would love to take you to some of my favorite spots.”
He shifted a little and cleared his throat. “I was thinking, for when you’re in Europe in October and November, I could meet you in Paris and spend the last two weeks of the tour with you. If that’s okay with you.”
I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his chest. “That would be wonderful.”
THIRTY-SEVEN
SEAN
Jeremy’s performance was the last of the three-part tribute to George Gershwin. The first part was selections fromPorgy and Bess,and the singers were all wonderful. Then the orchestra performedAn American in Paris, which was, again, very well done. But Jeremy’s performance ofRhapsody in Bluewas something else entirely.
I was already in awe of Jeremy’s talent before this performance, but this was lightyears away from what I’d seen before. His fundraiser was amazing, but this performance was magnetic. Captivating. His interaction with the conductor and the orchestra was seamless. The energy was almost too much for the hall to hold.
The audience leaped to its feet as one when the last notes sounded from the piano and orchestra. The ovation went on and on as cheers and whistles sounded throughout the space. Jeremy shook hands with the conductor and the first chair violinist, then took his bows. He swept his arm toward the orchestra, and they rose to take their bows. Then the conductor joined Jeremy up front for a final bow together before they left the stage.
I was supposed to meet Jeremy outside his dressing room. I had front-row seats, so it was easy for me to walk over to the side exit door where Tony would be waiting to escort me. I had just gotten to the door when I heard a familiar voice call my name. I turned to find Evan and Raphael hurrying to catch up to me. “Hey, you two, what are you doing here? It’s Friday. I thought you two were in Spain until Sunday.”
Evan pulled me into one of his tight bear hugs. “We didn’t want to miss Jeremy’s first big public performance, so we decided to come back early to surprise him.”
“That’s great,” I said with a grin. “He’ll be so happy to see you.”
I led them out the side door where Tony was waiting for me. He was also surprised and pleased to see Evan and Raphael. He led us through the back hallways to Jeremy’s dressing room and knocked on the door. “Hey, Piano Man, you got company.”
Jeremy opened the door, a broad grin on his face. His jacket was off and his untied bowtie hung loose on his unbuttoned shirt. His grin turned to wide-eyed surprise when he saw Evan and Raphael standing behind me.
“You’re here!” he exclaimed. I stepped aside so Evan could get to him. He hugged both of them in turn. “I thought you weren’t getting back until Sunday.”
Evan put his hands on his hips. “Now you know I wasn’t going to miss your comeback performance.” He looked Jeremy up and down and said, “It looks like you weren’t expecting extra company.”
Jeremy’s cheeks reddened. He glanced at me and said with a mischievous smile, “Well, no. I was expecting Sean to ravish me.”
Evan’s jaw dropped. Then he wiped a fake tear from his cheek and said, “My baby boy is all grown up.”
“Haha,” Jeremy muttered. He opened the door wider. “Come on in.”
Jeremy finished getting changed while he and Evan chatted. Raphael pulled me aside and said, “I have some news about Brian Whitaker.”
My stomach dropped. “Oh shit. Did I say something wrong in the interview?”
Raphael shook his head. “Relax. From what I heard, you handled the interview perfectly. My assistant has been keeping an eye on Whitaker Enterprises’ board of directors. It came out today that Brian’s cousin refused to recant his statement that Brian hired him to vandalize your hotel and spy on your operations. The board had an emergency meeting and voted to force Brian to step down from his role as CEO. He’s still president, but he doesn’t run the day-to-day business anymore. I have a feeling that if anything happens to Moonlight, all eyes will look at him first. Frankly, I think your interview was the cherry on top because you appealed to people’s better nature by not bad-mouthing him.”
I felt like a weight had lifted off my chest. “Holy shit. That’s fantastic news. I can finally stop worrying.”
“I think so,” Raphael agreed.
Evan and Raphael stayed for a little longer, but they were both wiped from travel and jetlag, so they went home with the promise to have lunch with us tomorrow afternoon. Tony drove us to Jeremy’s apartment since Marco had something else going on.
I’d been to Jeremy’s place a few times already, but it still caught me by surprise when I walked into the opulent Gilded Age lobby. The doorman was always polite and knew my name now. Weird.
Jeremy’s two-bedroom apartment was easily three times the size of my little cottage, which in New York City speak, meant he had paid millions for his magnificent Central Park south view. The place was gorgeous, warm, and inviting, with polished hardwood floors and comfortable furniture. The centerpiece of the home was, of course, Jeremy’s ebony Steinway grand piano.
We had just gotten inside when my phone vibrated with a call. It was my mom. I checked the time. Almost ten p.m. Why was she calling me so late?
* * *
Jeremy
