Cause For Scandal (Dynasties: The Elliotts #3)(31)
Author: Anna DePalo

“Zeke, be reasonable. At the moment, you can’t even seem to get started on the songs for your next release.”

“I was doing fine until Summer left,” he grumbled.

Marty sighed heavily. “For a while there, you really had me worried about this Elliott woman.”

Zeke cocked his head, sensing they were getting into dangerous territory. “How so?”

“You seemed to be getting hung up on her,” Marty said, adding, “We both know that getting serious about any woman would be bad for your image. Women love you, Zeke, because you’re the sexy bad-boy rocker that their mothers always warned them about.”

“What made you realize I wasn’t hung up on her?” Zeke asked, keeping his voice even.

Marty shrugged. “You said it yourself. She was your muse. Or rather, her photo was, initially. She wasn’t your usual type, but once I realized why you were hanging around her, it all made sense.”

Zeke remembered Marty had stopped by on Sunday when he’d been out, and he started to form a hunch. He nodded and said, “Summer was really taken with the coincidence of my owning ‘Daphne at Play.’”

“I’ll bet,” Marty responded. “It’s not every day that a woman realizes she’s the inspiration for a major rock sensation. Very flattering.”

Zeke forced himself to nod placidly. “You know, I never did get around to telling her that part.”

“Yeah,” Marty said, “it seemed to come as a bit of a surprise when I mentioned it to her.”

“And did you also mention she should be flattered?” he asked, his voice too quiet.

Marty held up his hands. “Hey, Zeke, look—” He stopped and looked around. “Where is she, by the way? I was surprised when you left a message with my secretary saying you wouldn’t be returning to New York on Monday like you’d planned.”

“Summer’s gone back to New York.” Zeke stood. “And you’re leaving.”

Marty looked up at him uncomprehendingly for a second, until an astounded expression crossed his face. “What? Why? Do you have an appointment to keep somewhere?”

Zeke realized Marty figured he must be joking, but this was no joke. “You need to leave, Marty, before I give in to the urge to deck you.” He added, “Believe it or not, I’d hate the bad publicity as much as you would.”

Marty wiped his lips with his napkin before standing up. “When you’ve calmed down, you know where to reach me.”

“I’m as calm as I’ll ever be,” Zeke replied. “What exactly did you say to Summer?”

Marty eyed him. “Is it my fault you didn’t mention to her it was her photo that got you hot and bothered?”

Zeke waited, holding his temper in check.

Marty finally shook his head. “I pointed out the obvious, including the requirements of your career right now.” He perked up. “I planted a story about you and that hot Czech model in the press this week. Did you catch it? Nice touch, eh?”

Zeke shook his head. “You’re just not getting it, Marty.”

“Getting what?”

“For a while, I’ve thought that the two of us weren’t on the same wavelength as far as my career was concerned. I chose to ignore the feeling—until now.” He looked the other man in the eye. “You’re fired, Marty.”

“What?” Marty blustered. “You can’t fire me. You need me. I’ll sue your pants off.”

“Take it to my lawyer,” Zeke said coldly. “I think our contract allows me to pay you off to dump you. It’s a price I’m willing to pay.”

“This over a nice piece of ass?” Marty sneered.

Zeke didn’t need to think about it. He threw Marty out on his ear.

Much later, Zeke sat in his living room gazing sightlessly at the television.

Marty had echoed some of the same things that Summer had said on Sunday: she wasn’t his usual type, and they were different in a lot of ways. And, yeah, he couldn’t deny that he did have his career to consider.

He wondered, though, how much of what Summer had said was due to her reaction to Marty’s words and how much was due to her own feelings coming to light.

Zeke’s jaw tightened. He couldn’t lose Summer.

He’d never felt this way about a woman before. Unfortunately, that also meant he was in uncharted territory about how to make things right.

When the phone rang and he heard a familiar voice, he was only too happy for the distraction. Minutes later, when he hung up, he knew what he had to do.

Zeke’s concert was the same as the first two she’d attended. At least this time, Summer thought ruefully, she knew what to expect.

She was surrounded by thousands of Zeke Woodlow fans, all gyrating and bumping and singing and hollering their way through Zeke’s repertoire of songs.

This time she was dressed more appropriately, too. She wore hip-hugging jeans and a deep scoop-neck top.

She looked up at Zeke on stage, and her heart swelled.

He strode around the stage as if he owned it—the mark of any great performer. He picked up his guitar, he sang along with one of his backup musicians, and he egged on his fans with teasers. And always he was in sync with his audience.

She hungrily took in every inch of him. He looked gorgeous. It had been almost a week since they’d parted, and she couldn’t believe how much she’d missed him.

She rubbed damp palms against her jeans as she mouthed the words to one of Zeke’s most popular songs.

She was a little nervous about the reception that she’d receive from Zeke, but she was going for broke. He was the man she loved, and she wasn’t going to let him walk out of her life without telling him so.

Once or twice, she thought she caught Zeke staring straight at her in the audience, his gaze intense and magnetic. But she dismissed the thought as fanciful. There were thousands of people in the audience, and though she had one of the better seats, the lighting was dim and she was several rows back and off to one side.

Besides, if there was one thing she’d come to know about Zeke, it was that he was able to make every audience member feel connected to him.

She couldn’t wait to get backstage at the end of the concert. This time, thanks to some last-minute wrangling and imploring Shane to pull strings, she had a good seat and a press pass.

Of course, she’d had to explain to Shane why she couldn’t just approach Zeke for access, and the truth—well, some of it—had come tumbling out of her. She’d admitted she and Zeke had recently become romantically involved.