"Ash, I'd like to introduce you to my family. Come over and join us."
"I'd love to. But I know your time with them is limited, so maybe I shouldn't--"
He moved another step closer, close enough to inhale her fresh, clean scent. "You definitely should."
"Okay." She made an adorable face. "I don't know why I'm being so weird about this. Especially since your sister and father look so nice."
"You don't have any reason to be nervous. They're going to love you."
He put his hand in the small of her back and led her over to where his father and sister were standing. "Maddie, Dad, this is Ashley Emmit. She joined the tour last week as part of a research project she's doing on the music industry for her Stanford Business School application."
"It's very nice to meet you, Ashley," his father said as he shook her hand.
"It's so nice to meet you, too, Mr. Morrison."
Maddie's smile was huge. "Wow, you're really pretty. Are you having fun on tour? Isn't Drew great? All of my friends are in love with him. I swear at least a dozen of them begged me to bring them with me today. I can't believe you've been in Palo Alto all these years and we've never met before. Have you met Olivia or Sean or Justin or Grant at Stanford?"
Drew laughed out loud as he watched Ashley try to process everything Maddie was throwing at her. Luckily for her, before she had to figure out which question to answer first, his brother Sean walked in hand in hand with Serena, his supermodel girlfriend. Ex-supermodel, actually, since she'd recently given it up to study English at Stanford.
"This is Ashley, guys," Maddie said before Drew could introduce her. "Her dad is Drew's former professor, and she's on tour with him to learn about the music business. Ashley, Sean is one of my older brothers. His twin, Justin, will be here soon. And Serena is Sean's girlfriend. They met at Stanford, and she's not modeling anymore because she's super into books."
Drew loved his little sister, but she was a handful. Someday she was going to make some guy really happy...and drive him crazy all at the same time. Just as crazy as she drove all of them.
Fortunately, Sean, Serena, and Ashley were all laughing as they shook hands. "I've heard so much about all of you," Ashley said. "It's really nice to meet you in person."
"It's great to meet you, too," Sean said, before turning to give Drew a look that he easily read. If she's heard all about us, then why haven't we heard about her?
Drew sent back a silent message: It's complicated, but hopefully it won't be for long, because she's special. Really, really special.
If anyone knew about things being complicated, it was Sean and Serena. They'd had a heck of a time when they'd first started dating. Being a new couple wasn't easy for anyone, but due to Serena's fame, they'd had to deal with paparazzi--and a crazy, lecherous professor, too. Thankfully, the two of them had come out on the right side of it all, and he could see that they were more in love than ever.
Sean's twin, Justin, was laughing with someone Drew couldn't see as he walked in, but Drew would bet his savings account that it was Taylor, his brother's closest friend. A moment later, when his father shifted to one side, Drew confirmed it.
Justin and Taylor had been friends ever since their first day at Stanford. And yet, for some reason none of them could understand, given that Taylor was cute, fun, and as brilliant as Justin, they'd never dated. Drew had hardly been able to wait a week to kiss Ashley. How the hell his brother had already waited three years was beyond him.
Drew pulled his brother in for a big bear hug, but he was much gentler with Taylor. Before Maddie could beat him to it with Justin's and Taylor's full histories, Drew said, "Ashley, this is my brother Justin and his friend Taylor."
"Are you having a good time on tour?" Taylor asked.
"The best. The most I had hoped for was to be on the fringes of the crew and observe from a distance. But Drew includes me in absolutely everything."
When she turned to smile at Drew, he was this close to chucking his promise to keep their relationship private. He wanted to hold her hand the way Sean was holding Serena's. But even more than that, he'd never held back something so important from his family before.
As if she could read his thoughts--and felt guilty about withholding this final piece of herself from him--her smile fell slightly.
Life, he'd learned the hard way, could be far too short for holding back. But at the same time, pushing her right now would be akin to trying to bend her to his will. Ashley was one of the strongest people he'd ever met. And the smartest, too. Surely it wouldn't be long before she took in all the data she needed and made the same decision he had: That they belonged together for the whole world to see.
"I'm really lucky," she told his whole family.
But he needed everyone to know, "I'm the lucky one."
His two other siblings, Grant and Olivia, arrived just then. After they hugged and he introduced Ashley, Grant said, "Drew emailed me a couple of days ago with an idea that you gave him about a radically new way to approach a record label. It struck me as really smart, and I'd like to chat with you about it in more detail, if you can spare a few minutes over dinner."
"I'd love to," Ashley said, flushing with obvious pleasure at the compliment. "I actually have my laptop with me, so I can show you the business plan I've been putting together if you're interested in seeing it."
"The restaurant we're headed to is just down the street," Drew said. "It's supposed to have the best gumbo in New Orleans. So why don't we all head over, and then the two of you can geek out once we're sitting down?"
Olivia was quiet as the group headed out to the restaurant, walking beside their father. Maddie, of course, was talking Ashley's ear off. Sean and Serena were lost in each other. Justin and Taylor were too busy trying to ignore the sparks between themselves to pay much attention to anything else. And Grant brought up the rear with Drew.
James, who already knew them all, was keeping an eagle eye on everyone and everything. Drew appreciated the way he paid especially close attention to Ashley's safety. Though Drew knew she could take care of herself, she wasn't familiar with any of the big cities they were touring through. Plus, he knew his fans could get a little overexcited sometimes, and he couldn't stand the thought of Ashley ever getting hurt because of him.
"So," Grant said, "that's Ashley."
Drew grinned at his oldest brother. "Beautiful, isn't she?"
"Damned smart, too, and you only gave me a hint of her ideas, didn't you?" When Drew nodded, Grant shot him a serious look. "You really are thinking about going indie, aren't you?"
Until now, the only person Drew had talked to about this was Ashley. Despite all the rules she'd obviously tried to follow in her life to please her father, she was a fiercely independent thinker. Day by day, he found himself depending on her more and more. Especially when he couldn't just drop into his brother's office on a whim to talk things through.
Even more thankful that his family had shifted their busy lives around to clear this day in New Orleans for him, Drew told Grant, "The label is pushing hard for my next album. But I know what they want, what any label would want given the sales we've had--more of what I've done before. My manager keeps calling and emailing about the new contract on the table. But I just don't think I can do it, Grant. And even if I could, things have changed too much for me to want to repeat the past."
"Whatever you decide," Grant said, "keep me in the loop and let me know how I can help."
"I will." But Drew needed to talk more than business with his brother. He needed the inside scoop on his family, since he couldn't be there to see them day to day. "How's everyone doing lately?"
"The good news is that Dad seems to be surfacing a bit more. Olivia, on the other hand, doesn't say much, which worries me. But you know how she is--the harder you push, the more she closes down. Justin spends most of his time trying to pretend he isn't in love with Taylor. Maddie is still playing cheerleader for Dad way too much, so I've been making sure she get
s out with her girlfriends this summer before they all head off to college. Only Sean seems truly happy now that he and Serena have found each other. He's always got his camera with him, which is good to see."
Grant had always been one hell of a listener. It was one of the many reasons why he'd earned his first billion before he was thirty. Grant also wasn't one to talk about himself. He didn't need to build up his ego like so many guys in his circle did. But tonight, Drew wasn't going to let his brother get away with skipping his own update.
"What about you?" Drew asked. "How are you holding up?"
"All right." But his brother was frowning as he said it. "We're in the thick of a couple of pretty intense acquisitions right now, so the hours are even longer than usual. I don't mind the work, though."
Drew understood why Grant was perfectly willing to work from sunup to sundown and most of the hours before and after, too. Working helped a lot of people block out painful memories. But it had never really been the solution for Drew. Not when the songs had stopped coming and the music playing in his head had become barely recognizable.
"I don't think Ashley has been able to get a word in edgewise," Grant commented as he nodded up the sidewalk to where Maddie had looped her arm through Ashley's and was still chattering a million miles a minute.
Drew let his brother change the subject. Even when they were kids, Grant had always mulled things over for a really long time. Clearly, he needed to work through his emotions awhile longer. And the truth was that Drew would have been right there with him were it not for Ashley.
"She's a good listener," Drew told his brother.
"Is there anything she isn't good at?"
"Nope. Everything about her blows my mind."
Finally, Grant smiled.
*