The Bass (2 page)

Chapter One

September 17, 2015

Los Angeles

Cateline couldn’t seem to focus on her work. She knew why. Ever since
the seeing the news last night with the entertainment spotlight showing
Victorious returning from tour, she’d been a nervous wreck. Shade was back in
town. Worse yet, she hadn’t called him.

Not that she hadn’t wanted to, but every time she’d gone to start the
call, her nerves had kicked up and she’d chickened out. It wasn’t that she
didn’t want to talk to him, she did. Desperately, if she was going to be honest
with at least herself. She’d missed him over the years. Seeing him backstage at
the concert had been a shock. He’d grown up, changed, and yet she still saw the
boy he’d been in his eyes.

When his father had taken the job in L.A. moving him and his son away
from Phoenix, Cateline had been broken hearted. The wound had eventually
scabbed over. But seeing him, having him standing right there with her and
touching her had torn that wound open again. They’d lived totally different lives
the last twenty years. Their paths led them away from one another. Yet they’d
reconnected for that brief moment in time.

She wanted more. She
needed
more than a moment. But how could she
when the girl he’d known was lost in the past, and Cat didn’t always recognize
who she was anymore?

Giving her head a firm shake she attempted to focus on the paperwork she
needed to finish getting ready for her boss’s afternoon meeting. It had to be
perfect. This was a huge deal he was working on, and one typo on her part could
sink the entire transaction.

Her gaze drifted to the drawer where her purse, and cell phone sat. She
had Shade’s cell number stored in the device, ready at a moment’s notice to
call. “No,” she whispered to herself. If she was going to call him, it wouldn’t
be while she was working.

She’d fought hard to get this position, needing something that was all
her own. While she didn’t need the money, she wanted the independence and the
job security. Justin had tried to ruin her in more ways than one, but in the
end had failed. Cat had started over, and was proud doing it all herself. She
still had nightmares, and she still went to therapy, but she was in a much
better place than she’d been five years before.

Cateline didn’t want to admit it to Shade, though. He was a star, his
band Victorious still on the upswing that had been predicted in their second
year to fizzle. The doubters had been proven wrong. The band continued to gain
fans, and to put out music that reached deep into everyone’s heart who listened.
It might be rock, but it had many qualities reminiscent of jazz, and blues
where it sucked her in, held her tight, and spit her out feeling drained and
yet better for it. They had talent she couldn’t imagine possessing.

To admit to Shade her life hadn’t been a fraction as successful scared
her. Cat didn’t know why either. Shade didn’t judge, never had, and she knew he
never would. He would listen, understand, and be there. Hell, the man wouldn’t
ever show any pity. He was the type to focus on the good and the
accomplishments over the bad.

Which made her hesitation to call him all the more baffling. At first
she hadn’t wanted to bother him because he was on the road with the tour. Then
she’d felt awkward about calling him during their many stops. She didn’t know
his schedule, and she hated the idea she might be waking him when he needed to
sleep.

The excuses kept piling up until she finally realized how much time had
passed. The news feature had brought that reality home. She had to call him,
and sooner rather than later. Tonight, no matter what excuses her brain made up,
she would call Shade.

First she had to get through her day. Without fucking up a five million
dollar project while she was at it. Simon Ackerman the third didn’t like
mistakes. She and her boss fought like cats and dogs most days, but they worked
well together. They understood one another, and he knew quite a lot about her
background. She didn’t take his shit, and he liked her all the better for that.
Most people cowered when he roared. Cat got in his face and told him to calm
the fuck down.

They had a nearly weekly tradition where she’d quit, or he’d fire her.
Either way she was always in at work the next day because they both knew no one
else could put up with his shit. He’d gone through sixteen P.A.’s before she’d
been hired for the spot. And that was in the first year she’d worked for the
company before he’d randomly spotted her, and told her she was to be his new
assistant.

Cat had heard all the rumors, and gossip. She’d known Simon was a bear
to work for. Day one she’d set out the ground rules which had shocked him. But
he’d appreciated her honesty. It had all worked out in the end, and she liked
working for Simon. Most days. Not today since she had other, more important,
things to do.

So, because the universe apparently had it out for her, the office phone
rang to pull her into doing more work. Wasn’t that always the way?

****

When Cateline finally made it through her front door, she was exhausted
from the day. Too many people pulling her in all directions had kept her at the
office longer than she’d planned. She dropped her purse and keys on the table
by the door. Heading for her bedroom, she began to strip down. All she could
think about doing was to grab a hot shower, climb into her pajamas, and have some
wine.

Exiting her bedroom twenty minutes later, she was still pulling the comb
through her long black hair. A quick stop in the kitchen to throw some leftovers
into the oven to warm, and that wine. Then she collected her phone, and took a
seat on her sofa.

Cat took a large gulp for courage as she stared at Shade’s number on her
phone. Taking another sip, she pressed her finger to the screen, and put the
phone to her ear to listen as it rang. She nearly chickened out on the third
ring.

A moment before the fourth ring, his breathless and perfect voice
answered.

Her courage left her in that moment, and she couldn’t get a word out.

“Cateline?” he whispered. “Tell me this is you.”

She winced her eyes closed, and took a deep, bracing breath. “It’s me,
Shade.”

“About damn time, woman. Took your sweet time in calling me, didn’t you?”
he asked softly.

Cat wasn’t sure how to answer that question, and instead she gave him
the facts. “I’m not the same person you knew, Shade. I was scared you wouldn’t
want…” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

“What? That I wouldn’t want to know you as you are now? That’s bullshit,
and you know it, Cat.”

She winced at the vehemence in his voice. He was right. “I was scared,”
she finally admitted.

Silence came from his end for a moment that seemed like forever. “What
about, kitten?”

The old nickname sent a shiver down her spine. He’d been the only one
she’d ever allowed to use it. Justin had tried, and she’d practically bitten
his head off. Only one person had the right to use it.

Forcing her mind back to the conversation, she rubbed at her forehead.
“Myself mostly. I don’t know how else to explain it, Shade. When I told you I
wasn’t the same person, I wasn’t kidding. A lot has happened. I’ve had to
rebuild who I am. I don’t want to disappoint you.” There, she’d said it. The
one person who had been more important than her own flesh and blood.

“Cat,” he breathed her name out. A second later he muttered out a curse.
“I need to see you, kitten. Come to the compound tomorrow, please.”

Cateline didn’t have to think on it for long. She needed to see him,
too. Preferably without too many people around, or the damn paparazzi. “I work
tomorrow, but I can come by after. I won’t know for sure when until I’m
leaving. My boss has meetings all day which means I’ll be needed at the office
until the last minute.”

“Call me when you’re leaving the office. I’ll leave word at the guard
house you’re coming. And bring an overnight bag. I have a guest room you will
be using tomorrow night.”

She should have told him that was unnecessary, but she knew better.
Cateline would be exhausted after another full day at the office if it was
anything like today’s fiasco. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow night, Shade.”

“Until then, kitten. Sleep well,” he said before hanging up.

She didn’t know about that. Cat had the distinct feeling sleep would be
hard to come by with his sexy rasping voice still echoing in her ear.

Chapter Two

Shade was up too early Friday morning. He’d slept like shit the night
before. The memory from his phone conversation with Cateline kept circling in
his head repeatedly. She’d sounded unlike the person he’d known and practically
mounted on a pedestal in his head. The woman on the phone had sounded broken in
some way.

The thought that his Cat had been hurt in anyway made Shade see red. For
him that meant a trip down to his gym to beat on the heavy bag hanging from the
steel beams. Given his hands were his meal ticket, Shade carefully wrapped them
to avoid damage before he went at the bag. A couple played until they burned
through the energy, others ran laps around the compound, and while that
occasionally worked for him, this morning he needed to beat up something which
meant the heavy bag in his basement.

The only good thing his father had done after tearing Shade away from
his life in Phoenix was putting his son into mixed martial arts. The instructor
had taught Shade to let his anger go, to never take it into a fight. It was
about being able to bring his focus to a laser sharp point. To calculate, to
watch for openings, and to strike when an opportunity presented itself. While
Shade hadn’t ever stepped into the ring at competition levels, he still kept up
the training, and used that focus he’d learned on the mats in his real life.

Music was another release for him, but only for certain moods. Running
his taped hands over the bag Shade, let out a breath before assuming his
stance. A moment to go through his mental checklist to ensure he wouldn’t hurt
himself, he began to strike and kick the bag. He had to vent the dark energy that
was his anger before Cat came over.

She knew he had a temper, though Shade had been careful never to let her
see him explode. As a young boy, he’d protected the young girl she’d been. Much
smaller, and more delicate than he’d been, Shade had taken on the role without
thought.

Cat was his to look after. Not that he’d apparently done all that great
a job. But distance, and his wild-ass career hadn’t made it easy. Time slipped
by too quickly. It felt like only yesterday he’d spotted her in the nurse’s
office. She’d had tears drying on her cheeks, her chin was bloody, swollen, and
bruising something fierce. This tiny little creature peering up at him with
those huge golden eyes, and he’d been lost.

She hadn’t changed all that much, except to turn into a beautiful woman.
Her mother’s Japanese heritage gave Cat amazing bone structure and when
combined with her father’s Swedish roots, it provided a unique melding making
her stunningly beautiful. All her coloring came from her mother. The same with
her height. One thing he knew had dismayed her in her teen years was not
gaining some of her father’s six foot four height instead topping out at five
foot five like her mother.

One fact that had surprised him was she’d kept all her hair. When she’d
been young, her mother had braided it on a daily basis. As a teen, Cateline had
spoken often about cutting it all off. Another question for him to pose to her
among the dozens whirling in his head. Shade needed to know everything about
her. The biggest questions were when she’d moved to L.A., and why she’d never
contacted him.

Her name was on the legitimate contacts list he’d given Christine when
they’d signed with her agency, Franks Management Inc. Cateline must have known
his dream had come true. He had to know why she never reached out. Christine
would have told him immediately if she had. No way in hell would their manager
keep from telling him something as important, and he’d made sure she’d
understood how important Cateline’s call would be.

Shade wouldn’t pretend he’d been a monk over the last twenty years. It
would have been dishonest. He’d had sex, he couldn’t lie about that, but they’d
always been one-night stands. For a time it had been about soaking in the
adulation from the fans. Letting them have sex with a Victorious band member as
they rose to fame. Then it was to fill the occasional void he felt on the road.
But that had trickled off to nearly nothing. Chase and Mark both still had
their flings after a concert, but Shade wasn’t feeling the need to fuck every
woman in sight any longer.

Maybe it had something to do with Lance hooking up with the journalist who
had written the article about the band, and was now working on their
autobiography. Maybe Shade had finally grown up. But he wanted more from life
than random faceless and nameless women who were in his bed for a couple hours
before he was alone again. He wanted someone all his own.

Whenever he thought about it the only person he could and had ever been
able to picture was Cateline. They’d connected in their youth, the bond only
growing stronger as they’d grown up. Before the move he’d thought they’d go
through high school, and possibly college together, but every dream he’d had
was shattered in a moment.

Drilling his fists into the bag, Shade let loose the anger he had toward
his father. To this day Shade didn’t speak to the man. When Kyle had moved him
away from Phoenix, the man had said it was for the best. Nothing but a lie it
turned out. Kyle had been offered a better paying position, and he’d wanted to
get out from under his dead wife’s haunting memories. Hell. the man had gotten
remarried the same year they’d moved out to L.A., something else Shade couldn’t
forgive the bastard for.

The moment Shade had graduated high school, he’d moved out. His father
continually attempted to make contact with him, but Shade hadn’t wanted to hear
it. He knew he wasn’t fully rational about the past, or about his father’s
decision. Shade was willing to live with that and any unresolved issues Kyle
might have with him.

He smacked his palms to the bag to stop the swing as he fought for a
breath, pushing it in and out rapidly. Swiping his arm across his forehead, he
removed the sweat threatening his eyes, and forced his breathing to slow. What
Shade would never forgive Kyle for was the pain Cateline had felt. He could
still see her crying, held by her father, and screaming for him not to go while
Kyle pulled their car away from the only home Shade had ever known.

That was why he refused to speak to the man, sent all the letters and
gifts back unopened, and would never talk to him in the future. Shade might
have been willing to get over it had he been the only one affected. Hurting Cat,
though, was unforgivable.

The lights flashed twice in the basement. Glancing up he heard the peal from
the doorbell upstairs. Since he usually had music going full blast when he
worked out he’d set the lights to flash when someone rang the doorbell to catch
his attention. He knew who it was, given the time.

Muttering under his breath, he snatched a towel off the pile, and headed
up the stairs two at a time. He threw the door open to find Jeremy standing
there with his arms crossed. “I know, I know,” he grumbled. Turning, he left the
door open for his friend while he went into the kitchen to duck his head under
the tap. He turned the water on cool and took a dozen gulps straight from the
tap before he let it run over his face and head.

Once he turned the water off, he let himself drip for a moment before
swiping the towel over his head. He needed a shower, but he had a feeling that
would have to wait.

“The guys are getting snarly and want to know when we’re eating,” Jeremy
said behind him.

Shade turned to find the other man leaning against the fridge. “Which
means I don’t have time for a shower.”

“Not unless you want them to potentially murder you, and stuff your body
some place inconvenient. Since you have a guest coming out tonight that might
put a crimp in your plans.”

Snorting at that less than subtle hint for information, Shade started to
pull the wrappings off his hands. “Smooth, bro. But you’re going to have to do a
lot better than that. Let me throw on a dry shirt at least, and we can head
over.”

Breakfast at Jeremy’s when they were home was tradition. Most meals were
actually held at the other man’s place. Not always, but often. Jeremy grew up
with people coming and going during meals. Having a large crowd at the table
wasn’t a bother for him, and the band tended to naturally gravitate to his home.
He seemed to like it, and on the off days when he was in his own moods, they
switched it up to someone else’s place.

“You definitely should change shirts. Maybe put on some pants, too.”

Shade narrowed his gaze on his friend, and waited for the rest.

Jeremy batted his lashes and grinned. “Lance doesn’t need you showing
off your junk around Jennifer.”

And there it was. “First off, I don’t show my junk off to anyone.
Secondly, if you guys have been seeing it, ew! You perverts. That is beyond wrong.
I don’t know where to begin with trying to express my disgust.”

He jogged up the stairs, leaving the singer howling his ass off. He’d
damn well put pants on, for Jennifer, because he actually liked the woman. “I’m
only putting pants on to keep her from realizing she could have had better,” he
called out. Which sent Jeremy into more hysterics.

He loved his friends, and they were all seriously twisted.