Chocolate and Italian Wine (Music and Mayhem Book 1) by Lili Porter Read Free Book Online Page A

thought about his question. “My life is extraordinary. And I mean that in a good way. But it’s unnatural in a way, despite being ordinary to me now. Does that make sense?” He looked at her and nodded that it did. “Right now, my phone is vibrating, and it has been since I walked in here. It’s usually Chris, but it could be my assistant, or my agent, or my parents, maybe my sister, it might even be Wolfe. And because everything’s going to voicemail, they’re probably all calling each other to find out what’s going on. I don’t get a lot of time to myself. And I have over a hundred million followers on Twitter. So, this lunch invitation is a treat, one that I am grateful for. Thank you for it.”
    “You’re welcome,” Paolo said. He reached over for the bottle and grabbed Kari’s flute, ready to fill up her glass again.
    “Oh, no more, thanks.”
    “Don’t you like it?” he asked, his brow furrowed in concern.
    “It’s wonderful. I’m just not a big drinker,” Kari replied.
    “Fair enough,” he said. “So, how do you manage having over a hundred  million  followers on Twitter?”
    “A PR firm helps,” Kari said, laughing, “but I do like to throw my own messages out there.”
    “How do they know what’s from you?”
    “Everything with a KM at the end shows it’s personal. I really appreciate my fans a lot and don’t ever want them to forget it.”
    He whistled. “You’re a hard working young woman, Karisma.”
     “Yes, I work very hard, especially during awards season. We want to get nominated and we’ve been pretty blessed, but it makes for one chaotic schedule.” She gave him a wry smile. “Like I said, I’m grateful, but I do get tired.”
    “I understand that. When do you take a real break? Time for just you?” Paolo asked.
    “I don’t really have a break coming, not in the foreseeable future, anyway. We have a lot of appearances on talk shows, a few photo shoots, and some charity events over the next few weeks. Plus, we have a lot of rehearsals for when we go back out on tour next month.”
    “Twelve weeks, right? Where to?” Paolo asked, leaning forward and trying to be as close to Kari as possible. He almost wished he’d sat next to her, not across from her.
    “It's a European tour. We’re hitting just about all the major cities. We’ll be in Italy the middle of April.” She smiled that beautiful smile again and took a sip of her water. “Did I answer your question?”
    “Yes,” he said with a charming, devilish grin. “You live an extraordinarily ordinary life which is quite unnaturally natural. I get it.”
    The main entrée’s arrived and Kari was enjoying herself immensely, both the food and the company. She didn’t want the afternoon to end, but alas, it did.
    It was clear that the two were attracted to each other, with easy flowing conversations and flirty undertones. “So, now, Mr. Montovani, what is this business proposition you wanted to ask me about?”
    He smiled, remembering the excuse for asking her to the restaurant. “Aw, my proposition,” he said as he leaned back in the chair, crossing his long leg, “is to see if you would be willing to do a cameo on one of the new tunes Oliver the Poet is working on. It’s tailor made for your voice and when I heard it, I thought of you.”
    “Just me, or Goldust?” she asked. 
    “You. Unless you have a problem with appearing without them.”
    “No, that’s not a problem. Who wrote it?” she asked.
    “He did. He writes most of his music, it seems.”
    “Oh, I didn’t know that. Okay, get it to me, I’ll listen to it and we can go from there. I’m not sure about your schedule, but it might be tough to get it to work out before the tour. And you realize, I don’t come cheap, right?” she teased with a raised eyebrow.
    “Cheap is a word I’d never consider in reference to you, Miss Montgomery. Thank you for considering this. It’s a good song and I think you’ll like it, but first