Love, Me by Tiffany White Read Free Book Online Page B

lemonade.
    When Chelsea took her place at the table, Melinda began discussing business with Dakota, deliberately excluding Chelsea.
    â€œI’ve had another call from a firm wanting to sponsor your next tour. What do you want me to tell them?”
    Dakota took a sip of his coffee. “What company? “You know I’ve decided against cigarettes and liquor.”
    â€œI know. But this is different. The company makes boots, and they want to design a special boot for you to wear while you’re performing. You’d get a percentage of every boot sold and they’d pick up the tab for sponsoring the tour, as well.”
    â€œTell them I’ll do it, if he won’t,” Chelsea chimed in, not letting Melinda cut her out of the conversation. She’d decided Melinda would be even more fun to annoy than Dakota.
    â€œI don’t think—” Melinda began.
    Dakota cut her off. “Chelsea’s right, it is an attractive offer. See if you can stall them for a while. I don’t want to go out on tour until I have a new album to promote, and as we all know, I still need to write one more song for the album.”
    Melinda frowned, but made a note on the small pad beside her plate. She toyed with a melon ball, while consulting the rest of her list.
    â€˜If you’re still having a problem coming up with a new song for the album, I don’t see why you don’t just cover someone else’s song and finish the album. Then you’d be off the hook with your record company,” Melinda suggested.
    â€œShe’s right. And if you don’t want to do a new song, you could do a golden oldie,” Chelsea added. “Or, I know, why not record one of your old songs with a new arrangement. Something like Neil Sedaka did with ‘Calendar Girl’?”
    Dakota pushed his plate away and shook his head. “No, it has to be a brand-new song. It’s what my fans have come to expect and I’m not going to start disappointing them at this stage of my career.”
    â€œBut you’re already in trouble with your record company because you’ve missed two deadlines on this album. They’re going to suspect you have a serious problem, like drugs or alcohol. They aren’t going to be patient much longer.” Melinda slipped her list into her briefcase with a look of disapproval on her face.
    â€œJust stall everyone, okay? I’ll come up with a new song.” Dakota picked up the newspaper and scanned the morning headlines.
    â€œYou want to talk about trouble, now those poor people in the Midwest have real trouble,” he said as he read the front-page story. “Floodwaters have peeled away entire sections of highway, washed out bridges and knocked out water and power stations. The town of Des Moines, Iowa, is pretty much shut down, according to this.”
    â€œIowa? That’s where Tucker is,” Chelsea said, tugging the newspaper from Dakota’s hands.
    â€œHonestly, neither of you have any manners to speak of,” Melinda said in disgust. “You don’t read the newspaper at the breakfast table.”
    â€œYou do if someone you love is stranded in the middle of a natural disaster,” Chelsea retorted. She quickly scanned the newspaper’s account of the flooding, then passed the paper back to Dakota and excused herself. “I’m going to call Tucker and make sure he’s all right.”
    â€œDo you think it’s wise to have that woman in your home?” Melinda asked, when Chelsea had left the dining room.
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œWhat will people think? Look how she carries on with that guitarist of hers onstage. I’ve heard their show is shocking when they do concerts together.”
    â€˜It’s only an act,” Dakota said, sounding unconvinced himself. “Fans of rock and roll expect to see a sexier show than country-music fans. You can’t just stand in one place and sing