Page 28 of California Love Songs (The Davenports, #4)

Chapter Twenty

A s Crystal drove to Damien’s, she turned over ideas for how to turn an annoying intrusion into his privacy into something positive.

But when she reached the imposing iron gates, her heart sank.

There was a car parked up the street. A guy in a baseball cap skulking around with a camera.

Then a new car pulled up just ahead of the first and another camera-toting guy got out. The vultures were starting to circle.

She was glad for her oversized black sunglasses as she buzzed herself through the gate. After she parked, she headed straight for the recording studio. She took another deep breath.

I’m here to help. This isn’t about the kiss.

She walked into the studio to find Damien sitting at the production console.

He glanced up and looked both surprised and totally delighted to see her.

She smiled, also surprised at how natural it felt to be dropping in at his studio, and then he simply nodded with his chin through the glass to the sound booth, where a young woman was sitting on a stool, playing her guitar and singing.

She didn’t know what she’d expected, but Opal was young . She couldn’t be more than twenty, in faded jeans, an old T-shirt, and a lot of silver jewelry. Blonde hair flowed down her back.

Crystal joined Damien and wordlessly, he handed her a headset so she could listen in.

Crystal was no music scout, but she immediately understood what Damien had seen and heard in Opal.

She had an incredible voice, raw and raspy, but more than that, she was one of those rare singers who sang with complete honesty.

As the lyrics flowed into Crystal’s ears, she could feel the girl’s true heartbreak.

She watched Damien’s strong, capable hands as he maneuvered around the sound board, nodding along in time to the music.

He looked so focused, so in his element.

A wave of longing swept over her. She loved his profile.

His strong nose and sexy dimpled chin. The way his dark curls almost obscured the headphones.

She suddenly felt bad for avoiding him. But she was so crazy about this man that simply sitting beside him filled her with sexy thoughts. And that voice singing about heartbreak? That’s where you’re headed if you aren’t careful.

When the last chord faded, Damien said, “That was great, Opal. Can you come on out here? I want you to meet someone.” Then he turned to look at Crystal and his beautiful eyes held hers as he said softly, “I’m glad you came. I’ve missed you.”

She didn’t want to melt, but she did. She’d missed him, too. More than she wanted to admit. There was no way she’d tell him the real reason she’d been avoiding him. “I’ve been busy with work. I mean, Mila’s getting married, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

His grin was easy, familiar. “Yeah. I heard something about that. Mila isn’t shy about the things that concern Mila.”

As they both chuckled, the awkward moment passed and then Opal joined them, looking anxiously at Damien.

He said, “I’ll let you listen to the track in a minute, but it’s already so good. I want you to meet Crystal. She’s my—” He paused for a second and Crystal could see him feeling around for the correct way to introduce her. “My best friend.”

“Hi,” Opal said, and put out her hand. It was funny and formal for the two of them to shake hands, but nice, too. After she’d told Opal how much she’d liked her track, they chatted for a few minutes, getting to know one another.

But Crystal was aware she had a more pressing matter to address.

In her most calm, professional voice, she said to them both, “Look, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I got a call from Mila. There’s some gossip site on the internet saying you’ve got a new girlfriend, Damien.

There are photographs of you and Opal at the airport. ”

Opal looked horrified. “What?”

She whipped out her phone and immediately, with the agility of her generation, pulled up the offending picture.

She turned to Damien and Crystal, outraged.

“That’s just totally disgusting!” Then quickly, she added, “No offense, Damien, but you’re old!

And I have a boyfriend!” She put her head in her hands.

“I knew all this was too good to be true.”

Damien looked as guilty as though he’d done something wrong.

“I’m sorry, Opal. I didn’t think anyone even noticed us at the airport.

I thought bringing my sister along would defuse how it might look if they did.

” He shook his head. “Of course, they’ve managed to crop her out.

But look, we can ignore it. Pretend these rumors don’t exist. In my experience, the more attention we pay this kind of thing, the worse it gets.

I want to help your career. The last thing I want to do is hurt it. ”

Opal looked seriously annoyed, but worried too.

Crystal didn’t blame her. It wouldn’t do her any good if people thought she’d only got her start because she was sleeping with Damien.

If Crystal had harbored the smallest suspicion that there was more than business between these two, it fizzled out, gone for good.

She was almost amused at how vehemently Opal was being clear that she had no romantic feelings for Damien whatsoever.

And it was pretty obvious from the way Damien was reacting that he felt the same way.

Still, that wouldn’t derail the paparazzi, especially if they knew Opal was here on Damien’s property with him.

She thought about it. “I hear what you’re saying about ignoring it, Damien, and I think it would work… if we didn’t need to protect Opal’s reputation so fiercely.” She smiled at the girl. “But what we need is a strategy. Damage control. A PR campaign to reveal the truth.”

Damien looked downcast. “You don’t think it’ll just get lost in all the other garbage out there in gossip land?”

Crystal shook her head. “I think this is just the beginning. There are already paps outside. You need to set the record straight about who Opal is and why she’s here.”

Damien seemed to mull it over and then he nodded, just a small, reluctant incline of his head.

“I’d hoped to just work together quietly until we had some great material and then we’d go public with Opal’s music.

But if they’re already here, then I think you’re right.

I’ll get my manager to put together a statement and we’ll issue it to the media. ”

Opal just stared at him, her hands on her hips. “Issue a statement?” She sounded confused and very uninterested in this idea. “Like you’re the president?”

Crystal bit back a snort of laughter. Damien didn’t have a pushover in his protégée, that was for sure. “I have a better idea. How would you like to be on Celebrity Tonight ?”

Damien looked confused, but the more she thought about it, the more she liked it. “The story isn’t about a secret romance. The story is about Damien Davenport paying it forward, mentoring a young musician who has talent.”

Damien’s brow creased and his confusion seemed to double. “But that’s exactly what I am doing. That’s the real story.”

Crystal stared at him, exasperated. “How long have you been in the public eye? Do you know nothing? The paparazzi don’t care remotely about the real story. They want the drama, they want the gossip, they want intrigue. You have to take charge of the narrative.”

Damien shook his curls. “I just want to make music.”

“Me too,” Opal agreed.

“Well, you’ll just have to make music with a reporter watching.

” She was convinced she was right. She might not be a PR professional, but she’d dealt with plenty of intrusive paps while planning celebrity weddings.

She suggested inviting Roxy Thanton, who’d interviewed Archer after he’d broken his leg on set, to do an exclusive feature and interview with both Damien and Opal.

“You give her an exclusive peek at this amazing new talent you’ve spotted. ”

Both parties looked less than thrilled, but Crystal knew it was their best option in order to get out in front of this.

Damien’s phone rang. He looked at the screen. “It’s my security guys,” he said. He took the call and discovered there was now a sizeable huddle of reporters and photographers at his front gate.

“Once the real story’s public,” Crystal said, “there won’t be much reason for them to hang around here. You can get your privacy back by going public with this. I know it sounds strange, but it makes sense.”

Damien agreed and, much more reluctantly, so did Opal. “I’m not ready for this,” she said, sounding panicked.

“You are ready. It’s going to be fine,” Damien assured her. “No one’s asking you to sing on TV. It’s just a story of your being so talented that I wanted to mentor you.”

Opal blew out a breath, then nodded. “Okay. I guess that’s better than some sleazy tabloid saying I’m your girlfriend.” She sounded so horrified by that idea that Crystal had to squelch a laugh.

Instead, she nodded briskly. “Okay, I’m going up to the house to make some calls. You guys keep working. I’ll be back when I know more.” Now all she had to do was convince a busy entertainment anchor that a quick trip up to Carmel would be worth her while.

Well, she thought as she marched toward the house, she’d wanted a busy day. It looked like she’d got one.

She called Erin and asked if she was free to meet her at Damien’s place for an emergency PR intervention. Before Erin could make any assumptions about why Crystal was at her brother’s house, she explained the whole story.

Erin groaned. “Oh no. I was afraid this would happen. I’ve been writing my feature about the dog of the week and not paying attention to the news feed. Poor Damien. How’s he taking it? And poor Opal. She’s barely touched down in Carmel and already she’s being hounded by the paps.”