Rock Idol (Reality With a Twist Series) (5 page)

Ember
felt mortified. Was it really that obvious?

Mitch
might as well have telepathy because he answered her as if she’d spoken the
question out loud. “And yes, it really is that obvious. The only reason the
tabloids haven’t noticed yet is that no one’s talked and the producers are
doing a good job of concealing it by constantly switching the camera angles
when he sings.”

Ember
stopped walking, feeling utterly defeated. The situation was already out of
control and she really hadn’t done anything. “What am I going to do, Mitch?
It’s all so embarrassing!” She couldn’t believe she’d just asked his advice.

Mitch
was clearly enjoying himself. “It is not embarrassing!”

“What?”

“Ember,
that kid is hot! He may not sing very well but he gets more emails, Facebook
and Twitter postings than any of our other contestants. Ninety-five percent of
those are from women ranging from eight and ten year old tots to grandmothers
who certainly should be embarrassed by the kinds of things they’re suggesting.
So you’re not embarrassed. You’re flattered that a young man who’s going to
start hitting all the
hottest guys
lists is completely focused on you.”

It
was kind of flattering, Ember realized, when you put it in that sort of
context.

Mitch
was still reading her mind. “You see, I’m right. You are flattered.”

“All
right,” Ember conceded. “I find it flattering. But with Fox having caught the
anti-scandal religion, I also find it a little bit threatening.”

“I
can see that,” Mitch agreed. “What’s up with that anyway?”

“I
don’t know…” Ember paused while a couple of techs passed them in the hall,
“…but I think he’s really serious about it. Two of the judges on
Dance Mania
wagered dinner at the restaurant of their choice that they could pick the
winning team and he completely freaked out on them. It was dinner, for God’s
sake.”

Mitch
shook his head. “Maybe our Fox needs a nice quiet vacation.”

“Like
that’s going to happen.” Like most successful producers, Fox was a workaholic.
He didn’t truly understand the concept of a vacation.

As
if of one mind, they started walking down the corridor again. “What am I going
to do, Mitch?”

“Do?”
Mitch asked. “Why you’re going to have fun with it, of course. You’ve got one
of the hottest kids in stardom right now reminding you you’re still a very
attractive woman. Enjoy the attention.”

That
was
a positive, Ember agreed. Rick did make her feel hot again!

“And
you might use some of your enchantress influence to get him out of those stupid
stripes. If looks is all this kid’s got going for him, then he ought to be
maximizing their affect, not looking like some casting call reject.”

Ember
found herself smiling again. She’d never really liked Mitch, but today his
sarcasm was helping her to laugh.

“I’ll
see what I can do,” she told him.

Mitch
suddenly stopped walking again so that Ember advanced two paces past him and
had to turn and come back.

“And
Ember,” he whispered, “if you do let it go further than some puppy dog eyes and
a couple of roses, for God’s sake be discrete because Fox really is off his
rocker with this sudden fear of scandal.”

Suddenly,
Ember didn’t feel like smiling anymore.

“Hey,
Ember, you have a minute?”

Ember
looked up from her dressing chair to see Rick peaking his head through the
door. Hans paused in applying her blush. “You want a few moments, dear?”

“No,
we’re running late,” Ember said. “He can talk to me while you’re working.”

Hans
arched an eyebrow at her, clearly questioning her decision. Then acquiesced and
resumed applying her blush. “It’s up to you, of course.” He lowered his voice.
“But you know I would cover for you, dear, and there really is time to repair
any harm he does to my work.”

Ember
tried and failed to keep the smile off her face.

Rick
still hovered uncertainly in the doorway.

“Come
in, Rick,” she called out. “You don’t mind if Hans finishes making me up while
we talk, do you?”

Rick
clearly did mind, but he didn’t say that. He had two roses in his hands this
week and that same terrible striped shirt on. “I was hoping to talk to
you…alone,” he said.

“I’m
afraid we can’t,” Ember said. “I’m due on stage soon and I need Hans to make
certain I look beautiful.”

“You
were born beautiful. Hans is only taken credit for what God already gave you,”
Rick told her.

Hans
couldn’t let that comment pass. “Normally, I would take offense at someone
belittling my skills this way, but what can I say? You are right, of course.
Ember is perfection.”

He
set down the blush and picked up his iPod. “If you will excuse me for a moment,
I have to use the little boys’ room.” Hans put the headphones on and turned the
sound up loud, then stepped into the adjoining bathroom and closed the door.

Ember
watched him go, hoping her jaw hadn’t landed in her lap. How could Hans abandon
her like this? She nearly jumped out of her chair when Rick touched her hand.

“You
wouldn’t talk to me when you were mixing with the contestants earlier.”

She
steeled her nerve. “Rick, I never should have let you kiss me last week. It was
unprofessional. It—”

He
leaned in, his lips swooping down toward hers. She got her hand between their
faces and he pulled back.

“Ember,
what’s wrong?”

Her
heart fluttered and she felt a touch light-headed. She’d had no idea this would
be so difficult. She’d thought the problem would be she didn’t want to hurt
him. She hadn’t realized she actually
wanted
him to touch her. Mitch was
right! Rick was hot and part of her loved his interest in her.

She
wanted to act cool, but her body continued to betray her. Hadn’t it learned
anything from her past scandals? Her skin flushed with heat. Her breasts were
swelling. Even her goddamned treacherous pussy was getting moist. What on earth
was wrong with her?

Through
an exercise of extraordinary will power, Ember reiterated her refusal. “We’re
not going to repeat our kiss,” she told him. The words didn’t come out as
firmly as Ember intended, but it could have been worse. If she’d left off the
exclamation point, at least she hadn’t turned the statement into a question.

Rick
wasn’t really listening. “But I need you, Ember. You’re my luck. You’re my
inspiration.”

He
leaned in to kiss her again and for the second time Ember stopped him.

She
found her firm voice. “We’re not doing this! It’s unprofessional! It could cost
me my job. I spent a lot of time in the wilderness, Rick—a teen idol who got
too old for her fan base.
Rock Idol
is my second chance. I’m just not
going to risk that for a fling with a really cute kid.”

She’d
hurt him. She could see that in his face. He took a full step back from her. “I
wasn’t interested in a fling,” he said.

Oh
God
, she thought.
It’s even worse than I
suspected
.

“I
thought after we kissed last week that there was something magical between us.”

Clearly
Ember’s body agreed, even as she tried to remind herself that it was
Rick
who’d done the kissing. The heat between her legs intensified and the mirror
showed that her nipples were now clearly visible through her dress. In her
mind, Ember knew she had to completely blow Rick off, but her heart wouldn’t
let those sorts of words out of her mouth.

“That kiss was magical,” Ember agreed. “But Rick, we have
to be professional about this. You’re a contestant and I’m a judge. We can’t—”

“You’re
not really a judge,” Rick interrupted.

Ember
started to bristle in automatic anger. How dare he impugn her competence?

“You
guys were judging when you decided who made it on the show,” Rick explained.
“But now you’re really just knowledgeable critics. America does the actual judging.”

Her
anger dissipated as quickly as it had risen. “Rick, the rules are clear. I
can’t kiss you again.”

He
stepped back up beside her and her heartbeat sped up noticeably. He tried to
caress her face but she caught his wrist and stopped him.

“Please,”
he said. “You’re my luck.”

“I
thought you said that crummy old shirt was your luck,” Ember said.

Rick
ignored her statement. “I just…I… please! I need to kiss you.”

Was that what this was really about
?
Was it just
a ritual
? Musicians, like actors, could be so damned superstitious. “Rick,
you have real talent. You don’t need luck. You don’t need a ritual. What you
need to do is go out there on the stage tonight and sing with your whole heart
and soul.”

Crestfallen,
Rick backed up again. “You’re really not going to kiss me, are you?”

“No,”
Ember told him. She felt like an ice-cold bitch saying it, but it was the
answer that
had
to be true.

He
backed up another couple of steps. “Please don’t do this to me, Ember.”

“I
can’t kiss you, Rick. And you don’t need me to.”

He
started to make one more plea, then broke off and fled the room.

Ember
felt awful watching him close the door.

She
felt even worse when he bombed his performance and almost got kicked off the
show.

Week Five

Ember
joined Mitch and Fox Atwood at the studio where they were sitting behind a
one-way glass watching Hillary Tempest rehearse for the show tonight. Fox was
shaking his head. “No, Mitch, I don’t think she’s going to win.”

Mitch’s
indignation seemed genuine. “What are you talking about? She’s got the best set
of pipes in the contest.”

“And
all the cuddly charm of a barracuda,” Fox noted. “She’ll last a few more weeks,
but unless she can thaw the ice princess routine, I don’t see her going all the
way.”

“Who
cares if she’s charming?” Mitch asked. “This show is about singing and frankly,
I don’t think there’s another contestant who’s in Hillary’s league.”

Ember
knew Mitch really believed this.
Rock Idol
was about talent for him and
nothing more. But contrary to his personal experience where many people tuned
into the show to hear what nasty thing he would say to their rock aspirants,
Americans weren’t going to buy tickets to a concert of a star they knew
disdained them.

“I’m
sorry, Mitch,” she said, “but
Rock Idol
is a lot more that a singing
competition. It’s also about…call it
star factor
. Our contestants need
to get votes to stay in the contest and even though she’s outperforming just
about everyone, Tempest is not pulling the most votes. She needs to soften her
image or at least stop acting so goddamn superior to everyone else.”

Mitch
laughed. “She does have the
superior
thing down pat. What was it she
said to you in the hall last week? ‘
Thanks for your concern but I think I
know a little more about modern music than a star whose career ended twenty
years ago.’
I’ve been laughing about that for a week.”

“And
that probably explains why you like her so much and don’t see her flaws,” Fox
said. “Now, I’d like to ask you both something before Fawn gets here. What’s up
with her? I mean she’s always been famous for the ditzy nonsense she spouts,
but this season she’s bringing it to a whole new level.”

Mitch
laughed again. He seemed to take genuine delight in the problems of others.
“You can say that again. Fawn’s critiques have gotten so incomprehensible that
she’s making Ember look downright professorial.”

Ember
rolled her eyes at him. “It’s a good thing you try to be obnoxious, because
this way you know why you don’t have any friends.”

“Mitch
doesn’t need friends. He has his hate mail to keep him warm at night,” Fox
said.