Ruby Tuesday Read Free

occasionally.”
    “You sing well enough to have landed the gig here,” he said, surprised someone with so much obvious talent would sell herself so short.
    She laughed at his words and he grinned at the music in the soft sound. “It’s my family’s pub.”
    “Ah,” he said. “I was wondering if you would join me for a drink. Just until your next set. I’d like to talk to you about your music.” He wanted to buy that last song. He knew the moment he’d heard Maybe Tomorrow he’d found the title track for his album.
    “Um, sure,” she said and again he was shocked by her hesitance. It dawned on him that either she didn’t know who he was or she didn’t care. Both answers were so atypical he found himself uncertain how to react. “Let me just pop over to the bar to get a glass of water and I’ll come right back. Can I get you something?” He shook his head and gestured to the untouched beer on his table. “No thanks. I’m good.”
    He watched her walk across the room before returning to his booth. As he sat, he felt a welcome sense of optimism rising within him, a hopefulness that sadly had been lacking in his life lately. For the past decade, he’d eaten, slept and breathed nothing but The Universe, touring ten months out of the year, recording the other two and loving every single moment of it…for a while. Then nearly a year ago, he’d hit the wall.
    Burned out. He’d realized he had reached the point in his career where he needed a change. He’d gone as far as he could go with the band and he was dying for a new adventure, a bigger challenge, something different.
    13
    Mari Carr
    When he’d made quiet noises about going solo, the band’s manager, Marty, claimed he was merely overworked and undersexed and suggested he take a break. It was Marty who’d sent him to Baltimore to relax for a month. He’d set him up in the penthouse of a swanky hotel under an assumed name and told him to hide out—get drunk and laid—until The Universe’s last scheduled concert over Thanksgiving weekend. Unbeknownst to Marty, Sky had been putting the time alone to better use than sex and alcohol. He was determined to put together an album’s worth of solo songs.
    He scratched at the itchy fake beard on his face and wished he could rip the damn thing off. He glanced out the large plate-glass window at the front of the pub and decided against it. The paparazzi—always relentless—had stepped up their pursuit of him since his breakup with Holly Gonzalez, supermodel extraordinaire, and he’d had to take some extreme measures lately in order to fly under their radar.
    He closed his eyes wearily as Holly’s plastic face flashed in his mind. Super bitch extraordinaire was more accurate. While he’d made a serious commitment to their relationship, it seemed Holly was only committed to the idea of fame and fortune. She was perfectly content with him when there were cameras flashing in their faces. It was when they were alone that things disintegrated. He’d finally read the writing on the wall when she suggested they invite cameras into their apartment and star in their own reality show. Their well-publicized breakup had only convinced him more that it was time for some serious changes.
    “Hi again.”
    Sky looked up to find the singer standing by his table and realized he didn’t even know her name. He rose quickly and gestured for her to join him. She placed her glass of water on the table and he nervously decided to take the plunge as they sat down.
    Perhaps she really didn’t recognize him through his disguise, though he feared an introduction would generate the rabid fan response.
    “I’m Sky Mitchell,” he said.
    14
    Ruby Tuesday
    She never skipped a beat as she replied, “Teagan Collins. Nice to meet you.” Her tone gave away nothing and again he was struck by the absurdity of the moment. He’d clearly spent too many years in the limelight if he didn’t know how to hold a normal conversation with a