Imperfect Harmony (House of Archer #1) Read online

  Fiona gaped at him, her mouth opening and closing but no words escaping. Lily smiled at her as Dane took her hand and led her away.

  As they merged into the crowd, Lily heard Nikki tell Fiona, “Told you so.”

  Chapter Ten

  They had to get up early again the next day to head to Seattle, where the Under the Bridge Tour would officially kick off that evening. Archer and the other Void members dozed in their bunks on the tour bus during the drive, knowing they’d be busy from the moment they arrived in the city until the show started that night. On the agenda were several interviews with the local press, a session for some promo photos, and a meeting with Suddenly Something to firm up the performance details before their sound check.

  It was nearly one in the afternoon when they arrived at their hotel. The band’s tour manager had arranged for the hotel’s dinner-only restaurant to open up just for the band to eat a quick lunch before they headed to that afternoon’s round of interviews. Lily, Sydney, Aria, Nikki, and Noelle’s girlfriend Mandy all joined them for the meal. Since Mandy was a lighting technician with the crew, she traveled on one of the crew’s buses.

  “Are we going to have to get up so early every morning?” Lily grouched as she stabbed at a leafy salad bigger than her head.

  Archer gave her shoulder a friendly shove. “Suck it up. If you want to work in this industry, you’ll have to learn to survive on little to no sleep.”

  “I’m retiring,” she declared. “I’m finding a box on the beach and I’m retiring so I can sleep as late as I want.”

  “I don’t know if you’ll be able to afford a box on the beach,” Aria mused. “That’s prime real estate.”

  Lily seemed to consider that. “Walking distance from the beach then.”

  Everyone laughed. Archer found himself wanting to pull her against him and had to focus on eating his sandwich instead. He was all too aware of the House of Archer crew eating at nearby tables, their hand-held cameras at the ready.

  Lunch was over much too quickly. Archer considered asking Lily to join him and the band at the interviews and photo shoot until he saw the dark shadows under her eyes. She needed to get some rest before the concert.

  “Try and stay out of trouble,” he told her, pulling her into a hug.

  She hugged him back. “And you bring the bail money when I call you.”

  “Deal.”

  Her scent clung to his T-shirt when they parted. It was lightly floral with hints of citrus. He’d know it anywhere. Knowing he’d have it with him for a while longer sent him into the rest of the afternoon with a smile on his face.

  His good mood continued an hour later as he and the band sat in a green room at a local talk show waiting to be called onto the set for an interview. Christopher coached them through the anticipated questions while cameras for House of Archer looked on. Archer listened to Christopher with half an ear, having done a million interviews over the years. Most of his focus was on Lily and how he was going to get some time alone with her to talk. He suddenly had so much to say and no privacy in which to say it.

  The sound of his phone ringing jarred him from his thoughts. Muttering an apology to Christopher, he pulled the phone out of his pocket and checked the display.

  “Who is it?” Christopher asked, seeing his expression.

  “My mother.”

  “Answer it and put it on speaker,” Elijah said from his position on the far side of the room.

  Archer hesitated. Not only was he uncomfortable airing an unscripted conversation with his mother, he knew this was bound to be a boring conversation that would hardly make compelling footage. Elijah waved at him with a “Get on with it” expression, prompting Archer to accept the call and press the speaker button. He stepped away from everyone to at least feel like he was having a private conversation.

  “Hi, Mom,” he said.

  “Hi, sweetie. I haven’t heard from you in a while so I thought I’d check in. How’s the tour going?”

  “It’s actually just getting started. We have our first stop tonight in Seattle.”

  “Oh, Seattle is such a great city,” she enthused. “Be sure to pick up a fridge magnet for me.”

  “Sure,” he said, struggling to ignore Elijah’s eye-rolling.

  “When will you be in L.A.?” she asked. “I miss you and want to see you.”

  Archer glanced at Christopher, who mouthed, Two weeks. “Two weeks,” Archer said.

  “And you’ll make time to come and have dinner with me and your father?”

  Although it was phrased as a question, Archer knew it was nothing short of a royal command. “Of course,” he said.

  “Wonderful! Did Lily make the trip?”

  Archer noticed Elijah’s interest pique at the question. “Yeah,” he said. “She’s out touring the city right now.”

  “How fun. I hope you’ll bring her to dinner with you. We’d love to see her.”

  “I’ll see what I can do. They’re about to come and get us for our next interview, so I have to go.”

  “All right. I love you,” she said.

  “Love you, too.”

  He clicked off the phone and did his best to act casual with every eye and camera in the room focused on him. Everyone went back to whatever they’d been doing before the call and didn’t comment on the uninteresting conversation with his mother. Elijah moved off to the far side of the room, looking none-too-pleased as he spoke quietly into his cell phone.

  It was pretty clear that they weren’t getting the footage they needed to produce a good show. Archer knew he was going to have to figure out how to fix that...and soon.

  * * *

  Tension was high in the meeting room at the concert venue as Suddenly Something awaited the arrival of The Void so they could discuss the evening’s performance. Regina pretended to be absorbed in responding to e-mails on her phone. In reality, she was carefully monitoring Brandon to make sure his temper stayed under control. She’d had several conversations with the band on their drive up to Seattle reiterating the importance of behaving themselves on this tour. They all finally seemed to grasp that this was an opportunity they couldn’t afford to screw up.

  It had helped that she proposed an idea earlier that caught their attention. She hadn’t had time to run it by Christopher Donahue yet, but she figured this meeting was soon enough to discuss it. She had honed her pitch and felt confident the Void’s manager would accept it.

  A few minutes later, the door opened and people started filing in. The room, which had seemed spacious before, soon filled up as people took seats in chairs or on the two available sofas. She couldn’t help but notice that The Void’s members sat on the other side of the room. Even here there was a clear line of division that she had to work to cross.

  Her gaze moved to Archer. His expression could have been carved from stone. He never even looked at Brandon, seemingly engaged in a deep conversation with The Void’s spunky pink-haired drummer, Noelle Fox. Regina knew Archer had been opposed to the idea of the tour and, like Brandon, had required extensive coercion in order to comply. As long as Archer and Brandon saw this tour as being in their best interests, things would go smoothly. If either of them decided otherwise, the tour would crash and burn. She hated to admit it, but there was a much higher risk of Archer pulling the plug. She’d have to walk a fine line to keep that from happening.

  Everyone exchanged glances as several camera operators took up positions around the room. Christopher had notified Regina about the camera crew but hadn’t said why they were there. She had agreed to allow the cameras at the meeting in hopes that it would make Christopher and The Void more agreeable to her own proposal. She also knew the cameras added additional pressure on everyone to behave themselves.

  When it looked like everyone was settled and the various conversations in the room had died down, Regina started to rise from her chair to get the meeting started. She believed in taking control from the beginning. She was beaten to the punch by an overweight man
with a bad comb-over who walked into the center of the room and cleared his throat.

  “Why don’t I kick things off by introducing myself to those who don’t know me,” he began. “My name is Elijah Long and I’m a production manager with Angelstone Studios out of L.A. I’m here to discuss an exciting opportunity for you to get involved in a new project that my studio has undertaken with The Void.”

  Regina eased back into her chair, trying to decide whether or not to be irritated that this guy was stealing her thunder. She noticed that Archer was looking from Elijah to Christopher as if trying to figure out what was going on, which certainly captured her interest. As subtly as possible, she placed her phone in her lap under the table and typed Elijah’s name into Google. When the results came up, her heart rate doubled.

  He was a major television producer.

  “...nondisclosure statements before we discuss anything,” Elijah was saying as Regina once again focused on him.

  She pretended she hadn’t been running a background check on him as Elijah handed out legal forms to all of the Suddenly Something members in attendance. “Don’t sign anything until I’ve read this through,” she told Brandon and the others in a cool voice.

  It was all for show. The nondisclosure could have said she’d have to give them a vital organ and she would have signed it. If this project involved a major television studio, she wanted Suddenly Something in on it.

  After taking several minutes to review the standard nondisclosure, she nodded to the others and they all signed it. She glanced over at Archer, who was in the middle of a whispered but heated discussion with Christopher. Her attention was even more captured now.

  “Excellent,” Elijah said as he gathered the forms. “Now let me fill you in on what we’re doing here. Throughout this tour we’ll be capturing footage for a reality show—a rockumentary, if you will—called House of Archer. We think it has the potential to be a huge hit not only in the U.S. but around the world. Before I waste any time going into more detail, I want to know if you’d be interested in being a part of it.”

  As Elijah spoke, Regina watched Archer. He pushed away from Christopher and sat rigidly in his chair with his arms crossed. His dark eyes burned with quiet fury. Regina was sure Brandon noticed it when she saw his small smile. She met his gaze and gave him a subtle warning to let her handle this.

  “I’m certainly open to listening to your proposal,” Regina told Elijah.

  Elijah brightened as though sensing victory, but his expression dimmed when he saw the look on Archer’s face. “We feel strongly that this will benefit everyone involved,” he hurried to say. “We’re planning an unusual format for the show because the first season will focus on this tour. We want the pilot episode to air before the tour ends in two months to help you all promote the tour and really build your fan bases. For reality shows it usually takes months to gather raw content, review it all, and edit it for airing. It can be challenging to create a lot of interesting moments in a brief span of time. We need enough solid content to piece together multiple thirty-minute episodes. The more varied footage we capture, the more likely we’ll have enough viable content to air quickly. I feel the show will benefit by adding Suddenly Something to the main cast.”

  The room buzzed with movement and quiet comments as everyone reacted to the news. Regina wasn’t sure how she masked her elation. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever imagined such a tremendous gift being dropped right into her lap.

  Brandon all but leaped out of his seat. “Of c—”

  “Just a minute,” Regina interrupted. “I know how reality television works. It’s driven by conflict. I don’t want Suddenly Something featured as the villains in this series.”

  Elijah held up his hands in a placating gesture. “I don’t dictate the content, Ms. Greene. I just monitor the recorded material and make sure it’s good enough to send along to the editing team. It’ll be up to all of you how the public ultimately sees you.”

  Regina tapped her fingers on the table in a show of irritation. She wanted them to think she was giving in reluctantly. The truth was she didn’t care if her boys were the villains. They’d still get more exposure through this show than they would otherwise. In fact, sometimes the villains ended up getting more attention than the good guys, something she was certain Archer was considering as he stared holes into Elijah.

  “Let’s discuss compensation,” she said. “Do you have some figures for me?”

  “Of course,” Elijah assured her. “If you’re on board, I have contracts here for your review. There won’t be much money in the first season but there’s a lot of potential for big revenues if and when the show gains some traction. Any sales of Suddenly Something’s music resulting from the show will, of course, simply add to your compensation.”

  “The contract review can wait,” Christopher interjected. “We have to stick to the timeline and prep for the concert.”

  “Of course,” Elijah repeated. “A verbal agreement will suffice for now.”

  Regina looked at Brandon, Mal, Hunter, and Vic. Receiving their nods, she said, “Barring any unforeseen contractual objections, we’re on board, Mr. Long.”

  “Great,” Christopher said, clapping his hands together and drawing all eyes to him. Regina noted that the cameras also swiveled in Christopher’s direction. “Then let’s dig into the concert details. As everyone knows, we’ve secured Genevieve Shaw and Brewer Street for our opening acts. They’ll be followed by Suddenly Something and then The Void as headliner.”

  The look exchanged between Brandon and Archer over that statement spoke volumes. Regina once again observed the cameras moving to capture their individual reactions. She knew Brandon was pissed that The Void got the top spot on the tour. It didn’t exactly sit well with her either...which was why she’d come up with the idea she was about to propose.

  “As to that,” she said, “I’ve had a thought that I wanted to run by you, Christopher. It’s a way to transition between Suddenly Something’s set and The Void’s. It builds on the theme of the tour, sort of cementing the idea of mended bridges.”

  Christopher’s rust-colored eyebrows drew together. “What thought is that?”

  “I propose that Brandon and Archer sing a duet together during each show, one of the songs they sang together when Archer was still part of Suddenly Something.”

  Archer shot out of his chair. Regina watched his jaw clench as he fought an angry outburst. She gave him credit that his voice was relatively calm when he spoke.

  “That isn’t what we discussed or signed off on, Christopher.”

  It was clear he was urging the band’s manager to argue against Regina’s idea, but she knew Christopher would be weighing the suggestion and coming to the same conclusion she had: a duet between the feuding lead singers would be a show-stopper. At his core, Christopher Donahue was a savvy marketer. She was banking on that.

  “Archer, the media would eat it up,” Christopher said at last. “We could change up when the duet takes place during the show to keep the audience on its toes. I think we should consider changing up the songs, too. Maybe bring in options from each band’s repertoire. The fans will go nuts waiting for it once word gets out.”

  Regina heard murmuring from The Void’s other members. She sensed from their reactions that they found the idea just as intriguing as she, Christopher, and Suddenly Something did. Elijah was all but rubbing his hands together on the side of the room outside of camera range. Everyone seemed to sense what a remarkable business strategy this was.

  It was clear from Archer’s expression that he realized he was the only one not in favor of the idea. He looked from his band mates to the producer, his glower deepening. There was no way he could continue arguing about the duet without coming across as a selfish asshole.

  When he looked at Brandon and saw his smirk, Archer opened his mouth as though to snap at him. Regina’s heart jumped for joy over the idea of Archer throwing a temper tantrum in front of the cameras. Th
e thought of him denting his good-guy reputation made her positively giddy. It felt like the room held its breath as he fought for control.

  Much to her disappointment, Archer turned away from Brandon without speaking, shoving his hands into his pockets. Regina saw a puzzled frown cross his features. He pulled something out of his pocket that looked like a folded square of paper. When he turned it in his hand, Regina saw the words “Open Me” written in feminine script on one side.

  Archer turned his back on the room and stepped away from the cameras as he unfolded the note. Regina could just make out his profile as he began reading. His expression changed from angry and frustrated to smiling in the span of a minute. Regina gripped her phone more tightly. She had really hoped Archer would explode.

  Turning back to the room, he said, “All right. I’m on board. Let’s do it.”

  Regina’s gaze moved again to the note as Archer started folding it so he could return it to his pocket. She strained to see anything on the paper and briefly glimpsed the signature. Love, Lily.

  Realization had her sitting straighter in her chair. The note was from Lily Montgomery. She must still be Archer’s sounding board. She had just managed to calm him down without even being in the room.

  Was Lily the true secret behind Archer’s success?

  If so, she was an obstacle Regina was determined to overcome.

  Chapter Eleven

  Seattle was a remarkable city, if a little chilly for June. Lily and her friends enjoyed touring the hot spots once they arrived in town. They hit the Space Needle, Olympic Sculpture Park, Pike Place Market, and the Seattle Art Museum. For Aria’s sake, they wrapped up their downtown sightseeing in the shopping district. There was plenty of temptation in the high-end department stores and wonderful boutiques, but all Lily bought was the fridge magnet for Dane’s mom that he texted her about and a twenty-five cent postcard to keep as a memento. Her debit card would have laughed at her if she’d tried to buy much else.