Tears misted in Jade’s eyes. “You must miss them.”
He gave a half-hearted shrug. “When nostalgia hits, I watch an old movie of my mother’s or pull out a record and listen to my father. They were too busy with their careers to spend time with their kid. It’s hard to miss what you never had.”
But Jade could see by his solemn expression it had affected him more than he wanted to admit.
“The only time I ever spent with my father was when he’d give me guitar lessons. He’d tell me music was in my blood. Rock-and-roll was what I needed to live and breathe.”
“You must have loved those times with him.”
He refilled their glasses with wine and took a deep swallow. “Not really. I could never play as well as he wanted me to. No matter how much I practiced.”
Jade’s heart ached for the little boy who would have tried so hard to play guitar like his father to get his praise and attention. “What about your mother? Were you close with her?”
When he smiled, no happiness reached his eyes. “From the moment I was born, she handed me over to nannies, unless she invited journalists into our home for a magazine shoot, then she was a doting mother. But I was never allowed to be photographed. Apparently, she wanted to protect my privacy. At least she did one good thing for me. It made moving to another country easier when no one recognized you were the son of two dead music and film legends.”
Jade’s jaw clenched. How could anyone neglect their son that way? “It must have been tough growing up like that.”
“It was a long time ago.” He shrugged, as if that made things okay now.
It was so not okay, but she let it drop. “So the disguise is so you can have a normal life?”
Pushing his empty plate away, he leaned his elbows on the table. “I watched my parents chase fame, and it killed them. I don’t want any part of it. I love to play and sing, but I don’t want to live that kind of life.”
“They chose to live like that. You don’t have to.”
He rubbed his hand along his chin, and it made a scratchy sound from the slight stubble. “It’s a life too easy to fall into. I didn’t want to take the risk. This way I can play and be Nathan Harvey, son of Liam Harvey, and then strip it all away to be plain old Nate Miller…primary school music teacher.” The corner of his mouth lifted.
Taking in his good looks, there was definitely nothing plain about him.
“I can understand the disguise so you’re out of the spotlight, but when it’s off and you’re living a normal life, how does that affect relationships or friendships?”
“There’s too much time spent on the road to make friends. The band, my manager, and Toby are my mates. And I know they’ll keep my secret. I can’t risk telling anyone else.”
What a lonely life it sounded like. Jade couldn’t imagine being so isolated from people. “What about girlfriends? Surely you’ve had to tell them?”
Nate shook his head. “No girlfriends.”
“None? Ever?” Her mouth dropped open.
“I’m not living like a monk. I’ve had women in my life. But only casually. They knew I was a musician, but that’s all I could tell them. Then I’d leave to go on tour and that would be the end.”
“You didn’t care enough about any of those women to have more of a long-term relationship?” Jade asked.
“It never would’ve worked. Everything would’ve been based on a lie.”
“If you’d fallen in love, surely you could’ve trusted her?” Why did her stomach flutter with nerves waiting for the answer?
“I never stuck around long enough for feelings to get too deep.”
So to live a normal life, Nate had to give up a lot. Jade wondered if it was worth the sacrifice. To lighten the mood, she said, “You must have gotten up to a lot of mischief being the son of famous parents. Aren’t the kids of celebrity royalty supposed to be spoiled brats?”
Nate laughed. “When I lived in New York my nanny watched me like a hawk and rarely let me out of her sight. And when I moved in with Fi-Fi, she gave me her surname so I wouldn’t be recognized. I spent all my time learning every musical instrument I could get my hands on and started a band. I never had time for anything else.”
That surprised Jade. All teenagers got up to a little mischief. “You must have done some stupid stuff.”
He shook his head. “Nope.”
“What about parties?”
