Aftershock (11 page)

Damn!

Rick concentrated on buttering his toast. “She’s not a hot chick. She’s the rep from Full Moon, the agency handling our promo.”

“So she’s not hot?” Meredith prodded.

Rick sighed and shook his head. “She’s very nice looking but, more important, she’s smart and knows what she’s doing.”

At least he certainly hoped so.

“Very nice looking?” His mother raised an eyebrow. “You sound like you’re describing a spinster.”

“Or a bad blind date,” his sister added.

He set his toast down carefully. This was not at all what he’d expected to walk into. He expected breakfast, not the third degree. Damn that Daisy, anyway.

“Okay. You would probably agree she’s a hot chick. But to me she’s the woman who is going to create our image. Our brand. And help make us successful. Marc invited her so she could get to know the band a little better, although that didn’t work out quite as we expected.”

“And you offered to give her a ride?” his mother asked.

“Sounds like a date to me,” Meredith teased.

“She had a problem with her car. She called Marc’s house and he asked me to pick her up so she didn’t have to cancel. End of story.”

He took a swallow of his coffee, followed by a bite of toast. The expectant silence poked at him like a hot needle. He looked from his mother to his sister and back again, a prickly feeling dancing along his spine.

“What?”

Kate Trajean shrugged. “You might want to bring her around sometime so we can meet her.”

“Mom.” He shook his head. “She’s not a girlfriend. Not even a casual date. She’s part of the team Butch Meredith put together. Can we give it a rest?” He looked at Meredith. “And tell Daisy Nestor she gossips too much.”

***

“I like her.”

Emma Blake carried the breakfast dishes to the sink and began to rinse them. She and Marc had stayed up after everyone left to clean up the debris from the party. Now it was past noon, but they hadn’t been in any hurry to get out of bed. Slow lovemaking, followed by an unhurried late breakfast, suited them just fine.

“I like her, too,” Marc agreed. “I haven’t had as much time to talk to her as I’d like.” He chuckled. “But, the first day she walked into rehearsal, you could see the sparks between her and Rick. At first it was animosity. You could see the two of them silently wrestling for control. Now it’s something different and the intensity is even stronger.”

Emma stacked the dishes in the dishwasher. “Do you think he’s falling for her? Wow, I’d love to see him have a real relationship. He deserves it.”

Marc shook his head. “I don’t think he wants to let himself go in that direction.”

“Sometimes you don’t have a choice.” She grinned at him. “Look at us.”

He brushed his lips over hers, gave a light stroke of his tongue over her lower lip.

“Quit it.” She laughed, and hit him with a dish towel. “Let’s at least clean up before we get into any hanky-panky.”

“Which, by the way, would do Rick some good if he let himself go.”

“Rick has a strong sense of responsibility to the band,” Emma reminded. “It’s like family to him. Stability. Just as he saw himself as the head of the household when his dad took a powder, he’s shouldered on the same role with Lightnin’.”

“You’re right.” Marc refilled his coffee mug and leaned against the counter. “We started this band together but he’s better at being in charge than I am. I don’t want that to be an obstacle to a special someone lighting up his life.”

“Has he said anything to you about her? About Sydney?”

Marc shook his head. “You know Rick. He thinks
feelings
is just a word in the dictionary.”

“I hate that for him.” Emma closed the dishwasher and hung away the towel she’d used. “He needs someone like her. Marc, when I looked at them last night, it was impossible not to see the sparks between them. More than sparks. A deep feeling of some kind. I just hope he doesn’t think he has to pass on it because of business.”

“There’s fire in the air, that’s for sure. He might have been pissed off at the way she marched into rehearsal unannounced but those sparks flying between them didn’t have anything to do with anger.”

“You think she feels the same way he does?”

“Oh, yeah. You can’t miss it. You saw it last night. I wish I knew what happens next with those two and how it will affect the band.”

“Rick’s a professional,” she pointed out. “And so is Sydney. They’ll figure it out.”

“I hope.”

“I got good vibes from her last night,” Emma said. “She seems pretty sharp. She’s going to be an important part of life in the band for some time. And the campaign she puts together is crucial to what happens next.”

Marc nodded. “I agree. She won’t let anything derail that, just like Rick won’t let a situation knock the band off the track.”

“Oh, great.” She laughed. “Two hard heads. What a pair.”

“He invited her back to rehearsal to hear a set we put together for her. I wonder how they’ll react to each other in that situation.” Marc walked up behind Emma, put his arms around her, and kissed the side of her neck. “You and she seemed to hit it off pretty well. Maybe you could give her a call.”

Emma spun around in his arms. “And do what? Interrogate her? Pry information from her? Play matchmaker? Are you sure that’s what you want me to do?”

“Hold on, honey.” Marc backed up and held out his hands. “Rick is perfectly capable of getting his own info. I just thought it might be nice, since she’s probably going to be at all the concert dates and stuff, if you got to know each other better.”

“Uh huh.” Emma grinned at him. “I know your game, Malone. ’Fess up. You’re as curious as I am about those two and you think I can figure out what’s going on with some girl talk.”

He grinned. “Close.” His face sobered. “Okay. I hear you. But will you think about calling her, anyway?”

She laughed at him. “I’ll figure out what’s appropriate.” She stepped forward so her body was pressed against his. “Meanwhile, can you think of something exciting we can do today?”

He lifted her in his arms and headed toward the bedroom. “I’m sure I can think of a great way to spend the afternoon.”

Emma leaned her head against his shoulder. “I figured you could.”

Sydney sat in the back booth at Coffee and More with a cup of chai tea as she reviewed her notes for perhaps the hundredth time. No coffee for her today, not even decaf. She was too nervous. Too on edge. Five days had passed since the party at Marc and Emma’s and the incredible night she’d spent with Rick Trajean. Every detail of those hours in the dark was still etched on her brain, no matter how much she tried to block it. Or wipe out the place he’d carved out in her heart.

Yes, Janine. My heart. Go ahead and laugh
.

She knew Lightnin’ rehearsed every day. She had their schedule on her iPad and she was busy with their promo stuff. But it was hard to stay focused when every five minutes she checked her phone for a text or listened anxiously for her ringtone. Every day, she kept expecting him to call, or at least text. But nothing. Not a word. Had he just wiped that night out of his mind completely?

How stupid she’d been to let down all her barriers. It seemed he hadn’t felt the same magic she did. She’d broken every one of her personal rules and what had it gotten her? Dumped. And a week of anxious days and sleepless nights. Well, she was done. With all of it. She was sure now that night hadn’t meant as much to him as it did to her. That was what she got for making idiotic assumptions. No more. If her future wasn’t tied so tightly to Lightnin’, she would have asked Linc to give the client to another agent. Replace her. Okay, so that wasn’t very professional but neither was falling for a client and tumbling into bed with him. She wouldn’t let it happen again. Ever.

The real problem would come when she saw him today, when they sat across this table from each other. How was she supposed to pretend Saturday night hadn’t happened?

She looked at her notes again but it was hard to concentrate when her stomach balled with apprehension and her nerves were rubbed raw.

See, Sydney? This is why you don’t let your emotions get out of control
.

Janine’s spiteful voice screamed in her head and urged her to forget about her momentary loss of control. Put it behind her. Words flooded her brain as if her aunt sat next to her.

You’re just like your mother. A man comes along and crooks his finger, you tear off your clothes and give up your dreams. Not that I think you’ll listen to me anyway
.

Okay, she was listening now. Besides, how would she handle it if he had pursued her, convinced her they had something going here? It wasn’t as if they could go public with it. Not when the fans out there were about to get their first taste of Lightnin’ and every media eye would be focused on them, the agency, and her. Not to mention the sick feeling she had that everyone at Full Moon, from Linc on down, would lecture her about sleeping with a client. That was a big no-no at the agency. She was sure they’d look at her with disappointment.

Besides, what if they clashed on future ideas? On her handling of the media? On anything else in the promotion plan? She had to use all her skills and all her energy to maintain a positive working relationship with Lightnin’, most especially Rick as the leader. She didn’t to let messy emotions get in the way.

So yeah. Maybe it was just as well he hadn’t gotten in touch with her. Business had to come first. This was her big chance as well as the band’s. She would pretend Saturday night never happened. Her focus needed to be on Lightnin’ and The Plan. Not on Rick.

Okay. Good. Fine. It’s out of my mind.

Liar.

Giving herself a mental shake, she pulled up the calendar on her iPad and checked all the dates listed in bold font. The first media interview was in two weeks and it was a big one. Everyone within shouting distance was invited. She would need to rehearse Rick on the best way to handle it and clue him on what the vultures would be looking for. She’d be under a lot of scrutiny to see how she handled Butch Meredith’s new baby. One screw up and she’d find herself carrying someone else’s water.

She had a CD with some of Lightnin’s rehearsal music on it and she’d downloaded “Music Lady” as her ringtone. She thought maybe if Rick heard it, he’d see she was really into the band.
Or into him.
Now it played the opening notes next to her and she looked to see who the caller was. Hopefully not Rick canceling their meeting.

The display read
Butch Meredith
. Holy crap! Butch calling her? Pressing a hand to her stomach to calm the butterflies, she pressed Answer.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Sydney. This is Butch.”

As if he wasn’t at the top of her call list.

“Yes, Butch. How are you?”

“Good. Real good.” He was using the same voice she’d heard calm jittery musicians and irate media. Was she in trouble? Already? Had Rick complained to him?

She did her best to sound calm and collected. “What can I do for you?”

“Just touching base. Rick tells me you and he are meetin’ today about the promo plan. I wanted to see if there was anything you needed from me.”

I hope not.

“I think we’re good, Butch. But thanks for asking.” She curled the fingers of her other hand into her palm. “I’ll lay out some basics for Rick in a little while. I did try to take everything he said into consideration.”

“I’m sure it will all be fine. If Linc didn’t have confidence in you, he wouldn’t have assigned you to the band. and I wouldn’t have signed off on it. Just want you to know I’m here if you need me.”

“Yes. Thank you. I appreciate it.”

She disconnected, leaned back in the booth, and let out a long, slow breath. She had no idea what to make of the call but if it meant she had to dial things back a little, she would. For the moment. Still, she was convinced her ideas would work and if she had to work them in slowly, so be it.

She was bent over the table, taking a last look at her notes, when someone pushed a fresh coffee in front of her. She looked up to see Rick’s smoldering gaze.

“Oh. Um, hi!” Her heartbeat accelerated, her mouth went dry, and a pulse set up an insistent throbbing between her thighs. She had to remind herself to breathe. She certainly wasn’t about to tell him she was off coffee today.

Is he going to say anything or just pretend nothing ever happened?

She was so tense with anticipation, she was sure her body vibrated.

“You looked very intent.” He slid into the seat across from her. “Working on the latest details?”

“I am.” She couldn’t stop staring at him across the table.

That was it? Nothing about Saturday night? Not even to tell her it was a big mistake? By now she was ready to agree with him.

Okay. So I read more into that night and the things he said than I should have. If he wants to pretend it didn’t happen, I can, too. Let’s get to it. Janine was right and I was a damn fool
.

Still, she didn’t imagine the sexual heat that still simmered between them. She’d just have to find a way to deal with it.

She swallowed and forced herself to relax.

“I had our graphics person make some revisions to the logo,” she began. “Tried to pay attention to what you wanted to get across.” She slid some sketches to him. “I hope you like the new version we’ve come up with.”

The lightning bolt was now silver outlined in black on a silver background in a circle. Maybe she’d try to add a little glitter to it. She had graphics of how it would appear on different types of merchandise.

Sydney wet her lips, her throat dry, nerves still jangling and her body not getting the message to ease up. She forced herself to wait a long moment for Rick to react. To say something. But he gave nothing away so she moved forward.

“The logo will still make an impact,” she went on. “It’s distinctive yet still in line with the feel of the band. And I want to start working with you on the big media presentation. The big coming-out party, so to speak. It’s almost around the corner.”