Aftershock (7 page)

Sydney stood frozen, not sure what to do next.

Then Emma was there, smiling at her, taking her hands.

“I’m so glad you could make it tonight.”

“Thank you for the invitation. I appreciate it.”

Emma gave her a wry grin. “I’m sorry about your car but Rick was happy to pick you up.” She looked at him over Sydney’s shoulder. “Right, Rick?”

“Yeah. Happy to.”

Sydney glanced back at him, unsettled by the heat in his voice, but he smiled and urged her into the room.

“Let’s get you a drink,” Emma said. “Marc has a bar set up in the kitchen. And everyone is very excited to meet you. Come on.”

Both the colorful kitchen and the living room were filled with people. Danny and Garrett greeted her, even giving her little hugs. Marc handed her a glass of wine and Emma steered her from group to group making sure everyone knew she was the publicity agent for Lightnin’. Sydney tried to sort out all the names and figure out who was with who. Some of the guys were musicians not currently on a gig, others just friends or family, like Marc’s brothers.

Rick had been right on target about the girls Danny and Garrett had brought. Draped over the musicians’ bodies in their abbreviated shorts and tight T-shirts, they might as well have had
groupie
stamped on their foreheads. They managed to disentangle themselves long enough to say hello. Then Emma was introducing her to some of her friends. The women all looked at her with a mixture of awe and jealousy.

Music played constantly in the background, a muted counterpoint to the continuous hum of multiple conversations. Sydney did her best to blend in but, at times, she felt as if she came from another planet. Danny and Garrett and some of the others were exactly what she would have expected—rock musicians who cared about their craft and having a good time. Period. And both susceptible and agreeable to her ideas.

But Marc and Rick seemed to be cut from a different cloth. She was surprised to see how committed Marc was to Emma. He acted like an old married man. And Rick. What was up with the serious face all the time?

It occurred to her for the first time since Linc handed her this assignment how sparse her knowledge was about the individual players. She had no idea what was beneath the music, the only thing she’d concentrated on. Until now she worked only in a position lawyers would call second chair. Much, much different than being the leader of the team.

I can do this. I’ve been waiting for this. I worked hard for it. And I know my ideas are good. I just have to make the guys see it.

Rick, who had stayed scant inches away from her since they arrived, now talked to one of Marc’s brothers, apparently satisfied she was comfortable. Needing a breather, she eased out to the patio off the living room. While she sipped her wine, trying sort everyone out in her head, the patio door slid open again.

Emma smiled at her. “Finding it a little confusing?”

“Not so much.” She sighed. “Well, maybe. Yeah, okay.” She grimaced. “But these guys are my job, Emma. I have to do right by them. I’ve studied them, watched their videos, memorized the files on them.”

“And that’s good. But you’ve only seen what the public sees. Here?” She gestured toward the living room. “They’re like all the other jerk musicians.” She laughed, a sound of pure pleasure. Except for Marc, of course. Oh, and Rick.”

Sydney ran her fingertip around the rim of her glass.

“How did you handle them when, you know, you and Marc first started dating? Were they what you expected?”

Emma laughed again. “First of all, Marc and I never actually did what you’d call dating. Did anyone ever tell you our story?”

“Your story? No, there was nothing in the file about the two of you except you are engaged.”

Emma swallowed some of her wine. “The night we met was the first time I’d ever been in a rock club in my life. Really,” she added at Sydney’s astonished expression. “You wouldn’t believe the uptight, buttoned-down life I’d led.”

Sydney quirked an eyebrow. “You’re kidding.”

“Uh uh. Not a bit.” Emma smiled. “Do you know that for weeks I wouldn’t even tell him my name?”

Sydney’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding. Why not?”

“Because I was afraid. I worried about everything. What if my friends saw me with a rock musician? And my folks? Forget that. They were the ones who’d buttoned me down in the first place. I tried to keep the two parts of my life separate.”

Sydney studied the other woman. “How did that work for you? And didn’t Marc get mad?”

“More hurt than mad, I’d say. But before long we were so into each other he almost didn’t care.”

Sydney couldn’t contain her curiosity. “So what happened?”

“We had a big fight over a misunderstanding. And my best friend made me see what a jerk I was being.” Emma took another drink of her wine. “So I got up my courage and went back to Aftershock, where they were finishing up their gig. Butch had already signed them to the contract and they were getting ready to prepare for the CD and the tour.”

“Was he glad to see you?”

“Oh, yeah.” She looked off in the distance, her eyes suddenly dreamy. “Because he didn’t know my name he used to call me ‘Music Lady’. When I walked into the club that night, the next number the band played was the song he wrote for me. That’s where ‘Music Lady’ came from. I nearly broke down and cried.”

“My God!” Sydney felt emotion wash through her. Her heart stuttered and tears threatened to spill from her eyelids. The impact of Emma’s words made her catch her breath. “That’s—that’s—What a great love story. So you settled him down.”

“Not so much. He was already pretty settled before I came along.” She studied Sydney. “He and Rick are a lot more alike than you might think when you meet them. Marc’s very close to his family. Always has been. And Rick’s kind of been the man in his family since his dad walked out on them when he was fourteen.”

“You’re kidding me.” Sydney hadn’t thought it possible for her to be any more surprised, but apparently she was wrong. What a shock that must have been to Rick’s life.

“Not a bit. The luckiest thing for them was moving to this neighborhood after the divorce. He and Marc became good friends and the Malone family sort of adopted Rick, his sister, and his mom. Rick’s very protective of them and takes his responsibilities seriously. Even though his mom says they’re in a good place now and he needs to live for himself for a change.”

“Wow.” Sydney’s jaw dropped in astonishment. “I didn’t know any of that.”

Emma shrugged. “He doesn’t talk about it with strangers.”

“And I’m a stranger,” Sydney guessed.

“For now, anyway. He’s taken charge of the band the way he did his mom and his sister. It’s his life. So if he gives you any crap, tread lightly. Let him get to know you.” She touched Sydney’s hand lightly. “I know the guys are excited to have someone assigned only to them. I don’t know what your ideas are for their promo, but I hope you get to know the guys as people before you put a plan together. Their personalities are a big part of what makes up the band.”

“I hear you.”

“One more thing.” Emma paused for a moment. “You need to kind of feel your way with Rick.”

What Emma said explained a lot, but it didn’t change the ideas Sydney’d formulated or her approach to the project.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for sharing all of this with me.” She started back into the house.

Emma stopped her with a hand on her arm again. “One other thing you might want to know. It’s real obvious to Marc and me that Rick has some strong feelings for you. He’s doing his best to hide them but when the two of you are within a foot of each other the electricity lights up the place. I don’t know how you feel, but Rick’s very important to us.”

In other words, don’t screw him over. Nice thought, but who’s going to worry about me?

“Not a problem. I make it a rule not to mix business with pleasure. I’ll be sure he understands that.” She managed to smile. “In the nicest way possible, of course.”

Now I just have make sure I remember it
.

“And you aren’t upset that I came out here to talk to you about this?”

Was she? It was easy to see the situation from Emma’s point of view. She had to keep that in mind.

“No. I understand where you’re coming from.”

“Good.” Emma’s face took on a serious look. “I’d like us to be friends, Sydney. I know you’ll be with the band a good part of the time. I’m trying to arrange my schedule so I can be at a lot of the concert stops. You’ll be busy doing your job, but it would be nice to connect on a personal level.”

“I’d like that, too.” Sydney didn’t have too many female friends. Emma seemed like someone she could feel comfortable with.

“Enough with the serious talk. I think we could both use some more wine, don’t you?”

The moment she walked back into the house her eyes were drawn to Rick. His hooded gaze made every pulse point throb with need. The rest of the evening went by in a blur, but wherever Sydney moved, she felt his eyes riveted to her. Whether he was tipping back a bottle of beer or just in conversation with someone, his gaze found her and locked onto hers.

She was completely aware of him even as she tried to absorb all the sights and sounds of the group. The interactions of the people there. Get a feel for the band as more than musicians, the way Rick had wanted her to. She chatted a little with Danny and Garrett when they didn’t have a female form welded to them. And with some of the other people who were more interested in how glamorous her job was rather than Lightnin’.

She had a good time but at the end of the night, although she now saw the band as real human beings rather than just a commercial commodity, she still hadn’t found a good reason to change her ideas. Convinced she was right, she’d have to find some way to make them see her plan would work.

When the party began to break up and people were saying their good-byes, Sydney looked at her watch and was startled to see it was two o’clock.
Where had the night gone?
  The hours had passed in a blur while she absorbed the atmosphere and the people.

“Ready to go?”

She heard Rick’s deep voice at the same moment she felt his hand warm at the small of her back.

“Yes. Wow!” She glanced at her watch again. “I didn’t realize it was that late.”

“A sign that you were having a good time.” He was so close she could feel his breath on her cheek like a whisper of a breeze when he spoke to her.

“Let me say good-bye to Marc and Emma and thank them.”

“Right behind you,” Marc said. He grinned and held out his hand. “Thanks for coming over, Syd. Is it okay to call you Syd?”

“Um, sure.” And why was it no one in her life had ever called her that before? Never anything but Sydney. “Thanks for including me. I had a great time.”

Emma gave her an impulsive hug. “We should get together soon.”

“Oh. That would be nice.” She saw a look pass between the men and wondered what that was all about. She’d have to wiggle it out of Rick.

“Good. I’ll give you a call. Rick can give me your number.”

“Looks like you and Emma really hit it off,” Rick commented when they were back in the truck.

“Yes, we did. Although we barely had time for a short conversation.”

“I think she’s looking forward to having another female around the band who doesn’t wear clothes three sizes too small and enough makeup for ten women. Emma’s cool.” He was silent for a moment. “She and Marc had what I’d call some challenges when they first met.”

Sydney laughed. “I know the story. Emma told me. Wouldn’t give him her name? He must have been really determined to keep pursuing her.”

“He was.” Rick tapped his thumb absently on the steering wheel. “And look how well that turned out.”

Silence, but one loaded with heat and tension.

Sydney cleared her throat. “I enjoyed talking to people tonight.”

Marc thought it would be a good venue for you to hang with them away from rehearsal. With all the other people there I’m not sure it turned out so well.”

“Oh, no,” she said quickly. “It was fine. I got an informal sense of who and what everyone was. Who people are friends with defines them too, you know.”

At least I did when I wasn’t thinking about you
.

They were making polite chitchat but the sexual tension between them vibrated in the air. Her pulse accelerated and, despite the air-conditioning’s chill, her palms were damp. She glanced sideways at Rick to see if he was affected, too. If his rigid posture offered a clue then he was definitely tuned into whatever was going on between them.

This is so wrong. It’s bad news to mix business and pleasure. And I have a job to do. I can’t be distracted
.

That had been her mantra from the moment she set eyes on Rick Trajean at the rehearsal and a jolt of heat scorched her nerve ends. From that first contact, from the moment their hands touched, a powerful reaction arced between them. She knew it and tonight she was hyperaware that he knew it. But to act on this attraction was wrong on so many levels. The band was a client. Butch Meredith would be looking over her shoulder. She had a job to do and couldn’t be distracted. And most important, at the moment, they had dramatically opposing views of how they saw the band and how she should market its image.

She’d had three glasses of wine, though. Enough to relax her, but not enough to wipe out the image of Rick standing in the living room, beer bottle in hand, while he talked to someone. His jeans outlined his long, lean legs and his incredible ass made her imagine what he would look like naked.

Holy shit, Sydney! Don’t go there
.

“I can smell your brain burning.” Rick’s husky voice broke the silence. “What’s giving you such deep thoughts?”

Thoughts of you naked, as if I’d even tell you that
.

Sydney folded her hands in her lap and tried to shut off her brain. “Nothing special. Just remembering some of the music I heard at the get together. Older stuff from the CDs playing.”