Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 78227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“Can I get you a drink?” he asks me.
“I’m just having water right now. I need to rehydrate.”
“Great. A water for the lady, please,” he tells the bartender. “And I’ll have a Scotch. Macallan. Neat.”
I don’t know a lot about Scotch, but I do know that Macallan is one of the better ones. Jesse likes to drink Scotch on occasion.
“Coming right up,” the barkeep says.
“So tell me, Rory. Are you looking for representation?”
“The band is—”
He quiets me with a gesture. “I’m not talking about the band. I’m talking about you.”
I widen my eyes. “I’m part of the band.”
“Sweetheart—” he says.
I don’t like that he calls me sweetheart. That’s Brock’s name for me.
“You are the draw. Watching you up there is like watching magic.”
“Well…thank you, but I’m a member of a band, and all of us are equally talented.”
“You’re right. You’re all amazing. Your brother especially. His voice is almost as good as yours.”
“So you see, we’re a package deal.”
“But you don’t have to be. I can make you into a star, Rory. With your voice and those looks… The sky is the limit.”
My heart begins pounding.
Part of me likes this offer. I’ve always wanted to be a star.
But I never wanted to get there on my looks.
Still… He’s complimenting my talent as well.
But Jesse is my brother. Cage is my cousin. And Jake and Dragon? They’re not family in the genetic sense, but they’re still family. They’ve been with the band since the beginning all those years ago.
So yeah, we’re all like family, and the one unwritten rule for the Pikes is you don’t cross your family.
“Listen,” I say. “I’m flattered. Truly. But I’m a member of the band. We’re a unit.”
“You drive a hard bargain. And I’ll admit, your band is amazing.” He lightly touches my forearm. “Tell you what. Why don’t we go back to my hotel room and discuss our options?”
I discreetly move my arm away from him. “Okay. I’ll go get my brother.”
He lowers his gaze to my breasts. “I thought you and I could discuss things alone.”
Yeah, I know what you’re after.
Are all agents sleazebags?
“My brother is the de facto leader of the band. He’ll want to be involved. He handles all our contracts.”
Sequoia smiles. “You do drive a hard bargain, Ms. Pike. But you’re worth it. That’s fine. Go find your brother, and we’ll chat.”
I hop off my barstool, giddy with excitement. Maybe I misread his signals and he’s interested after all.
“Thank you so much, Mr. McAllister. You won’t regret this.” I race through the bar and backstage to find Jesse.
He’s looking at his phone.
“Jesse, you have to come with me,” I say.
“Okay. What’s up?”
“There’s an agent from the Lane Agency in LA at the bar. He’s interested in talking to us.”
“Really?” Jesse nearly jumps out of his skin. “Lead the way, sis.”
We head back to the bar, but—
“He was just here. Maybe he went to the bathroom.” I gesture to the bartender, who’s placing my water in front of me. “Hey, the guy who was just here, who ordered me this drink. Where did he go?”
“I don’t know.” He slides the Scotch Sequoia ordered in front of Jesse. “But he left without starting a tab.”
“He ordered that Scotch,” I tell Jesse. “Macallan, neat. He must’ve gone out to take a phone call or something.”
“Cool.” Jesse eyes the Scotch. “You know what? I’ll have the same.”
The barkeep nods and gets to work.
I down half of my water and then turn to Jesse. “It was strange, really. He was interested in talking to me about a solo career, but I told him I wasn’t interested.”
“Are you nuts? Of course you’re interested.”
“Not anymore, Jesse. Not that way. Not if it means forsaking you and the band.”
“Rory, we always knew you were the commodity.”
“But that’s not true. We were on fire tonight. Sequoia even—”
“Sequoia?”
“Yeah, that’s his name.” I show Jesse the business card.
Jesse glances at it. “Damn. Sequoia.”
“Yeah. Anyway, he said we were all amazing. That he was surprised to learn that we haven’t been signed before now.”
“Well, let’s talk. Except that he’s not here.”
“Don’t worry. He’ll be back. He said he was serious.”
So we wait.
Ten minutes pass.
Another ten.
After half an hour, I realize I’ve been played.
“I’m sorry,” I say to Jesse.
“No worries, sis. He was probably trying to get you into bed.”
I clamp my hand to my forehead. “What is up with these agents? They’re agents, for God’s sake. They can get laid whenever they want to.”
“Maybe they can’t.”
“Are you kidding? That woman last night was beautiful, and this guy, Sequoia? He wasn’t someone most women would kick out of bed.”
“It’s a power thing,” Jesse says. “I’ve seen it before.”
The bartender comes back with our check. “Hey, is your friend coming back?”
“Doubtful,” I say. “And he’s not a friend.”
“Shit. I guess this comes out of my check, then.”