Fade Into You (Shaken Dirty #3)(5)
Her phone buzzed again, multiple times in quick succession. Caleb must have figured he’d given her enough time to freak out and was now ready to reel her back in. That was how their relationship worked—she was the one with the big ideas. He was the coolly pragmatic one who made sure all the i’s were dotted and the t’s were crossed.
She swiped back to her messages and sure enough, his first text treated the whole situation like it was a done deal.
Caleb: I’ve got the Monarch condo downtown all set up for you
Caleb: I had it stocked with food, and you can pick up the keys at the front desk
Caleb: There’s already a rental car in the parking spot
Caleb: Keys for the car should also be at the front desk. You’ve got the limo for the rest of the night, so have the driver hold on to your stuff while you’re at Antone’s
Me: Is there anything you didn’t think of?
Caleb: Nope :)
Caleb: You can do this, sis
Me: Are you sure? It’s Wyatt Jennings!!!!!!!
Wyatt Jennings. She’d had a million fantasies about him through the years, had spent more time than she cared to admit thinking about how his talented hands would feel sliding over her skin. And now she was supposed to babysit him? For months? It boggled the mind.
Caleb: I wouldn’t have arranged this if I wasn’t sure
Caleb: This is the chance for you to show Dad that you can totally handle the most badass of rockers. Don’t second-guess yourself. Just do it
Me: Really? You’re quoting Nike to me at a time like this???????
Caleb: I was going for supportive
Caleb: But seriously, don’t f*ck up. You won’t get a chance this good again
And there went the excitement, sliding straight into terror. Her stomach started churning.
Me: I think I’d rather go back to Nike. Thanks for the vote of confidence. And the added pressure
Caleb: You live for pressure xx
The kicker was, he was right…to a degree. In normal circumstances she loved the adrenaline rush of solving high-difficulty problems in high-pressure situations. Loved the creativity that came when her back was against the wall and she was staring down the barrel of a crazy deadline or a crazier mess. But this…this was different. This wasn’t pressure. This was a nightmare. A lie. A disaster waiting to happen. And thanks to Caleb, she was now right in the middle of it.
Part of her wanted to text him back, to tell him to forget it. That he needed to get his ass down here to Austin right the f*ck now. But there was another part of her that knew he was right, knew that him being here watching over Wyatt’s shoulder would send the reclusive drummer spinning out of control again. And that was the last thing she wanted to see happen. For the record label…and for Wyatt. He was too talented, had worked too hard to get clean, for her to just let him fall back into the abyss.
And that wasn’t even taking into account what his falling off the wagon again would do to the label. Since Shaken Dirty had had to pull out of the last tour, the tour insurance for this new one was completely insane—Caleb had taken great pains this summer to impress on her just how insane it was—and they sure as hell couldn’t afford to eat the astronomical deductible on it a second time. If Wyatt f*cked up again, it would tank Shaken Dirty for sure. And take a huge bite out of her father’s bottom line as well.
Plus, she was pissed. It infuriated her that the subterfuge was necessary. That she and Caleb had to pull a bait and switch like this just to do what was best for the company.
And on that happy thought…
She shoved her phone back in her purse with a groan, then closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the seat as she accepted the truth. She was going to do this. She was going to throw herself into the ring with Wyatt freaking Jennings and do her best to keep him on his game. She could only pray that it didn’t blow up in her face and ruin everything.
Everything she had planned.
Everything she’d ever wanted.
Everything she’d worked so hard for.
Her whole life she’d never wanted anything more than to run her own record label. She had an eye for talent, had a really good instinct for what the public wanted and who was going to break when. But since her father had made it pretty much impossible for her to get a job at any of the other labels—for her own good, he always said—she’d been stuck working for him since she got out of college four years ago.
Unless she actually pulled this off. Unless she actually managed to keep Wyatt from falling off the wagon and messing everything up again. If she could do that, if she could keep Shaken Dirty together, then everything would be different. Her father wouldn’t be able to doubt her anymore. He wouldn’t be able to pretend her contributions were less valuable just because she was a woman. And he sure as hell wouldn’t be able to tell her she couldn’t handle rock stars, not if she managed to keep one of the industry’s most notorious addicts from falling prey to his most dangerous addiction once again.
Which meant she was going to have to put her big girl panties on and do this. She was going to have to lie to the band and figure out a way to keep Wyatt occupied and sober and out of trouble. Plus she was going to have to do all this while also spying on the bassist auditions, because there wasn’t a chance that Li was going to measure up to the talent the rest of Shaken Dirty displayed. And since there was no way in hell she was going to let them pick a subpar bassist, she would have to find a way to solve that problem, too.