“No.” She shook her head quickly to discourage his assumption. “That’s not what I meant at all.” She knew a man like Ty would approach a challenge with fierce determination and wouldn’t let anything, including her half-hearted protests, stand in his way.
“Good, because I want you and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let you use your job to keep me at arm’s length.”
She saw in that moment the resolve that had helped him realize his dream of a record deal while millions of others with the same dream resigned themselves to their fate. He obviously had the grit and determination to succeed at anything he set his mind to, which terrified and excited her at the same time. “It’s not just the fact that you’re my client. I really don’t have time for a relationship right now. I have to be on call 24/7, in case I need...”
He held his hand up. “Stop. I don’t wanna hear it. I get that your career’s important to you, I do. But that’s not gonna pick you up when you’re feelin’ down or hold you when you’re feelin’ scared.” He cupped her face and brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “I’m the guy who’s gonna be there to do that, baby.”
She was momentarily speechless. He was offering to do something no one had ever done before, take care of her. Even her parents hadn’t wanted to take on that responsibility. Instead, they’d paid cooks, nannies, and housekeepers to see to her needs as a child. “I don’t need you,” she whispered. “I don’t need anyone. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time.”
He smiled, looking sad. “Everyone needs someone to take care of them. I’m sorry if you haven’t had that before. You do now.”
She felt a tear trickle down her cheek and quickly swiped it away. She didn’t believe in crying. It was a sign of weakness and she needed to be tough to survive in a male-dominated industry with men who saw her as just another pretty face instead of an Ivy League graduate. “You don’t even know me.”
“That may be true, but I intend to get to know you, better than anyone ever has. I want to know your favorite movie, your favorite color, where you went to school...” He hesitated. “I wanna know why your parents abandoned you.”
She gasped at his audacity. “My parents didn’t abandon me. I’ll have you know my father is a prominent surgeon and my mother is an esteemed psychologist who...”
“It sounds like they should’ve been smart enough to know their daughter needed them.”
She continued to swipe at the tears sliding down her cheeks. “You don’t know anything about my parents. How dare you make assumptions about my family.”
He reached down to take her hands in his. “Sweetheart, no one’s family is perfect, sure as hell not mine. But family’s about bein’ there when you need someone. If your parents had been there for you, it wouldn’t be so hard for you to let someone in.”
She tried to pull her hands away, but he held firm. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know that you’re hiding behind your career because you’re afraid of making a commitment. You choose emotionally unavailable men for the same reason.”
Her mouth dropped open. “How the hell do you know that? I mean, not that I think you’re right, but...”
He chuckled. “Would you believe I got a degree in psychology?” He shrugged, looking embarrassed. “Don’t ask me why. I guess I’ve just always been interested in human behavior.” He laughed. “Don’t look so surprised.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I just thought music and ranching—”
“Was my life? Nah, that’s just part of who I am. There’s a whole lot about me you don’t know. But you will, soon enough.”
“But, I—”
“I know. You don’t want to get involved, blah, blah, blah.” He grinned. “Good thing I’m not the kind of guy who takes no for an answer.”
“I don’t think you—”
He pulled her off the desk and straightened her dress. “It looks like you might need a few minutes to pull yourself together.” He kissed her on the lips. “I’ll be out there minglin’ when you decide you’re ready to dance.”
She slapped his hands away when he tried to adjust the front of her dress. “Dance? Wait a minute. I never said I’d dance with you.”
“You didn’t have to. I know you want to.”
She shimmied as she zipped up her dress. “If I agree to dance with you, it’ll be strictly professional, simply a publicist dancing with her client.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “We’ll see about that, darlin’.”
Avery waited for Ty to leave the room before she stepped into the adjoining powder room, intent on restoring her appearance to some semblance of normalcy before facing a house full of people.
She stood in front of the mirror and stared back at her reflection. Her hair had been disheveled by a pair of big, rough hands. Her lips were swollen and puffy from a skilled set of lips. Her neck was red and chafed from his scruffy whiskers. She was missing a diamond earring. She looked like a woman who had been thoroughly satisfied by her lover. If only.
She ran a shaky hand over her hair before reaching into her purse to retrieve a brush. She ran it through the honey-colored strands, grateful she hadn’t had time to visit the hairdresser for a complicated up-do. She pulled a small cosmetics bag out of her purse and began the painstaking work of covering the evidence of his avid attention.
When she was satisfied with her appearance, she washed her hands and made sure her dress was intact before making her grand re-entrance.
Luc saw her immediately and beckoned her to his side.
She tried to conceal her apprehension. Though she was confident her physical appearance may fool the casual observer, Luc had once been her lover. He knew that look in her eye after she had been well and truly satisfied. Problem was, Ty hadn’t satisfied her; he’d left her high and dry with only the promise of what was to come, if she was willing to leave herself open to the possibility. The pulse point in her neck pounded just thinking about what he might have in store for her.
“So, did you work things out with my boy?” Luc asked. He snagged two flute glasses of champagne from a passing tray and handed one to her.
“Thanks,” she said, pausing to enjoy a sip of bubbly. “We talked.”
“Great. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, Avery.” He held out his hand to list items on his fingers. “Press kit, media campaign, photos, press releases, interviews, red carpet events, not to mention the tour...”
Avery clenched her hand at her side. “You don’t have to tell me how to do my job, Luc. I know what needs to be done.”
“This is important.” Luc turned to look her squarely in the eye. “I don’t care about your issues with Ty. I’ve invested millions, not to mention my reputation, in this new label. Ty’s the first new artist I’ve signed. If he’s a hit, artists will be beating my door down. Got it?”
She took another drink of champagne, feeling the weight of Luc’s words. He was counting on her. If she let him down, she would be finished in this town. “I understand what’s at stake.”
“Good.” He brought the champagne glass to his lips. “Look, I don’t care what you and Ty do behind closed doors. Just don’t let it affect your work, okay?”
She tried to appear unaffected by his words. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s nothing between me and Ty.”
Luc grinned. “Even better.”
Avery felt her ire rising along with her blood pressure. “Why do you say that?”
Luc inclined his head toward Ty. He was dancing with a B-list actress who’d arrived as the guest of one the guitar players in a platinum-selling band. “Ty has superstar written all over him. He’s got the look, the voice, the sex appeal. I’m telling you, women are going to go crazy over this guy.”
She knew Luc was right. Ty may be making promises to her tonight, but he had no idea that his entire world was about to be turned upside down tomorrow. She tried to respond as the professional publicist she was supposed to be instead of the jilted lover she felt like. “You’re right. I’ve heard his demo, seen the video, headshots. He’s definitely the real deal.”
“Yeah, speaking of which, we’ve got to scrap all that. We’ve got to get to work creating his image. We need a powerful brand to match his music. He’s written some great stuff. We’ll use some of that on the album, and I’ve got some other songs I want him to have a listen to.”
Avery shook her head, trying to focus on Luc’s words as the B-list actress flirted with Ty.
“I’ll need you on this 24/7. I want Ty involved in every part of the process as well. This has to feel right to him. He can’t sell it if it doesn’t feel authentic.”
His words finally permeated her jealous haze. “What are you talking about? I have dozens of other clients, Luc. I can’t just drop everything. What about Trey’s tour?”
“We’ll outsource what we have to and hire another assistant. I don’t care what you have to do, but Ty McCall is to be your first and only priority for as long as it takes? Is that clear?”
She bit her tongue and shook her head. She resented Luc’s high-handedness at times, but he was the reason she had made a name for herself in this city and she couldn’t forget that.
“Good. Why don’t you go over there and steer him away from that little vixen? Start making some plans for the week; sync your schedules. Get it done, Avery.” He walked away without waiting for a response.
Ty watched with amusement as Avery walked toward them with long, purposeful strides. She could deny it to herself, but he didn’t believe for a moment that he was the only one riding a high from the mind-numbing attraction that flowed between them.
He could scarcely believe his good fortune. When he’d finally given up hope of ever seeing her again, she walked back into his life. Only this time she couldn’t escape. Luc was pressuring her to work with him, which bought Ty more than enough time to convince her they could have something special.
He thought he was being impulsive on the night they met. He assumed his feelings for her would run their course after her hasty departure, but when weeks and months passed and he was still searching every crowd for a glimpse of her, he knew he was in trouble. He asked everyone he could think of whether they knew of a beautiful blonde by the name of Avery who drove a red Porsche, but most of his friends merely taunted him, claiming if they did know a girl like that, they wouldn’t share her with the likes of him. The only person who gave him any indication that he may know his fantasy girl was his boss, Jimmy. But Jimmy wasn’t talking. He assumed Avery had sworn him to secrecy. So he was left with no recourse but to scan the crowd at Jimmy’s, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. He was beginning to think it was a hopeless cause, until tonight. Seeing her again reinforced his belief that fate had a hand in his destiny. Fate had brought her into his life, not once, but twice. Now it was up to him to convince her to stay this time.
“So anyway, I was thinking we could check it out tomorrow night. What do you think? Does 7:00 work for you?” the girl in his arms asked.
What was her name again? Megan? Maria? No, it was Madison, or Maddie as her friends called her. He’d zoned out after she told him her name. He was too busy thinking about Avery and how he could convince her to go home with him tonight so they could finish what they started in Luc’s office.
“Excuse me,” Avery said, tapping Madison on the shoulder. “Could I borrow him for just a minute? We have some business to discuss.”
Madison looked from Avery to Ty. “Oh uh, yeah. Sure.” She looked up at Ty expectantly. “About tomorrow night…”
Avery raised her eyebrows as she awaited his response.
“Uh, actually I don’t think that’s gonna work for me, Madison. I’m gonna be pretty busy over the next little while.”
She folded her arms as her bottom lip jutted out.
Ty half-expected her to stomp her foot like a petulant child who had been denied an ice cream cone before dinner.
“Okay, if not tomorrow night, then when?”
Ty looked at Avery, hoping she would bail him out, but she seemed to enjoy watching him squirm. “Uh, I’m not sure. Can I call you when I have a better idea of what my schedule’s gonna be?”
She sighed. “I guess so. You have my number, right?”
Ty tapped his breast pocket where she’d slipped her card earlier. “Sure do. Right here.”
“Okay, well I guess I’ll catch up with you later, then.”
Avery rolled her eyes at him as Madison walked away. “You’re going to have to get a whole lot better at giving women the brush off, McCall.”
The hope that began to take root in Luc’s office intensified. “Why’s that?”
“Because given what I’ve got in store for you, you’re going to have women all over you.”
He clenched his jaw in frustration. He sensed it would be one step forward, two steps back with this woman until he found a way to break through her wall of resistance. “What if I don’t want women falling all over me?”
She shrugged. “That’s just the way it is, like it or not. You’ll have to learn to deal with it.”
He took a step forward and pulled her into his arms, grateful for the ballad still coursing through the speakers. “That wouldn’t be a problem if I were spoken for, would it?”
She looked up at him, an unspoken challenge in her eyes. “Are you spoken for?”
He brushed a strand of hair off her cheek. “Not yet, but I sure would like to be.” He held her hand against his chest. “I know what I want. I want you, Avery. I’m not interested in playing the field anymore.”