Aftershock (23 page)

She imagined his smile. “You’re right. We talked about it this morning. Emma’s going to come to the next two stops with us. Then I guess it will be up to you to figure out what to do when she’s not there.”

“Yes. Okay. We can talk about that later. Listen, there’s Wi-Fi on my flight to Houston so I can keep up with the social media. Sometime today we should compare notes and see if you want to change anything I’m posting. The office has someone on the Twitter feed doing the usual thanks and great and all that stuff. I’ll keep monitoring what’s out there and text you when I get to Houston. Number four overnight on iTunes is beyond great, you know.”

“No kidding.” His voice vibrated with the high she knew he was riding. “Hot damn! Uh, hold on a sec.” His sound was muffled, but she could hear him talking to the others. “The guys all send you hugs. Listen, we’ve gotta get going here but we can celebrate in Houston, right?”

There was no denying the double meaning in his words.

“You bet. And Rick?”

“Yeah?”

She screwed up her courage. “Last night was beyond wonderful.”

“Sydney.” His voice dropped. “Me, too. See you in Houston.”

“Have a safe trip and enjoy the success. It’s only going to get better.”

Swallowing the last bite of muffin, she washed it down with the rest of the coffee, shut off her iPad, and collected her things. On the flight to Houston, she’d monitor all the social media sites and troll for other media coverage. She was rethinking her other plans for the band’s image, too. Rick was right about so many things. Listening to them live and getting into their music was a much better indicator of what to do with them than some abstract plan, no matter how many other bands she studied. They were unique. What she needed to do now was make some adjustments with regard to the exposure based on last night’s success.

The flight to Houston would be a short one, just a quick hop that would get her there in time to check in at the hotel before hooking up with the distributor their merchandise firm used. She planned to get a count on the Lightnin’ items and see how fast they’d gone. Since the beefed up orders wouldn’t reach them until Tampa, she wanted to try and figure out how to stretch what they had.

After that, she’d spend her time contacting the local media, make sure to touch base with the radio stations. Butch would be all over it for Deep Blue River but she had a hook for the band—Marc and Emma—for as long as she had them.

Tonight they’d appear in a massive arena in Houston, nearly twice as big as last night’s venue. This would be the largest crowd Lightnin’ had ever played to. She hoped they could still pull off the Marc and Emma thing at the end of the set like last night but she couldn’t see why it wouldn’t work. The audience ate it up. A bigger crowd would just love it more, especially with the coverage it got.

She locked her suitcase and pulled up the handle, slid the strap of her messenger bag over her head, and took one last look around before she left the room. The next airport shuttle left in fifteen minutes. Linc would take care of her room charge on the agency’s master account so she only had to herself get down to the lobby and wait.

Giddy with excitement, Sydney did her best to look contained and professional as she rolled her suitcase out of the elevator. Bright sunlight bathed the entrance and the lobby so she figured she’d wait on one of the stone benches outside for the shuttle. She had just seated herself and pulled out her smartphone when the doors swished open again. The commotion behind her made her look over her shoulder—and freeze.

Apparently Lightnin’ was running late on their departure because they were just now walking outside. Marc spotted her first.

“Sydney! The woman of the hour.” He picked her up and spun her around. “We love you.”

She laughed at his enthusiasm. “And I love all of you, too. But all the accolades belong to you guys.”

“Not so.” He shook his head. “We didn’t get that coverage by accident. You had good ideas. Right, Rick?”

Sydney glanced over to where Rick stood. At the look in his eyes her body went liquid and, for a moment, she couldn’t breathe. Oh, damn. Did her eyes telegraph the same message? She stepped away from Marc’s arms and tried to gauge the band’s reaction to the two of them. Lucky for her, they were too jazzed from last night’s performance and today’s news to pay attention to anything else.

Rick gave her a crooked grin that went straight to her heart. “Marc’s right. Thanks for working the media the way you did. For your ideas. For taking good care of us. For everything.”

With a supreme effort she tore her gaze away from his and managed her own smile. “Thank you. I’m enjoying every minute of it. Can’t wait for tonight.”

He looked as if he wanted to say something else, even took a step toward her. But a van pulled up with Gordo at the wheel and the band hustled to get themselves inside. In the midst of it all, the airport shuttle arrived so whatever else Sydney and Rick might have said to each other was dead in the water. At least for the moment.

Sydney waved at them as she got into the shuttle. “See you in Houston.”

She was glad the other passengers seemed to be occupied with their own business because she was in no mood to chat with anyone. Her stomach still had the nervous jitters and she wondered if she should have had that third cup of coffee. After she cleared security at the airport she had more than an hour to takeoff so she stopped and got an herbal tea. Probably what she should have been drinking all along.

Sitting at a small table in the food court area, she pulled out her iPad and opened the list of things she needed to do once she landed in Houston. She had to keep focused on her to-do list. Everything was part of The Plan.

Everything, except what she felt for Rick Trajean.

As she sipped her tea, her phone chimed and she saw Linc had sent her another message.

Check On the Scene. Blog up. What’s with you and Rick?

Her and Rick?

Hands shaking, she brought up Macey Schreiner’s blog on her iPad. By the time she finished reading, her tea threatened to come back up on her and she had to swallow hard against the nausea.

Tidbit from
On the Scene
.

Hot new band explodes on the music landscape.

They came to see Deep Blue River and got struck by Lightnin’. Last night’s concert was already sold out with word that star rockers Deep Blue River would be introducing the material from their latest album. But like everyone else,
On the Scene
was interested to see if Butch Meredith’s new baby band would live up to its early hype.

The answer?

All that and more.

With leader Rick Trajean on lead guitar and his raspy vocals setting the mood for the band’s sound, they electrified the audience with their high-energy opening number “Take the High Road” and from then on it was a wild, wild ride.

The band sizzles. It rocks. Its music reaches out and grabs you by the throat.

But the clincher is “Music Lady,” the closer that brought tears to everyone’s eyes. Written by bassist and band co-founder, Marc Malone, for his fiancée, Emma Blake, its emotional message held the audience in thrall.

Loved it when Emma joined Marc on stage and he sang the ending again, just for her. Released as a single, the song is already zooming up the charts.

And what’s with the sparks we saw flying between Trajean and Full Moon publicist Sydney Alexander who’s handling the PR for the band? They were both very careful to pretend nothing was there, but
On the Scene
predicts fireworks.

You read it here first.

Stay tuned
.

Sydney closed her eyes and pulled in a deep breath. Let it out slowly. This was not happening. It was not. This was exactly the kind of thing she’d told Rick she was worried about. She’d thought they’d done a good job hiding their feelings but not good enough, it seemed. Angry because she hadn’t gotten a guarantee of alone time with Rick, that bitch Macey Schreiner tipped her venom out of the ink bottle.

Had others caught a hint of things? Or just Macey, who wanted Rick’s body.

Sydney didn’t want to ask herself whose image was a priority here, hers or Rick’s. Rock musicians—all musicians—got away with a lot of things because the public almost expected them to be a little wild. They could weather a storm. It was her own image that gave her a stomachache. What would people say about her? That she got her gig with Lightnin’ because she slept with the bandleader? What other kind of innuendo would they throw out there? How would Linc react? And Butch?

We’ll just have to be more careful. I can’t give him up
.

No, that was no longer an option. Not now. Not after last night.

But she couldn’t let Janine be right, either.

Choosing her words carefully she texted back to Linc.

Excited the Emma-Marc thing is catching on. Rick and me? Just a good working relationship
.

She hoped nothing would derail the momentum.. Or her job. The scared little girl frightened of her aunt’s temper wanted to claw her way up from where Sydney kept her hidden. If she broke free, the past eight years would all have been for nothing. She could not let that happen.

Another chime from her phone. Butch.

Thumbs-up on Marc-Emma. Good hook. Glad you and Rick are okay
.

Before she could reply another text came through.

Counting on you, Sydney
.

Swallowing the nausea she texted him back.

Thanks. All is good. On to Houston
.

The plane ride took less than an hour but to Sydney it was interminable. Rick must have seen the item. Everyone had an iPad with 4G these days and, as excited as the guys were, they’d be hooked into Twitter and Facebook to catch all the latest updates. Not to mention checking the blogs and columns. What would the others in the band say about Macey’s little teaser?

And Rick. What would his reaction be?

She didn’t know if she wanted to see him and get his reaction or push back time so she could avoid the confrontation.

Houston traffic, as always, was a bear and Sydney tried to sit back in the cab and relax. In her mind, she rehearsed what she’d say to Rick when she saw him.

I told you this kind of thing would happen
.

No, no, no. That would immediately set him off.

I hope this doesn’t upset you. Macey writes whatever she wants
.

Not that either. It sounded too much like she was just brushing it off.

Let’s not let it become a big deal if we can help it. We can even joke about it. Make believe we’re just having a little fun and the woman took us too seriously
.

Except they hadn’t really discussed it with the woman. And if it turned out the vibes between her and Rick were obvious enough for others to see?

Shit, shit, shit!

She hopped out of the cab the moment it pulled up at the entrance to the hotel, paid the driver, nodded at the valet, and grabbed her suitcase. She had to get to her room and strategize in private. She was smart. Better than smart. Surely she could figure out how to defuse the whole thing. She had barely let herself into her room before her phone chimed with a new text. She looked at the caller ID. Butch again. Swell. Forcing herself to relax she opened the message.

Just curious if there’s anything to that little teaser bomb Macey dropped in her column today
.

No, and there wasn’t going to be.

Not a word. She wants his body. You know Macey. Stir up trouble and step in when it boils over.”

Great. Not against such, but the guys have to keep focused right now.

No kidding.

No problem. Did u chk airplay?

Yes. ML #4 on most request charts since 5 this a.m.

Sydney breathed a sigh of relief. They could focus on that and the really good coverage and kick the other to the curb. She hoped.

Grt. C u at 4.

She dropped her phone on the nightstand and flopped back on the bed. She’d give herself five minutes to agitate over the situation and then get to work. She had a lot to do before meeting Butch.

Rick did his best to relax on the drive to Houston. For a change, the interstate wasn’t crowded and the weather was clear. The guys were busy with their iPads, eager to catch the latest updates on the concert and their single. He did okay until Danny reached forward and tapped him on the shoulder.

“So, Rick. About what that Schreiner woman said. Sure there isn’t something you want to tell us?”

“Yeah, Rick,” Garrett echoed. “How about the real skinny?”

Rick half turned from where he sat in the shotgun seat. “Knock it off, you two. The joke’s over.”

They’d ragged on him since Garrett found
On the Scene
on his iPad and read the part about Sydney aloud. Then everyone else had to pull it up and they hadn’t shut up about it since. Why couldn’t they just let it go? Crap. Butch had probably seen it, too. What would he think about it?

Maybe Sydney had called it right. If they acknowledged this thing between them, it might create a problem for everyone. Even put him in an uncomfortable situation. Not to mention what Sydney must be feeling after she saw the comment. But he just did not want to believe that.

He would never do anything to hurt her or put her situation in jeopardy but last night had make him want her even more. In every way possible. He had never taken time to think about the type of relationship he’d like to have with a woman or the kind of woman he saw himself with. He’d been too focused on his family and the band. But Sydney Alexander rocked his world.

They were two intelligent people. They could resolve this so they could be together. Right? Because he wasn’t giving her up. He was well and truly hooked, his body and his heart. He would go out of his way to take care of this—of her—and make it workable because he wasn’t walking away. Meanwhile he had to concentrate on getting the band ready for tonight. And focus on how he’d behave when he saw Sydney today.