Killian stumbled back. His hands dropped from my waist, allowing the T-shirt to fall.
I tried to catch my breath as he whirled away from me. “Just . . . Just a second,” he called back.
“Killian . . .”
He glanced over his shoulder at me, his expression unreadable. “I’m Killian again?”
Confused, I blinked. “What?”
Exhaling heavily, he shook his head. “Nothing.” Then his nostrils flared as he stared at me. I glanced down at myself. His T-shirt drowned me. It also smelled of him, which was very bad because I really needed to stop thinking of Killian and sex in the same sentence, and wearing his scent was not helping. “I look ridiculous.” But I didn’t think Killian thought I looked ridiculous at all.
He wore the same look Micah wore when some other guy showed an interest in me.
Possessive.
Oh boy, we needed to get out of his office, pronto. “You mind if I knot it?”
He frowned, shaking his head as if shaking away thoughts. Possibly dirty thoughts. No. Probably dirty thoughts. “What?”
“Knot it.” I grabbed the hem and pulled it tight against my belly with the excess material at the back.
“Oh. Aye, sure.”
I put the knot in the back, feeling slightly less ridiculous. Killian was staring at the small expanse of skin I’d revealed in doing so. My hands trembled with the desire to reach out to him, so I forced myself to look away. “Can I leave my sweater in here?”
He cleared his throat. “Of course.”
I only looked up again when I heard him open the office door.
When I stepped out, I found Eve standing nervously beside an older man with dark hair and gray eyes. He was a little shorter than Killian but still looked fit and strong for his age, distinguished in his expensive three-piece suit.
He wore a look of disapproval and I’d soon discover that this man wore a perpetual look of disapproval.
“Killian.” He eyed him coldly.
“James.” Killian nodded just as coolly. He turned to me, gesturing me forward. “Skylar, I’d like you to meet the head of the label, James Byrne. My uncle.”
* * *
JAMES BYRNE PIERCED ME WITH his chilly gaze.
I knew it was probably best to be polite since he was Killian’s uncle, but that’s exactly why I didn’t want to be. From everything I’d learned so far, I did not like this man.
So I stayed silent.
As did he.
Finally, he looked back at Killian. “A word. My office.”
He followed his uncle, shooting me a frown over his shoulder as they walked about fifteen steps to a door that had James’s name on it. When they stepped inside, I noticed a door across the hall that bore the name “Kenny Smith.” Hmm. Wasn’t that the guy getting all the credit for Killian’s work?
I tried to shrug off my irritation, telling myself these were not my problems.
“He’s hardly ever here,” Eve whispered, drawing my attention back to her. “I wonder what he wants.”
I wondered that too.
The phone on Eve’s desk rang and she hurried to pick it up. “Good afternoon, Skyscraper Records, Mr. O’Dea’s office, how may I help?” She listened for a second, then looked up at me and rolled her eyes. “No, I’m afraid Mr. O’Dea is unavailable at the moment . . . Yes . . . Yes, I did say that because Mr. O’Dea was unavailable then too . . . I did pass along your message . . . I did . . . yes, I will again. Thanks for calling.” She hung up with a beleaguered sigh.
“Problem?”
“Ugh, yeah.” She leaned over the table toward me and dropped her voice. “That was Yasmin. Mr. O’Dea’s ex-girlfriend.”
I didn’t know why that information made me feel cold considering I knew a man like O’Dea wasn’t a virgin. I guess I’d assumed that he was more a player than a guy who would have a girlfriend.
“They broke up last week and she’s been calling nonstop. Guess someone doesn’t know when to give up.”
They broke up last week. They broke up last week.
“I’ve only been here a few months, but Sarah in marketing told me that Mr. O’Dea’s one of those serial monogamist types. She said he’s been in, like, five relationships in the past two and a half years. She says it always ends because Mr. O’Dea’s never out of the office. Although he has been lately, so we all thought maybe the whole Yasmin relationship was working out after all, but then he told me not to take any calls from her anymore so we’re all intrigued about the disappearances.” She suddenly straightened, looking concerned. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said all that to you. Oh my God, I’m terrible at this job.”
I managed a weak little laugh, even though an unexpected and painful wound had been inflicted. “I’m not going to repeat that. But—and I don’t mean this to be a bitch, this is friendly advice—I wouldn’t gossip about your boss to any of his artists anymore. It might get back to him, and you seem pretty enthusiastic about wanting to work here.”
“I am.” Eve’s eyes rounded with intensity. “But I have this filter problem and I talk too much.”
“You’ll learn with experience.”
But would I? Or was I fated to continually put my feelings somewhere they didn’t belong? Like in a man I thought was my friend, despite all the shit between us, only to discover that I knew very little about him. And most of what I’d learned had come from his sister.
Not telling me about a girlfriend . . . What must she have thought he was doing those late nights at my apartment? Why didn’t he ever mention her? Was it because she mattered so little, or because I mattered so little?
Fuck.
How the hell did everything get so twisted up? I wrapped my arms around my waist, ignoring the throb in my wrist. I wanted to go. I needed to be alone to process this new information.
However, I had to stand there as Killian emerged from his uncle’s office wearing that damn blank mask I hated so much. His uncle followed him out and they drew to a stop in front of us.
James flicked a look at Eve. “I need a coffee, girl.”
No please, no thank you. No use of her name. It’s not like I hadn’t been around people in powerful jobs who thought it was okay to treat others like their servants. It annoyed me then and it annoyed me now. I bristled as Eve scurried off to do his bidding.
“So you’re the ex-pop-rock princess my company is spending all the money on.”
Wow.
Nice.
The thought of the apartment, the clothes on my back, all the food that had helped me get healthy again, suddenly made me feel vulnerable. Like I was stripped naked in front of this guy. Because it was his money that had helped me. Not Killian’s. I hadn’t minded it when I’d thought otherwise, but being faced with the truth made me feel small. I’d been taking this man’s money and he didn’t look happy about it. Why should he?
“I’m going to pay you back,” I said. Riotous butterflies flurried to life at the thought of accessing my money, but in that moment, I thought being beholden to him instead of Killian was worse than my band finding out where I was.
“If your album does well, you will.” He dragged his gaze down my body and back up again. “You’ll need to dress better.”
Screw you, ass—
“There was a coffee spillage,” Killian explained. “We had to find something for Skylar to change into.”
James flicked his nephew a look before turning back to me. “This boy,” he gestured to his nephew and I swear my fingers almost sprouted claws at him calling Killian boy, “thinks you’ll be an impressive addition to the label. I see the merit in it, considering the free publicity, but since he won’t let me hear any of your music yet, I’m a bit skeptical.”
Choking on my annoyance, I couldn’t speak for fear of what I’d say.
He raised an eyebrow and shot Killian an amused look. “You better make sure her music is more interesting than she is.”
Annoyance flickered over Killian’s face and James appeared surprised by it. “Something I said?”
“No. It’s been a big morning for Skylar. A lot going on. She’s done this before, James. She’ll be fine.”