She was amazed that Drew didn’t show one ounce of fatigue. On the contrary, after the difficult first meeting, he took the lead in each subsequent one. He clearly knew exactly what he wanted from each department—how the sales and marketing team should support each overseas market and what the newest online tools were that the social media team should be incorporating into their plans going forward.
She’d admitted to Drew last night that she’d come into the tour with preconceived notions of what a rock star was like. And if she hadn’t already realized just how wrong she’d been, today’s meetings would have done it. Because while it certainly helped that Drew had a large team and a powerful record label behind him, the truth was that he was leading the charge for his own career, rather than following what other people were telling him to do. Three days with Drew and she’d already learned more than she had from years of reading case studies about the music business.
It was yet one more thing that she hadn’t truly understood from all the books she’d read about the music industry—how incredibly difficult it could be to try to strike a balance between art and commerce.
Just as difficult as the balance she was trying to figure out between her growing admiration for and attraction to Drew...and her pragmatic knowledge that, in the long run, the two of them were a terrible match. Because if the thought of sharing one kiss with him was already stretching the boundaries, then the idea of someone like her actually dating Drew Morrison was beyond laughable.
People who were as different as they were—the artist versus the pragmatist—were only ever destined to rub each other the wrong way. Sure, there had been attraction and passion between her parents. But that attraction and passion hadn’t been nearly enough to sustain their love. In fact, if anything, those emotions had been their downfall. Because if there hadn’t been that spark between them in the first place, her parents would never have leapt into such an unsuitable partnership. For fifteen years Charlie and Camila Emmit had lived a roller coaster of either fighting or freezing each other out. And it had been a horrible ride for all of them, Ashley included.
At long last, the final meeting ended, and they stood up to shake everyone’s hands again and say good-bye. Ever since they’d stepped out of the president’s office that morning, she had been hoping for five minutes alone with Drew so that they could talk about what she’d said in that meeting. Even sixty seconds would have been enough for her to ask him if he was upset with her for sticking her opinions into the mix.
So when the last Chief Records employee had stepped out of the room, she said, “Drew, I just want to make sure that what happened—”
Unfortunately, Ansel walked in and cut her off in midsentence. “I know we’re running you ragged today, Drew, but we’ve got to get you into the studio down the street for several important interviews. Ashley,” he said, turning to her, “Robert’s assistant would like to get your contact information if you could head back upstairs. You impressed the boss today, something that I can tell you isn’t easy to do.”
Last week, impressing the president of Chief Records had been Ashley’s number one goal. But now? All she wanted was to make sure that she and Drew were still okay.
“You should go ahead and chat with Jeannie.” Drew smiled at her, but it didn’t quite seem to reach his eyes. “I’ll ask Max to come pick you up to take you back to the bus. I know this pace can be crazy if you’re not used to it. You should get some rest.”
“Okay.” She’d been with him all day. Of course he’d want some breathing room. And if he thought she needed some rest, she must look really bad. Likely with big black circles under her eyes.
An incredibly beautiful woman walked into the room just then, and when she crooned Drew’s name and wrapped her arms around him as if they were long-lost friends, Ashley quietly slipped out of the room. Maybe closing her eyes and blocking out the world for a few hours wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
*
Ashley never usually napped, but then again, she wasn’t exactly used to waking up at five a.m. every day after going to bed at midnight. After meeting with Robert’s assistant, Max had taken her back to the bus, where she’d planned on closing her eyes for only a few seconds before fleshing out her notes from all the meetings today. But the next thing she knew, the clock on the microwave read nine o’clock. Which meant the local opening band was through with their set and Drew would be going on soon.
She sat up so fast that she hit her head on the wood slats of the empty bunk above hers. She was rubbing her head when she finally saw the note he’d left for her. Which meant he’d come onto the bus and seen her drooling facedown into her pillow.
Ashley,
If you want to check out tonight’s show after you wake up, just text Max and he’ll bring you backstage. It’s a big crowd tonight and I’d feel better knowing you’re close by.
Drew