I nodded in slight understanding. Evan has another show tomorrow night here in Miami, and he had told me that about every three to four shows, or when there are back-to-back shows, we’d be put up in hotels for some good rest.
I hear the click of the security bolt on the other side of the hotel room door and my hands go moist again. I manage a quick swipe of one of them before the door is opened and I’m facing perhaps the most beautiful man I’ve ever known in my life. I’m totally a tramp for thinking he’s ten times that this morning after what he did to me last night.
“Good morning,” he says neutrally as he stands back to let me enter. He gives my outfit a cursory glance and his lip only curls slightly on one side to let me know his distaste.
“Good morning,” I say softly as I walk in past him.
Then I stop and stare openmouthed at the opulence surrounding me. It’s the largest hotel suite I have ever seen in my life, and the ones I’d seen had pretty much been on TV or the movies. The massive living area has to be at least a thousand square feet and is filled with silk-covered furniture, luxurious carpet, and crystal chandeliers. Through an open doorway, I can see a massive bedroom done all in white silk with a gilded headboard. There’s a full gourmet kitchen on one side and an outdoor balcony that overlooks the Atlantic, with a large hot tub taking up one side.
“Did you sleep well?” Evan asks politely as he brushes past me and heads over to a large, leather couch done in a buttery-looking taupe. He sits down and doesn’t even look at me, instead rifling around some papers spread out on a coffee table before him.
So… he wants to play it like that.
Like nothing happened and that there are most certainly regrets on his part this morning.
I can play that as well, even though my chest tightens when I think I was apparently a disappointment last night.
“I slept gloriously well, thank you,” I say sweetly as I walk to an armchair on the opposite side of the coffee table. I sit down, cross my legs, and open up my briefcase. “Where’s Tyler?”
Evan’s head shoots up, his gaze first going to my crossed legs before going back down again to look at his watch. “He should be here soon.
Here being this meeting that Tyler and Evan had planned to discuss the three record labels that were making offers. I was stunned when Evan had told me yesterday before the show that he wanted me there to go over everything, even though I emailed him and Tyler my summary of the offers along with my spreadsheets and my analysis of all the legal ramifications to each.
“Did you have any questions about what I sent?” I ask, but before Evan can answer, there’s a knock on the door.
Evan stands from the couch as he says vaguely, “It all looked good.”
I fold my hands in my lap, unsure of his aloof demeanor. I try to tell myself not to read anything into it, because we are, after all, here to discuss business.
His career.
His livelihood.
I have no right having my head in the clouds, wondering if Evan is thinking about me in the way that I’m thinking about him after last night.
Evan opens the door and admits Tyler. They give each other a light fist bump, and it’s plain just by looking at the two of them that they’re close. Evan had told me the other night while we were traveling from Atlanta down to Miami that he and Tyler have known each other for years, all the way back to middle school. Tyler went to Carolina with Evan, and he had eventually sort of morphed into Kickback’s manager, being the one to secure all their gigs. While he went on to graduate with a degree in mass communications, he always stayed involved with the band.
When the band broke up, Tyler went with Evan, a move Evan assured me was due mostly to friendship and not because he agreed with Evan’s decision to go solo and indie.
Tyler precedes Evan into the living room, and I’m momentarily stunned when his eyes come to me with a frostiness I didn’t expect.
“Hi Tyler,” I say hesitantly, a welcoming smile on my face.
He doesn’t even respond, merely takes a seat on one end of the couch. I shoot a look over at Evan, who walks back to his seat, completely oblivious to Tyler’s brush off.
“I’m not quite sure why you invited Emma to this meeting,” Tyler says brusquely as he turns slightly to face Evan.
Evan’s head shoots up and he looks at Tyler in confusion. “Excuse me?”
“Why is she here?” Tyler asks, pointing a finger over at me yet refusing to look my way.
With furrowed eyebrows, Evan says, “She’s my attorney. She knows these contracts better than we do. She needs to be here.”
“She summarized them accurately,” Tyler says dismissively. “You’ve read her analysis and so have I. Now the two of us need to decide which deal to take.”
“Or not to take any of them,” Evan says pointedly. “Emma has pointed out an equally feasible option.”