Bedhead, page 5
“Maybe back off the caffeine a little, yeah?”
As I went back to work, I could see Jeffrey out of the corner of my eye, still hovering in the doorway.
“The thing is, he wants to meet with you. Now.”
“Who?”
“Who do you think? Viper.”
I jumped up out of my seat so fast my chair rolled back and hit the wall. “He’s here? Why didn’t you start with that?”
“Yes—no. I mean, he is, but online. His people just sent a video link.”
“Oh shit.” I leaned down to save and close out of the documents I’d been working on as a thrill shot up my spine.
“What did I say? I knew he’d choose you.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I said, forcing a calm I didn’t feel. But then I looked up and shot Jeffrey a wink. “But damn right you did. Now where’s the link?”
“I just forwarded it to your email.”
“Good man,” I said, running my fingers through my hair to give it some semblance of order before straightening my collar. “How do I look?”
“Like a winner.”
I rolled my eyes and wheeled my chair back over to the desk before dropping down into it. “Hold my calls, and for the love of God, don’t let anyone in.”
Jeffrey gave me a quick salute before pulling the door shut, and I took a moment to steady myself. No way would Viper waste his time on a video chat to turn down my offer. The thought of actually getting such a huge deal had my hand shaking as I opened my email and found the link.
With the mouse pointer hovering over the link, I took in a deep breath, let it out, and clicked. A few seconds later it connected and Viper popped up on the screen, sitting next to a guy I’d never seen before. Whoever he was, he definitely wasn’t a rocker, not with the brightly colored button-down and white pants he wore.
“Viper, hey. Good to hear from you,” I said, grinning.
“Hey, man, hope you don’t mind the video thing. I don’t trust shit over the phone anymore, since I can’t see who I’m dealing with.”
“No problem at all.”
Viper leaned forward, clicking something, and then said, “One sec, we’ve got someone else joining.”
As I waited for whoever it was—agent, manager, even Halo—I grabbed a pen and notebook to scribble down any pertinent information, but then I heard the voice greeting Viper and my eyes shot up to the screen.
What…the fuck.
“Hudson, what’s up, man,” Viper said, settling back into the couch.
My jaw remained on the ground as Hudson appeared in the box next to mine, hair perfectly coiffed, suit immaculate, a serious but interested expression on his face. At least until he noticed I was also on the screen, and then his lips parted in surprise.
Those lips… I’d spent the weekend trying not to think about those lips. Not the way they’d kissed me back or the way they’d parted to give me a better taste of him.
Jesus, just stop. It was a mistake.
Glancing at myself to make sure I looked more nonchalant than I felt, I couldn’t help but notice the differences between the two of us. Me: open-collared shirt, no tie, hair casually mussed. Hudson: all put together and looking like…well, a lawyer.
A ridiculously hot one, though.
Before I could tell my brain to shut up, Viper lifted his chin at the blond man beside him and said, “Guys, this is my manager, Levi Walker. He handles all the boring shit I couldn’t give a fuck about.”
We nodded our greetings at the man, and then Viper continued.
“Look, I won’t pussyfoot around. Levi said you both laid out some good offers, and that with your client lists, either of you would be a decent choice. Problem is, which one of you do I choose?” He shrugged. “I don’t know shit about you two, but apparently it’s important I do, since you’ll be the ones making me look good. So what to do?”
Levi leaned forward to interject. “Just a heads-up: Viper wanted to flip a coin to make that decision, so just remember that before you balk at the alternative.”
Viper cracked a lazy smile. “I could still flip a coin. You have one?”
“No. Just tell them what you want.”
Okay, these two had me curious. Judging by the look on Hudson’s face, he was just as confused.
Not that I was looking at him. I was actively trying not to look at him.
“Lay it on us,” I said. “I’m sure whatever it is, I’ll be able to clear up why I’m the better fit.”
“See, I like that cocky, aggressive thing you’ve got goin’ on,” Viper said, scratching along his jaw. “Then again, Hudson, man, he’s like that quiet type you have to watch out for.”
Didn’t I know it.
“So I figured, why not see what you’re like off the clock?”
Hudson didn’t blink. “Meaning?”
“Halo and I just bought another place out in Martha’s Vineyard for when we wanna get out of the city. It’s badass, sits on a fuckin’ cliff, and we just put a studio in the basement so we don’t even have to leave the house. There’s a million rooms, all this space for a killer party, and we haven’t even thrown one yet. So this weekend, it’s on.”
When Hudson and I didn’t say anything right away, Levi added, “He means he wants you two to attend as guests.”
“Oh. Hell yeah.” Damn, getting an invite to a private Fallen Angel party? That hadn’t been anywhere on my bingo card.
“You’ll come up, say, Thursday? Avoid the shit traffic, spend the weekend, we can shoot the shit, and I’ll make a decision before you leave Sunday. Sound good?” Viper looked between the two of us expectantly, and I just knew Hudson was shitting his pants.
He hated stuff like this. Parties with a bunch of people he didn’t know? Up there with his worst nightmares.
Which was why I quickly said, “I’m down. Just shoot me the address and I’ll plan to leave the office Thursday afternoon.”
If Viper wasn’t staring at the screen, I had no doubt Hudson would’ve tried to glare me to death. As it was, though, he was stuck. If he went, he’d be miserable the whole weekend. If he didn’t go, he’d be handing me the deal.
It was a win-win for me.
“Hudson?” Viper said. “You in or what?”
It took a long minute, but Hudson’s mouth finally eased into a close-lipped smile that he was probably using every ounce of willpower to force. “Sure. I’ll be there.”
“I told you, Levi,” Viper said, turning to his manager. “This’ll be so much better than a stuffy office meeting.”
Levi shook his head. “Well, it looks like we’ll see you both this weekend then. I’ll send you the address and NDAs, along with my contact information if you need to get in touch before then.”
Before we could respond, the video chat ended abruptly. At least I didn’t have to actively avoid Hudson anymore.
With a sigh, I leaned back in my chair, going over the conversation again in my head. I’d often had to show up at dinners or even a formal event to meet with a client, but a rock star’s rager in a mansion outside the city? That was a definite first. But if winning the deal meant spending the weekend having a good time and proving I was the best man for the job, I wasn’t about to turn that down. I’d been training for this my whole life.
Although…shit.
I’d just agreed to spend a weekend out of town…with Hudson.
8
HUDSON
“I CAN’T BELIEVE you’re spending a weekend with Viper and Halo and aren’t bringing me as your plus-one,” Kai complained over the phone as I pulled out the garment bag I’d packed from my closet on Thursday afternoon. I’d finished up work for the week, rushed home, and planned on getting on the road as soon as I could. I should’ve left earlier; the rain had only gotten heavier since this morning.
“I told you, it’s a work trip,” I said.
“Noo, it’s a party. Who knows what kind of crazy shit’ll be happening?”
“Exactly why it’s probably best there aren’t reporters like you there.”
I could feel Kai’s sulking through the phone and couldn’t help but feel a bit of sympathy. He was a big fan, after all, and if it wouldn’t involve invading Viper’s personal space, maybe I would’ve considered it. Having a buffer against Drew would’ve been nice.
Fucking Drew. I still couldn’t believe what had happened Saturday, but I’d spent the week trying to forget.
Trying and failing, but trying nonetheless.
I just didn’t understand why he’d kissed me. Or why I’d kissed him back. And then I’d spent hours beating myself up about it because I should’ve known better than to be alone with Drew. I’d just never expected him to make a move.
“Hudson? Hellooo, you still there?”
I blinked back into the present. “Yeah, I’m here. Sorry, the connection must be acting up.”
No, I hadn’t confessed my indiscretion to my best friend. I’d spent years talking shit about Drew, so there was no way in hell I was gonna admit a momentary lapse in judgment.
“Yeah, no shit the connection’s bad. Have you looked outside lately?”
“I’m not scared of driving in a little bit of rain, Kai.”
“Uh, you do know an alert just went out that the hurricane’s turning this way, right?”
I paused with my hand on the zipper of my weekender bag. “Are you just saying that because you don’t want me going without you?”
“No, I’m serious. It’s only gonna get worse, especially heading north. If I were you, I’d stay here and hunker down.”
“Ah. And let Drew get the deal.”
“If it means staying safe…”
I snorted out a laugh and began throwing a few toiletries into my bag. “You’re so full of shit, you know that?”
“Yeah, yeah, worth a shot. But I wanna hear every last detail when you get back. Not for scoop, just my own guilty pleasure.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”
“You better. I know you’ve got to go, and I should do some work at some point today, so—”
He kept talking, but now the connection was breaking up for real. All I heard was something like “be safe and don’t kiss Drew.”
Wait, what?
My face instantly heated. “Uh, why do you think I’d kiss Drew?”
“Kiss? What are you talking about? I said kill, not kiss. I already know you’d never touch him with a ten-foot pole, I’m just sayin’, try not to beat him with it.”
Oh. Right.
I scrubbed a hand over my face and said my goodbyes, hit the end call button, and blew out a sigh. Of all the people and all the publishing companies Viper could’ve chosen, it just had to be Drew I’d be stuck with this weekend. At least from the sound of it, the place was big enough that maybe we wouldn’t have to run into each other. He could stay on his side, I could stay on mine—no reason to talk about what happened or relive it.
I just needed to remember not to let him get under my skin. He seemed to have a knack for that, for pissing me off and driving me completely out of my mind.
After making sure I had everything, I was ready to get on the road. Martha’s Vineyard was at least a six-hour drive, not accounting for traffic, and with the way the rain was coming down, I definitely should’ve left earlier. My windshield wipers were working overtime, and the farther north I drove, the more the gusts of wind attempted to knock me out of my lane.
“This is ridiculous,” I muttered as the rain pounded the glass so loud that I had to turn the volume up on the radio. My brother’s show was on, and he was still playing sad-sack love songs, though at least he was alternating them with some more current music. I had a feeling that wasn’t his choice.
“You’re back with Sawyer on WZNY’s anything goes show—at least, that’s what I’m calling it nowadays. My program director wants to nail my decapitated head on the wall after each of these, but you, the good people of New York, know enough about the wretchedness of relationships to get why this show is necessary. Now let me ask you, have you ever thought someone was too good to be true and it turns out…they were?”
I nodded along as I gripped the steering wheel. “Yes.”
“And when you found out what a dick—BLEEP—they were, didn’t it make you want to throw steaming piles of—BLEEP—at the door of their apartment?”
“Uh…no.”
“For all of you saying no right now, I call bull—BLEEP.”
Jesus, Sawyer. Was he even allowed to have bleeped-out words on the air?
“Now, just in case any of you were thinking that hey, maybe it wasn’t so bad, that everyone deserves a second, and third, and fourth chance—no. Do you know how many millions of single people are out there in the city alone? And you wanna waste your time on a loser? I’m talkin’ to myself here too, ’cuz we don’t need to reheat the leftovers, know what I’m sayin’? So this goes out to my dumb-as-rocks ex-boyfriend, and all of yours too.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle as “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” began to play, and made a mental note to check in on Sawyer when I got back in town. He sounded less sad, more pissed off—which I supposed was a good thing in the cycle of heartbreak, but he was such a sensitive romantic that a hug and a chat were probably in order. And really, he wasn’t wrong about the second chances thing. It was why I’d never let a certain someone back in.
Not that I was thinking about him.
Glancing at my GPS, I saw that I wasn’t too far out from where I’d need to catch the ferry for the last part of my trip, but damn, I wasn’t looking forward to that. I could barely make out the road with the sideways rain. Even an umbrella wouldn’t stop my getting soaked completely.
That’s gonna be fun, I thought, trying not to shudder at the image I’d present once I finally arrived at Viper and Halo’s place. Hell, maybe they’d take pity on me and direct me to a luxurious oversized tub with hot water for days. Now that was an idea that could sustain me through this hell storm.
I turned the music up and found myself singing along to the chorus, not even realizing I knew the words to this song. Unlike the singer, I hadn’t done the whole breakup, make-up thing over and over, though. Once was enough for me to know I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice. Not that I’d really given many others a chance to get close enough for that. I’d been too busy helping my mom with her company once I graduated and proving it was my work ethic and not nepotism that kept me there and moving up the ranks.
I couldn’t say the same about Drew. Not after—
BAM!
My tire hit a huge branch that blew across the road too fast for me to avoid, and I swerved to the left, away from the cars on the other side. Only I didn’t see the dip in the shoulder, and when my tire slammed into it, I knew instantly I was fucked.
The tire light came on immediately, and I cursed as my car limped a few more feet before coming to a stop. My heart was pounding from the adrenaline, but somehow the sound of the rain pelting my car was so much louder.
I hit my hazard lights and looked around, hoping to see an exit, but it was useless trying to see anything out the rain-covered windows. My GPS showed I wasn’t too far from an exit ramp, but it was still a couple of miles away, and I wasn’t about to get out and risk walking with the debris blowing around.
Most likely I just needed a new tire, and that wouldn’t take long, right? An hour’s delay wouldn’t make much difference at this point.
With a heavy sigh, I found the number of a towing company, but the phone rang and rang until finally there was a message saying the shop was closed until further notice.
Great. I went down the list of shops, but each one I connected with was closed due to weather and dangerous driving conditions.
No shit. What was I doing driving in the middle of this? I hadn’t thought it would be that bad, but it was only getting worse as the minutes passed. Oh God, what if the ferry had closed down already? I’d be stranded in my car all night.
No. That was not happening.
I called the rest of the towing companies and got the same answer from all of them: no one would be getting out until at least tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.
I. Was. Fucked.
No…there’s a spare in my trunk and tools. How hard can it be to change a tire in a hurricane?
Never mind the fact I’d never changed one out in my life—but what choice did I have?
I popped the trunk, took a deep breath, then opened the door.
Sweet…God.
My suit was drenched in a matter of seconds, and the wind was gusting so hard I could barely hold the door open to get out. The grass beneath my feet had turned to mud, and I slipped before grabbing on to the roof of the car.
This is insanity.
Obviously I had a death wish. With my hands on the roof, I inched my way down to the trunk, feeling rain pelting me in the face and streaming down. I didn’t know how I was even gonna get the damn tire out at this point, much less change it.
This was a monumentally bad idea, I thought as I grasped the trunk and turned my head away from the direction of the rain. Before I could get my fingers under the latch to open it, a bigger gust of wind blew. I made the mistake of dropping my body weight down, and that was when I heard the trunk click shut.
Shut.
It. Clicked. Shut.
Motherfuckingfuckshitfaceballsfuck.
With a growl, I kicked at one of the back tires. “You stupid piece of shit metal.”
Because of course it was the car’s fault. Not the idiot human who’d decided to ignore a looming hurricane off the coast. But since I couldn’t beat my own ass, I was gonna take it out on the car.
Or I was, until the sound of a horn behind me had me looking over my shoulder.
Oh God. No. No, no, no, no, no.
I would’ve happily gotten back in my car sopping wet and stayed there all night if I’d known this was going to happen.
Even with the headlights shining in my face and the windshield wipers moving faster than I could think, I could still see the smug look on Drew’s face where he sat nice and dry behind the wheel. He looked less like a knight in shining armor come to help, though, and more like a demon sent to look and laugh.
