Suddenly I felt like my throat was closing up and I feared that I was going to die in the middle of that conference room, with a dumb graphic tee on. There’d be a group of old dudes, and one seriously hot Jason Monroe, just standing over me as I slowly stopped breathing.
I was so enamored by the disturbing fantasy that I didn’t realize Jason was pouring me a cup of water until he’d slid it over in front of me. I swallowed my breath and then reached for the glass, glancing toward him quickly to see if his appearance had loosened up yet. No. God, he was really good looking. His cheekbones could have cut glass and his jaw was defined and strong.
I could have written a song about his appearance, it was that fascinating. The song would be titled Black. Black hair, black eyes, black five o’clock shadow. He was wrapped in darkness, but it was so mysterious and appealing that you couldn’t help but want to lean in a little closer and see if he’d turn those dark eyes back on you.
“If you’re properly hydrated, we’d like to begin the meeting now,” Mr. Daniels said with a stern tone. I gulped down another sip of water and took a seat, turning away from Jason. I couldn’t turn back time and re-do the entire morning, so I just wanted to get the meeting over with as quickly as possible.
“You might be wondering why we called both of you in this morning,” he began. “You two are our top performers here at Global Records. You have different fan bases, both equally strong, but you bring different talents to the table.”
I started to breathe easier as Mr. Daniels talked about my talents. At least it didn’t sound like he was going to be dropping me from the label anytime soon.
“The Grammys are coming up in a little over a month and originally you were both slotted for individual performances.”
I nodded. I already knew all of this. The Academy of Recording Arts had sent out nominations a few weeks earlier, and directly after that my agent notified me that they’d asked me to perform a solo song during the award show. I’d already been practicing my song for the night with my voice coach and choreographer.
“But that’s changed now,” Mr. Daniels continued.
If there were a DJ set up in the room, he would have scratched the vinyl to make that declaration even more dramatic.
“We’ve decided to try something new, to bridge the gap between both of your individual fan bases.”
Jason leaned forward and I slid my gaze to him, taking in his features as inconspicuously as possible. The guy was sexy with a capital S-E-X-Y. Yes, that’s right, all of his letters deserved to be capitalized.
“I’m sorry. Are you saying that we’re going to perform together?” he asked, with a gruff voice. It was the first time he’d spoken since I’d arrived and I let his voice wash over me for a moment before I realized what he’d actually said. Wow. He was really not keen on the idea. I fidgeted in my seat and kept my mouth shut as Mr. Daniels addressed Jason.
“That’s correct. We’ve discussed it already and we’d like the two of you to write and perform a duet at the award show.”
“No,” Jason answered. One word spoken with enough confidence to send a shiver down my spine. Alright then, meeting adjourned.
“Excuse me?” Mr. Daniels asked, sitting up an inch taller so that even more of his charcoal-grey designer suit was on display. His sharp jaw clicked back and forth as he stared at Jason with enough heat to start a fire.
Oy. If I could have, I would have warned Jason to back down. I’d been with Global Records for five years and I couldn’t remember ever talking back to Mr. Daniels. I don’t think anyone in the music industry ever had.
“I’m a solo artist. I’ve never performed on stage with another singer before. If I’m going to start now, it’s not going to be with Brooklyn Heart.”
Whoa.
“Excuse me?” I asked, leaning forward to meet his eye. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I was furious. In the matter of five minutes, this man had created not one, but two enemies. Maybe I wasn’t as intimidating as Mr. Daniels, but I had pepper spray in my purse and killer aim from this distance.
Jason gave me a once over, his lip curling into a condescending sneer.
“No offense, princess. But you and I are like apples and oranges. We’d never be able to collaborate on a song together.”
I scoffed. “You don’t even know me.”
He grunted and sat back in his chair, clasping his hands together over his stomach. “I’ve witnessed a pretty telling first impression.”
I let myself take one deep, calming breath before I turned toward Mr. Daniels. With a sugarcoated smile and a twinkle in my eye, I gave him my response.