Twisted(22)

Because he’s not who you want and it’s not fair to either one of you to settle.

God, she hated that reasonable voice in her head sometimes. All the time lately.

“When I said I intend to split the band up, I meant temporarily. For the ultimate good of Oblivion.”

“Should we pull our pants down and bend over now or should we wait?”

Jazz tried not to smile at Nick’s question but Simon choking his laughter into her hair didn’t help. Deak, on the other hand, sat stoic, stone-faced to the end. He was the best negotiator of all of them and wouldn’t concede even a smile until he knew what Lila had in mind.

Jazz had to admire him for that, just as she admired him for managing to build a family in the middle of the craziness that was life for a new band on the road. If a little envy snuck in there from time to time, she figured that was natural. Harper would be starting to show soon. Hell, she was already glowing. They both were, Deak in a much more mansterly way, of course. They were new too, their marriage, their life together. But they were a unit.

She wanted that so fucking bad.

Kinda crazy that she’d achieved the dream of being in a semi-famous band but the one of settling down with a husband and family seemed to get farther away by the day. Not just any husband. It would always be Gray for her. Always.

Lila sent Nick a withering look. “Please, don’t drop trou on my account. I’m not sure my heart could take the thrill. Now if we can continue…”

Jazz blinked away the renewed prickling in her eyes and tried to focus on Lila. “Shouldn’t we discuss this when Gray’s here?”

“I intended to do just that until Granny fell ill. Unless you can get him back here in the next ten, we proceed without him.”

“No,” she whispered. “He’s gone.”

“Then we’ll continue now.” Lila eased a hip on the table, putting Nick at her back as she tapped away on her tablet with her gleaming nails. “As of tomorrow, Oblivion is being sent away on a working sabbatical for a couple of weeks to get your shit straight. You’ll be split into two groups. Group one will have accommodations at the Santa Monica Inn and Spa. Group two will be stationed at a luxurious cabin. Thanks to some generous agreements we have with the owners of said properties, all expenses will be paid by Ripper Records, assuming you come back with material we can use for the record. If you don’t, your future monies will be deducted at an appropriate rate of repayment for the debt you have incurred. A brief document outlining terms will be presented for you to sign forthwith.”

“Forthwith this,” Nick exploded. “You’re breaking us up to send us to Disneyland and then if we don’t come back with the biggest toys, we gotta pay out the ass?”

“Nicholas,” Deak said in a low voice. “Let the woman speak.”

“Oh, I’m quite done. This is not optional. This is not a vacation. You are being sent to optimal locations in the hopes that maybe a change of venue will help you return our investment in you. I would advise all of you to be productive in the teams you’re assigned and come back with usable material in the time allotted.”

“Or else what?” Simon wondered.

“We’ll just leave it at or else for now.” Lila gave Simon a blinding smile and glanced at her watch. “Well, look at that. Almost midnight. You kids should go enjoy the rest of your evening. I’ll meet you at eight a.m. sharp with your team assignments at Ripper Records. Gray too,” she added to Jazz.

Jazz nodded. Yeah, rounding him up after his sexathon would just put the capper on her night.

“Happy New Year, Oblivion.” With another smile and a pat on the head for Nick that had him snarling, Lila sashayed out of the room.

“Finally,” Simon muttered, gently extricating himself from Jazz and bouncing to his feet. He made a beeline for the door. “See you party people later. I’ll catch a ride with the girls. You can take the van, Nicky,” he said over his shoulder on his way out.

“I’m out of here too. Harper’s probably ready for bed by now.” Deak unfolded himself from his chair and cast a worried glance at Jazz. “You okay, pix? Want to get a ride home with us?”

“Nah, I’m fine. Thanks.” She squeezed Deak’s massive forearm. “I rode over with some of the roadies. I’ll just—”

“I’ve got her.” Nick kept his focus on Jazz while he spoke to Deak. “Have a good New Year’s, man.”

Deak stroked a big hand over her hair. “You good with this?”

Jazz heard the question within the question and smiled. You good with dealing with him while he’s in full dick mode? She’d always felt like she understood Nick, even before they’d had the bright idea to spend some time together naked. “Yeah.” She reached back to squeeze his arm. “Tell Harper to call me tomorrow, k?”