“Tru? You okay?”
Blinking, she forced herself to smile again. “I’m fine.”
Zach nodded but he clearly didn’t believe her. Luckily, he didn’t push. Rising, he tapped his fist on her desk. “Hang in there, babe. Recording can be worse than touring sometimes. And sometimes you just need to smack him upside the head to get his attention. Don’t be afraid to do it every now and then.”
“Do what?” Sebastian appeared in the door, hair sticking out at all angles, like he’d been running his hands through it. His fingers were wrapped with tape to stop the bleeding. “Hey, where the hell you been? Come on, man, we got stuff to do.”
“I’m getting there.” Zach turned and headed toward Sebastian. “Just stopped to say hi to Tru.” Then he gave Sebastian a shove into the office. “You better do the same.”
Sebastian had a question in his eyes when he turned back to her. “What’s up his ass? I said hello this morning.” Then he frowned. “Didn’t I?”
When she raised her eyebrows at him, he wrinkled his nose in the most adorable grimace.
“Shit. Sorry. Mind’s going in a million different directions. No excuses.” He closed the distance between them with two long strides, skirting the desk to lean down, wrap his hand around her neck and bend down to kiss her.
Even though she’d been expecting it, her breath caught in her throat and her heart pounded against her ribs like a trapped bird.
She let him take the kiss, let him have what he wanted and soaked in everything he gave. His desire blazed through, burning straight into her blood.
And then he was gone. Or at least, his lips were. But he hadn’t gone far. Just enough to be able to stare into her eyes.
“Damn, how the hell could I forget to do that this morning?”
She tried to suck in a breath and not show how breathless she was. Which was almost impossible when he moved his hand from her neck to her cheek and rubbed his thumb across her lips.
“No problem. You’ve been a little preoccupied. I get it. You’re busy.”
And she did. Because for years, she’d been the same. Always needing to be somewhere or do something. The only difference was, she hadn’t had anyone in her life to make demands on her time.
No one to potentially break her heart.
“Yeah. And I’m sorry—”
“No. Don’t apologize for doing what you love.”
She never wanted him to say she’d tried to come between him and his music or his band. That wasn’t the kind of woman she wanted to be. It wasn’t the type of relationship she wanted.
And what type of relationship is that?
She was beginning to believe she didn’t want any kind of relationship at all because her heart hurt, just thinking about how alone she’d be when he left. Which he would do sooner rather than later.
His gaze narrowed and she knew he’d seen something in her expression. Something that made him pause and study her more closely. And since she didn’t want him to see exactly what she was thinking, she leaned forward and rubbed her nose against his.
Any type of affection threw him off course. He craved it as much as she did. And she hated herself for manipulating him.
Especially when she’d felt herself pulling away and he’d been too busy to notice.
“You want to get some lunch today? I’ll make sure we take a break and—”
“Actually, I’m taking Jessalyn out to lunch today.”
Did he look relieved?
Or was she simply projecting her guilt on him?
“Okay.”
With a nod, he pulled away. But when she thought he was going to leave, he instead sat on the edge of her desk.
Leaning back in her chair, she let herself stare at him, though she tried not to make it too obvious. He looked absolutely lickable. His ragged jeans had bloodstains, probably from his fingers, but they hugged his thighs like a second skin. His black t-shirt had several holes and the sleeves had been ripped away to expose his muscular, tattooed biceps. She wanted to bite them, to lick away the salty sweat on his skin.
Hell, if he offered to bend her over her desk right now and fuck her, she wouldn’t say no. Not even with Greg down the hall, the band waiting for him in the studio, and Jessalyn just yards away in the reception area.
She’d let him lift her skirt and wrap her hair around his hand and slam into her hard and fast.
She’d love it.
She needed to tell him she was releasing all claims on him. Not that she’d had any to begin with, but for her own sanity, she needed to let him go. Before he left and she had to pick up the pieces of her broken heart.
Jesus, you sound pathetic.
“Where’re you going?”
She blinked. “Going?”
One side of his mouth quirked into a grin. “For lunch. With Jess.”
So he was already calling her Jess? Which is exactly what their new receptionist had told Tru to call her this morning.
She was totally losing it.
“To Haven. It’ll be quiet and we can talk.”
“She seems nice.”
Tru smiled sincerely, because, yeah, Jess was. And Tru couldn’t help patting herself on the back every now and then for hiring her. “She is. I think she’ll fit in well here.”
His head cocked to the side. “You sure you’re okay?”
He looked worried and that was the last thing she wanted him to be. He needed to be focused on his music so he and the band could finish their album and go back out on tour. So he could be who he was meant to be.
The rock star.
“I’m fine. Just a lot on my plate today.” She smiled up at him, hoping it didn’t look too forced. “You need to go back to work so I can do the same.”
His smile returned as she pulled out her bossy tone and pointed toward the door.
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll get right on that.”
He pushed away from the desk and headed toward the door.
“Sebastian.” I love you. “Try not to make yourself bleed any more than you already are.”
He lifted tape-covered fingers and saluted her, smiling that smart-ass grin before he turned and walked away.
For several long minutes, she sat there staring at the door, trying to breathe through the rock of anxiety sitting on her chest.
Last night, in bed, alone, she’d realized exactly what she needed to do.
She only needed to hold it together for the next two weeks. The guys would be finished recording by then and getting ready to head out on tour.
Sebastian had told her they were about to finalize a co-headlining tour with another major act on their label, which would start in a month, a week after the film premiere. The only reason they’d been able to manage it in such a short time was because the other group had already set the dates but hadn’t yet announced.
According to Nik, this other group was thrilled to have Baseline Sins join up. Combining forces meant potentially doubling their ticket sales. And it meant Baseline Sins didn’t have to shoulder the burden of headlining a tour.
A win-win for everyone.
Except it also meant that the guys would have no downtime between finishing the album and rehearsing for the tour. They’d have to go straight into rehearsals to make sure they were ready and knew the music.
And that meant Sebastian would have no time for her.
Luckily, she had more than enough to keep her busy. There were so many different pieces of ManDown that needed attention right now.
In addition to the release of Greg’s film, Val still had another few weeks of filming, and the company was close to signing a development deal with a TV production unit that wanted to film a show on location in Philadelphia. They had two other films shooting as well, one in Canada and one in Chicago and she was negotiating with two other smaller production companies that wanted ManDown to partner with them.
Just the sheer amount of paperwork involved in keeping ManDown running day-to-day kept her mind off everything else.