Scott turned to Tyler. “We’ve already talked about beefing up your security for the next tour, but this will be crazy, Tyler. You think fans swarm you now? It’s gonna get a hundred times worse. Once you’re on television everyone and their fucking brother is going to recognize you. You’re going to get mobbed wherever you go, Tyler.”
Providing security was out of the question. It would eat up my whole budget. “You better hope they get mobbed. Unfortunately, security is going to be your problem, Mr. Boyd. We don’t have a budget for that. Just make sure you hire guys who are beefy and photogenic of course. They’ll have to consent to being filmed, too. Our lawyers can get you a contract that they’ll need to sign.”
Scott looked overwhelmed. “This is even more complicated than I first imagined.”
I tried to reassure him. “It seems complicated, but it’s not. We’ll be behind the scenes running everything. Essentially, the band will be on tour following their usual routine. The difference is that there will be cameras following them around 24/7, but they’ll get so used to it, that they won’t even notice the cameras after a short time.”
“How about when I’m between some chick’s legs? Will your cameras be rolling then?” Tyler asked mockingly.
I heard the snickers of amusement all around me and turned to Tyler, completely straight-faced. “Absolutely.”
Scott cleared his throat. “I’m going to have to talk this over with the band. I’m not sure this is in their best interests. I’ll read over the contract tonight – ”
I glanced over at Jeff and he gave me a slight nod of his head to proceed. “I suggest you decide quickly, Mr. Boyd. We have other bands lined up who are more than eager to take your spot. And we’ll need your band available for the promotional piece. Two days next week. Minimum.”
Jeff rubbed his hands together. “Alright. Scott, your lawyers can contact ours and hash this all out. I’m sure they’ll assure you that the contract is fairly standard. Everyone, let’s get ready to welcome Cold Fusion into our programming family at The Vibe.”
The meeting was over. Everyone began standing and more than a few people started gathering near Tyler. Jeff Thornton motioned for me, so I joined him at the end of the conference room.
Jeff spoke in a low voice so the others wouldn’t hear. “I wanted to speak with you after the meeting to reassure myself that you were the right candidate for this job. But, I’m convinced. Hugo was right. If you stop by the HR department, I can have you officially on board by tonight.”
I nodded. “As long as the terms are agreeable and Cold Fusion consents to do the show, I’m on board.”
Jeff chuckled. “They’ll consent.”
“They better. I want that band.” I glanced over at Tyler, working the crowd of suits like a natural.
“I can’t wait to see where this goes, Ms. Winston.”
“Me neither.” I smiled at Jeff. “Oh, by the way – the show’s budget will have to be doubled.”
Jeff’s eyebrow rose, but I could see the hint of a smile on his lips. “I look forward to the discussion.”
Chapter 4
Tyler didn’t know what to make of the meeting. “Rock Star Diaries. Sounds kind of cheesy to me.”
They were on the ground floor of the skyscraper, a vast common area with large numbers of people scurrying in and out, rushing to make it to their next meeting on time.
Scott stopped walking and turned to him. “When are you heading back to Texas?”
“I’ve got a flight tomorrow night. Why don’t you come down with me so that we can talk to the guys. This is going to take some serious convincing.”
“No. We don’t have time. We’ve got to make a decision fast. You heard that producer woman. Damn, that woman was something. Hot as fuck, but a real ballbreaker.”
She had outmaneuvered Scott at every turn, but Tyler thought it best not to mention it. “She thought I was her secretary or something. And she didn’t know fuck about Cold Fusion.”
Scott sniggered. “Her secretary? Well, she definitely knows how to take charge. She could probably make the show a success by sheer willpower alone. Just don’t fuck her, Tyler.”
He had every intention of fucking her. But he’d keep that to himself. He’d had a raging hard-on the entire meeting and he had barely heard a word anyone said; he was so hot for her. He could still feel her silky thighs on his fingertips and for a moment he had thought that she would let him plunge his fingers into her, right then and there. It must have been wishful thinking, because she had remained cool as a cucumber as she had stopped his hand in its tracks. But just the memory of it had his cock stirring back to life. He needed a taste of that.
Tyler put his hands in his pockets. “So, what’s the plan?”
“The lawyers are probably looking over the contract now. I’ll talk to them and I have a few other contacts that I want to touch base with. Let’s set up a conference call tonight and talk to the guys.” Scott pulled his phone out of his pocket.
Tyler saw a woman by the elevators eyeing him. Hopefully, she’d remain silent or he was about to get mobbed. “Shit. No one’s going to talk to you tonight. They’ll be out partying. Set up the call tomorrow. And make it after noon, so they’re not cranky.”
Scott was scrolling on his phone. “We don’t have much time to dick around. We’ve got to jump on this quick. She’s not going to wait too long for us.”
“She’ll wait.” Tyler smiled secretly to himself.
Scott rolled his eyes. “All right. I’ll text you when I have the info for the conference call. Make sure you’re on it. And figure out how we’re going to convince the guys.”
Tyler knew he could convince Nick and Tommy. It was Alex that he was worried about. “It’s Alex we have to convince, and the key to Alex is Lena. I’ll just tell him that if this is a big success, we can cut way back on touring and concentrate on writing new music and he can spend more time with Lena. That’s our only fucking chance.”
Scott sighed. “How about the prospect of more money than you can fucking imagine? Isn’t that good enough? And, I don’t know about cutting back our tour schedule when we’re on top of the fucking world. Besides, you’d have to keep touring if this show gets picked up for more episodes, but whatever works…”
Tyler was keeping an eye on the lady who had noticed him. Either she wasn’t sure he was actually Tyler Matthews or she was just too shy to approach him. The elevator doors slid open in front of her and people began unloading, including the woman he had just been thinking about, the sexy producer, Kaitlyn.
Scott was still checking his phone. “Shit. I missed his call.” He looked up. “I’ve got a ton to do. Let’s get out of here.”
“You go on ahead. I’ve got to do something.” Tyler watched Kaitlyn striding closer to him, towards the bank of revolving doors to exit the building.
Scott held out his hand. “Okay. Enjoy your time back home and the next time I’ll see you will be on tour. Keep out of trouble, man. And don’t forget the call tomorrow.”
Tyler shook his manager’s hand. “I won’t.”
Scott left. Tyler turned so he could see Kaitlyn better. He watched as she shifted her bag on her shoulder, while holding her phone up to her ear as she talked to someone.
Kaitlyn was practically on top of him when she finally spotted him. “Hugo, I’ll fill you in later. I’ve got to talk to my rock star.”
He raised his eyebrow as she clicked off the phone. “Your rock star?”
She smiled. She must have put on a new coat of lip-gloss, because her full lips were so shiny. So sexy. “Yes, you are all mine. Get used to it, Tyler Matthews.”
It was something he could get used to. “So, what do you think of your rock stars? Do you think they have enough sex appeal to attract your precious viewers?” He knew he sounded snarky, but he didn’t care.
She slowly looked him up and down. “They’ve got sex appeal in spades.”
Tyler could feel his cock tightening with need
.
“Especially Alex.”
He felt his stomach hitch with disappointment for a moment, until she laughed with amusement. Jesus, she was teasing him. And he was falling for it like a lovesick teenager.
Kaitlyn continued. “And it turns out one of my rock stars is sneaky. I’ll have to keep my eye on him. It will certainly be interesting though. I’ve never had to babysit rock stars before, especially spoiled rock stars with overly fragile super-sized egos.”
Damn, she was teasing him and putting him in his place at the same time. He flashed her the smile he knew women found irresistible. “I love babysitters. Especially when they tuck me into bed.”
She didn’t even blink. “Don’t think you can shock me, Tyler. Save all that sexual energy for the cameras.”
For some reason, he really wanted to get a rise out of her, some kind of a reaction. “You didn’t seem to mind that sexual energy during the meeting.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re lucky you’re not actually my assistant or else you’d be fired right now after that behavior.”
“But since I’m a spoiled rock star I can get away with it?” He kept pushing.
She arched her brow. “Is that the most interesting thing about you, Tyler? That you sleep with tons of women? I guess I’ll work with it, for the show, if that’s all you’ve got.”
“You can portray me however the fuck you want. Just as long as my charity gets spot-lighted.” Now he was sounding petulant and angry. She just wasn’t reacting to him like other women did.
Kaitlyn tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “Look. Just being honest, but the demographic that’s going to watch this show isn’t going to be a great fit for pediatric organ donations, but I understand that it’s important to you and it will give your cause a certain platform. And personally, I think it’s a very noble and worthy cause, so we’ll work it in.”
“Okay. Thanks.” He knew she was placating him, but if it brought more attention to his cause, he’d take it.
“Tyler, you leave the show in my hands, and I can make it a success. A huge success.”
This time he decided to give her some of her own medicine. “Oh that’s right. You mean you can spin gold from crap?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I’m sorry we got started off on the wrong foot. You could have told me who you were, by the way. I almost made an ass of myself in that meeting. But that’s all in the past. Now I want to learn all about the band. And, obviously you’re very talented with millions of fans. I’m looking forward to hearing your work. Would I recognize any of your songs?”
What cave did she live in? “I don’t know. Do you listen to the radio?”
She shook her head. “Not really. I only listen to classical music when I work. And I work a lot.”
“So you know nothing about rock music?” How in the world did she get this job?
She thought for a moment. “Well, I watched Season 1 of American Idol. And I used to listen to rock music when I was a teenager. All the time. So I’m not completely clueless.”
Uh huh. “What were your favorite bands?”
Her eyes lit up. “Oh, ’N Sync, 98 Degrees, Backstreet Boys, you know, the usual.”
She was completely clueless. “Yeah, we’re not really that kind of band.”
“Oh. Are you more like heavy metal?” she asked.
“No.” Tyler tried not to sound impatient.
“Well, I’m sure you’re quite talented anyway.” It was like she was giving him a pat on the head.
“Kaitlyn, what’s the last concert that you’ve been to?” Did he really want to know?
She brushed aside his question. “Don’t worry about it. This show is going to be the best thing that’s ever happened to Cold Fusion. You just concentrate on your stuff and I’ll take care of the show. Trust me.”
Chapter 5
My first meeting with the band was about a week before their tour started, only a week before we started filming. Up until that point, I had been completely immersed in pre-production planning and set-up. I had a huge staff to coordinate, but even with all the footwork they did, I still found myself frequently bogged down in the nitty-gritty details.
I had approved the final production schedule and the crew had been hired. Our shooting schedule was falling into place. Scouting the locations, essentially following Cold Fusion’s tour schedule, was daunting. Filming permits, location agreements and special equipment were needed for each potential location, and laws varied from state to state, even county-to-county. It was a massive undertaking.
When I felt satisfied that the production schedule was under control, I started focusing on marketing. Without a huge pre-launch push, this show would be dead on arrival. I needed strong ratings right out of the gate, or else the show, right along with my career, was finished.
The past week, Tyler had done a local interview on a Dallas station that had gotten picked up by some national networks. When they talked about Rock Star Diaries, they described the show as The Jersey Shore of the rock scene. At first, I had bristled at the comparison, but I had slowly come around. If we could grab half those viewers, we would be off to a great start.
Bruce, my marketing lead, had promotional ideas that never seemed to gel with my vision for the show, but he always acquiesced cooperatively to my demands. I liked to think that my ideas were just so brilliant that he couldn’t help but see that they were better than his. Probably, it was just that he had no backbone.
I decided our promotional material was going to revolve around the beach, trying to lure in our young demographic and the ripe reality television crowd. I arranged for a shoot in my rock band’s home state of Texas, at a beach on the southern Gulf Coast, since they were already located nearby awaiting their tour kick-off.
I arrived at the shoot early; still, I was pleasantly surprised with the progress when I arrived on location. The equipment had all been loaded from the trucks and a perimeter to keep the public at bay had been established. Not that there were too many people on the beach in late January.
I poked my head into the wardrobe tent. Racks of clothing, mostly tiny bikinis, filled the small structure, but there was enough room for the models to change. I had picked five models from a local agency off the internet and just prayed that at least two of them looked as good as their portfolios. Despite the cloudless sunny day, there was a cool wind blowing; I didn’t envy the poor girls who had to strip down and pretend they weren’t freezing.
The next tent was larger. Three sides were paneled closed, but the remaining side facing the ocean was open. Three of my models had shown up so far and were sitting in chairs under the canopy. A makeup artist was attending to a stunning blonde girl. I had deliberately picked girls that didn’t look any younger than twenty; still I couldn’t help but feel pangs of jealousy seeing the fresh young faces on these beauties.
These girls weren’t New York City models. They were locals whose portfolios so far had consisted of magazine spots and television commercials. They wouldn’t be accustomed to working with celebrities and I wanted them focused on their jobs, not on the rock stars.
“Hi ladies. My name is Kaitlyn Winston, and I’m the Executive Producer and Director of Rock Star Diaries.”
The girls, who had given me a bored once-over when I first arrived, immediately took a renewed interest in me.
“I wanted you to know that I am still casting for Rock Star Diaries and if you have any interest in a spot on the show, I’ll be watching today for professional behavior from you and a good chemistry with the band members. You’ll have no chance at a spot if you act like screeching, adoring fans of the band. Got it?”
The girls nodded and one couldn’t help but giggle. I rolled my eyes as I left the tent. Because we didn’t have much time to work with the advertising agency to develop multiple campaigns and run them through focus groups, I had one shot at this to get it right. How could I go wrong with scantily clad women and outrageously sexy rock stars? Please let it work.
/> I headed over to introduce myself to the crew. The videographer was nowhere to be found and the photographer was too busy setting up a large light reflector. We planned to disperse still shots throughout our opening sequence, so we needed to film and take stills all in one session. It added to the complexity of the shoot, but I was not going to skimp just because we were short on time. I wanted fresh exciting material in our promotional ads and teasers. The first episode would air in a few months. In that time, I planned to saturate the media with our material.
I checked on everyone’s progress as they worked to set-up while I nervously waited for the band to show up. They were twenty minutes late, but finally they all arrived together.
From the moment I had parted with Tyler at the Vibe’s headquarters, I had eaten, slept and breathed nothing but Cold Fusion. I had studied them inside and out. Any scrap of information that was available to the general public about them, I could recite by memory. I could even sing most of their songs by heart now. I had warned the models not to act like giggly fan girls, yet here I was suppressing a squeal of genuine excitement at their appearance.
The band was headed toward the shoot location when Tyler spotted me near the cast tent and pointed me out to the others. I waved and they adjusted course heading directly towards me. Tommy had brought his surfboard as I had requested, Alex had his arm around a girl and Nick and Tyler led the way. I was glad that I had been staring at their pictures for so long now that I could pretend to be calm when confronted with the overwhelming combined good looks of these four guys in the flesh.
They made their way over to me and the whole time I kept thinking how crazy it was that I was going to spend the next few months of my life in their constant company. I always got so engulfed by my work, to the point of obsession. Hell, I had fallen in love with a 200 million pound space rock working on my last documentary. What would happen working side by side with something far more appealing? Like sexy rock stars. Especially one gorgeous bad boy in particular. I had to be careful because I had felt the stirrings of sexual attraction from the moment I first laid eyes on Tyler. I ignored the warning bells going off inside my head. I had worked with Hugo for years and was always able to maintain a professional relationship with him. I counseled myself that this would be just the same.
Rock Me: Sexy (New Adult Rockstar Romance) (New Adult Rock Star Erotic Romance) Page 4
