Keeping the Beat

by Marie Powell

  So, you’re into stolen goods now, hmm? :)

  Clearly, he wasn’t all that upset by the thought that she might be trying to steal him back from Skye. In fact, she thought he’d looked pleased when Toni had blurted it out in front of everyone. Of course, he’d also given in when Skye had thrown her little temper tantrum and insisted on him taking her home, but that text … that text said he was ready and waiting to be stolen.

  But she didn’t need to be thinking about Rafe right now. She didn’t even want to be thinking about Rafe, which surprised her. She wanted to figure out how she was going to turn Crush’s sinking ship around and win Project Next.

  But then Harper realized with a start that she didn’t have to save Crush. If Rafe was actually hers to steal, as he seemed to be, then she didn’t really need Crush anymore. She had what she’d come back to Los Angeles for.

  But somehow, Crush had become more than just a means to an end. It was just as important to her as Rafe was. Maybe even more important. She’d started out to get Rafe back, but in the process she’d built a really awesome band. She’d done it all on her own. The others would never have started playing together if she hadn’t begged, tricked and cajoled them into it. She’d done something kind of amazing, she thought, and not even realized it.

  “Har-per!” Robyn called again. “Come dance with me.”

  Harper sighed. It wasn’t as though she was having any luck thinking deep thoughts anyway. She might as well go and calm her drunken bandmate.

  Harper turned to see Robyn dancing on one of the low tables beyond the velvet-roped VIP section that lined the far side of the black-tiled dance floor. Iza was watching her from their corner sofa, looking as though she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or be super-nervous about the whole thing.

  “Table dancing?” Harper asked, crossing to perch on the hard gray sofa beside Iza. “Seriously?”

  “Yes!” Robyn said. “Definitely!”

  She was going to bounce right through the table if she wasn’t careful.

  “Robs, come down here,” Harper called. “You’re going to fall otherwise.”

  “I think she looks beautiful,” a gooey voice purred in Harper’s ear.

  Ugh. Tomas Angerman was here.

  Harper was pretty sure Tomas was her least favorite person in the world. And that was saying something, considering that he shared a planet with Skye Owen.

  “Tomas!” Robyn chirped, half diving off the table into his arms. Soon her tongue was halfway down his throat. Gross.

  “We have an ice bucket,” Harper said, trying to convey her total disapproval in her flat tone. “Don’t make me use it.”

  “Give it up, Harper,” Iza said. “They’re not on the same planet we are at the moment.”

  “Are, too,” Robyn said, coming up for air. “I just needed a proper greeting. I missed him!”

  “You walked in with him, like, twenty minutes ago,” Harper said, rolling her eyes and reaching for the carafe of cranberry juice in the bottle service caddy. “You really are wasted.”

  “Wasted on luuuuuuuvvvv,” Robyn wheezed, giggling as she collapsed onto the sofa beside Tomas.

  Tucking Robyn against his side, Tomas pulled out a roll of cash bigger than Harper’s fist and started counting.

  “Wow,” Iza said. “That’s a ton of money.”

  Tomas simply smiled. “I did well tonight.”

  Robyn actually cooed.

  “You made all that tonight?” Harper said, trying to ignore the saccharine fest. “How?”

  “I provide certain substances that improve the party spirit,” Tomas said, still counting.

  “Excuse me?” Harper snapped, straightening up in her chair. “Are you trying to tell me you’re a drug dealer?”

  “I provide recreational enhancements,” Tomas corrected.

  “And you used Crush’s name to get into this club to do it?” Harper added, glaring at Robyn. It wasn’t doing any good. Robyn was too busy cuddling against Tomas to notice or care.

  “Drugs?” Iza said, wide-eyed. “You made all that money tonight selling drugs?”

  “No, I made it selling Pokémon cards.” Tomas kept counting.

  “Have you been dealing at all the parties Robyn’s brought you to?” Harper demanded, dividing her best death stare between Robyn and Tomas. Tomas just grinned back and didn’t answer. Robyn ducked her head and reached for her drink to avoid Harper’s gaze.

  “How can that be safe?” Iza asked. “Aren’t you afraid to walk around with all that cash and, um, stuff?”

  “Nah,” Tomas said, separating the bills into several smaller piles. “I know how to protect myself.”

  “He’s got a …” Robyn leaned forward and stage-whispered, “… gun.”

  “What?” said Iza, her eyes wide.

  “Robs,” Tomas said, “you’re not supposed to tell anyone about that.”

  “You’re armed?” Harper said, incredulous.

  “Only when I’m carrying this much cash or product,” Tomas said, casually tucking his folds of cash into various pockets. “It’s the practical thing to do.”

  He looked Harper in the eye. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. Robyn is totally safe with me.”

  “You think?” Harper asked.

  If this guy thought he was going to use her friends like this, he had better be prepared for a surprise. Harper might not have a clue how to salvage her band, or get her best friend to speak to her again, or make the boy she loved admit he loved her back, but she could do something about Tomas Angerman.

  “Iz,” Harper said, turning to smile brightly at Iza. “You wanna dance?”

  “Yes!” Iza said, sounding super relieved to get away from Tomas. She bounced to her feet and held a hand out to Harper.

  “No,” Harper said. “I’ve got something to discuss with Tomas first. But Robs will come with you now, and I’ll be there in a minute.”

  “No, Robs bloody well won’t go with her,” Robyn protested. “Robs is happy where she is.”

  “Just go, Robyn,” Harper said. “Tomas and I need to talk.”

  “It’s fine,” Tomas told Robyn, eyeing Harper curiously. “Go.”

  “Whatever,” Robyn pouted. She rolled to her feet and grabbed Iza’s hand, pulling her toward the dance floor.

  “You have something to ask me?” Tomas said, after Robin and Iza were gone.

  “Not ask,” Harper said. “Tell. I have something to tell you.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “You’d better be, because if you’re not, you’re going to regret it.”

  Tomas took a sip of Robyn’s abandoned drink. “Am I really?”

  “You have no idea how much,” Harper assured him. “You’ve had your fun with Robyn. You’ve made a few bucks. But that’s over now.”

  Tomas burst out laughing. “No, I assure you, it’s not. I intend to have a long, close friendship with Robyn. And with Crush.”

  “Then prepare to be disappointed,” Harper shot back, “because if I see you around Robyn, or I catch you using Crush’s name for anything ever again, I will destroy you.”

  “You think you can do that?” Tomas said with a condescending smile.

  “Let me tell you a little story, Tomas. When my ex-boyfriend broke up with me last year because he was moving to LA for university, I considered getting over him. Then I decided that I didn’t want to. So you know what I did? I formed a band, wrote a whole album’s worth of songs, made a demo, became a Project Next finalist and soon, very soon, I’m going to win Project Next and I’m going to be the kind of rock star who can have any man she chooses. Including the ex-boyfriend. So, Tomas, don’t underestimate what I can do to get what I want.”

  Tomas just raised a pale eyebrow.

  Harper raised one right back.

  Tomas burst out l
aughing.

  “You’ve got a lot of self-esteem, don’t you?” he said. “But it takes more than a little girl making threats to scare me.”

  “What about a reality television star shouting ‘gun’ in a packed club?” Harper asked. “I’m sure you don’t want to have a conversation with security about the concealed weapon you’re carrying. Or all that cash.”

  “You wouldn’t,” Tomas growled. “Crush would be all over the news for being with a drug dealer in a club. You don’t want that.”

  “Crush would be all over the news for pointing out a dangerous, armed dealer in a club,” Harper said firmly.

  “I’ll tell everyone Robyn’s on drugs.”

  “I’ll tell everyone you’re lying. It’ll be great press for Crush, actually. Just enough scandal to make us interesting. In fact, no time like the present …”

  Harper turned and strolled over to the bar. When she got there, she waved down the bartender.

  “Excuse me,” she said, making herself sound flustered. “Excuse me!”

  She twisted to point at Tomas, who was already stalking toward her. She grinned at him. This was too easy.

  She turned back to the bartender, her voice quavering just enough to make the bartender think she was terrified.

  “That man, right over there, he’s got a —”

  Tomas grabbed her arm and pulled her back to face him, irritation glowing from every pore. “Fine, bitch,” he hissed. “Have it your way. But you’ll regret this.”

  “Hmm.” Harper pretended to consider it. “Will I? Maybe we ought to call security and test that theory.”

  “Miss?” the bartender said. “Is something wrong?”

  Tomas shifted his furious glare to the bartender’s direction, but the bartender didn’t back down.

  “Is this guy bothering you?”

  “No.” Tomas spat the word out, like it tasted bad. “He isn’t. He was just leaving.”

  He looked back at Harper again. “This isn’t over, Harper.”

  “Yes,” Harper said sunnily. “It is.”

  With that she turned and strode toward the dance floor, making for the flash of Robyn’s red hair she could see through the crowd.

  That was almost fun. Shame that figuring out how to give Crush a chance at winning Project Next won’t be as easy as getting rid of our little Tomas problem, Harper thought. Crush had fallen apart, and Harper had no clue how to put them back together again.

  Lucy stood on the pavement and looked up at the graceful bungalow. The house was old but well kept, surrounded by flowering trees and bordered with fragrant rosemary bushes that crowded around the front door and ran down either side of the flagstone path. It wasn’t at all where she’d imagined Jason Darrow would live. The little house in the hills of Silver Lake was beautiful but distinctly cozy. Not at all like the futuristic steel-and-glass penthouse she’d assumed a Hollywood power player like Jason would call home. But then again, she hadn’t believed that Jason would make a pass at a seventeen-year-old client either, until she’d seen the look on Toni’s face. There was clearly a great deal they didn’t know about Jason Darrow.

  But that didn’t change the fact that Crush needed him.

  Badly.

  Lucy marched herself up the front path to the little bungalow and rang the doorbell before she had a chance to lose her nerve.

  There was no response from the darkened house. Was no one home? No, it was nearly midnight and Jason’s car was parked just in front of the house. He was here.

  Lucy rang the doorbell again.

  This time a light switched on inside. After a few moments, Jason opened the door. He was dressed in pajamas, but he clearly hadn’t been asleep.

  “It’s the middle of the night, Lucy,” he said. “What are you doing here?”

  “We had a gig tonight,” Lucy said, fighting the urge to apologize. “What are you doing here? Why weren’t you at The Echo with us? Why haven’t you been at a single show since the Hollywood Bowl?”

  “Ash had you play The Echo?” he asked. “Again?”

  “Yes,” Lucy said. She took a deep breath. She couldn’t believe she was doing this but someone had to. “We played The Echo. Again. And we blew it. Again. We’re a disaster, Jason, and I think you know why.”

  Jason stepped through the door and closed it behind him. He walked past her and sat down on one of the steps that led up to the porch, gesturing for her to join him.

  “Toni told you?” he asked finally.

  “No,” Lucy said. “Harper figured it out for herself. She and Toni have been at each other like cats and dogs for ages, and tonight it finally came out why. I should have guessed but I didn’t think …” She couldn’t believe she was saying this. She couldn’t believe she’d ever have the nerve to speak to anyone this way, much less their manager. But what did she have to lose? “I didn’t think you were that stupid.”

  Jason stared out at his front garden for a long time. Finally he shook his head. “I didn’t think I was that stupid either. I don’t know how it happened. It just … did. And then I got even more stupid. I couldn’t face Toni so I told myself that Ash could handle you girls. He’s been bugging me to promote him for a while. But … I knew he couldn’t really handle it. I knew I was letting Crush fall apart. And I knew that Sir Peter wasn’t going to miss the fact that it was my fault. He’ll fire me, and Leah — that’s my wife — she’ll find out why. I’ll be ruined. I can see it coming but … I don’t know what to do about it. It’s too late.”

  Lucy tried to think of what to say to the older man. He sounded so forlorn. So helpless. This wasn’t what she’d thought she’d find here, although now, sitting with Jason under the luminescent gray of the Los Angeles night sky, she wasn’t sure what she’d really thought would happen. But she knew one thing. She couldn’t just let him give up.

  “I didn’t tell my parents that I was joining Crush,” Lucy said finally. “Did you know that? I started out hiding it from them, and then … and then we kept getting further and further along on Project Next and suddenly I was lying to them all the time. For months. And I didn’t know how to tell them. So I did nothing, and the secret just got bigger and uglier. Then they found out on their own and it was awful. They may never speak to me again — all because I didn’t do something about my mistake before it was too late. It’s not too late for you. You can still do something about this. You can still help us salvage Crush. You’re the best, right? You told us so yourself. So prove it. Be the best. Fix this.”

  Jason didn’t respond. He just sat there. He didn’t even seem to have heard her.

  Finally, Lucy stood and walked back down the path toward the cab that waited for her in the road. She hoped he’d stop her, but he didn’t.

  Lucy slid into the cab and whispered the Wonderland Avenue address to the driver. It was the loudest she could speak without bursting into tears. She’d been a fool to think she had a hope of talking him into coming back. She wasn’t Harper. She couldn’t talk people into things. She was just Lucy Gosling. No one ever listened to Lucy Gosling. And now, Crush was doomed because of it.

  INTERLUDE: Do Over

  “RISE AND SHINE, CRUSH!”

  Jason’s voice booming through Crush House startled Lucy so much that she actually fell out of bed. Or rather, off the sofa she’d crashed on after creeping into the house at 3:00 a.m. She’d planned to wait up for Harper so that they could try to sort out what to do next, but she must have fallen asleep.

  Now Jason Darrow was standing in the middle of their living room, a camera crew at his back, shouting at the top of his considerable voice.

  “OUT OF BED, NOW! WE’VE GOT WORK TO DO.”

  “What the f—” Harper cut herself off as she peered sleepily over the balcony that ran around the open second floor and saw the cameras. “What the hell, Jason? What are you doing here? It’s like … s
ix o’clock in the morning.”

  “You girls have a gig in Studio City in five hours and, as I hear it, you need some practice before we get you back on stage,” Jason shot back at her. “Get your butt down here, Harper. And the rest of you come with her.”

  Five minutes later, a very sleepy and very curious Crush was gathered on the living room sofas in front of Jason.

  What was he up to? Lucy wondered. She shot a covert glance at Toni, who was sitting as far from Jason as possible, her face sickly pale.

  “Now, ladies,” Jason said. “I realize that it’s been a terrible couple of weeks. I’ve been … distracted by some personal issues, and I’ve let you down.”

  He swallowed hard, and Lucy wondered if the others could see how nervous he really was. But then, just like that, the flash of emotion was gone.

  “You have every right to get me fired,” he continued, “but I’m hoping that you won’t. I may have made a mess of things, but I’m still the best Catch-22 has to offer. And I think we all know Crush needs a miracle. I can give you one, if you’re willing to accept it.”

  He was looking at Toni now, hope and sorrow and fear in his eyes. “Will you let me give you your miracle?”

  Lucy held her breath and waited for Toni to speak. Jason might have addressed the question to all of them, but everyone knew it was really Toni’s to answer.

  Finally, Toni nodded. Just once, but it was enough.

  “All right then, you ladies better wake up quick, because your miracle isn’t going to wait for you to have a nice, restful morning,” Jason declared.

  “A midday gig on a Wednesday doesn’t sound like much of a miracle,” Harper said.

  “It does when it’s The Eva Show and Eva St. Marie herself is naming Crush the new face of Young Women International, which is only the most visible international women’s charity in the world.”

  “WHAT?!” Robyn cried. “We’re going to be on The Eva Show? No way. No way. We’re going to —”