Cowboy 12 Pack
Page 185
“I’m sorry for calling you a bitch, but the other word I want to use would be much, much worse,” he said, taking the handle of his shovel, so he could get back to work.
*
THURSDAY MORNING, LEIGH couldn’t contain her excitement as she yanked the stack of paper off of her printer and sat down behind her scarred wooden desk. What she had in her hands was her future, Jase’s contract with Cupid Records, which he would sign later that morning. This man was her ticket to launch her new business, to show Leo she wasn’t the biggest disappointment of his life. To prove to herself that he was wrong in so many ways.
Emotion built in her chest and tried to eclipse her happiness, but Leigh shoved it down into the box where she kept the other nastiness her father had dealt to her during their last meeting—hell, her entire life. She reminded herself that his opinion didn’t matter anymore, because like her mother said when Leigh told her about the meeting, she highly doubted she would ever talk to him again.
Some things couldn’t be forgiven, and Leo had gone for broke that day.
Determination filled her as she quickly scanned the first page of the contract, then slowly read each word in context through the rest of the contract. Clem said it was standard, but since he was Leo’s attorney too, she wasn’t taking any chances. She didn’t want to lock herself or Jase into something they’d have to have a bulldozer to get out of if the need arose. Leo liked to bury things beneath a mound of bullshit and convince everyone the weed that sprouted was really a rose. Leigh was not going to do business like that.
She became so engrossed in reading, she didn’t hear the knock at her office door, until it turned into pounding, and her phone rang in tandem. Shooting up from her chair, Leigh ran for the door in the outer office. Her hand shook and her heart pounded as loud as that fist had, as she flipped the lock then twisted the knob. Pasting on a smile to hide her nervousness, she opened the door.
A woodsy scent wafted to her nose and her breath locked in her chest, as the snazzily dressed cowboy in the black, floral-embroidered western dress shirt and black felt hat walked past her into her office. Her eyes fell to his round ass, adoringly cupped by the just-tight-enough Wrangler jeans he wore, and all the moisture in her body flooded south. When he turned and caught her staring, he grinned, and Leigh’s mouth flapped, but she couldn’t squeeze a word out her mouth.
“Cat got your tongue, beautiful?” Jase drawled, and the sexy rumble tickled her insides. His eyes lit fires down her body to her toes, before he dragged them back to hers. “Or am I overdressed?” he asked, tucking his thumbs into his pockets country boy style, highlighting the bulge behind his zipper. A bulge she knew very well was not exaggerated by those jeans. A thrill crept through her, remembering. “It’s not every day a man signs his life away. I didn’t know who all would be here.”
“No—you’re perfect,” she mouthed, with barely a sound enforcing her words. Standing before her Leigh saw a man on the verge of superstardom, and she felt honored to be allowed to hang onto the tail of his comet. She cleared the knot from her throat and gathered her senses. “But you should come with a warning label, honey. If you wear that to a performance, some woman is going to have a coronary.” Leigh felt like she was about to be that woman her heart was beating so hard in her chest.
Looking at him now, Leigh also felt like the sun hadn’t been out in two weeks. Like she’d been living in a gray, colorless world until he walked through her office door. Until that moment, she hadn’t realized how much she had missed being around him, being with him, having him by her side to talk things out.
That needy feeling was totally foreign to her, and it scared her badly.
Leaning back, Jase glanced into her office door, then let his eyes roam around the small outer room. “Needs a good cleaning, but it works,” he said with a smile that punched her in the gut. “I’m always looking for extra income, so I’ll do that for a fee.”
“In about six months you won’t be needing extra income, Jase,” Leigh replied. If it took that long. Leigh was going to do everything in her power to shorten that time. “My phone has been ringing off the hook about you. New stations are signing up to play Bobby’s Song daily. I’ve had requests for interviews too.”
“You should do them. Might help you find more artists,” Jase said, his eyes hard, although he was still smiling.
“Interviews for you, Jase,” she corrected with a smile. “Those folks couldn’t give a rat’s ass about me. They want you.”
“I wonder why?” he asked cryptically. “Any dumb country boy can sing a song as long as he looks good, isn’t that right, baby? It takes brains and money behind him to make him successful though. And a rube to write the song. You’re the brains and money, right? I wonder who the rube is?” He slapped the side of his jaw. “Oh, yeah, I guess that would be me, right?” His harsh, dry laugh sliced through her like razorwire.
Leigh’s eyebrows puckered as she tried to decipher his snarky remarks, and his strange mood, and couldn’t. Her nervousness returned tenfold. Something was up with Jase, he just wasn’t himself. She hoped like hell he wasn’t here to tell her he’d changed his mind. She wasn’t going to give him that chance. “You want some coffee? I just made my second pot,” Leigh offered, as she turned toward her office, where the contract lay on her desk, but Jase grabbed her arm, and he jerked her back around.
His hand clamped on her throat and his eyes were black fire when they met hers. “How much did Lawson pay you?” he growled, scaring her a little.
Leigh grabbed his wrist, and swallowed hard. “What are you talking about?” she croaked, trying, but failing, to remove his fingers from her throat.
“How. Much. Did. He. Pay. You. To. Fuck. Me? Or was that Leo? I want to know exactly how much a good fucking is worth these days.”
Leigh’s eyes filled, and her fingers clawed at his wrist. “You’re choking me,” she whimpered, and felt a hot tear track down her cold cheek.
Jase’s eyebrows raised. He looked shocked and his fingers loosened and his hand fell away. “I’m sorry,” he grated, his hand shaking as he took his hat off to shove it through his hair. He slammed the hat back on his head and frowned. “I’m leaving, before I end up in jail. My attorney will be in touch, but I’m sure that won’t get me anywhere. You’re too slick a thief. You sure had me fooled.”
“Jase, please tell me what this is about,” Leigh pleaded, following him to the door.
He grabbed the knob, his chin dropped to his chest and he just breathed for a second. “I heard Thief In The Night on the radio this morning, and it wasn’t me singing it. You double-crossed me, and Bobby isn’t editing the song—you fucking sold me out,” he said, then violently twisted the door knob. “I hope you’re happy, Leigh.”
Anger replaced her fear, and Leigh rolled around him to put her back on the door so he couldn’t open it. Forcing calm into her tone, she said, “I did not sell you out, Sutter, and I’m very insulted you think I did. That’s something Leo would pull and that’s the reason I left Hearts Afire.”
“You left because he fired you. Probably for doing shit like you did to me,” Jase ground out.
“Bobby is working on editing your song, but if someone else has the rights to it, we can’t release it. If they don’t have the rights, we can stop them. Where are your copyright papers?” she asked.
His eyes jerked to her eyes. “What copyright papers? I sent a copy to myself in the mail, and it’s unopened. Poor man’s copyright is all I could afford.”
“That’s a start, but not enough. I don’t think that’s legal these days.”
“And you would know that, wouldn’t you? That’s something you’d need to know to sell my song out from under me, even after I told you it was special to me.” The hurt in his eyes, misery in his voice ripped her heart from her chest.
Leigh put her hand on his forearm. “I didn’t and wouldn’t do that to you, Jase. I swear. It wasn’t me.”
“You can swear on your father�
��s grave then, because I’m going to kill him,” Jase replied darkly, and the look in his eyes left no doubt he could do it right then.
“I don’t think it was Leo this time either. I didn’t even have the opportunity to pitch it to him the day he fired me. If Lawson released it, he’s with Glen Parsons and Twang. I would bet it was them.”
He sucked in a sharp breath, and a muscle worked at his jawline. He stared at her a moment then released the doorknob to stand upright. “That motherfucker,” Jase hissed, through pinched lips.
“You signed something with him, right?” Leigh asked, pressing her point.
“I signed a contract for Glen to represent me, yeah. I didn’t sign anything that said he could sell my song. I told him just like I told you that song is not for sale for anyone else to sing it.”
“Did he give you any money?” Leigh asked.
“Five hundred bucks,” Jase replied.
“Then he bought your song. I’d just about bet that was what the check was for. Agents don’t pay their clients, it’s the other way around, but if he was including the rights to that song in the contract, then it wouldn’t be valid without some kind of compensation. I’ve heard he’s done that to songwriters before.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?!?” Jase demanded.
“I told you Glen Parsons was bad news, but you’d already signed with him. That’s why I insisted you break that contract if we were going to work together.”
“Man, I really am a dumbass,” Jase said with a moan.
“No, you’re not. You trusted someone who was looking to take advantage of you.”
“Everyone in this damned business is like that. I’ve never met so many dishonest people in my damned life,” he said with a heavy sigh. “I think the best thing I can do is dust off my degree and find a desk job somewhere. This is too much.”
“It’s not too much for someone who really wants it,” Leigh challenged.
Jase grabbed the doorknob again. “I want it, but I’m not willing to swim in a pool of sharks. I just want to fucking sing, and I guess I’ll be doing that in the shower from now on. It’s safer.”
“You can’t just belly-up, Jase. He’ll make millions off of that song, and you’ll have a whopping five hundred bucks to show for it.”
“That’s five hundred more than I had the day before I walked into that bastard’s office, and I’m just done with this whole thing.” He pulled the door open. “If Bobby’s song makes anything, y’all keep it.”
Leigh’s heart sank to her toes. “I don’t want you to give up, but if we make a dime, at least a third of it is yours. Will you do me a favor to humor me?”
“What?” he asked, as he stepped outside and turned back to her.
“Fax me a copy of that contract you signed with Glen,” Leigh said. “I’ll text you the number.” Jase might not want to fight, but Leigh was going to do it for him.
Glen Parsons and Wade Lawson had not only stolen that song from him, they’d stolen a good man’s future, his hopes and dreams. The way he looked right now, they’d stolen his soul too. Leigh might not make her mark in the business as a producer now, but before this was done, hers would be a name they wouldn’t forget. Hers or Jase’s. Even if it took every penny she had left, and a hefty mortgage on her house, those bastards would pay for the dirty dealings.
“Fine, I’ll do that,” he replied. Stepping off the curb he got into his truck without a backward glance. The same dusty old black pickup with the white tailgate he’d driven to her house in his underwear to break up with her.
It really hurt this time though, because the man breaking up with her had somehow managed to worm his way inside of her heart. It ached for him, and the lost possibilities for them both.
Chapter Nine
‡
A WEEK LATER, Leigh growled as she slammed the phone down on her desk, and picked up her cell phone to text Jase again. He wasn’t answering her calls, or texts. And he hadn’t faxed that contract to her. How in the hell did he expect her to help him?
She picked up her cell phone and typed an angry text to him, but paused before she hit enter. Maybe if she changed tactics he’d respond. I need to know if I need to cancel the appearance at the Houston Rodeo next weekend. It’s a three-thousand dollar job. Just so you know.
She sat her phone down and picked up the Dallas News again to reread the latest on Leo’s paternity case. The trial date for the decision was coming up soon. Two paragraphs into the article, her phone chimed and her heart skipped a beat. She grabbed the phone and scrolled to the new message.
Cancel it.
“Fuck me,” she said, with a huffed breath. Her thumbs flew over the keyboard to type a new message. At least I know you’re still alive. Send me the damned contract!
His reply came quickly. I’m alive and WORKING. Don’t have time for this shit.
Welcome to my world, asshole, she typed back, then held her breath watching the cursor blink. After three minutes, she sat the phone down again, and rested her head in her hands.
She picked the phone back up to type. Come to my house tonight to talk, and bring the contract.
Another quick response. Watching my mother tonight. Just leave me alone.
That’s what she needed to know, Leigh thought, with a smile. Jase would be pinned down and she’d have a captive audience for what she had to say to him. She needed that paperwork, and she needed him to file any kind of lawsuit. That’s what Clem said. A lawsuit filed by Leigh would probably get laughed out of court, because she’d never had his name on a contract with her.
She couldn’t claim a loss on something she never had. Then why the hell was she feeling the loss of not having Jase Sutter in her life even more than the loss she felt over her financial situation because she hadn’t signed him?
Leigh huffed out a breath, and ran her hands through her hair. She had to stop thinking about that and get something done to fix his terrible situation. Those barracudas had taken advantage of him in the worst way. She had the knowledge to help him, if he would just let her. Or better yet, help her and help himself.
Tonight, she was going to give convincing him to do that another try. One more try. Because he was worth it, even though he didn’t believe that himself. Jase had given up, because those bastards had whipped the determination, the fight, right out of him. It would be a travesty of the highest caliber if she allowed that to happen.
The phone on her desk rang, and Leigh snatched it up. “Cupid Records,” she said breathlessly, hoping against hope it would be Jase on the other end.
“Hi, Leigh, this is Clem Bowen. I had another thought to help with the copyright litigation…”
Her heart took a big slow thud in her chest. “Yeah? What’s that?” she asked.
“That attempt he made at copyrighting the song will help, but it’s weak. I told you we needed more. Didn’t you tell me you had a rough cut demo of the song he’d done right after it was written?”
“Yeah, I did,” she said bending to pull open the bottom desk drawer. Lifting a stack of papers, she found the clear, plastic CD case in the back of the drawer. “What about it?” she asked, opening the case.
“There is a write date on that CD. Pop it into your computer and see what it says on the audio file. And we need to get a written statement from the person who helped him record it. A deposition, if you will.”
A light bulb went off in her head and her hand shook as she lifted the shiny silver disc out of the case to shove it into her CD drive. God, why hadn’t she thought of that before? Adrenaline rushed through her veins as she tapped her mouse to wake up her computer. She found the file and the recording date was two years prior. “Hot damn, Clem, I think I want to kiss you.”
“What does it say?” he asked in his usual monotone.
“Two years ago,” she announced victoriously.
“If that date precedes anything they can produce as far as rights, we have an open and shut case. If your boy—um, artist—will sign a petit
ion, I’ll see about getting a judge to issue a cease and desist order, pending a trial. I’m warning you now, that trial is not going to be cheap. Twang swings a big stick. They have a dream team of attorneys on retainer.”
“I’m not worried about Twang. We need to go after Glen, first. That’s where it started. If we can take him out, that will prove he didn’t have the right to sell it to Twang. They have no case, right?”
“Point taken, and yes, that would be correct. People sue every day though, and often without basis. They have money and may still try.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Honestly, as hard as they are with their artists, signing and releasing them daily, Twang doesn’t do under the table business that I’ve seen. They have too much riding on keeping their noses clean to keep their big acts. In all likelihood if we win against Glen, they’ll throw him under the bus, and won’t want any part of copyright infringement. Their other artists would bail. They might even do that when they receive the cease and desist. More ammo against Glen.”
“You sure you don’t have a law degree?” Clem asked with a rusty laugh.
“I’m just a lowly marketing major, but I’ve been around the business long enough to pull a few teeth when I have to. And even though he doesn’t claim me these days, I am my father’s daughter.” This was the only time she had been thankful of that in her life.
“What happened with you and Leo,” Clem asked, his voice flat.
“Not going there or spreading rumors. As long as Leo keeps his mouth shut and doesn’t defame me, I’ll return the favor. We’ll keep our parting amicable.”
“Definitely missed your calling,” Clem said, and she imagined him scratching his bald head, like he usually did when he was frustrated. “Call me when you get that information and I’ll get things going.”
“Thanks, Clem.” Leigh hung up the phone and stared at the computer screen. The urge to text Jase and tell him the good news was so strong in her, she tasted the sweetness on her tongue, but Leigh knew it wouldn’t serve her purpose. Tonight, she wasn’t leaving Jase Sutter’s house until she beat some sense into his thick skull.