by Lily LaVae
He opened his closet and grabbed his laundry bag. It was time to send Eloise on some chores and get her out of his hair—and thoughts—for a while. The DBA had done their job. They had found him a perfect match, almost too perfect. He was becoming attached to her. He didn’t know how to deal with his own mush and emotion. No one had gotten to him like Eloise.
Outside of his room, he heard her giggle and he froze with his hand on the door. That was the first he’d ever heard it and he had to know who had made it happen and why. He slowly opened his door. Kent sat on the couch, his arm leisurely around Eloise. She sat, relaxed, next to him. Why was she so relaxed with Kent, the one who reminded her of her brother?
“Remember that time I took you down to the arcade to find Jordan? You were such a sweet kid. What happened?”
Eloise fidgeted with her hands for a moment then brushed her hair behind her ear. “I grew up. Fast.” Her voice was so quiet, he almost didn’t hear her.
“I’m sorry. Anything I can do to help?” Kent pulled her closer and Morgan squeezed the handle of the laundry bag until his knuckles ached.
“No. I’ve been seeing a therapist, but that’s done. I answered Morgan’s ad and now I have a new chance. I’m not going to blow this. If I can do this, maybe I can have a life worth living.”
Kent leaned over and kissed her temple. “You’ve got this, kid.”
Morgan strode forward, he’d seen enough. “Eloise, here’s my laundry. I’ll need it done before we head out. Be sure to read labels. Shouldn’t take you more than a couple hours.” He thrust the sack out and held it in front of her.
She stared at it for a minute then glanced up him. “Laundry? Do you have money for the laundromat or what?” She didn’t move as he wanted her to. She needed to get out of Kent’s arms no matter how brotherly Kent was acting.
“There’s a couple rolls of quarters in the bag and the soap I prefer too.” He hated growling at her, but her coziness with his base player made him furious.
Kent moved his arm and his sigh was almost a challenge. Eloise stood and took the bag from him. “I’ll be back after a while.”
“Take your time.” He meant it too. He needed space and time to think. Yet, he couldn’t stop himself from watching her little jean clad ass as she walked out of the trailer.
“What the hell is the matter with you?” Kent leaned forward and rested against his knees.
“I can’t concentrate with her around. I start thinking about my past. I left all that behind.” It was a lie, but Kent didn’t need to know everything about him. He certainly hadn’t mentioned he’d gotten so close to Amanda.
“That’s a past you fought for when we started. You didn’t want to change your name because you’d worked so hard in all those bars, and thought those people would be your first fans. Then, when you started raking in the royalties, you said you never wanted to go back.”
“Those people wouldn’t even know me anymore.” He didn’t really want them to. He wasn’t anything like who’d he’d been and while his persona worked well on the road, back home, he would be just another asshole.
“Maybe. Have you ever thought of doing one of those old songs in a set? Maybe when we head home next week?” Kent tilted his head as he stared at the ceiling, pensive. “It might be fun.”
It might also attract Eloise’s brother, which he’d promised he wouldn’t do. “I don’t know. That was so long ago and most of what we did was covers. I can’t do covers anymore.” In fact, if he did, he’d probably get in a world of trouble that he didn’t need. It wouldn’t matter that it might bring an old star a new lease on some cash. It would only matter that he’d done their song.
“True, but we do have one original.”
He stuck his hand up, cutting off his friend. “No. I won’t sing that song.” He’d written it to impress his mother, who had never been impressed by anything he’d ever done. Not even now. She never called—didn’t even try to make contact. That song was a wound that didn’t need to be reopened.
“If having her around bothers you so bad, fire her. Leave her here. We’ve managed without an assistant before and we can do it again. Or, you can hire Amanda back.”
Never. He didn’t even know how to contact her directly. “Or, if you want her around so bad, you can ask her to come along as your groupie.”
“Maybe I will. Might keep things interesting.”
There was no way he wanted Amanda around any longer. “If she makes things too interesting, she’ll be going home.”
“Not if I’m the one paying her way.” He remained seated, but his shoulders rolled as they bunched with tension.
“Then maybe I should just say ‘no’ right here and now.”
“You think you can just control everything, but there are some things in life you can’t—like me. I’m just as much a part of this band as you, and without me, you don’t play.”
While that was true in the short term, there were always musicians looking for their big break. “You go right on believing that. In the meantime, get out of my trailer.”
Kent stood and headed for the door. He paused and glanced over his shoulder. “If seeing Eloise forces you to think about your past, maybe it’s time to face it.”
Trouble was, he didn’t want to face his past or get rid of Eloise.
8
It had taken her two blocks of walking, well, stomping really, to remember she hadn’t driven there in her own car. She couldn’t just drive to a laundromat and come back. She’d have to ask Morgan’s driver, who must follow the bus everywhere. If he hadn’t been waiting around Dallas for her, he may have gone home for his short break. Wherever home was.
A small suburb of Nashville had been where they’d all grown up, but if she remembered right, Morgan’s mom was a drunk and he’d been famous for a long time. She’d have heard about it if anyone actually knew who he was. She wandered over to the staff caravan and looked for the driver who’d brought her and Morgan from the DBA.
After only a short search, she found him. The tall, lanky man looked more like a model than a driver.
“Excuse me, Morgan asked that I get his clothes washed. Can you drive me to the nearest laundromat?”
He rolled his eyes at her. “They don’t pay me to drive you around. I’ll call you an uber.” He turned away from her and shared a laugh with the guys standing around. Apparently, she’d made a faux pas. She’d have to get her cell phone and just do things on her own from here on out. She also should’ve gotten Morgan’s cell phone number, in case anything happened. It hadn’t come up and she hadn’t thought about it.
The driver turned back to her. “He’ll be here in about twenty. Meet you at the front bus.”
She’d have to walk all the way back where she’d started from and with her luck, she’d run into Morgan. He’d wonder why the hell she hadn’t even started yet and she’d have to explain it all. It was beginning to be perfectly clear that she wasn’t cut out to be his assistant. While she may have the qualities he was looking for—whatever those were—they weren’t the qualities of a good assistant.
While she waited near the front of the bus, Kent came storming out. As soon as he saw her, he tried to smile at her, but he was angry.
“You waiting on something?” He leaned against the bus next to her.
“Yeah, I didn’t know I was supposed to call a cab. Found out my error from Morgan’s driver.”
“Yeah.” Kent glanced at the ground. “He can be a bit full of himself.” He paused for a minute. “I just wanted to warn you. Morgan never keeps his assistants long. And you remind him of some things he’d rather forget. It isn’t you or the job you do.”
He was already thinking of getting rid of her? But he hadn’t made a stipulation like that in the contract, only if she left. Her heart beat faster. What would she do if he fired her while they were on the road, and she couldn’t afford to get back home? He wouldn’t have to pay her anything if that happened.
“Are you saying I sho
uld leave while the leaving is easy?”
“I’m not telling you what to do. It’s your life. Morgan tries to stop everyone from living but himself. He’s selfish—the only one who matters.”
Then why did he keep trying to find out about her? It could all be an act to get her to sleep with him, but it could also be that he wasn’t as self-serving as everyone thought. “All I know is I have to do his laundry right now, but I think I’ll have the driver take me home. I can do it there without spending money and I can think for a little while.”
He leaned over and pinched her arm. “I’m pulling for you. I don’t want to see you get hurt and the longer you stay around Morgan, the bigger the chance of that happening.”
Maybe Kent was right. Maybe the money wasn’t worth it. Especially if she lost herself and then he fired her anyway hundreds of miles from home.
The uber driver pulled up and waved. She hoisted the bag over her shoulder and nodded a goodbye to Kent. He didn’t act like a star. Why couldn’t Morgan act the same? He would be easy to get along with for a year if he did. Course, then he wouldn’t be Morgan. Kent was safe because she’d known him as a child and as long as he didn’t try to get in contact with Jordan, things would be fine. Kent also wasn’t Morgan and didn’t make her heart race and her palms sweaty. He didn’t make her think of forgetting her promise to never sleep with another man, either.
“Where to?” The driver pulled up an app on his phone. “Your call in didn’t give directions.”
She gave him the address to her apartment. “Did he give you payment, by any chance?” She hoped they did, because she’d never used uber before and had no money on her except the quarters for the laundry.
“Sorry, you can’t pay ahead. It doesn’t work that way.” Her driver stared at her in the mirror and waited for confirmation that he should go.
“I’ll have to run up to my apartment and get payment when we get there.”
He nodded despite his frown. If she’d been in his position, she’d feel the same way. He turned on his signal and slid into traffic. The farther from Morgan’s bus she got, the more the tension she’d been feeling eased. Morgan made her nervous. He made her a lot of other things, too, but nervous was a big one.
The driver pulled up in front of her apartment. She handed him the two rolls of quarters and climbed out. “Just wait here with that. I’ll come back down in just a minute.”
He laughed at her, but it was better than what she’d expected. Everyone seemed to release their anger on her lately. Once she’d returned with her spare bank card, he happily waved and drove off, leaving her to her apartment and Morgan’s laundry.
She hadn’t done the wash for a grown man since she’d lived at home and her older brother would come home from college. He was quite a bit older than her, but she’d done laundry even from an early age. While she tossed his clothes in the washer, she went to her room and picked up all her old clothes. She hadn’t been back there since that day she’d applied at the DBA. When she’d paid ahead on her rent, she hadn’t come back to her place. She’d lived at the DBA apartments since she’d had to go through extensive and fast “training.” Morgan had been chosen for her almost right away, but they wouldn’t let her leave until she’d completed their courses. Everything had happened so quickly, she hardly remembered anything.
A white scrap of paper in the midst of her piles of clothing caught her eye. She picked it up and turned it over. It was Ed’s business card. Kent’s warning hadn’t fallen on deaf ears. Ed was about the only person she trusted. If she ever found herself stranded, she could call him to come and get her. He owed her that much after dropping her. Though, she had to admit, he’d been right in some ways. Just being with Morgan had done wonders for her. She had changed her attitude when one year of good behavior was all that stood between her and freedom. She slid the card and her cell phone charger into the laundry bag. She’d left so quickly, she’d forgotten her purse back at the bus.
Once Morgan’s clothes were washed and folded, she grabbed her spare keys off the wall and locked up her apartment. The air had cooled considerably while she’d been inside and an idea came to her as she slid behind the wheel of her car. She would tell Morgan that she’d follow his bus, that she’d sleep in her own car. She didn’t need to be under his feet or in his way. That would save everything. If she was only around him during work, he wouldn’t have long enough to be reminded of his past and she wouldn’t have to remind him to keep his hands to himself. It would save everyone. Then, after a year, she could leave and they would both be happy.
She turned the ignition on her car, and glanced at the clock. Crap. She’d taken a lot longer than she’d planned since she only had one washer. Hours had passed with the special care items he’d had. It was now well past supper and Morgan might be wondering where she was, or not. It seemed, where she was concerned, it all depended on his mood.
“Where the hell is Eloise?” Morgan stormed around the parking lot where all his buses and staff were parked, searching for anyone who may have seen her. She’d left hours before and if she ‘d gone to the laundromat where he’d told her to go, it would’ve taken her a couple hours at most to do everything.
His driver looked suspiciously smug and Morgan took that to mean he knew something. “Why the hell aren’t you with my assistant?”
The young man scoffed. “That isn’t my job. I drive you around—not someone on my pay grade. I called her an uber.”
He wouldn’t have a pay grade at all if he didn’t cut the crap. “And just how did you expect her to pay for that? She doesn’t have a car here. You never had a problem toting around my other assistants…”
He shrugged as if he couldn’t care less and he probably couldn’t.
This life was tiring him out. “If you can’t do your job, then get the hell out. It’s not like finding someone willing to drive me around would be that hard. Maybe I’ll just call an uber whenever I need.” His driver rolled his eyes again and that was it. He was ready to punch him in his smug little face.
The sound of a car door slamming interrupted his driver’s immediate removal from his crew. He turned to see who it might be. Behind him, Eloise opened the back door of a car he’d never seen before and gently pulled his laundry bag out. Even in the twilight, she was easy to spot. She didn’t smile at him, nor did she look particularly happy to be there. But he sucked in a breath of relief.
He started toward her worry battling with frustration and needing an outlet. “Where the hell have you been?” He wanted to both throttle and kiss her. He had never worried about an assistant before.
She slammed the car door shut. “I had to pay the uber driver using the coins you gave me, so I had him bring me home to do your laundry. Here.” She dug in the bottom and grabbed a few things then shoved it at him.
He didn’t want to hear excuses, he wanted her to know just how terrified he’d been that something had happened to her. His blood was still pumping hot after worrying about her. “Go put it away.”
She cocked her head back. “Excuse me? I’m not your maid.”
He wanted her in the bus, now, so he could discuss with her how he felt in private. Not in front of his entire crew. “No, I don’t have one of those. Need I remind you of just how much more money you’re earning than the average assistant?”
She huffed off toward his trailer, but at least she was safe. When three hours had passed and she hadn’t returned, he’d been sure she’d been attacked in some dark alley beside the laundromat and that his driver had left her there to die. He needed to stop downing so many energy drinks. His imagination got away from him.
As he filed past all the people he employed and they stared after him, he wondered if they could sense the difference between Eloise and the other assistants he’d had. Was he as obvious as he felt? His trailer seemed small and the walls thin as he strode all the way back to his room to confront her. He simply couldn’t stay away. She had to know the effect she had on him.
&nb
sp; Eloise knelt on the floor, putting away the folded clothes in his built-in dresser and closet.
“Eloise, come over here.” He waited for her to listen and hoped she didn’t argue with him. He didn’t want a fight. On the contrary. If she was going to give him the feeling of home that he’d been missing—without ever having to go back to Tennessee—he was going to hold tight for as long as the ride lasted.
She stood and joined him by the door. “Have a drink with me?” He thumbed behind him to the main room with the mini bar.
“I don’t drink—haven’t for almost two years and I have the job you gave me to finish, since you pay me so much.” She spoke as if afraid to speak loud enough for anyone but him to hear.
“Leave the clothes. I don’t care about them. I need to talk to you.” He couldn’t quite make himself say please. But he might just resort to begging if she didn’t let him in soon.
“I told you. I don’t drink,” she mumbled.
“Why not? Were you an alcoholic? Should I get rid of what I have?” What was he thinking? He’d never offered to throw out his bar, ever, but for her… He would do it.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just…I used to get crazy when I had too much. Now, I don’t do that.”
“I’m not asking you to get drunk with me.” Though he’d like to see her a little crazy. “Come on. We can talk a little bit over my captain.”
She laughed and rolled her eyes. At least she got his humor.
9
