by Grace James
I nodded. “Yeah. Just now.”
Talk about timing.
“Fuck me,” Blake breathed as his eyes came to rest on Hayley’s artwork. “That’s…incredible.” The muscles in his jaw bunched as he took in the image of his cousin whaling on the drums.
“It’s quite something,” Aiden agreed quietly. For a few moments, no one said anything else, until Aiden clapped Blake on the shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze. Then he turned back to Harvey and I, all business again. “We should explain what we’d like to happen here.”
6
I busied myself behind the bar, opening beer bottles and sliding them across the polished surface to Aiden and Blake who, along with Harvey, had moved to sit on the bar stools.
When everyone had a drink, I opened one for myself and leant against the back of the bar, near the cash register, as far away from Blake as I could get. I didn’t even care if it was obvious – which his knowing look told me it was.
I looked away from him and took a long drink from the beer bottle in my hand, wishing it was something stronger.
“Derren wants to talk to you,” Hayley said to Blake as she re-joined us and handed him the phone.
Blake just grinned and tapped the screen, before placing the phone on the bar. “Hey, D. You’re on speaker.”
There was a beat of silence, and then Derren’s pissed off voice sounded down the line. “What the fuck’s goin’ on over there?!”
“Just planning a gig, man,” Blake said mildly.
“The fuck you are! What part of the word VACATION don’t you understand? Danny and Kane aren’t even in the country! What the fuck’re you thinkin’?!”
Blake’s grin widened. “Don’t worry. Said I want to play a show here. Never said anything about the rest of you. Play or don’t, it’s up to you.”
There was silence from the phone.
Harvey gasped. “Are – is this – are you breaking up the band?” His voice held the plaintive note of a child who’s just been told he’s on the Naughty List this Christmas.
“What the FUCK?!” Derren yelled.
Blake burst into laughter, and even Aiden snorted with barely suppressed amusement.
Hayley shot them a death glare. “You need to explain. Now.”
Blake shot me a wink, like I was in on the joke.
Which I absolutely was NOT.
“Okay,” he started, after he’d taken a sip of his beer. “It’s like this: I wanna do an acoustic set and I want it to be one of those ‘surprise gigs’, y’know? Like Guns n’ Roses did in Hollywood, or like the Stones did in Toronto. We’re gonna announce it last minute, make it so it’s just for local fans – Vegas fans. First come first served.”
“We’re going to film it,” Aiden threw in. “We’ll put the videos online and give them away as bonus downloads with the next album.”
There was a long moment of silence, and then Derren said, “You thinkin’ I could do a couple songs on the cajón?”
I frowned in confusion at Hayley, who mouthed “Drum thingy,” at me.
I thought for a second, then drew a box in the air with my fingers, simultaneously raising my eyebrows in a question.
She nodded.
I heard a gravelly chuckle and looked over at Blake, who was watching us with an amused expression on his face. “Up to you, D,” he said towards the phone. “Bring your acoustic and double up, do some percussion, back up the vocals – whatever. This mean you’re in?”
“Ah, maybe…babe, what d’you think? I know I said I wouldn’t work the whole break, but it’s just one show…”
Hayley rolled her eyes as Blake looked at her, smirking. “Fine,” she said on an exhale. “As long as I’m on the guest list.”
“You’re the best, babe.”
Blake nudged Aiden. “Told ya, man.”
Aiden nodded, conceding that.
Blake turned his attention back to me. “What do you think, Princess? You gonna let us play here?”
I knew it wasn’t a genuine question. It was designed to goad me. “Why do you even want to play here?” I blurted before I could stop myself.
I heard Harvey let out a startled “Eep” sound from where he sat, on the other side of Aiden, but I didn’t look his way.
Blake didn’t bat an eyelid at my blunt question. “Why wouldn’t I?” he asked, almost lazily.
“I don’t know. Couldn’t get in anywhere on the Strip?”
He barked a brief laugh. “Yeah, you know that’s not the case.”
“So, I ask again, why here?”
“Well…there’s a few reasons actually.” He eyed me up and down slowly, like I was a popsicle that he wanted to lick all over.
I felt a flush start to creep up my neck from embarrassment that he would look at me that way in front of everyone – or at all. It had nothing at all to do with the fact that I knew exactly what it felt like to have his talented tongue all over me…
Stop it! Get a grip.
I looked away and saw Aiden frowning and shaking his head slightly as he glanced between Blake and me. When he caught me looking at him, he cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention his way. “Let me explain. We want this show to take place somewhere normal. Somewhere Sons of Sinners would have performed before they were as successful as they are now. Somewhere the local fans will identify with.”
“So you want Blake to look like he’s just a regular Joe, not an arrogant attention seeker with an over inflated ego?” I asked.
Harvey let out his “Eep” sound again.
“Oh-ho! Buuuurn!” Derren exclaimed down the phone, before breaking into a loud laugh.
Hayley snickered behind her beer bottle.
“Ouch,” Blake said overdramatically, making a big show of smacking his hand over his heart like I’d wounded him.
Aiden just smiled thinly. “Exactly. As I’m sure you’re aware, we have some bad press that we’d like to offset as soon as possible.”
At the mention of ‘bad press’, Blake stiffened, the humor dropping from his face.
I figured I knew why. I’d seen the headlines a couple of days ago: “He put me through hell!” – Eva Merchant speaks out! The underwear model tells all about her relationship with “abusive” and “aggressive” bad boy of rock, Blake Maxwell.
The headline had screamed at me from the magazine rack in the corner store that I had run into for a pack of gum on my way to work.
Underneath the headline there was a picture of his ex, Eva Merchant, on a beach. She looked innocent and heartbroken, wearing a pure white dress with her golden hair tied into a virginal braid that hung over one shoulder.
Jammed alongside her picture was a shot of Blake rolling out of a club, laughing uproariously. His arm was slung around a trashy-looking brunette whose skirt was so short that it barely covered her ass; her top was literally a piece of fabric wrapped around her huge fake boobs.
Next to Eva Merchant’s cleverly staged pictures, Blake looked like the devil.
“Did you read it?” Blake asked me.
“It’s hard to avoid the headlines, but I didn’t read the article,” I said honestly. I never read about him if I could help it – I said I’d moved on, I didn’t say I was a glutton for punishment.
“It’s bullshit,” he said gruffly.
I already knew that. I hadn’t believed Eva Merchant’s claims for a second. Blake was a lot of things, but ‘abusive’ towards women was not one of them. I didn’t tell him that, though, I just shrugged like I couldn’t care less.
He snorted and shook his head, glancing away, and I could tell my casual dismissal bothered him.
I couldn’t help the feeling of satisfaction I got from that.
“So, that’s it?” I asked, keeping my voice flippant. “Three years pretending Las Vegas doesn’t exist and you come back just because your ex sells a trash piece on you?”
“No, that’s not the only reason why,” he said, looking back at me. “It was just time.”
�
�…time?”
“Yeah.”
I just looked at him. I wasn’t sure exactly what I had expected him to say, but I’d definitely wanted more than that non-answer.
“Anyway,” Aiden cut in, his tone brusque and a little impatient. “Blake doing an intimate gig back in his hometown, at a real rock venue, with none of the usual glamour – that would appeal to Sons’ fans. I’m talking about the genuine fans, of course. The ones who love the music. That’s why we’re here, Amy. So, can you help us?”
I almost said ‘no’.
For about half a second, it was on the tip of my tongue.
But then I glanced at Harvey and saw that he was pulling at his beard in anxiety, his eyes pleading, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Plus, I couldn’t deny what having Blake perform here would do for The Academy. Really, it was the opportunity of a lifetime. It would generate a hell of a lot of business. Bands that would otherwise consider themselves too ‘big’ for a venue like ours would undoubtedly agree to a gig, just to say they had played on the same stage as Blake Maxwell. And that was before you even considered all the customers who would visit for the exact same reason.
I sucked in a resigned breath and looked back at Aiden. “When would you like the show to take place?”
“Tonight.”
I couldn’t hide my shock. “Tonight?!”
“The Merchant story broke two days ago,” Aiden explained. “This show needs to take place ASAP. We need to redirect the media focus –”
“That a problem, Princess?” Blake interrupted.
“No!” Harvey said, shooting me a look. “No problem. Right, Amy?”
I could tell that he thought that I was about to blow this for him, but he had no idea what organizing a show like that would entail. The security measures alone would be way beyond anything we had orchestrated before.
It was as if Aiden read my mind; he offered me another thin smile as he said, “If you agree, there’s actually very little for you to do aside from organize your own staff. Our people will manage security, lighting, sound – everything other than the running of the bar, which I’m sure you can cope with.”
Wow. Someone really grew into his role as Condescending Jackass.
I gritted my teeth, trying not to snarl at the men who were offering more free publicity for our venue in one night than we could ever hope to achieve in a lifetime.
But then I made the mistake of glancing back at Blake, who was watching me with that shit eating smirk plastered across his unfairly handsome face, and – well, that was it.
“Great,” I cooed with mock sweetness; the sarcasm in my tone was biting. “Well, in that case, I should go ‘cope with’ my bar staff situation. By all means, bring in your ‘people’ and take over the place while I’m gone.”
Without another look their way, I stalked from the room.
7
When Hayley walked into my office – about three seconds after I did – I was sitting on the couch in the corner with my head between my legs, trying not to throw up all over my Converse.
“You okay, Care Bear?” she asked gently.
I looked up and shot her a glare, but she just offered me a small smile. She knew I hated that ridiculous nickname, and I was pretty sure that was the main reason she still used it: comedy value.
I blew out a breath. “Yes. No. I don’t know…I just…I wasn’t prepared for this…”
“I know,” she said sympathetically as she came to sit down beside me. “And I hate to say it, but taking you off guard was probably his intention.”
“Oh, I’m sure it was.” I met her gaze. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to him.”
“What do you want to say to him?”
Nothing.
Everything.
I want to ask him why he performed the emotional equivalent of levelling a shotgun at my heart and pulling the trigger.
I shook my head, at a loss.
“Well, you know you don’t have to do this, right? You could just tell him to leave.”
I snorted. “Could you imagine how devastated Harvey would be?”
She pursed her lips, and I could tell she was trying not to smile. “He’d throw a fit, but he’d get over it…eventually…maybe.”
“I think you’re underestimating how much he loves Sons,” I said dryly. “And I’m pretty sure he has a man-crush on Blake. If I sent them away, he’d probably lock me inside this place and burn it to the ground.”
Hayley fixed me with a look. “So, your life depends on putting on this show. It’s a life or death situation. Is that what you’re telling me?”
I let out a little laugh despite myself. “No…”
“Then screw what Harvey thinks.”
“It’s not just that,” I told her. “It’s the publicity, too.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I’m not gonna deny it would be good for the venue…and, look, you and Blake are going to have to see each other at the wedding anyway. At least this way you’ve already gotten the worst part out of the way before then.”
That was a good point.
I took a deep breath in through my nose. “You’re right.” Another breath. “I can do this.”
Because, the wedding and Harvey and the free publicity aside, there was no way I wanted Blake to know that he still had enough of an effect on me that I couldn’t even spend a few hours in the same building as him without going to pieces.
I would not give him that satisfaction.
8
I called up my entire bar staff, both those who were scheduled to work that night and those who weren’t, and told them they needed to come in. I didn’t want to risk news of the show being leaked on social media before it was officially announced – I figured Aiden would probably sue me if that happened – so I kept it cryptic, just telling them that if they didn’t want to miss the show of a lifetime, they’d better haul ass.
Then I called the lead guitarist for Serotonin, the band that I had originally booked to play that night, and made arrangements to re-schedule their show. He was pissed, understandably, because I couldn’t explain exactly why I had to cancel – but I did partly smooth it over by telling him that it would all become clear very soon if he kept checking The Academy website.
When I emerged back into the main room, with Hayley in tow, Blake was still sitting at the bar, only now he was holding a black sharpie.
“Amy!” Harvey called excitedly as soon as he caught sight of me. “Blake signed the bar in permanent ink. We need to spray some lacquer over that before some drunken asshole scratches it with their beer bottle.”
“Well, I’m sure we have a can around here somewhere,” I said as I reached them. “Our bar staff are heading in, by the way,” I said to the room in general.
“Perfect,” Aiden said, glancing up from his iPad. “Our people should be arriving any minute, too. Soon, we’ll announce the show online and then this whole place will be on lockdown until the doors open properly. There’s going to be a lot of excited people out there and we need to keep it secure.”
As if to punctuate his point, a host of security guys chose that moment to walk through the main doors of the venue.
“I’ll get my paint out of the way,” Hayley said, moving away to pack up her art supplies.
I watched from behind the bar as Aiden conversed with a huge guy who appeared to be in charge of the little army. Moments later, he called Harvey over to ask him some questions about accessibility to the venue, while the security guards were disbanded to ‘survey the perimeter’ or ‘check for crazies’ or whatever it was they did.
“They’re a little paranoid,” Blake said, drawing my attention back to him.
“Why? Did someone try to assassinate you or something?” I snarked.
He lent forwards conspiratorially. “Yeah, but it was just one time.”
I double blinked. “What? Really?!”
He chuckled. “Nah, but it’s nice to know you still give a crap.”
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I rolled my eyes at him before turning away and starting to put some glasses away that had just been washed, stacking them on the shelves behind the bar…but I could feel him watching me the whole time.
I really tried not to glance back at him, but I couldn’t help it.
When our eyes met, his lips curved into a small smile. It wasn’t the cocky smirk he’d been wearing since he walked through the door either. It was his real smile. The one that Young and Stupid Amy fell in love with.
My stomach dropped through the floor –
The gruff shout of one of the security guards saved me from the moment. “Aiden, we got all exits manned and all persons accounted for.”
I pulled my eyes away from Blake and saw Aiden nodding before issuing another set of instructions.
And then something occurred to me.
I looked accusingly back at Blake. “How come all your security people got here so fast?” I demanded. “We only just agreed to this show. Did you just assume that we’d do it?”
He looked faintly amused. “Well, yeah. You’d have to have shit for brains not to agree to this.”
I snorted and shook my head at his arrogance, but before I could think up a response, we were interrupted again by the arrival of more minions.
Sound technicians. A film crew. Roadies. Yes roadies – for a couple of guitars, microphones and mic stands. I mean, really? I could’ve set that up.
All of them immediately deferred to Aiden, who delivered commands like an emperor ruling a little kingdom. Harvey was like his advisor, called upon whenever anyone needed to know something about the building or the stage set up.
Blake was left pretty much unbothered at the bar, almost like he was irrelevant, which was bizarre considering that all of this activity was because of him.
“You want me to show you to your dressing room?” I asked, thinking that if I could tuck him away in there and not have to look at him anymore, maybe I could pull myself together and stop stacking freaking glasses – which wasn’t usually part of my job. I was only doing it because I had no idea what else to do with my hands, aside from chew the nails down to bloody nubs.
