by Leanne Davis
“That’s it? Have you ever played for anyone besides yourself?”
“No.”
“Nobody? No friends? Distant relatives? Class members? Not even a parent?”
“No one that I know of. No one ever listened to me play. My parents might have heard me on occasion, but certainly not because they wanted to.”
Shit. How freaking cold. And strange. No one? Jody never heard anyone who had this particular experience before. “How did you know you were any good?”
He shrugged, tilting his head and staring outside. “I didn’t. You picked me, remember?”
Oh. Oh… she was surprised he’d say that. So he didn’t know how good he was? Zenith’s Promise opened his eyes to it? So now he assumed it? Why the odd attitude then? Puzzled to her core, she glanced his way before going back to navigating the busy traffic on the freeway.
“So, no playing with other band members?” Maybe he couldn’t. That was something to consider; perhaps common decency could either be mitigated or taught to him. Noted. Okay.
“I play with background music all the time. Using my sound system.”
Right. Not the same thing. “How did you learn how?”
“I heard what I liked and copied it.”
Something Jody never learned how to do, but not unusual amongst the folks she hung with and tried to promote. Musicians were always a unique lot to her and she found this particular client something truly special. No need to learn how to read music, some people could just listen and recreate the sounds.
“Well, you certainly caught Rob and Spencer’s attention.”
Finally. She said something that made him whip his head around to look at her. He stared long and quiet at her profile. Her hands grew clammy under his relentless scrutiny. Trying not to react, she narrowed her focus to driving.
“They actually heard me play?”
“Yes. They made the final decision. They heard you and you stuck out from the others. They even asked me about you this week.” She almost bit her tongue. No need to encourage more of his alpha-assholeness than she already witnessed. But there was also… what? No timidity about his own talent and a voiced assuredness… but he was certainly not comfortable with it. Strange. So strange. At least, she finally managed to draw a reaction from him. He finally showed some interest in what she thought was his whole purpose for coming to this city.
They fell into silence for the remainder of the drive. She didn’t even try to figure out the moody, new musician. Ugh. Disappointing. She doubted this would be a pleasant working relationship as she jiggled her butt around in the seat. Oh, well, she’d find a way to make it work and get his talent showcased somewhere.
Finally, she exited the freeway and headed to downtown Seattle where her condo, their offices and Ross’s future home awaited him. From the corner of her eye, she saw him twist his head to see the towering skyscrapers as they drove past and his gaze darted around at the crowds whenever they stopped at intersections. Traffic was slow-moving so he caught an eyeful. Jody signaled before pulling into the parking garage where she kept her car. It allowed her to walk to her condo and her office.
“Have you ever been to the city before?” Jody tried to engage Ross once more with a more generic, casual conversation that might pop up between two strangers.
“No.”
“What do you think of it?” she inquired as she slammed her door. She waited until he pulled his bags free. Locking the car, she paused as her security detail parked and followed her. He watched where her gaze landed.
“Who is that?”
“My security, the guy you spotted at the airport. They follow me everywhere I go.”
“So meeting complete strangers at the airport doesn’t carry as much risk for you as it might others?”
“Sad, isn’t it? As a woman alone, why should I have to worry about picking up strangers, especially men? Even if society says women are equal, we aren’t. Not in that way. Not when we’re walking down city streets at night alone or on jogging trails. But yeah, I’m safer than most people because of the extra resources.”
He side-eyed her. “Uh, I wasn’t implying that I was any threat.”
“Not you, perhaps. But any woman alone can’t know for sure. Consider for just a moment how exhausting and annoying that can be.”
He nodded. “Right. I see that. I never thought about it much.”
“No. See? Your view and perspective and privilege are nothing like mine.” By then, they’d descended the parking garage stairs, a place she preferred not to be alone in, and she inquired, “Do you like what you saw of the city?”
“It’s fine. I don’t know. A lot of people everywhere.”
“Yes. But that’s what makes it so interesting. There are pockets of this town where you can’t even realize you’re inside a big city. And as for the others… well, yeah, you won’t miss being there. But you’ll find so much culture worth exploring. Especially as a musician, I would say.”
“I’m not really an explorer of culture, nor do I care. I just want to play drums. I don’t care about other people. Or other places.”
“Oh.” How do you respond to that? Talk about unimaginative. So he’s unwilling to learn about new things, perspectives, people, cultures and places? Great. The exact opposite of all the things she valued.
Jody stared at him in wonder as she tried to imagine what to do with such a rude, strange guy who was now pretty much in her personal custody.
Chapter 2
ROSS DIDN’T KNOW WHAT to make of his contact for Zenith’s Promise.
At first sight, she appeared to be a child weaving, crawling, and ducking a swath through the dense crowd at the airport. Stopping, Ross watched the head poke through first, then her body, slouching as it followed the head and she started to rise. Eventually, the head popped up at the edge of the crowd and she flipped her long, brunette hair, that nearly reached the ground, like a whip, into the face of the innocent guy standing behind her. Being slapped in the face by the dense mass of hair, the poor guy was taken aback to find a petite but fully grown woman who then stood up to flash her sign, obviously clueless that she’d caused any ruckus. After glancing behind her, she winced before she began to speak. Despite her apologies, the offended guy scowled and waved at her rudely before he turned and disappeared. He was taking it way too seriously. She glared at the guy, shrugging as she moved forward in her purpose.
It was quite a performance. Basically because of her cluelessness. She didn’t seem to realize what a kerfuffle she made despite taking up so little space. It took Ross a moment to see the white thing she held onto so tightly was a sign. A sign with his name on it. Startled, he stared at it momentarily before looking back up at her and seeing a big guy watching her closely.
Well. So this was his contact for the new gig? He gripped his bags tighter and fisted his hands. Nice.
She was hot. But really small. Like, incredibly tiny. The stature of a child, and the shoulder width of one as well. Did she even weigh a hundred pounds? He could probably bench lift her. Her hair, on the other hand, was massive, like a lively cloud around her. Considering the length and thickness of it, it floated and moved like a living organism around her. She had a small, pixie-ish face: button nose, wide eyes, dark eyebrows. Perhaps not the most gorgeous woman he’d ever seen, but she certainly crackled with raw energy. It seemed to waft from her. She could have simply waited for the crowd to eventually move, as they obviously came there together and were waiting for the same people, being clad in their matching school or church uniforms. But she decided to make her own way through the wall of people and now stood straining and fidgeting in her effort to find him.
She finally caught his eye, since he was already watching her from afar. He liked the way her skirt showed off her short, slim thighs, bare skin and high heels. The lines of her body were slim and that appealed to him.
She finally made eye contact as he strode towards her, keeping his eyes locked on hers. He so rarely found the pe
ople around him interesting. If ever. His apathy towards life and all the things going on around him, like other people, and strangers especially, had become an integral part of him now, something he could never seem to shake. He rarely sought to meet new people and never had anything close to a true friendship. The women who found him attractive ended up being disgusted and hateful toward him. He liked sex, and wasn’t apathetic when it came to that, but he never chose partners for whom he had any feelings. Sex and companionship were completely unrelated in his eyes.
He often wondered if he could ever feel any emotion towards another human being? Rarely, but probably never.
The only thing he cared about was playing the drums. His only talent and undiminished interest were centered on rhythm. It was the one thing that dragged him away from the gray fog that otherwise engulfed him.
The introductions were made. Jody Lassiter. Even her eyeballs dashed energetically as they darted all around. First to his face, then his hands, then his bags, then back to his face, then the luggage carousel, and back to him. He blinked, wondering if she could give herself motion sickness. But when she started talking, the vital energy and competence seemed to ooze from her. The voice was sure, confident and she was very vocal. Not exactly a shy, quiet, demure flower that her height and stature might have suggested.
Now she was all but chastising him for his lack of homework and preparation to come here? What the hell? Ross never appreciated the details. Seeing the advertisement to join Zenith and come to Seattle for an entire adventure that would be totally paid for was enough to drag him in. Musicians were wanted. Well, here he was. He played the drums. He had nothing else to do. It sounded better than where he previously was, so why the fuck not? On a lark, he drummed off some songs, recorded the shit on his phone, and sent it with his name, address, email and phone number. What else did they need to know? He could kill a drum set. That’s all that was worth knowing about him.
That was all he wanted to do here. He was used to not playing nice or carrying on small talk with the daughter of a rich bastard. Her sweet, cushy life was handed to her at birth. Working for nothing. Spoiled princess. God. He had no time or energy for that fairy tale. But… the niece to a rock star?
He all but rubbed his hands together like an evil cartoon villain. Now that was interesting to him. That could possibly be the thing he really wanted.
Having no burning ambition to do anything else in life, he liked to play the drums more than working as a bartender. What a kick it could be to meet Rob and Spencer and what? Get their advice or even passing acknowledgment from a band like Zenith? They were super popular. Huge. And Ross loved the music they played. So, when he read about the program, hell, why not?
As for little Jody, well, he’d deal with her as necessary. He did want to meet the two geniuses behind Zenith. What a kick. A chance someone like him should be damn grateful to have. He shifted his eyes to stare at her while they started pulling out of the parking garage. He noticed her before, sure, but in a dismissive way, like he did with everyone else who was new to him. With women who appeared close to his own age, the thought of whether or not to fuck them often crossed his mind. He would have fucked her. That’s as much thought as he could spare toward Jody right now.
No, not completely true. She amused him. Not many women caught his attention and managed to keep it for as long as she did. Curiosity about others was never a pastime for Ross. But this woman was the niece of a rock star, and the daughter of wealthy parents. She could turn out to be… interesting.
Why not?
Yeah, and she kind of grew on him the longer he was around her. There was definitely some fire in her. She didn’t take a second of shit. Plus, she struggled with her own attraction to him by not really liking him. He liked the juxtaposition, which was definitely something he could imagine working with.
Back to the present moment, he asked, “Why are you staring at me?”
Her head didn’t turn, and her facial expression didn’t change. In an even, measured tone, she answered, “I’m not at all convinced that you even want to be here.”
“Not true. I was just thinking that if I want to stay here and have an in with the band, I’d better be extra nice to you.”
She flipped a glance his way, surprise showing off the whites of her eyes. She had big, bright, animated eyes. The light colors mixed with the dark in a swirling collage. She had unusually pretty eyes. “Crap, most people don’t admit their intention to use me.”
“They just do it without your knowledge?”
“Never without my knowledge, although they try. Lots of them try to do it.” Walking on the sidewalk now, she moved with easy efficiency and speed. No lollygagging or window-shopping for her. She had somewhere to be and she fully intended to get there, although he expected she always reacted this way.
“I’m not trying.” He had to hurry to keep in step with her.
She rolled her eyes and sucked on her lip for a moment. “You’re doing it, using me, that is. I got it.”
“No. You don’t get it.”
“Cryptic. Please, Mr. Karahan, I already have your number.”
Before him the lead sky seemed to sink with gravity as all the gray shades and puddles streamed across the roadway. Tall buildings filled the gaps here and there. “You don’t have it because I never gave it to you.”
“I don’t need your glib explanations. You’re careless and reckless, and you don’t care about anything or anybody. You’re also talented. Something which you have little humility about. You pretend not to care, but I can see through that.”
“No, you’re wrong.” No one ever complimented him. No one ever listened to him and he had no coaches, mentors or parental love. No siblings either. Obviously. He killed the only brother he ever had. He wasn’t being careless; because no one cared for him.
Until now.
Maybe he wasn’t handling all the attention very well. It felt foreign, and so odd, he wasn’t sure how to fuckin’ act with it. How to accept it. He couldn’t even talk about his damn desire to tap two sticks on some drums. No one even knew about his interest, let alone, that he was a friggin’ beast at it. He knew it, but could not tell others about it. Jody kept digging for details and showing genuine interest so his first response was to lash out, ignore her, and snap. He was used to that. But now it seemed awkward and weird. Fuck. This is why he never looked for relationships or good opportunities.
He only applied because he never expected to be chosen and now, he didn’t know how the fuck to deal with it.
They entered a building using her key card and went straight to an elevator. He followed her, reluctant to even try to fit into an environment he knew he could never feel comfortable in. He never visited a city like this. How could he function successfully? Worse still, he didn’t want anyone to know how out of place and insecure it made him feel.
He glanced around as they exited the elevator into an empty hallway. Other doors were closed and the well-lit hall had highly polished hardwood floors. It appeared very utilitarian and clean. Her heels clicked on the shiny floor. She opened the door to unit sixteen. Once inside, she walked towards the kitchen and set down a packet she withdrew from the bag over her shoulder. “Here are your keys. Prepaid cards for meals. It’s not like five-star cuisine so be aware of how much you spend. We don’t have bottomless pockets. But you should be comfortable. Of course, let me know if you need anything.”
In front of him stood a brick wall and floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a panoramic view of the cityscape, with varying buildings of all sizes and lots of sky. Nice. Not excessive. Furniture arranged in a quaint sitting pattern. There was a loft with a bed he could view from below. It had extra tall ceilings that made it very open and breezy. “Wow, it’s the quintessential artist loft, huh?”
Jody looked up from the pack of papers before her as a small smile touched her lips. “Yes. That’s part of the appeal.”
“Is this all for real? Not some creepy movie set
where you plan to murder or torture me or something and capture all of it on film?”
She snorted. “Excessive paranoia? You signed up for it, remember? If you had any doubts regarding its legitimacy, why would you come here?”
“Well, it could be a good scam if you actually were a psychopath. And into theatrics. Think about it.”
She finally laughed and replied, “That’s quite an imagination you have. Dang. It might be an ingenious plan. But since you could literally pull me up with a quick internet search and find my picture right next to Rob Williams, you can probably consider yourself safe from any homicidal attack and subsequent filming of it.”
He shrugged. “Well, you never know, since this looks like a movie set.”
“Yeah. I guess the vision in our minds was a little clichéd. But it’s still a cool place.”
He shrugged. “Better than any place I’ve ever been.” Poking around, he wandered into the kitchen which was as sweeping and airy as the rest of the condo. Cooking pots hung from a rack that was suspended by the high, cathedral ceiling. The counters were spotless and the stainless-steel appliances gave it a stark, modern and functional vibe. Finally, he turned and asked her, “So, how does all this work?”
She finished shuffling through her pile of papers. “It never occurred to you to ask your questions prior to your arrival here? You signed all the pertinent information. We sent you everything necessary. Correction, I sent you everything.”