Game On

by Cheryl Douglas

  “I know you would never hurt me on purpose,” she said, leaving a twin trail of tears on her cheeks. “I’m scared. If things don’t work out, if you decide that you aren’t interested in a committed relationship after all, it would change everything. We could never go back to being just friends.”

  “Don’t you think we’ve already passed the point where we could ever go back to being just friends?” He knew they both had to be willing to face their fears before they could take the risk necessary to move forward. “As it stands now, we can’t go back. I don’t want to go back. I don’t want the kind of relationship we used to have. It was making me miserable.”

  “It was?” she asked, looking surprised.

  “Watchin’ you with that Ross character,” he said, flattening his hands on either side of her head. “It was hell. And seein’ you here that night with Clint…” His dropped his head and stared at the ground between them. “Kissin’ him, watchin’ him fall for you...” He cleared his throat. “You’ll never know how much that hurt. I’ve never experienced real fear until I saw the way he looked at you that night.”

  “Ryan,” she said, resting her hands on either side of his face as she tilted his head up. “I told you before, he means nothing to me.”

  “I know that now,” he said, remembering the surge of helplessness he’d felt seeing her in another man’s arms. “But it hit me, right then and there, this could be it. This guy could be the one who takes you away from me. I could lose you.”

  “You’re not going to lose me,” she said, drawing him into a tight hug.

  “Promise me,” he whispered fiercely, lifting her off the ground. “Promise me you’ll never wanna leave me.” He knew he was being unreasonable, asking her to make a promise of that magnitude so soon in their relationship, but this wasn’t a woman he’d just met. This was a woman he’d known his whole life, someone he often felt knew him better than he knew himself. She was often the conscience that guided his decisions, the voice he heard in his head reprimanding him for his stupid mistakes, and the loving hand on his back when he needed comfort. She filled the void in his life.

  “I need you in my life,” she whispered in his ear. “I don’t think you realize how much. Don’t think for a second this doesn’t work both ways, Spencer.”

  He set her down on the ground and brought her hands to his lips, kissing each hand in turn. “Tell me, tell me everything. What you want, what you’re afraid of, where you’re hopin’ this will lead.” Tell me you wanna be my wife, have my babies, grow old with me. Please, please, just say those words so I can breathe again.

  “How about we table this conversation until next weekend?”

  He didn’t want to wait. He needed her reassurance now. Without that, this could prove to be the longest week of his life. “Why don’t we just-”

  She kissed him with the single-minded purpose of making him forget his objections, and it worked.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “You wanna tell me what the hell this is?” Avery asked, clutching a piece of paper as she stormed through Ryan’s office door on Monday morning.

  Ryan rubbed his eyes and turned away from his computer. He’d had three long, sleepless nights, replaying his conversation with Brianna, and he knew waiting four more nights to have her in his bed was going to be torture. “What’s that?” he asked, gesturing to the piece of paper. Not that he cared, but since he assumed it was the reason for her early morning visit, inviting her to talk about it was the only way he was going to get rid of her.

  “You and Brianna?” she asked, setting the paper down on his desk. “What the hell is this about, Spencer?”

  His first impulse was to tell her to mind her own business, but since she was an employee and someone he considered family, he got up and went to the small kitchenette just outside of his office. “Can I get you a cup of coffee, Avery?”

  “I don’t need coffee. What I want is an explanation about this photo.”

  The photo in question had been taken at Jimmy’s on Friday night. He and Brianna were engaged in the heated kiss that had invaded his daydreams ever since. “What about it?” he asked, bringing the coffee mug back to his desk.

  “Since when are you and Brianna a couple?”

  He thought back to Brianna referring to him as her boyfriend. “It’s a recent thing. You know we’ve been friends forever. It can’t be a huge surprise to you that we decided to take our relationship to the next level.”

  “Are you just doing this because you don’t want to see her with Clint?” Avery asked, leaning over his desk as she glared at him. “Is this just classic Ryan Spencer, staking his claim because he doesn’t want anyone else playing with his toys?”

  Ryan was trying to hold his temper, but it wasn’t easy in the face of her accusations. “You are so far off base, you have no idea.”

  “Then fill me in,” she said, sitting back in the chair and folding her arms.

  “I’m in love with her.” Ryan continued to be surprised by how easily those words came with Brianna when dozens of women before her had cried, pleaded, and threatened to try and pry the same admission from him. “It’s as simple as that.” He took pleasure in the look of shock on Avery’s face. For once, the public relations dynamo seemed at a loss for words.

  “Why didn’t you say something to me about this at Jimmy’s when Brianna was there with Clint?”

  He took a sip of his strong black coffee before he said, “No offense, but I thought I should tell her how I felt before I told you.”

  “So you two are in a committed relationship? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?” she asked, looking skeptical.

  “We’re still workin’ things out, but yeah, you could say that.”

  Avery sighed. “Damn it, Ryan. I can’t believe you’re doing this to me.”

  “What the hell am I doin’ to you?” he asked, throwing his hands up in the air. “I fail to see how this affects you at all.”

  “Everything you do affects this company,” she said, leaning forward as her voice dropped dangerously low. “And don’t you forget it. Evan was supposed to be the steadfast, reliable one, but ever since his break-up with Erika, I can’t even count on him anymore.”

  “He’s goin’ through a tough time. Just give him some space.” Ryan had spent the weekend trying to get Evan out of the house since Brianna took Alisa on a surprise trip to the spa. Convincing Evan to go out wasn’t easy, but they went to a hockey game on Saturday night and dinner at their parents’ house last night. Ryan didn’t know if it helped lift Evan’s sagging spirits, but at least he wasn’t sitting at home feeling sorry for himself.

  “In the meantime, what the hell are we supposed to do about the clients who are threatening to find a label who’s got their shit together?”

  Ryan knew he had to get his head in the game, especially since Evan’s seemed to have taken leave for the foreseeable future. He was there in body, but he certainly didn’t seem willing or able to shoulder his share of the responsibility any more, which meant Ryan had no choice but to step up to the plate. Or admit to his father that they were struggling to hold it together in his absence, which his pride would never let him do.

  “We have a plan, Avery. We’re workin’ on executin’ it.”

  “Is it true you went to L.A. to meet with Shane Moore because he was making noise about wanting out of his contract?”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Ryan said, smoothing a hand over his silk tie. “I handled him. It may have taken some coaxing, but he’s firmly back in our camp. We don’t have to worry about where his loyalties lie.”

  “You may be able to schmooze some of our clients some of the time, but we can’t maintain our A-list roll that way. Titan was built on the foundation of making the best artists in the business come to us, and it’s worked for the past three decades. We were the most sought after label in the industry. I have to be honest; this new approach you and your brother are taking scares me.”

  Ryan and Evan
knew it wouldn’t be easy to convince people that their approach was better, especially since most of their employees, including Avery, remained loyal to their father, but they couldn’t continue to do business the way they had in the past. The country music industry had changed a lot in the past thirty years and they had to change with it or get left behind.

  “Country music is changin’, and personally, I like the changes I see. Don’t get me wrong, I love the older artists like George Strait, but there’s a new generation of country music artists. People like Lee Bryce, Miranda Lambert, and Brantley Gilbert, who aren’t afraid to rock it. Hell, even guys like Colt Ford, who are showin’ country music fans that country boys can rap.” He grinned. “I want to be a part of that, Avery. I want to find guys like that, who are fresh and innovative. Do you have any idea how many guys there are like that out there, just waitin’ to be discovered? If we’re the ones to discover them, to build their brand, to make all of their dreams come true, they’re loyal to us. Trust me, takin’ on the musicians who already have a fan base isn’t the right approach anymore.”

  Avery sighed. “I hope you boys know what you’re doing.”

  “Trust me, we do.” He slid his chair back. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a busy day ahead of me. I need to get back to work.”

  Avery tipped her head to the side. “I must admit, I’m seeing a different side of you. Since when did you get all responsible, putting work before fun?”

  He laughed as he picked up his gold pen. “Looks like I grew up when you weren’t lookin’.”

  “You sure did,” she said, sliding back in her chair and opening the leather notepad she’d walked in with. She reached across the desk and grabbed his pen, smiling when he rolled his eyes. “But don’t think this is over. I’m still pissed at you for makin’ me look like a fool with our friends in the press and for not returning my phone calls or responding to my emails this weekend.”

  “Sorry,” he said, though they both knew he wasn’t. “It was a hell of a week. I just needed a little down time. I’ve got a lot goin’ on over the next few days. I’m meetin’ with some new artists, and I’ve got a lot meetings lined up to figure out where we go with our current team.”

  “Explain to me why I had to see this photo on some celebrity gossip site over the weekend? You know it’s only a matter of time before the other rags pick it up.”

  “I don’t see why anybody would be interested in who I’m datin’.”

  “Oh please,” Avery said, rolling her eyes. “You and your brother are two of the most eligible bachelors in this city since you started pulling in seven figure paychecks as the head of this company. Besides…” she said, offering him an indulgent smile. “Your behavior has always been so outrageous. The press loves to know what you’re up to.”

  “I plan to keep a low profile from now on,” he said, ignoring the buzzing cell phone on his desk. “My only concern right now is building a relationship with Brianna and doing what I need to do to get this company on the right track.” He lowered his voice as he said, “Evan’s always had my back. He’s always been there to clean up my messes. Just this once, I wanna be the one to come through for him.”

  Avery smiled. “That’s sweet.” She pointed at him. “And I think you might even mean that.”

  He lifted one shoulder. “Believe what you want. I’m turnin’ over a new leaf.”

  “For Bri?”

  “No, for me. This is what I want.”

  “Okay, so let me get this straight. You and Brianna are definitely a couple. This isn’t some fling y’all are gonna tire of in a week or two?”

  “No, hell no! How can you even ask me that? This is Bri we’re talkin’ about, not some random woman I picked up in a bar.”

  Avery raised one hand. “Fine, don’t get all defensive. I just wanted to make sure before we made a public statement about it.”

  Ryan winced. “Why do we have to make a statement about it all? This is our business, no one else’s.”

  “When the legal counsel for Titan Records is caught in a steamy kiss with the talent one week and the V.P. of the company the next, people are going to start asking questions. The rumors will start flying if we don’t make a statement to quash them. We’ve got enough drama going on around here. We don’t need to add this to the mix.”

  “Fine, make a statement about it, if that’s what you need to do. Bri and I have nothin’ to hide.”

  “Okay,” Avery said, her pen poised over her notepad. “What do you want me to say about her relationship with Clint?”

  He clenched his jaw. “There was no relationship. They went out on one or two dates, end of story.”

  “When did the two of you start seeing each other?”

  He pushed his chair back as he glanced at his watch. “Come on, I don’t have time for this. I have meetings I need to get to.”

  “This will only take a minute,” she said, pinning him with the same stare she’d seen him use on her grown son dozens of times. “And like I said, it’s important.”

  “I don’t understand how this got out there. Who the hell posted that pic?”

  “Hell, it could’ve been anyone with a cell phone, Ry. Don’t worry, I have Mike looking into it.”

  Ryan leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “So, Mike knows about me and Bri?”

  “The whole world knows about you and Bri. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”

  “I was kind of hopin’ I’d be able to talk to Mike about this before it went public.” He had always had a great relationship with Brianna’s family, but that was before he was intimately involved with their little princess.

  “Too late for that.” She scribbled something in her note pad. “So, how long have you and Bri been involved?”

  “Since we were in diapers.”

  She smirked. “Don’t be a smartass. How long have you been in a relationship?”

  “Not long. Isn’t that obvious since, as you were so quick to remind me, she was makin’ out with some other guy not too long ago?”

  “That’s what makes this story so salacious,” Avery said. “People are speculating that you and she had a fight that night and she was just using Clint to get back at you.”

  “That’s ridiculous. You know she would never do that.”

  “Of course I know that. I know her, but the rest of the world doesn’t. That’s why we need to set the record straight.”

  “Fine.” Ryan rubbed his eyes, wishing he could go home, pull the blankets over his head, and start this day over. “Tell them we’ve been friends forever. I’ve had feelings for her for a long time, but we’ve just recently started dating. We’re not ready to define our relationship just yet, but it’s safe to say that it’s exclusive.”

  “Excellent,” Avery said, quickly scribbling his quote. “For the record, I think this could be a great thing for the company and your image.”

  “How the hell does my bein’ with Bri affect Titan?”

  “Everybody loves you, so please don’t take offense…”

  He knew if she was opening with that, her barb was likely to cut deep. “Just say it already.”

  “They’re not sure if you can be trusted to make the important decisions around here. You have this reputation as someone who loves to have a good time and work takes a backseat to that.”

  “Whoever thinks that is wrong,” he said, gripping the wooden armrests on his leather swivel chair. “This company is as important to me as it is to my brother, and I intend to prove that.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. I think that your relationship with Bri will go a long way toward putting everyone’s mind at ease around here.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “It makes the talent and the employees a little antsy when the vice president of the company stumbles in to work with a hangover.” She smiled to soften the blow. “But now that you and Brianna are a couple, I assume that will be happening a lot less?”

  “I’m gonna b
e spendin’ as much time as I can with Bri, if that’s what you’re askin’?”

  “Good.” She got to her feet and adjusted the silk scarf around her neck. “Okay, I’ll get to work on this press release right away. Maybe we should line up a photographer to take some really cute candid shots of you two. We could-”

  He pointed to the door. “Don’t push it!”

  She lifted her chin. “Fine, we’ll discuss it later.”

  “Don’t count on it,” he muttered.

  Trying to re-focus on work seemed like a lost cause, so when the cell phone on his desk vibrated again, he snatched it up. Johnny. He was the last person Ryan wanted to talk to right now, but he knew from experience that if he didn’t answer, he’d persist all day.

  “Hey, man, what’s up?” Ryan asked, kicking his feet up on the edge of his desk.

  “What’s this I hear about you and little Miss Cooper?”

  Given what Bri had told him about Johnny’s attempts to seduce her in college, he knew better than to think he was just making conversation. “What’s it to you?”

  “I’m just curious. I saw the pics online and I wanted to know if what they say is true. Is my good buddy finally ready to be fitted for the old ball and chain?”

  “Let’s just say Bri and I are seein’ each other and leave it at that for now.” He wasn’t stupid enough to discuss the personal details of their relationship with a man who had shown an interest in her in the past. Johnny’s character was suspect at the best of times. If he had a vested interest in the outcome of a situation, Ryan knew he wasn’t above manipulation to get his way.

  “Hey, I thought we were friends.”

  That was a stretch. He’d never been more than a friendly acquaintance, someone Ryan hung out with when he was looking for a good time. Johnny had never been someone he’d been willing to confide in about his deepest, darkest secrets.