Gina slumped, but, only when she was sure Rory couldn’t see her from the stage. Not that he would have any reason to be paying attention to her anyway. She’d been around the band long enough to know that when they were about to play, there was nothing on their minds but that—and that went double for Rory.

It must have been nice to have something to distract him so easily. As for her…

Well, ever since the other night, she’d only had one thing on her mind.

The way Rory had looked, his muscles bulging as he claimed her for his own.

The song the band played came to a rousing end with Rory beating his sticks against the drums and then glancing out into the audience.

His eyes fell right up on Gina and she counted one second, and then two before his gaze finally dragged away from her. Electricity sliced through the air between them, and she felt like he knew what she’d been thinking—how she’d been remembering their night together.

She hid her face behind one palm as she began to push her way through the crowd that had assembled around the makeshift stage in the ballroom of The Silver Inn. She made her way into the nearest bathroom, just outside the ballroom doors.

The well-lit bathroom was adorned with sparkling walls and fixtures, and she glanced around for a moment before taking in the woman at the sink counter offering various services and hygienic products.

“Good evening, ma’am.”

Gina nodded hello, then took a quick glance into the mirror and opted to touch up her makeup.

It was a bad habit of hers—a constant need to always look the part. This wasn’t her world she was living in, and oftentimes she felt out of place. Strong and confident on the outside, she was determined to never let the world see her strength for what it was; an act.

She dug a rose-colored lipstick from her bag and circled it around her lips before offering herself a pucker in the mirror. “You’re a strong ass, confident woman and you are not going to let that boy get to you tonight,” she promised herself in a hushed whisper, but out of the corner of her eye she saw the bathroom attendant raise her eyebrows.

On her way out the door, she handed the woman a twenty dollar bill but before letting go, leaned over and whispered in her ear with a chuckle, “Let’s keep this to ourselves, shall we?”

The woman glanced sideways—confused, probably—but she smiled in kind and took the currency to drop it into the clear bucket of tips on the countertop.

It was a work night for Gina, but she imagined it was just about the same for everyone else. In this industry, it was necessary to always be on the clock, because networking could mean the difference between success and failure.

She had her sights set on introducing herself to the honorary band of the night, Big Lights. While she was fully committed to working with Sub-Zero, she knew it was in her best interest to always have connections in her back pocket in case things soured.

And things souring seemed to be a more and more likely scenario every time she and Rory interacted. Mixing pleasure with business never worked out in anyone’s favor. Sure, Bug and Dev had managed to make it work, but they just got lucky somehow. It was like winning the lottery and that same luck wasn’t going to strike twice.

She stood in the background watching the tall, handsome, golden-boy, Hayden Smart, shake a label executive’s hand and waited for her opportunity to grab the lead singer of Big Light’s attention.

Once Hayden and the executive parted ways, Gina was right there. She threw her hand out, giving him no choice but to interact with her, all the while his eyes shifted elsewhere. She calculated he had somewhere to be. She also calculated that she didn’t care.

“I’m Gina Saldano and I’m the public relations director for Sub-Zero.”

“Cool beans.” He scratched at the scruff on his chin, his gaze focused anywhere other than Gina.

“Yeah.” She cleared her throat and stepped sideways to make sure his gaze was affixed to her. “I listened to your album last week and it’s amazing.”

“I know, right?” Finally, she had his attention. His eyes leveled with hers as he shrugged with a cocky grin. “Which was your favorite?” He leaned in closer to her. “It’s Get it Twisted, right?”

“Absolutely.” She lied right through her teeth; that album she was so enthusiastic about was still waiting to be downloaded to her phone. “Phenomenal and you have an amazing voice.”

“You know…” He glanced around them before turning his attention back to her. Lowering his voice, he said, “I wrote every song on the album.”

Gina forced a smile. Perhaps she was simply spoiled by the men of Sub-Zero, but she had almost forgotten the egos attached to rock stars. Still, Hayden’s career was just beginning, and she couldn’t imagine him surviving in the world of entertainment too long with that attitude.

“You have a gift,” she complimented.

“I know.” He shrugged, and shifted his weight to one foot. At the exact moment Gina found herself wanting to run away, he was more engaged than ever before. “So do you live in New York?”

“No. I’m just here working for a bit longer.” She shook her head and prepared to continue but caught a glimpse of Rory in her peripheral vision.

His eyes met hers, and just as they did, he wrapped his arm around his date. One Star Jackson, dressed to the nines with her blonde hair pulled into a tight-updo with neon pink highlights. Her long white dress shimmered and sparkled underneath the hot lights from above.

She forced her eyes away, figuring it was easier and safer to just continue having the worst conversation she’s ever had with the worst person she’d ever met. “What about you? Where are you from?”

“Everywhere.” He shrugged again. “Here, there, and finally right fucking here in New York, but after this album climbs the charts, the boys and I are hightailing it to Santa Monica.”

“Oh.” She arched one brow. “You surf?”

“Baby,” he bit into his lower lip, “I do everything.”

“Right.” She sighed and looked back to Rory, to find him quickly approaching with his date in tow. She made a split second decision to latch on to Hayden’s arm and pivot to meet Rory and Star.

“Good evening, Gina,” Rory said as he and his date came to a halt.

“Good evening, Rory.” She tightened her grip on Hayden’s arm, and could feel his eyes boring down on her. “This is my date, Hayden Smart.”

“Date?” Hayden purred. “Right. I am your date.”

Not awkward at all…

“Interesting,” Rory mused out loud as he shuffled Star toward Gina. “This is my date, Star Jackson.”

“Yeah, I know who she is. I spoke to her publicist on the phone.” She gritted her teeth and smiled widely. She looked like a chipmunk for all she knew. She also didn’t care. “Nice to meet you, Star.”

“Nice to meet you, too.” Star reached out and shook Gina’s hand, taking her slightly aback in the process. “You’re so pretty.”

“Thanks.” Gina’s hesitance folded in an instant as she broke away from Hayden and combed one hand through her long hair. “You too.”

Rory fawned over his date, shook his head with a satisfied grin. “Star and I are having a blast tonight.”

Gina couldn’t help but frown. She knew exactly what he was doing, parading his hookup around in her face. He was trying to make her jealous and it was working, not that she’d ever let him know that.

Two can play that game.

She grasped her hand around Hayden once more and pulled him close, taking him off guard enough that he almost tripped and dropped to the floor. “Excuse him. He’s had one too many drinks.”

“I get it,” Rory said, staring Hayden down. “I remember how trashed I was when we had our launch party.”

Gina’s gaze followed Rory’s hand as it tightened over Star’s waist, and cleared her throat to get her point across.

“Is there a problem, Gina?”

“Me?” She shook her head and smiled. “I’m good. We are also having a blast.” She craned her head up to Hayden. “Aren’t we, honey?”

She winced in disbelief she had taken things that far. Behind scrunched eyelids, she was just waiting for Hayden to spill the beans, until he replied, “Yes, we are, sweetie.”

“Sweetie?” Rory piped in with a twitch of his head. “How long have you two known each other?”

“Two months,” Hayden blurted out, with a proud smile.

But Gina, for all intents and purposes, sank deep into the floor. She covered her mouth as she caught Rory glaring at her.

“Really? I could have sworn you were single two nights ago, but what do I know, right? It’s not my job to keep track of you. It’s your job to keep track of me.” His voice was a low rumble, but it was the gleam in his eye that had her sweating.

“Oh, silly me.” Star chuckled suddenly and cocked her head sideways. “You’re the Gina who set us up, aren’t you?”

“That I am.”

“Wait.” Hayden jerked. “You’re the one who set these two up?”

Gina grimaced while an uncomfortable storm began to brew in her stomach. She had a feeling things were about to take a sharp left turn and she was powerless to stop it.

“It’s a little more complicated than that.”

Hayden pointed at Gina first. “I’m pretty sharp, and I think I get it. You’re telling me that you’re using me to make him,” he pointed at Rory, “jealous because you’re jealous that he’s with her,” he pointed at Star, “when you’re the one who set him up in the first place?”

“From an outside perspective, I could see the confusion.” She swallowed hard, ignoring the heat in her face as she tried to think of a better way to spin this but came up empty.

Hayden threw his hands up with a baffled chuckle. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you two but I’ve barely known her for two minutes.” He took a few careful steps back, alternating his disapproving glare between Gina and Rory. “Maybe you two need to talk?”

“Yeah…” Star puckered her lips and pointed at Hayden. “I’m going to go with him.”

“Wait, seriously?” Rory arched a confused brow. “You’re supposed to be my date, remember?”

“Right.” She nodded and then stepped toward Hayden. “But he’s much more my type.”

Gina and Rory both watched as their respective dates disappeared into the crowd, heading toward the open bar. She was busy wishing the floor would swallow her whole when he finally spoke.

“You are terrible at your job,” Rory deadpanned.

“Excuse me?” Gina scoffed incredulously and crossed her arms, happy to have any distraction from the real elephant in the room. “You know, if those two end up together, I want a commission.”

“You have your own actual clients you should be worried about.” Rory took a step toward her. “Like me.”

“I’m doing my job just fine.” She poked him in the chest. His hard, muscular, sexy chest. “You’re the one who seems to scare away every girl I set you up with.”

“I forgot that you’re holding my hotel key.” Star Jackson reappeared at Rory’s side, scaring Gina in the process. “I’m going to need that back.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Rory dug the card out of his pocket and passed it to Star. “Have a good night.”

Star held the key in her hand as she chuckled to herself. “You two just need to screw and get it over with.”

Once again, Gina and Rory found themselves watching Star as she sashayed away with a walk fit for an actual star.

“Look, I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. That got super weird and I…” Gina passed a quick glance over to Rory, his eyes dark and hungry, sending a bolt of heat straight to her core. “What are you looking at?” she demanded.

“You,” he said simply and pushed his hands into the pockets of his black slacks. “Do you want to dance?”