This couldn’t be real.

Emelia Greene hooked her reading glasses with one finger and slid them down her nose. The words on the computer screen became fuzzy, so she brought the laptop closer. Surely, if she looked at it this way, she would see she made a mistake.

But there was no mistake. The words were the same.

Infinity. Prism.

A shocked breath squeezed out of her as she lowered her computer before quickly rechecking the screen, just to be sure. No way could her favorite band have a contract staring back at her. No way could the hottest band ever be signing up to work with her boss.

She checked the email that had popped up in her inbox to be sure she hadn’t gotten it by mistake. Nope, there it was addressed to her with the contract attached. This was happening! Her boyfriend Grant’s sound and production company were going on tour with freaking Infinity Prism!

Pushing away from her desk, she put the laptop down and cupped a hand to her forehead. This was unbelievable. Sure, Shark Productions had worked with some big names. Grant had worked his ass off to make a name for himself and his business in a tough industry. But despite his excellent reputation, things had cooled off a bit as bigger bands found permanent production help, and the up-and-coming’s had trouble affording help at all.

Landing Infinity Prism had come at the perfect time! As the business’ accountant and business manager, Emelia was well-versed in the reality that the business was barely staying afloat. She had recently started looking for freelance gigs as a marketing and social media manager for musicians and artists, helping to keep bills afloat. The more she grew her little side gigs, the more she enjoyed it—even tossed around the idea of going solo full time.

She glanced at the stack of bills on her desk. Grant wouldn’t be able to manage without her. Guilt was a nasty bastard, rearing its ugly head every time she thought about ditching Shark Productions to work entirely on her own dreams. And now that he ha signed the band she secretly crushed so hard on, there was no way she was walking away.

Sneaking a look around to ensure Grant wasn’t going to walk in, she pulled up a few images online of Infinity Prism, focusing on frontman, Trevor Jameson. Her heart flipped as she scrolled through pics. God, he was as hot as ever. Ten years might have passed, but time did little to change him from the teenage Trevor she had known.

When he saw her again, would he remember her?

His soulful brown eyes bore straight into her, the thickness of his wavy dark hair begging her to run her fingers through it. She perused images of him on stage. His body was fuller, harder, more toned and cut, his thighs bulging perfectly in skinny jeans, his biceps killing it inside the sleeves of a white t-shirt. She let out a breath and closed the computer. This job was going to kill her. She’d crushed so hard on Trevor that year he went to her high school. He had been mostly indifferent to her, no surprise considering she had been a sophomore and he had been a senior. They had hung out at a few of the same parties, parties she’d gone to solely to hear him sing. But he would never noticed her.

And then tragedy had struck her family, and Trevor graduated and vanished out of her life. Until he’d shown up on the internet here and there, and then more often until he was suddenly everywhere as the lead singer with a voice the industry hadn’t heard before and a band that wouldn’t be denied.

Beyond his obvious sex appeal, she really fangirled on the band. Excitement welled up inside her as she leaned back in her office chair and glanced to the open doorway.

“Grant?”

She heard him banging around in the adjoining room, moving around his office furniture most likely. The office space they rented was small, too small for a man of Grant’s ambition. The rent was cheap for downtown Chicago, so they were stuck with it.

“Hey, Grant?” She called again.

“Christ, what?” His annoyed voice cut through her, but as usual, she brushed it off.

“Can you come here, please?”

“Why don’t you get off your ass and come in here? I’m busy.”

Emelia sighed, tempted to just do as he said to avoid an argument. He was testy sometimes, and she had learned over the past two years to simply follow along and placate him rather than work up his temper more. In the beginning, there’d been a lot she loved about Grant, but as the months went on, those things were a little harder to see.

“I’m also busy, babe. Just want to confirm that this contract with Infinity Prism is the real deal?”

There was a pause, followed by a grunt and the sound of something heavy sliding across the floor. Maybe she should be helping him, but she had her own work to do, and honestly, she was so distracted now that she wanted to jump out of her skin.

“Yeah, it’s the real deal. We’re closing the deal at a private party tomorrow night at their manager’s country house.”

She arched her eyebrows and put her legs up on her desk. The hem of her mini skirt drew up dangerously high, but she didn’t care. The tides had turned, and she hadn’t been this excited in a long time.

“We’re? As in, you and me?”

“Yes, and I expect you to wear something sexy. Damn, you know how to make a man feel better.” Grant appeared beside her, one hand gripping her bare thigh and running it to the apex of her legs. A bitter taste rose in her throat, and she burst forward, feet on the floor as she adjusted her skirt.

“Now, now,” she said with a grin. “You’re busy, and I have a lunch date with Chloe in a few.”

His hand closed around her knee as she tried to rise and held her in place. Putting one hand on either side of her chair, he lowered himself over her, trapping her against the seat. She leaned back on instinct, nearly topping the entire thing backward. “Grant.”

His lips grazed the side of her neck. She held still and allowed it, again to prevent an argument. But it wasn’t pleasant, not like it could sometimes be to feel his kiss on her skin.

“Too late. You teased me, and now I want more.”

The scratch of the stubble on his jaw was uncomfortable against her flesh. She turned her head away and shrank a little in her seat.

“I was just stretching my legs. Grant, I mean it. Not now.”

He burst away from her, pushing the chair back on its wheels as he did. Emelia gripped the side of her desk with one hand to keep from zinging across the hardwood floor.

“Whatever.”

He moved to storm out of the office, tension pluming up between them. They had too much work to do for hard feelings between them. Emelia stood and lightly touched his arm.

“Hey, why don’t you take a break and come to lunch with Chloe and me? You could use a break.”

“I could use sex.”

She held back an eye-roll. “That’s dessert. You know, later.” She nudged him playfully. “Come on, come with me.”

“I can’t today Emelia.” Grant glanced towards the door. “I have a ton of work to do to prepare for the Infinity tour.”

She wasn’t completely disappointed that he wasn’t coming. “Well, that’s okay.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Somehow I’ll manage without you.”

“Yeah, I bet you will.” He gave her a small kiss on the cheek. “See you later.”

She watched as Grant walked out of the room. A breath escaped her, displaying just how tight her chest had been in the moments that had just passed. Each time Grant lost his temper, it reminded her that she had a decision to make about their relationship. The good times took over the bad most of the time, putting them back on neutral, loving ground and allowing her to forget whatever asshole thing he had done.

But she wasn’t going to think about that now. A renewed burst of excitement went through her. Opening the laptop, she took out her cell phone and inputted the contact number for Infinity Prism’s manager into her contacts. Just in case.

Just in case what? It wasn’t Trevor’s personal number, but close enough. Because maybe he would remember her. Perhaps, they’d find a renewed connection as past schoolmates. Maybe, friends?

She couldn’t pinpoint exactly what about him made her feel so inspired, hopeful. Content, even. Except that she didn’t have many connections to her past that didn’t remind her of the horrible thing that had happened to her family. When she thought about Trevor singing at those parties so many years ago, or at a school function or in a local venue, it reminded her that life had been normal, before.

Before the bad things.

Slipping the strap of her purse over her shoulder, she tossed back her waist-length hair and forced down the lump in her throat. She needed something really good in her life.

And it was going to be damn good to see Trevor again.