“You did what?”

Emelia kept her back turned to her best friend Chloe, suddenly wishing she hadn’t dragged her along to this party. It was turning into a disaster, and she didn’t want to dampen her friend’s excitement over being here.

“Grant did what?” Chloe continued as she paced the well-manicured lawn by the waterfront.

Emelia ran a shaky hand through her hair, then tugged at her miniskirt. She groaned with frustration. There were no outlets for the anger she had at that moment for Grant and how he had made her feel back there.

She had never witnessed that side of him before. Jealousy. Rage. It started the moment the three of them arrived at the party. At first, she thought he was edgy because they’d gotten lost and arrived late. But it became quickly apparent that his problem was her curiosity about Trevor.

Emelia had never given Grant any reason to distrust her before, and up until tonight, she had been under the impression that they were mostly happy and their relationship was continuing to blossom. She had been with Grant for a little over a year, and for the most part, it had been good. It had its moments, but what relationship didn’t? But tonight? He had been physically aggressive with her, crossed a line, and now she had a huge choice to make.

Coming face-to-face with Trevor Jameson had been a shock and a welcome relief from the fight with Grant. Thank goodness he had stepped in when he had, or maybe Grant would have escalated things. As soon as she had found Chloe and pulled her away from the bar, the whole damn incident came spilling out of her.

She was partially embarrassed that Trevor had witnessed the whole thing, and equally so that her friend’s opinion of Grant was tainted for good. She never liked him much anyway.

“I can’t believe Grant treated you like that. Scratch that, I can believe it.” Chloe looked pissed. “How many times have I told you that he’s a horrible boyfriend, Emelia?”

Emelia looked at her feet. “I know.”

“Now toss in the fact that number one, Trevor Jameson witnessed Grant being an asshole, and number two, you lipped off to Trevor Jameson, the rock star who is also your boss, which means he has grounds for scrapping this whole contract if he wants to.”

Emelia’s face went cold. Her heart flipped as she inhaled a sharp breath. She shook her head. “He wouldn’t! Grant said Infinity Prism needs us, that there isn’t anyone else to take the job on such short notice.”

“Damn it, girl. Listen to me. I witnessed Trevor get real ticked off that his manager wasn’t doing what he wanted him to. I’m getting the impression that this rock star of yours is a hardball. Do you really think the two of you just made the best impression on a boss with a short fuse?”

“Oh no.” Emelia put a hand to her forehead. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

Chole shook her head and took Emelia’s hands. “This is not your fault. This is a byproduct of Grant being a total dick. We can fix it, okay?” Chloe stroked her friend’s back. “We can fix this.”

“I need to talk to Trevor, to apologize for snapping at him.”

“Yeah, no shit.”

“Don’t jump to conclusions,” Chloe said with reassurance, continuing to pat Emelia. “Trevor might let the whole thing slide.”

“I told him to get lost and mind his own fucking business,” Emelia cringed. “I need to go find Grant.”

“Just wait a few minutes. You both need to cool off,” Chloe warned.

“I can’t believe what an idiot I am.” Emelia groaned and glanced up at the ceiling with regret, then met Chloe’s gaze. “I’ve followed Trevor’s entire career. How could I snap at him like that?”

Chloe chuckled. “You’re human, silly. And after things are all smoothed out and this contract is in place, you’re dumping Grant’s ass.”

Emelia kept her retort to herself. She wasn’t going to admit out loud that she had been thinking the same thing. His verbal snarkiness she could handle. His childish behavior, she could look past, sometimes. Tonight, he had actually scared her, and that wasn’t justifiable. It was time to get the pieces back in place so she could move forward.

She smoothed her shirt and took a big breath. “Alright I’m going to try to make things right with Grant without ripping his head off, and maybe if the universe throws me a bone, I’ll get lucky and be able to apologize to Trevor along the way personally.”

“Good luck.” Chloe tenderly squeezed Emelia’s hand. “I’ll be drinking and mingling with these hot rockers, so peel me away when you’re done.”

“Okay. I’m going to stay here an extra second and get myself together.”

Chloe clipped across the lawn as quickly as she could in four-inch heels. Emelia smiled at her friend’s eagerness to get back to the party. She only wished she had the same enthusiasm. She had been looking forward to this event, and here she was, making a fool of herself and feeling miserable.

Something inside her had shifted just now — all the work she had put into helping Grant with this business. All the hours she had invested just to give him a leg up and for what? She finally got to see her music idol in person—and okay, her high school crush—and it was ruined.

Hugging herself, she carefully picked her way along the water. Her heels sunk into the soft ground. Frustrated, she kicked off her stilettos and hooked a finger through the straps. Swinging them along, she padded across the cool ground, enjoying the sound of the water lapping at the edge. It was hot out, slightly humid, the air heavy on her bare skin. The moon promised to be full tonight if the clouds would ever get out of the way.

“It’s really beautiful out here, huh?”

Emelia spun to look behind her. A dark shape was discernable in the half-moon light.

“Grant?”

The name popped out of her mouth, though she knew it wasn’t him. This man was too tall, too broad, his stride too confident to be her boyfriend. A sliver of moonlight peeked down from the clouds, washing him in angelic light. Her breath caught, her body incapable of movement as Trevor strode toward her. She ignored the urge to look around and make sure she hadn’t fallen into a movie set or something. The way he came toward her, slowly, casually, the glowing light highlighting the cut and bulge of muscles in his chest, arms, shoulders. The way his hair looked raven in the light.

She moved to make a step in his direction, but she tripped over her own foot. Arms shooting out to her sides, she tried to steady herself. And suddenly he was there, clasping her arm to support her, momentum bringing her nearly chest-to-chest with him.

“Hello.” She gushed sheepishly.

A warm smile crossed his mouth. “Hello.”

Butterflies went nuts inside her middle. The waft of his cologne was woodsy and rich, and she could feel the warmth radiating off his body. His smile faded as his expression dropped and he set her carefully away from him. “You good? Don’t want you falling.”

Except for the disappointment killing the butterflies, she was fine. “I’m good. Thanks.”

For a moment, she wondered if he remembered her? Is that why his expression changed because he suddenly realized she was the chubby, desperate girl who’d been his biggest fan in high school?

He took another step back, hands going into his pockets. Trevor seemed closed entirely off. No surprise, really. He was a famous rock star and she? She was not. She was an employee of a company he had hired, that was it. She had gotten her fan-girl moment, and now it was time to clear the air and move on.

No more girlish fantasies of reconnecting as old acquaintances. No more womanly fantasies that he would sweep her off her feet, not that she had those thoughts. Much.

“Anyway, I want to apologize for snapping at you back there. I appreciate your concern, and I hope this doesn’t interfere with our working relationship.”

He gave a shrug. “Husbands and wives fight sometimes. I get it. You were acting on adrenaline. I didn’t take it personally.”

She put up a hand. “Oh, we’re not married. Grant is my; he’s my boyfriend. His behavior was over the top, and I’m sorry you had to witness that.”

Trevor’s jaw clenched. “Does he act like that often?”

His voice was tight. Gooseflesh rose on Emelia’s forearms. “Not quite like that, no.”

The light prying of his question tripped her discomfort. Shame, really. She didn’t want to talk about her bad choice in men anymore. “So, me yelling at the Rock God isn’t going to jeopardize this job in any way, is it?”

Trevor leaned in like he was going to take a step toward her, but didn’t. A crooked smile pulled his lips. “Rock God, huh?” His eyes fell to her lips, and she felt the heat of that gaze rush her body.

“Well, you kind of are.”

“Mmmm, you’re right, I kind of am.” He took a step forward. Then another. His hands slipped from his pockets, the ease of his movements delicious and masculine. “Repeat it, Emelia.”

Christ, he remembered her name. He was moving closer.

“You’re bossy.” The words barely squeaked out of her.

“You have no idea.”

Oh, God. Were they flirting?

She shouldn’t be encouraging this. She was still Grant’s girlfriend, after all. She still had a job to do, and this could get messy in a big damn hurry.

“I’m afraid I’ll give you the wrong impression about me if I go around calling you Rock God.”

He stopped within inches of her. “I’m okay with wrong impressions. In my experience, they aren’t usually wrong, just the truth people try and cover up.”

Emelia had to concentrate on her breathing. In and out. In and out.

“Oh, really? Do you have an example?”

“Sure. You and Grant. You think I got the wrong impression about his character because of what I witnessed. You’ll probably tell me he’s a good guy having a bad moment. But the truth is, I saw him exactly the way he really is. I saw his truth. And you? That sass and attitude wasn’t wrong. It was exactly right.”

Her mind was swirling with so many thoughts, her body flooded with so much heat and want. “Okay... but, but the job is okay, right?”

It was all she could focus on, the only thing she should be focused on. Grant needed this gig and as him employee, so did she.

Trevor huffed a laugh. “Yeah, your job is fine. Everything’s fine.”

She shouldn’t be here with Trevor Jameson right now. She should be at Grant’s side, putting on a happy face, showing they were a good team and could help Infinity Prism have the best tour possible.

“Thank you.” It was her turn to take a step back. “I’d better go see what Grant is up to.”

“He’s meeting with Burt right now.”

She nodded, gave a little wave and turned to go. She had taken four steps when Trevor called her name.

“Yeah?”

“Calling me a Rock God wasn’t a wrong impression, was it?”

She laughed and kept walking. If she didn’t, she was going to throw herself into his arms and show him how much of a God she thought he was.