CHAPTER 14

ALICIA

I was in the middle of a perfectly pleasant dream where Jared was telling me that I’d been right about everything surrounding the publicity for their new album. I knew I was dreaming because he was being polite and friendly and telling me that I was right, but it still felt nice.

All of a sudden, there was music playing on the tropical beach he’d flown me to as a thank you, and in the back of my mind, I really knew that I was in for a reality check. The song that was playing was the one that I’d set as my ringtone for any of the members of Destitute, and before the irony of that could dawn on me, I was ripped away from the tropical beach and blinked my eyes open groggily. My phone was dancing around on the nightstand next to my bed, and the clock next to it told me that it was just after four in the morning.

I seriously considered tossing the pillow over my head and letting the call go to voicemail, but I realized that this was the first time any of the actual band members were calling me, and I sat bolt upright in bed, shaking the cobwebs of sleep from my mind as I reached for my phone.

“This is Alicia.”

My caller ID had already alerted me to the fact that it was Jared calling, but I would have recognized that voice anywhere. My panties had the audacity to try and melt from hearing it while I was in bed, but my brain knew better than to let them.

“Alicia, baby.” There was only a slight drag to his tongue, which told me that while he had been drinking, he wasn’t full-on wasted. Not that it would have been an excuse if he was, but I would have to get after him for calling me baby another time, since his next words gave me cause for far greater worry. “Just calling to give you a heads up on a teeny, tiny PR incident that Caleb and I got into earlier.”

That spurred me into action faster than if I’d received an electric shock. I was already jumping out of bed and swapping out my pajamas to squeeze into a pair of jeans and a comfortable, yet professionally acceptable shirt. “What happened? Where are you? Are there pictures?”

Jared’s laughter sounded from the other end of the line, sparking irritation in my veins and making my teeth grind together to keep from chewing him out over making light of a situation that had him calling me up at this ungodly hour.

“Woah, slow down there. I had way too much tequila to keep up with rapid-fire cross-examination. We got arrested for assault, and we’re still down at the station, but I already called Ted, and he’s taking care of it. Like I said, just calling cause you got pissed at me the other day for not keeping you in the loop.”

“Are. There. Pictures?” I repeated myself, slower this time as I threw my hair into a low ponytail.

“Yeah. There might be one or two. We were at Club Navarro when it happened, and a couple of people caught us on camera. Also, you know there are always a few paparazzi hanging around outside there.” It didn’t sound like he was fazed in the least at having been arrested, not to mention that it had happened outside of the club where there were sure to have been a small army of paparazzi.

“What were you thinking? This is exactly the kind of negative publicity I explicitly told you to avoid in the run-up to the release.” Smudging some concealer under my eyes, I took one last look in the mirror over my dresser, deemed myself passable, and headed to my kitchen to make some much-needed coffee. This was going to be a long day.

“Relax. They’re dropping the charges. It’s not going on our records. All we need to do is pay some money to the club, and we’re done.” Ted, the band’s lawyer, had sure worked fast on this one. His job was one I was beyond grateful wasn’t mine.

Jared’s laid-back attitude about getting arrested—so very publicly no less—was grating on my nerves. It was way too early for his shit. Adding two heaping spoonfuls of instant coffee to my travel mug, I flipped the switch on my kettle and waited for the water to boil as I tried my best to remain calm.

“No, Jared. You’re not done after that. Not by a long shot. Do you have any idea how badly this kind of press can influence your reputations?” Parking one hand on my hip, my eyes rolled to my ceiling as I inhaled a deep breath and prayed for patience that I was unlikely to get, at the very least, until I could get some caffeine into my bloodstream.

“We’ll be fine. What happened to, all publicity is good publicity?”

“That was a bad excuse invented in the nineties, probably by someone who got into trouble as often as you do. You can’t just go running around, doing whatever you want.” Thank God that my kettle was starting to boil and that I was going to be able to get some coffee into me before launching into my inevitable lecture.

“That’s where you’re wrong. I’m the goddammed Emperor of Rock. It’s my right to do whatever the fuck I want. Last night, I wanted to punch the asshole, so I did.”

“Could you please cut that out? You do realize that you’re not an actual Emperor? Even if you were, punching people is not acceptable.” Fixing my mug of steaming, do-not-reach-through-the-phone-and-kill-Jared sustenance, I leaned against my kitchen counter and took a quick sip.

“Wrong again,” Jared said dismissively. “Punching people who annoy me is absolutely acceptable.”

His comment made me wonder just exactly how deluded he was if he honestly believed what he was saying. It sure sounded like he did.

“You’re certifiably insane if you believe that. I’m not having this argument with you. It’s clear to me that you have absolutely no sense of responsibility. Or accountability, for that matter. I’m pretty sure there are five-year-olds out there who have a better grasp of those two terms than you do.”

“Maybe, but I know so many things that five-year-olds don’t, like how to knock a guy out with one punch and how to make a woman—”

“Don’t even go there,” I said sternly. There was only so much I could take at barely four in the morning, and listening to Jared brag about his sexual prowess was definitely not part of it. “Just take security out with you next time. At least that way, there will be some people with you who know not to actively seek out trouble.”

“Yes, Mom.” He should be damn glad he wasn’t having this conversation with my mother. The woman was a saint who had somehow managed to raise two children all by herself, but keeping us in line, especially during our teenage years, hadn’t always been easy and meant that she was a strict disciplinarian.

It actually brought a smile to my face, wondering what kind of punishment she would’ve thought out for Jared. I would have bet anything that he would be washing dishes all the way into next year, and it was only nearing the end of May now.

“You can tease me all you want, but someone needs to point these things out to you. I’m just the lucky winner of having that role this morning. After I get off the phone with you, I also get to be the one to take care of the PR spin on this whole thing. So, if that’s all, I really should be going.”

“Lecture over already? I thought I was going to have to pretend to listen to you for at least another two hours.” Jared still sounded like he didn’t have a care in the world.

Sighing deeply, I mourned the precious minutes I’d spent trying to get through to him. I really had to learn that arrogant swagger was all there was to him, despite the glimpses I got sometimes that tried to convince me otherwise.

“Nope, I don’t have two hours to teach you the basic traits of humanity. Some of us have to get to work. You do realize that this means that you lost the bet, right? It hasn’t been anywhere near a month, so no dinner. And if that was your plan, no chance to try to seduce me.”

“You win some, you lose some.” Well, that stung a little. “Guess I’ll just have to get some other woman to fuck me. Millions of takers out there.”

“Better get to it then,” I replied, masking the hurt I felt over his insult with sarcasm. It wasn’t like I thought I was anything special to him, but I also hadn’t thought that I meant absolutely nothing. I should have known better.

“Yeah, I’d better,” he replied flatly, and for a split second, I thought that I heard something other than arrogant indifference in his tone, but it was gone so fast that I was sure my stupid imagination was just playing tricks on me again. “Time to get to work on that. I’m feeling a hot—”

“Goodbye, Jared,” I interrupted him, not at all in the mood to hear what he was feeling. I hung up on him after that and set my phone down before I threw it against the exposed brick wall across from me.

I felt insulted, mad, and on some level, a little disappointed that he not only lost our bet, but didn’t seem to care at all. I carried my coffee to my living room, grabbed my laptop from its bag, and prepared to get to work. Why did he have to be so confusing? And why did I care at all? He obviously didn’t. There’d been no trace of disappointment from his side, and the whole thing had been his idea.

As I sank into my cranberry-colored couch, I tried to convince myself to nip the disappointment in the bud. I hadn’t even wanted to make the bet. There was no reason to feel dejected about having won it.

The only reason you’re feeling like this is because he’s handsome and looks good in tight leather pants, I chided myself. It wasn’t anything more than that. The fact that he was more beautiful than any man had the right to be and that his ass was downright bitable in those pants didn’t mean that I could, or should, ignore his flaws. Of which, there were many.

I just had to keep reminding myself of those. If I could do that, if I could just remember that he was an arrogant, self-involved man who thought that he was entitled to punch someone for the fun of it, I would be fine. I would be able to let go of this strange, unrequited disappointment, and focus on simply doing my job. A job that all those flaws of his had just made ten times harder.

With that in mind, I finished off my coffee, typed in my password when my laptop prompted me to do so, and leaned back on my couch as I opened my browser to start searching for the evidence of Jared losing the bet. It was time to see how much damage control I was in for.

A few seconds later, I felt myself going pale as I gaped at my screen. This was a nightmare. A bigger nightmare than going out to one dinner with Jared for winning, which was saying something.

Not only had he lost the bet, but he’d done it the same way he seemed to do everything else: in a spectacular fashion, with a cocky smirk fixed on those full lips, and literally holding up his middle finger to anyone who dared to question his choices.

Yeah, the guy was flawed alright. I needed more coffee. Since the news was spreading like wildfire, my day had just gotten longer. A lot freaking longer. If I had any hope of containing the situation, I was going to have to start pulling strings and calling in favors right away. Maybe give out a few favors, too.

Goody.

Grumbling as I made my way back to the kitchen, I wondered if this was a cosmic sign that I had to stop searching for the good in him, even in my dreams. “Good morning to you, too, universe. Consider your message received. Loud and clear.”