And he’s here.
He’s not a salesman.
He didn’t need to call his assistant to cancel his meetings.
He’s here for the same reason I am.
He’s a bassist.
And he’s my competition.
He never gave a reason why whatever we shared couldn’t go past the weekend, and it’s for the same reason that I didn’t...because we signed nondisclosure agreements.
The same one, apparently.
Conversations resume, and the volume turns back up in the room after silence fell over it. I hear someone say something about a chick, and someone else say something about how women can’t play bass, and other rather sexist comments.
It’s nothing I haven’t heard before.
Through it all, his eyes don’t leave mine. Mine don’t leave his, either. He stalks across the room toward me, but the guy standing closest to me gets to me first, completely unaware that someone else is making a beeline for me.
“I’m Colt,” he says, sticking out a hand to shake mine.
“Lexi,” I murmur, my eyes on the hot beast of a man headed my way.
He gets to me just as Colt starts to say something else and interrupts him. “Holy fuck, Nashville. What are you doing here? Are you here to do make-up?”
My heart crashes down into my ribs at the insult.
Did he really just ask me that?
I never pegged him to be a jerk after the time we spent together, but wow, that was rude.
“Whoa, dude,” Tyler says, jumping immediately to my defense as he saunters up behind Gage.
“Uh, no,” I spit at him. “I’m not here to do make-up.” I put air quotes around the last few words.
“That was a little sexist, don’t you think?” Tyler asks, and my God I’m still so confused.
Did I really get to know anything at all about this guy?
In all fairness, though...did he really get to know anything about me?
He shakes his head. “No, that’s what she does.”
And then it hits me.
That was my lie.
I do make-up for a living.
He wasn’t being a jerk, and my heart lifts just a little.
Until the next words come out of his mouth.
“We met in the hotel bar and hooked up this weekend,” he explains—or brags—to Tyler. His eyes return to me. “I guess now it makes more sense why you just happened to be at the same hotel as me.”
I glare at him, my heart shattering as he broadcasts our private life to everyone who might possibly watch this show now—including my friends and family.
And for sure that’s an angle production will take as soon as this footage hits the editing room.
In a split second because of his big mouth, I’ve gone from a strong woman here to compete against a bunch of men to the slutty girl who hooked up with a bassist before the competition even started.
That’s where the focus of my story arc will lie.
Not on my talents.
Not on my merits.
But on the fact that I had sex with one of the other contestants before this competition even began.
Once again, I’ve been screwed by Gage.
And not in the same good way he screwed me all weekend.
CHAPTER 21: GAGE
“Excuse me,” she mutters, and she bolts from our conversation over to the room with all the alcohol.
But she’s not a drinker.
If she’s not here as part of the make-up crew...what the fuck is she doing here?
She told me she was in Los Angeles for a solo weekend getaway. She told me she’s a make-up artist.
She never once made it sound like she knew anything at all about music.
How could I get to know someone so well in such a short period of time and still manage not to know anything about her at all?
It baffles me. It truly boggles the mind.
And now she’s pissed that in my shock over seeing her here, I slipped and blurted that we slept together.
I have no idea how to fix this, but my heart aches to find a way.
“Shit,” I mutter.
Tyler looks at me. “Was it just a hook-up?”
His tone makes his question feel less like he cares about whether there’s something between her and me and more like he wants to know if she’s available.
“It felt like more to me,” I say, hoping that if they’re going to air this that they’ll at least show me not being a total dick.
“Gage!” Kat yells at me from across the room as she stalks toward me. She grabs my arm once she gets to me and ushers me down a hall and into a private room. There’s a chair facing a camera in this room, and another chair just under the camera. “Confessional time!” she says gleefully, and fuck I don’t want to do this right now. I need to get out there and make sure Lex is okay, that she isn’t pissed at me for my big mouth.
“You sit there,” she says, nodding to the chair. “Look at the camera like I’m in it and we’re having a conversation. K?”
I nod once and purse my lips.
“Okay, Mr. Hoffman,” she begins, settling down into the chair. “Let’s talk about our night one drama, shall we? Tell me what happened with you and Lexi this weekend.”
I ignore her directions to look into the camera and I look at her instead. “It’s not anybody’s business.”
She smirks at me. “Cute, Gage, but we basically own you for the next few weeks, so spill the details.”
I try to think back to the wording of my contract. “Nothing in there said I had to confess what I did before the show started.”
“No, you’re right, but you sure took advantage of MFB’s hospitality at that hotel, didn’t you?” she prods. She grabs her phone and scrolls a bit. “Let’s see...a couple’s massage, a few meals, a whole bunch of drinks at the bar...” She glances up at me. “Looks to me like the least you can do is tell us a little about your weekend.”
I blow out a breath, surprised that the sweet and bubbly woman is suddenly turning on me. “Fine,” I mutter. “I met Lexi in the hotel bar on Thursday. I’d just met the band and the executives at the record label and I was ready for this chance. She sat next to me, we got to talking, and we had some laughs. I invited her to my room and she rejected me. I thought that would be it, and when I was walking out my door the next morning, I ran into her. She was on her way for a massage, and I said I was too.” I leave out the part about the couple’s massage and how I flashed her my goods. “We ended up spending the day together in LA.”
“And the night?” Kat asks.
I glare at her. “That’s personal.”
“God, I can’t believe the two contestants assigned to me hooked up before this started. I can’t even believe my luck! All right, what about Saturday then?”
We spent the day in bed. We fucked four times. We showered together. I got to know her better than I think I’ve ever gotten to know a woman before in my life.
“We spent the day together again.”
“Touring LA?” she presses.
Touring each other.
“Yeah.”
“Tell me about your feelings for her,” she says.
If she thinks this is some show where I’m going to spout my feelings, she needs to think again.