Chapter 13
What in thehell was Shane doing? Avery stood there, steaming. There was nothing she could do because Pat was already cheerfully calling out she was on her way. It was all Avery could do to take a deep breath and try to behave normally. No small feat when she was so turned on by the charming producer. She had no idea what he wanted from her.
Pat came striding in, all smiles and flouncy hair. She had perfectly tousled beach waves and an offbeat, bohemian style. Her talent was coming off as sweet and a little hippie dippy, and then unexpectedly going for the jugular. She was a shrewd businesswoman, despite her love of hemp.
Now she looked back and forth between them and said, “What’s up? How are you feeling about it, Shane?”
Avery noticed she had dropped the “Mr. Hart” formality. That had clearly been for her and Lauren but now that Pat realized Shane knew Avery and they might make a deal, she was taking a more casual approach.
“Put a hold on it for me. I think Jolene needs to hear it,” he said briskly.
“Nice,” was Pat’s opinion. “She certainly has the perfect voice for it. Let’s go iron out the details.” She gave Avery a smile. “Nice work, Miss O’Leery. This is exciting.”
“Thank you,” Avery said, and then suddenly realized that holy crap, Jolene Hart was going to listen to her work. Jolene might actually be interested in a song she, Avery O’Leery, had written. It was unbelievable. As a matter of fact, she felt lightheaded.
“Are you okay?” Shane asked her.
“I legitimately think I might faint,” she said, sinking back down into her chair. “But no, I’m okay. I’m better than okay. I’m ecstatic.”
Pat laughed. “She’s new,” she told Shane.
“So I understand.” Shane glanced at his watch. “I actually need to head out but would you ladies be able to join me for dinner tomorrow night? We can firm up a deal. There’s a new rib joint I’d love to try out.”
“Avery and me?” Pat asked, clearly surprised.
He nodded.
“Of course,” Pat said at once. “We’d love to.”
Good thing she had a say in this. Not. At least Pat would be there as a buffer. That was a blessing because she didn’t think she could be alone with Shane without wanting things she couldn’t have. Things that involved his lips on hers and his body in her bed.
It was such a good body.
Why did he have to be rich and famous? If he was just a regular guy, she could date him. Though that probably wasn’t true either. She wasn’t sure she could casually see the man she’d lost her virginity to. She would want more. Things. All the things. Like love and a commitment.
It was better he was who he was. This way she wouldn’t even be tempted.
“Great, see you both tomorrow.” Shane nodded his head like he was tipping a hat he wasn’t wearing. “Ladies.”
“Have a pleasant afternoon,” she managed.
“I will, thank you. I hope you do, too.” He smiled warmly.
“I’ll walk you out,” Pat said. “And we can settle on a time.”
The minute they left, Avery rubbed her forehead. She had been bamboozled. That was not the way she’d seen her afternoon going, to say the least.
Lauren came rushing back into the room.
“Holy crap!” she whispered excitedly. “You’re going to have a song on hold for Jolene Hart! That is insane.”
“It is. I feel kind of sick.” Avery set her guitar down and stuck her head between her legs, suddenly feeling lightheaded and dizzy. “Oh, Lord, please don’t let me puke.” She concentrated on breathing through her nose and swallowing the bile that kept crawling up her throat.
“Hey, Avery…”
No. No, and no. That was Shane’s voice in the doorway. She didn’t dare risk raising her head for fear of what might come up.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice alarmed.
She could sense him coming straight up to her, and even through the curtain of her hair, she could see his legs.
“She said she feels like she’s going to faint,” Lauren offered, oh-so-helpfully.
She wanted to tell him she was perfectly fine, just a touch overwhelmed by the idea of her music being heard by a superstar country singer, but she couldn’t seem to get the words out. Shane squatted down, and she felt his hand warm on her back.
“Are you pregnant?” he murmured, close to her ear.
That made her head snap up, and nausea rolled over her, her vision momentarily blurring. “No!” she hissed. “I’m just having a moment.”
He looked concerned and he tucked her hair back behind her ear. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” Avery swallowed back the last of the bile, confused as to how she could both want to lean into his touch and jerk away from it. “This is a big deal to me. Having my first song put on hold.”
He smiled slyly. “Guess we share a lot of your firsts.”
It was going from bad to worse. In case he was blind and couldn’t see Lauren, she murmured as low as humanly possible while still making sound, “We are not alone here.”
“Right.” Shane winked at her.
Because that was professional.
He did stand up though. “Here, I was going to give you my card so you can reach me if you need to.” He pressed a business card into her sweaty palm and added, “You should go home early. Lie down. I’m sure Pat would let you.”
“Will do,” she said, just to get rid of him.
“Bye.” He gave them both a wave, and rolled on out, like all of this was totally normal. Not a care in the world.
“What the what?” Lauren asked, pressing her hand to her stomach. “I swear that man winked and I dropped an egg. I feel like reproducing just looking at him.”
“I don’t,” she said, a little too vehemently. “Where is my water? God, I feel clammy and dehydrated. I can’t believe this is happening.”
“It is pretty damn crazy. But it’s awesome. And let’s back up just a hot little minute.” Lauren flopped into her chair, spinning it around and around, her legs spread wide despite the fact that she was wearing a skirt. “How in the hell do you know Shane Hart and why did you keep that juicy bit of gossip from me? I tell you everything.”
There was really no getting out of this. “I didn’t know he was Shane Hart when I met him. Then I was too embarrassed to say anything to anybody.” Avery lifted her guitar back into her lap, needing the soothing distraction of the notes. She’d had this particular guitar since her eighteenth birthday, a special gift from her mama. It had been restrung twice and it wasn’t worth a whole lot, but it gave her comfort. It reminded her of her mother, who she hadn’t told about Shane either. She hadn’t told anyone, not even her best friend back home. When she had told Kayla she slept with a stranger, she hadn’t given her the details about his identity, just how they had met. She wasn’t sure she wanted to share it with Lauren now either, but Shane wasn’t exactly being discreet. It was obvious they knew each other as more than casual acquaintances.
“I told you about Ben, my ex-boyfriend, cheating on me,” she began. Lauren nodded. “Well, the night I found out, I basically jumped out of his truck in the middle of the street, but forgot my purse and long story short, Shane let me borrow his phone and he sat with me in the coffee shop until Ben showed up with my purse.”
“Shane Good Samaritan Hart? Interesting.” Lauren eyed her. “But that’s not the full story, is it? Because sometimes I hear shit, but I know I didn’t imagine that he asked you if you are pregnant, and I can’t think of any reason a man would ask that unless he’s been poking your fire.”
Damn. Avery hit a bad chord. So there was no getting out of it. “Okay, I had sex with him, but I swear, Lauren, if you tell anyone, I will tell everyone that you peed yourself when you met Keith Urban.” It was fighting dirty, but she wasn’t playing around. No one could know.
Instead of getting angry, Lauren burst out laughing. “Hell, you didn’t even try to negotiate. You went straight for the blackmail. I applaud you for that. And it was just a little squirt. I was excited, I couldn’t help it. Don’t make me sorry I told you.”
That made her feel bad. “I’m sorry. That was harsh. But I will seriously die if anyone finds out I did it with Shane Hart. I will stab myself in the heart with a rusty blade and perish.”
“Geez, since when are you such a drama queen?” Lauren looked at her curiously. “Why the big state secret? I’d be shouting that shit from a megaphone to anyone who would listen.”
“Because if people find out, nothing I do from here on out will be taken seriously. No one will take me seriously. They’ll assume I slept my way into the business.” Just the very thought made her sick. She hadn’t been raised with much, but she did have her integrity as a songwriter. If one night of throwing caution to the wind destroyed that, she’d never forgive herself.
“That’s a valid point. I see where you’re coming from. But for the record, he looks at you like he wants to whisk you away to his house and fuck you for days.”
Avery couldn’t even think about it or she might spontaneously combust. “He probably looks at a whole bunch of women like that. Isn’t he kind of a ladies’ man?” It was one of the few things she had learned from her initial online stalking. He never got into trouble, but he definitely had a steady stream of women strolling through his life.
“He does like the ladies, but you have him liking you for a minute or two. Why not take advantage?” Lauren studied her. “But maybe it wouldn’t be worth it. Does he suck in bed or something? I swear I won’t tell anyone.”
She was already shaking her no. “No. He does not suck. He was very, um, generous.” That was the best way to describe it.
Lauren’s eyes went wide. “Whoa. Okay, then. Lordy, girl, you’re caught between a cock and a hard place.”
Avery sighed. “Lauren, that’s about the truest statement I’ve ever heard in my life.”