Chapter 2
Harper Grey
Van Nuys Airport
California
I was so freaking nervous. Every other tour, even internationally, I was with the other rank and file on a commercial plane. Even when it was my job to get to locations before the band, I was still on United. I mean I wasn’t going to complain, business class was still nice, but it wasn’t this .
Today I’d been invited to fly with the band and their manager on their private jet. The Tin Gods owned a Dassault Falcon 900 that could seat a dozen in addition to flight crew… I might’ve Googled it.
Which meant in addition to the four band members, their two significant others, their manager, Tyler— sigh —and my boss, Wes, there were still up to four seats up for grabs. And one of them was mine!
As my Uber pulled up to the airport, I tried not to leave a nose print on his window. But we were here! I was really flying on a private jet. Oh my god!
After I grabbed all my bags from my Uber, I made my way to the entrance, prepared for a long wait on an uncomfortable bench. But the sight of my boss, Wes Tippmann, talking on his cell phone nearby had me hesitating. I didn’t want to interrupt, but I wanted to be helpful if he needed something.
I lingered on the edge of approaching him, twisting on the balls of my feet, when he spotted me.
“Harper! Over here!”
Wincing, I pivoted again and tried to smile as I waved at Wes. I crossed the short distance just in time to catch the end of his call.
“Of course Harper is here. She’s my right hand.” Pause. Then it was Wes’ turn to pivot as he hunched over his phone. “No, I’m not going to talk to you when you’re being like this. Tell the kids I’ll call them when I land. I don’t care, Vanessa. Call me when you grow the fuck up.”
Awkward.
Should I ask him if he was okay? Pretend like nothing had happened? Usually I was more decisive in my work life, but it was safe to say I’d never been in this situation before. I’d always thought Wes’ relationship was rock solid.
He’d been the talk of a lot of women on the road over the years. Wes had that whole silver fox allure. But I’d never seen him waver in the face of temptation. And to me, Wes had always been a mentor. Never as a sexual anything.
For the past year and a half, those thoughts had been focused on the band’s manager, Tyler Worthington. Gah. Now there was a man who could make me melt.
“Sorry about that, Harper.” Wes finally looked up at me as I hovered in indecision.
I gave him a weak smile in return. “No problem. I’m early. But you know me, annoyingly punctual and always prepared.”
Wes shook his head. “That’s why I hired you after your internship. No one else in music is as reliable as you.”
I dipped my head in acknowledgement. And that was why I’d taken the job. Wes always had something positive to say about me and my work. He was an awesome boss. I just hoped whatever was going on wouldn’t end that.
I cleared my throat. “Any last-minute details we need to nail down? I know we have time before the flight.”
“There’s always last-minute details.” Wes scrubbed a hand over his face. “But nothing we have to worry about now.” He dropped his hand with a sigh. “I feel like I should apologize. I’m going through some things at home, and I know that doesn’t have anything to do with you, but my wife thinks it does. Please let me know if she calls you or tries to get in touch with you in any way.”
My eyes widened, and I nodded mutely. Wes’ wife really worried about me? I looked down at my five foot nothing frame currently clad in yoga pants and a loose tee.
“Or you could just tell her that nothing’s going on between the two of you because Harper is seeing Xander.” Noah’s voice came from behind me, and then he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, slouching next to me.
“What?” The size of Wes’ eyes rivaled mine as he looked from Noah to me. “Since when?”
“The end of the US leg of the tour,” Noah answered for me. “Harper didn’t tell you?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Why would I?”
“Right.” Noah patted my shoulder. “She was worried you’d see it as unprofessional. But I think, given how the tour went, you can see that’s nothing to be concerned about.”
I distinctly remembered Xander doing a body shot off a groupie at the end of the tour to the raucous cheers of Noah and the rest of the crew. Not a scene I’d call professional. Especially since he was apparently my boyfriend at the time.
I knew the same thought was playing in Wes’ mind as he turned to me. “Harper, is this true? You’re seeing Xander Lang?”
“Of course it is.” The words came out of my mouth without a thought. I nodded to really underscore my statement. “Totally true.”
Noah squeezed my shoulders to stabilize me. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes. And since we’re going back on the road, they decided not to hide their relationship anymore. Especially since Kelly Evers is opening for us.”
I winced.
I’d been against the decision when it’d been brought up during our last meeting, but everyone else had been adamant that she should open for the band. They all thought she’d done so well in Vegas, completely ignoring how broken Xander had been for days. Obviously, I’d disagreed, but I’d been outvoted.
And apparently now I was going to be Xander’s fake girlfriend since his ex was going on tour with us.
“Right.” Wes nodded. “Gotta say I’m surprised. Never thought I’d see the day that our straightlaced Harper fell under a rocker’s spell. But fuck me if it’s not good timing.” Wes blew out a breath like a load had been taken off his shoulders.
I blinked at the utter relief in Wes’ tone. “What?”
“Vanessa has been grumbling about how you’re always at my side. I don’t know. But uh, she’s been talking about separating. I guess she’s worried something was going on between you and me. Which is insane. I told her I only saw you as a sister.”
“Same.” My nose wrinkled. “One hundred percent friend-zoned and vice versa.” I gestured between me and Wes.
“Exactly.” He grinned. “But I guess after she saw those pictures of you out at a club with the band, she was worried…anyhow, she’ll be relieved to hear this.”
“And you’re okay with me dating someone in the band? It’s not against company policy or whatever?”
Wes hitched a shoulder. “It’s not ideal, I’ll grant you. But it’s rock and roll. It was bound to happen sooner or later. You’re an attractive, hard-working woman. Nice to know Xander’s not as stupid as I thought.”
“Thanks?” It felt like there was a compliment in there somewhere.
“And as long as your work gets done, I’ve got no issues with it.” Wes bent down and grabbed his bags. “You’re only young once, kiddo. And trust me, you’ll regret the opportunities you let slip through your fingers.”
I nodded. He’d said as much more than once. Like he thought I wasn’t living life hard enough or something. He of course didn’t know how hard my life had been before college. Sometimes safe and stable was the only choice to make.
Which was the opposite of what was happening right now.
“I’ll meet you two out there.” Wes held up his cell phone. “I might just give the wifey a little call before takeoff.”
“I—”
“Of course,” Noah cut me off. “We’ll see you on the plane!”
Noah grabbed my bags and steered me toward an exit.
“What the hell was that?” I hissed at him once we were clear of my boss.
“That was you doing the band a solid. Do you know how torn up Xander has been about this whole Kelly thing? He won’t say it, but he’s freaking the fuck out.”
I groaned. “For the record, I voted against it, but that doesn’t excuse you screwing with my life—with my job—for crying out loud! Do you know Wes could’ve fired me? This is like peak unprofessionalism. You guys are our clients. I can’t date a client. Oh god. This is a nightmare.”
“No, this is an opportunity.” Noah spun me around by my shoulders and made me face him. “You want to get Tyler’s attention? You want him to see you as a woman? Finally?”
“How do you know about that?” I asked numbly.
“Everyone but Tyler knows. You’re obvious as fuck. Fortunately, Tyler is oblivious as fuck, so it’s worked out so far.”
“That’s because he literally doesn’t see me.”
“Which should tell you something about Tyler. You can do way better, honestly. And hey, now you have! ‘Cause you’re with Xander.”
“Yeah, about that—does Xander know about your little scheme? Or are you just railroading everyone into doing what you think is best?”
“Well—”
“No groupies on the flight, Noah.” Tyler interrupted us. “How many times do we have to tell you? The plane is for the band and executives only.”
“She’s not a groupie.” Noah turned to Tyler with his arm comfortably wrapped around my shoulders. “This is Harper Grey. Our assistant tour manager . You’ve literally seen her a thousand times, Tyler. What the hell?”
“Oh sorry.” Tyler looked up from his phone and gave me an apologetic shrug. “I didn’t mean anything by that, Ms. Grey. Just with the way Noah had his arms around you, I assumed…”
I waved a hand between me and Noah. “He’s like my brother. All the guys are.”
“Except for Xander of course!” Noah cut in loudly. “There’s nothing incestuous about your feelings for Xander!”
I winced. Right. Xander. Because my life wasn’t complicated enough.
Tyler frowned. “What the hell are you talking about? Incestuous? Really, Noah? That’s disgusting.”
“I just mean since they’re dating and all.” Noah sent his manager an earnest look. “So she definitely doesn’t see Xander as a brother .”
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse.
“Really?” Tyler asked. “Since when?”
This was getting so freaking complicated.
“The end of the US tour,” Noah answered confidently. “Or at least I’ve known that long. I’m sure they were together before I knew about it.”
Tyler’s eyes ran over my body like he was seeing me for the first time.
It was beyond uncomfortable, but I gave him a weak smile.
Tyler Worthington was finally seeing me, but for all the wrong reasons.
This was such a huge mistake.
Only at that same time, Wes came around the end of the building with a huge smile on his face.
I couldn’t let him down.
Wes had given me a chance when no one else had. He really was like a big brother to me. I didn’t want to let him down.
So I smiled weakly at Wes and Tyler.
The luster of flying on a private jet was gone. All I could think was that I’d lost my chance with Tyler. He’d never want to be with me now.
Not that I really ever had a chance to start.
Ugh.
Noah, probably sensing my funk, or worried I might change my mind, guided me to a plush leather seat in the back of the plane. As I sat, I noted numbly how comfortable it was, and with the spacing we’d be able to recline them and actually get some sleep on the plane.
Not that I’d be sleeping.
Noah knelt in front of my seat. “What’s going through that head of yours, Harper? You freaking out? I feel like you’re freaking out.”
“Of course I’m freaking out,” I hissed at him. “You told my boss that I’m sleeping with a client. That’s like peak unprofessionalism. Something, by the way, that used to be really important to me. And now my you-know-what thinks I’m a starfucker slutbag.”
“To be fair, I’m pretty sure he thinks that about most women. Like I said, you could do so much better. But that’s beside the point. You’re on his radar now. I guaran-fucking-tee you he’s interested to know what Xander sees in you and why he’s never noticed you until now. Trust me, this is a good thing.”
“Whatever. It’s not like I can change my mind. With Wes’ situation, we’re locked in now.”
A huge grin stretched across Noah’s face. He hopped up and did a ridiculous little dance that made me smile despite all the insanity going on. Then he clapped his hands and ducked down in front of me like a baseball catcher. “Great! Now all we have to do is convince Xander.”