Chapter Eleven
Gwen threw herself into preparing for her interview and the first day of rehearsals, decidedly not thinking about the sound of his breath in her ear, the way his fingers played her like music, or the way the untitled song haunted her.
Or the way she’d called him Alex.
She didn’t tell Jacob. He wasn’t home when she’d come back to the apartment, and by the time the key turned in the lock later that night, she’d already decided she had made a mistake, and she didn’t need any advice on that mistake, thank you.
As it turned out, the “gig” Thorne and Roses had booked in the city was Saturday Night Live. Gwen’s jaw dropped as the announcer called out their name, a picture of Xander and the Roses popping up on the screen before the host started their monologue.
“Oh, shit,” Jacob said around a mouthful of lo mein. “Isn’t that that guy you know?”
The egg roll fell out of her fingers and onto the rug.
The next day, Xander Thorne had 172,026 Instagram followers by nine a.m. She accepted Jacob’s new boyfriend’s offer to sign her into his gym that afternoon, but the radio station playing at the gym had picked up the songs Thorne and Roses had played the night before. She had to crank up her music to drown out the sound of Ruby humming through the dance beat.
By Monday, the magazine with Xander Thorne on the cover had been pushed to the front of the magazine stands, and his follower count had risen by 50,000. SNL’s video of their performance had 2.7 million views.
She pushed all of it out of her head, though. Nathan had asked for a last-minute meeting with her that afternoon. She rode the train down to Carnegie and swept up the stairs to Nathan’s office just as the door was opening.
Xander Thorne stepped out of it.
Gwen froze in her tracks like a deer facing down a Dodge Durango. Her heart jolted awake.
He was faced away, talking to Nathan as he stepped out as well. Gwen considered ducking into the janitor’s closet just to her left.
Nathan caught sight of her first.
“Gwen, just in time.”
And in slow motion, it seemed, she watched Xander turn and take her in with an open expression—lifted brows and curious eyes.
“What happened to Florida?” she blurted.
He blinked. And before he could answer, Nathan dropped a hand on his shoulder. And Gwen couldn’t help but notice Xander’s jaw tighten.
“Some good news for the Pops,” Nathan said. “Xander has agreed to renew his contract.”
She felt the blood leave her face. “Why?”
The bright smile on Nathan’s face melted away, and he tilted his head. Xander continued to stare at her, despite her resolve not to look back at him.
“Well, we came to an understanding regarding his time commitment to both Thorne and Roses and the Pops—”
“Nathan, can we speak in your office.” She pushed past the two of them and darted through the door without another word.
Plopping into the chair facing Nathan’s desk, she breathed deeply through her spinning thoughts.
Why would Nathan offer his position back after the year of terrible behavior? And why would Xander take a step backward in his career like this?
She listened to them mumble their goodbyes. “Give me a call once you’ve spoken to him. I’m sure he won’t be pleased…” Nathan said.
Xander’s voice was too soft to hear, but the bass rumble of it sparked memories across her skin.
It’s all right. Let’s do it together.
She shivered, her body igniting with the memory. Pushing her libido aside, she focused on Xander and Nathan’s goodbyes. Who won’t be pleased?
Nathan closed the door and took his seat across from her. “Okay. What’s up?”
“Why did you ask him back?”
“I saw how his popularity has risen over the past few days,” Nathan explained calmly. “Xander Thorne—this Xander Thorne, with ten times as many followers—is a simple answer to our financial problems. If the press release goes out tomorrow, just days after his success on SNL, the subscriptions will soar. We might lure the younger demographic back to the Pops.”
Gwen chewed on the inside of her cheek. “So it’s about money.”
He smiled at her. “It’s always about money, Gwen. Music and money.”
“What about Gordon?” Gwen asked. Gordon was the cellist who had taken over first cello for every one of Xander’s missed rehearsals and performances. “I talked to him last week. You promoted him to first cello. He signed a contract.”
“You let me handle Gordon, all right?” He gave her a patronizing smile. “Sometimes difficult decisions need to be made for the best of the entire orchestra.”
Gwen crossed her arms like a sullen teenager. Something wasn’t sitting well with her. Why would Xander accept Nathan’s offer? Was it a significant amount of money? What could Xander have wanted—
Her heart stopped. Her gaze flicked up to Nathan.
“Did you offer him first chair? I know he wanted it.”
Nathan’s brows drew together. “No. Gwen, you are not going anywhere. I believe in you.”
Her chest was still tight. Ava had told her that the only reason he joined the Pops was because he wanted first chair.
“Can I ask you a question about my contract?” She took a deep breath and tried to be bold. She hadn’t looked at it in detail when she signed. But now that Gordon’s contract was going to be torn up…“How long will I be first chair of the Manhattan Pops?”
He shrugged. “As long as you like.”
“What if I don’t ‘lure the younger demographic back to the Pops’? What if in two years I’m no longer the youngest first chair in U.S. history?”
“I’m confident that you will be a huge success, Gwen.” He smiled and reached across the table to place a comforting hand on hers.
But he hadn’t answered her question.
“I wanted to call you in today,” Nathan continued, “not only to tell you about Xander, but to discuss how to handle him in rehearsal.”
Gwen rubbed her right brow, a headache starting to pound behind her eye. “All right.”
“Since you two are friendly, it might be a bit easier—”
Her head snapped up. “What did he tell you?”
Nathan blinked at her, caught off guard. “Apologies, I assumed you were. You played his arrangement of the Vitali Chaconne at the Anniversary Concert.”
Her throat went dry. “His arrangement? As in he wrote it?” Now she knew why Ava had seemed shocked to hear it on that stage. “No, I found it online.”
Where you had posted it.
Her head throbbed.
“Ah. Well, let’s discuss how the three of us can come together as a team to lift this orchestra up to its highest level.”
He flashed her a dashing grin that worked on the subscribers, and launched into a discussion that made Gwen more nauseated by the minute. With the new knowledge of Nathan and Xander’s past in her head, she had to bite her words back as Nathan talked about his stepson, the teenager he’d been so incredibly hard on.
By the time she left Nathan’s office, she was still no clearer on why Xander had accepted his position back. She remembered him at the Plaza hotel, running after her into the women’s bathroom—The Pops doesn’t matter to me.
So what did?
She stepped out onto Seventh Avenue and turned north toward Central Park, thinking about maybe walking through the summer air for a bit to clear her head.
“Gwen.”
Spinning at the familiar voice, she found Xander Thorne stepping away from the building, coming toward her. He’d waited for her.
Her pulse raced as he ran a hand through his hair and stopped in front of her. She didn’t trust her voice, so she waited for him to speak.
“Do you—” He cleared his throat. “Can I buy you a cup of coffee?”
His face was strained, like he’d never asked that question in his life. Like he just needed to look at a girl to get her underwear off, no Starbucks baristas involved.
Girls like Chelsea. His maybe-girlfriend. Someone Gwen hadn’t given a thought to until this exact moment.
“No. Thank you.” She took a step back from him, considering taking two more into traffic. “Welcome back.”
Gwen all but sprinted down to the subway.