Chapter 8
Chapter eight
Kelsey
“Are you ready for the concert tomorrow?” I ask Lila as I pace the hallway outside the security staging room in Vancouver’s stadium. The concrete floor beneath my feet is smooth, as if the millions of steps I’ve taken the last six days have worn it down to its glossy shine.
“We are. All the teams are ready to go. Everyone’s familiar with their equipment. The team monitoring socials hasn’t noticed any unusual activity,” Lila replies.
I’m using my earbuds to talk to Lila so I can send a few last-minute messages on our team app before the meeting starts.
“We’re good,” Lila replies. “I mean, I had no doubt we’d be ready, but the whole partnership thing makes it a little less certain.”
“I know. It’s not a great situation. But we have to do it, and do it well, to make sure we win the long-term contract.”
“Sabotage,” Lila says, like it’s a valid answer to anything we’re talking about.
I laugh. “Right. I’ll just put some itch powder in a few of their matching underwear sets, and we’ll be good to go.”
“Do they really have matching underwear? Do they have the logo embroidered on them? Do you think they’re boxers or briefs?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if they did, but I hope they’d opt for screen printing rather than embroidery. Sounds scratchy on your junk.”
Lila laughs. “In your mind, is the logo just right across the front?”
“You’re thinking large across the ass?” I ask seriously. “It probably makes more sense. Larger that way.”
“Well, once you get a look at Carter’s undies, you let me know, okay?”
“I’m not going to see any Mitchell Security undies, least of all Carter’s.”
“Oh, please. That man is gorgeous, intelligent, and brooding. He has Kelsey’s type written all over him. Plus, you know you wouldn’t mess around with any of the guys who work for him or the contractors who work for you, so really, your options are limited.”
I have done everything in my power to put Carter Mitchell and his bedroom-dominating ways out of my mind since we got on that plane in Denver.
Every morning when I’m on my run around the city, each step reverberates through my head: He.
Is. Your. Coworker. Don’t. Fuck. This. Up.
He. Is. Your. Coworker. Don’t. Fuck. This. Up.
It’s mostly working. Unless I happen to catch a glimpse of him as he’s working out in the hotel gym. Or when he makes highly intelligent comments during our work meetings. But it doesn’t matter. Because I’m not going to mess up this opportunity.
“You know there are hundreds of people who work on this tour, right?” I reply to Lila.
“I do. But I said what I said.”
“Regardless, the Mitchell Security team has been remarkably easy to work with. We have our final run-through this afternoon with Jaxon’s final rehearsal, but I have no doubt it’s going to go well. Which is both excellent and makes it even harder to figure out how to ensure we come out on top.”
I hear Lila moving around before a door shuts, street noises replacing the clatter of her office.
“Have you spent much time with Jaxon?” she asks.
“He made a short speech at the big dinner the first night, the one with everyone who will be traveling with the tour, but otherwise, he’s been busy. Wait. Did you just leave the office to ask me that?”
I can almost hear her shrug through the phone, and I try not to be irritated. “Izzy’s been weird this week.”
I roll my eyes at the drama of it all. “She can handle hearing his name.” I made sure she could before I started talking about the tour too much. “They were friends once. They aren’t now. Who among us hasn’t had a friend or two from high school we lost touch with?”
“I needed some fresh air anyway.”
“You’re a terrible liar. And stop coddling Iz. Convince her to come to Australia with you. It’s the trip of a lifetime and the concert of a lifetime. Plus, it’d be good for her to rip the Band-Aid off,” I say.
“I’ll let you or Bryn handle that conversation,” Lila replies.
“Scaredy-cat.”
“Yes. Izzy is terrifying when she’s mad. She’s scarier than you are.”
“That’s not true.” They just don’t know to be scared of me.
Izzy, on the other hand, is like a box of TNT that just accidentally got set on fire.
It’s a big explosion, scorching anything in its path.
Then she feels terrible afterward. I, on the other hand, feel vindicated after my precision explosions take out my exact targets.
“If that’s what you need to tell yourself,” Lila says.
“Why do I employ you again?” I ask, mostly joking.
“Because you’re a badass boss bitch who’s about to have a huge contract with the most famous musician on the planet, and as much as it pains you to admit, you can’t do it all by yourself.”
“Huh. And here I was thinking it was because your brother is dating my sister.”
“You’re a jerk.”
I laugh, turning toward the other end of the hallway as footsteps announce the first people arriving for the meeting.
I nod at one of the men from Carter’s team before wrapping up the call with Lila, making sure to let her know how much I’ve appreciated her work supporting me on this and managing some of the other admin work while I’m gone.
I make my way into the room set up for the final security debrief and pause.
The normal room has doubled in size to make enough space, the old wall tucked away into a closet in the middle of the room.
This is the meeting we’ll have before the first concert at each venue.
It’s a big deal, as it’s with the leadership from each of the different departments of the tour, plus the entire security team, including the gate and entryway security teams that the venue provides.
Carter and I planned the agenda two days ago, discussing how we wanted to handle everything.
It was remarkably easy to work through who would share which pieces of information.
Since my team covers the advance planning, I’ll kick us off at each venue with the big picture, and Carter will bring it home with the specific team roles for his team and the venues’ security teams.
As we near the start time, I interrupt Carter as he’s talking to a couple of the men on his team, and we both make our way to the front of the room. The A/V team asked us if we wanted a microphone for these, but we’re hoping we can be heard without one.
Jaxon enters with a minute to spare, finding an empty seat at one of the tables.
You can tell the event security team is trying to play it cool, everyone focusing on their previous conversations or their phones, but having Jaxon Steele sit on the chair next to you is a pretty big fricken deal, and more than a few people are subtly sneaking glances his direction.
I was told most performers opt out of these meetings.
I try to hide my smile, giving everyone an extra few seconds to come to terms with the star in their midst. To Jaxon’s credit, he just smiles, his gaze focused on Carter and me at the front of the room, calmly waiting until everyone is ready.
I take two steps toward the center of the room but stop when the door opens again, this time letting in Trent Mitchell. His white Mitchell Security button-down, pair of dark slacks, and fancy loafers make me look like an amateur in my black tennis shoes and heat-up vest.
I glance toward Carter to see if he knew Trent was coming or if he’s just as surprised as I am, but he’s focused on the paper in his hand, not on either of us.
I nod my head to Trent, hoping it’s a cordial reaction to his unexpected appearance, and apparently, he takes it as a sign he should take over, because suddenly he’s standing next to me, welcoming the group to the Forever Starts Here Tour.
How it’s possible to speak for five minutes and say nothing, I’m not sure, but when Trent finally runs out of buzzwords and platitudes to say, he wraps up his motivational speech with a personal monologue about how he knew Jaxon growing up.
“And now, let me introduce you to Kelsey Harper, who works for us doing the security planning.”
Is he kidding me? Anyone else and I might’ve let that slide as a universal us, but I’ve known Trent long enough to know he’s using this little show of his as a way to make it seem like Mitchell Security is the one leading the charge here.
The man hasn’t been around the entire week, and suddenly, he’s in here, making it seem like he’s the one managing it all.
I force myself not to smile back at him when he shoots a smarmy grin my way, my face naturally wanting to respond in kind.
Unfortunately, I’m off my game. My heart is racing from sheer frustration, and I’m mentally trying to cut the parts of my talk that Trent already covered.
Sure, there isn’t much overlap, but still.
This has been planned for days, and now Mitchell Security just announced to Jaxon and all the other key leaders on the tour that they’re in charge.
And it’s not like I can dispute it without it looking like I’m throwing a hissy fit.
Those are probably the words Trent would use, too. Look at that small, blonde woman having a hissy fit because she thinks she’s not being given enough credit.
Then, all the men in the room would chuckle, adjusting themselves as they mentally move me from the professional column to the weak-woman one.
If Izzy were here, she’d suggest I hack into Trent’s phone and change the autocorrect so every time he says “proposal” or “plan,” it’d correct it to “dumb ideas” or “micropenis.”
If only…
I finish my portion of the prep meeting and casually introduce Carter from Mitchell Security, our partner security firm. And fine, based on Carter’s raised eyebrow, it’s possible I overemphasized the word partner.
I stand silently next to Trent as Carter talks through team placement and rotation, ensuring everyone sees the image of Bennie he sent to their phones.
Carter’s team has been briefed on Bennie before, but a couple of the venue’s security members have questions.
They mostly want to know if she’s dangerous or likely to be trying to hide her identity somehow.
Based on her mental state the last time anyone saw her, it’s unlikely.
When the meeting finishes, I stalk away from Trent, unable to bear the overpowering smell of his too-flowery cologne anymore.
“Kelsey!” I hear someone call me over the slight chaos of so many people leaving.
I turn, my eye catching on Jaxon waving at me from the front of the room, where he’s now standing by the Mitchell brothers. It helps that he’s almost six and a half feet tall, which is tall even in a room of big men.
I walk over, trying not to feel overwhelmed by the sheer size of the three large men standing in a circle before me.
“Everything ready for tomorrow?” Jaxon asks as Carter steps to the side to give me room.
“Ready,” I reply.
“Great. I had my assistant Annie check over those few local fans’ social accounts you sent over. She flagged two she’s worried about.”
“Okay. I can get a last-minute plan put together and send it out to the team tonight.”
“I was actually about to head out to dinner at Biologica, a restaurant down by the harbor. Do you two want to join me?”
I look at Carter, still uncertain if I should be pissed at him or not for Trent’s unexpected arrival. He matches my posture, arms crossing over his chest as he locks eyes with mine. A double eyebrow raise suggests it’s my call. I can almost hear him saying “I’ll follow your lead.”
“Sounds good.”
“Great. It’s a date!” Jaxon says with a smile. A smile that makes me very much regret agreeing to dinner.