Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
SIENNA
The knock at my door had my pulse racing, thundering through my veins until I was dizzy, as Cade pulled it open and let August and River inside.
August’s eyes found mine immediately and my breath caught when he smiled, slow and soft. River, on the other hand, was scowling.
I cleared my throat and focused on the nice brother, trying hard not to think about how he’d stood in my living room wearing a whole lot less a mere day ago. “Hi.”
“Hey.” August’s voice was as soft as his smile, a deep rumble that soothed the tension building in the room as Louise leveled a stern gaze at River. “Thanks for having us over.”
“Of course.” I took a step back, the weirdness of why they were here swimming up again. I had dated a little in the past, but none of those boyfriends had been contractually obligated to be there. “Um, we got some lunch stuff so just help yourself…”
“Thank you.” His smile was big and a little crooked, as if he was oblivious to the tension between our managers and the memory of what we’d nearly done the night before.
I waved him in the direction of the kitchen and stifled my smile when he paused in front of the marble island to let Muffin sniff his hand before he scratched under her chin.
Pulling my gaze away, I took a deep breath and approached Louise and River where they were mid-standoff.
Louise looked amused, a small smirk playing around her mouth, but River seemed…
frustrated. His jaw was clenched so tightly I was worried it might shatter and when Louise reached out to brush his suit sleeve, he flinched minutely.
“Sorry you had some…” Louise frowned, seeing the mark was still there. “You have something on your suit.”
River sighed and shrugged out of the blazer, revealing a more muscled physique beneath his shirt than I’d have predicted. “I knew I leant on something in the car.”
August wandered back over to the group of us, sandwich in hand, and winced when he saw his brother’s suit.
“Here, you could use this more than me.” He passed River the sandwich and then looked to me hopefully.
“Do you think I could use your sink? Better to get this off of his suit sooner rather than later, milk stains are a bitch to clean.”
I wasn’t sure what to say, so I just gestured towards the kitchen sink and sank down onto the sofa. These brothers… they sucked all the air out of the room just with their presence.
“How did you get milk on your suit?” Louise chuckled, clearly trying to break the ice, but River’s chin shot up and he glared.
“I—”
“That would be his son, my baby nephew,” August called back cheerfully, cutting off whatever barb River had been about to let loose and placing the suit jacket on my island to dry before coming to sit down next to me on the sofa.
I’d always thought this piece of furniture was luxe, possibly even a little ostentatious with its deep cushions and silky material, but August made the space feel small.
His warmth washed over me as his scent invaded the air around us. “Shall we?”
Louise and River sat down at opposite ends of the island in the kitchen that overlooked the lounge and Cade dropped into the armchair next to the window, peering outside in feigned disinterest. I only knew it was feigned because I knew him.
For someone so good at keeping secrets, it was surprising how much Cade loved gossip.
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and stilled only when August placed a hand on my knee. I glanced up and then away, willing the blush from my cheeks as he squeezed my leg before removing his hand.
"I was surprised to hear from you," Louise began and I tried to focus. "You seemed pretty against the idea of working together."
"Yes, well, we had time to reconsider," River said smoothly and August snorted as he reached down and scooped up Muffin where she twined around his feet.
"By that, River means he lied to my coach and our new sponsor. They saw the photos of us online and were concerned about the attention I might bring to the team. The sponsors apparently want wholesome, family values."
Louise looked delighted by the information, eyebrows raised as she looked back to River with an air of smugness I could feel from across the room.
River sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he glared at his brother. "Yes. In order to keep you on the team, I told them you were dating the popstar. Would you rather I hadn't?"
I don't know why I thought August would snap back at his brother, but he didn't. If anything, he relaxed further. August sank back against the couch with Muffin curled against his chest, purring. "I would have liked you to talk it over with me first, that's all."
They held each other's gaze for a moment before River nodded. "I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted," August said easily and let Muffin settle into his lap. "So I suppose the only question now, is do you want to do this?"
I blinked, surprised he was asking me when nobody else ever seemed to care about my opinion when it came to my career, or my life in general.
Except for Louise and Cade, of course. Doing this would plant me firmly in the public eye, however.
More so than ever before. Sure, I'd done interviews and photoshoots, but sparingly.
It had given me an air of mystery that only made the press more curious about the uncharacteristically-private daughter of one of the world's favorite band members.
"What do you think?" I turned to Louise, knowing she would be honest with me, lay out the options, and let me decide.
"I think..." she said slowly and tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear before settling her hands back on the pen and notepad in her lap.
"If you want to get the studio's attention further, then this is a good choice.
If you're still wanting to move away from the pop princess image and age yourself up, then this is also a good idea. "
"So you're saying it's win-win?" I mused and she half-shrugged, half-nodded.
"It's just about what your long-term goals are." I knew without asking that she was referring back to our conversation in the park. But I wasn't sure I really knew what I wanted yet, beyond getting out from under my label.
"Maybe we can take it one step at a time?" River suggested, pulling me from my thoughts. "We could trial this... arrangement for a month and then re-evaluate."
August glanced at me and I bit my lip. “That works for me if it’s okay for you.”
Was this a stupid, messy idea? Probably. But if I was going to really piss off my label, I’d rather do it with some company. It didn’t hurt that the company was sweet and hot and—
“I think we might need some rules. Or guidelines,” I blurted and August smirked, his full lips curving and distracting me.
“That’s easy,” he said. “Just don’t fall in love with me.”
My arms came across my chest, folding tightly as I laughed. “Me? We should be more worried about you falling in love with me.”
The rest of the room faded away when he leaned closer to murmur in my ear, “You’re gorgeous and funny, but you’re not my type.”
I drew away sharply, my eyes burning into his as I hissed out a reply. “Not your type? It didn’t seem that way last night, August. If I remember correctly, you could barely wait to get inside the door because you wanted me so badly.”
“True,” he said, relaxing into my sofa with a calm confidence that was infuriating. “Like I said, you’re gorgeous. But you’re also a young pop princess, and I’m done with the part of my life that was just meaningless hook-ups.”
Meaningless hook-ups. His words stung, but I brushed them off quickly. “Well, I definitely don’t think we’ll have any issues when it comes to me falling for you.” My tone was frosty and he softened.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said quietly, brown eyes like warm chocolate as he took in my pinched expression.
“I just meant that the other night…” He shook his head, eyes going distant like he was looking at a future I couldn’t see.
“I don’t want someone for a night. I’m ready to be all in.
I want the picket fence and babies, and a woman who looks good with my ring on her finger. ”
My mouth was dry and I swallowed hard as I looked at Louise.
She and River had been watching the back-and-forth between August and me like they were at a tennis match.
“You’re not that much older than me.” I didn’t bother to refute the pop princess statement, he couldn’t help that he was a sucker for marketing.
“Seven years is plenty.” His voice was low and gruff and I held back my surprise at his response. I hadn’t told him my age, and that meant one thing—he’d looked me up. For a fleeting moment, I couldn’t help but wonder what it might be like to be all in with August Ashford.
“Okay,” Louise said, drawing the word out as she and River shared a look.
“Let’s jot down some ground rules. As far as you two are concerned, you’re just two friends, hanging out.
To the press and the rest of the world, you’re Saugust.” An ache began in my jaw as I tensed but nodded and saw August do the same out of the corner of my eye.
“Great. We’re saying thirty days?” More nods.
“Outings—you mentioned something about a game?”
“She needs to come to the charity game the Tigers are putting on,” River said and I opened my mouth only to fall silent when August growled.
“She has a name, brother. Use it.”
River rolled his eyes. “Sorry, Sienna.”
I ignored him, mostly because I was too busy fighting off the tingles that spread through my body every time August defended me to his brother. What was wrong with me? What was it about a gorgeous guy being protective over me that had my underwear feeling uncomfortably damp?
Louise was writing and glanced up to meet my eyes. “You have that early listening party for that girl band—” She clicked her fingers at the air, clearly stumped for the name.
“Hijinx,” I supplied and nodded.
“That’s the one. August can go with you for that.”
August nodded and Louise’s pen moved furiously fast across the page.
“Then I think we need to have a few outings to really sell this relationship. Shall we say lunch twice a week?”
River frowned. “I think that’ll be too hard to plan in advance, August’s schedule is pretty packed most days with training.”
“Okay, fine. We can work that out as we go. What about photo ops?”
“I don’t think we need to stage anything,” I protested and Louise nodded.
“I meant more like selfies. Make it ‘gram official.”
I shrugged, happy to let her decide what she thought would be best as I considered what we’d mentioned already. Louise and River were bickering, like parents arranging a playdate for their misbehaving kids, and I ignored them in favour of August next to me. “Are you sure about this?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Scared you’ll be eating your words? I am very lovable.”
The chuckle that left me was sharp with derision even as heat pushed through my veins at the deep rumble of his voice and the challenge in his eyes. Louise was already nodding when I tuned back into the conversation.
“Let’s start with something easy. Lunch, tomorrow?”
“I have training,” August said, rolling up the sleeves of his sweater and drawing my eyes. “But I could do a late lunch, around three?”
“It’s a date,” Louise said, beaming and I reminded myself to breathe. “Wear something nice. There will be photos, I’m sure.”
“Only the best for my girl.” August’s drawl was amused and I rolled my eyes.