Chapter 1
Chapter one
Kelsey
Present Day: October
“This is only the most important contract of my life, but you’re right, I’ll try to have fun at the meeting.
Thanks, Iz.” I hang up on my sister and push through the doors leading into the commercial building on the east side of Denver.
Hearing a footstep on the tiled floor behind me, I slow down, realizing my account manager is here with me.
“Sorry,” I say to Lila. “I’m not used to bringing someone with me to these client meetings.”
“That’s okay. So you think we got the contract?” Lila asks for the fourth time since we left Wild Bluffs this morning.
I peer into the reception area of the meeting room rental company, taking note of the empty seats before giving her the same answer I gave her three times as we carpooled here.
“Most people don’t make you drive three hours just to let you know you didn’t get the job.
It’d be a pretty dick move. Though most people don’t make you meet with them after the interviews, but before awarding you with the contract, either.
So I guess I don’t know. Our proposal was good regardless. ”
I walk up to the woman bent over her computer, forcing myself not to raise an eyebrow at the sight of her shoeless feet curled up under her on her office chair. When I realize she’s not going to acknowledge my presence, I clear my throat.
“Excuse me, I’m Kelsey Harper, here for a meeting with SevenFour Entertainment.”
She clicks a few buttons on her computer before saying, “Room 4. It’s the one all the way to the end of the hall.”
“Well, I guess that answers the question about whether Jaxon Steele will be here. No way a twenty-something female had that man walk past her within the last hour and isn’t still hyperventilating,” Lila observes as we walk down the hallway.
“You’re a twenty-something female,” I remind her.
“I know. That’s why I said it with such confidence. I’m going to absolutely lose my shit the first time I see Jaxon Steele in the flesh. His music, his body, his—”
“Lila,” I say, stopping us both in our tracks.
“You cannot, will not, lose your shit when you see Jaxon Steele. You are here representing our company, and I will kick you to the curb—future relative or not—if you show one ounce of anything other than professionalism during these meetings. You are the most put-together twenty-four-year-old I know, and you’re dating a professional golfer who most women react to in a similar manner.
And your brother is a professional golfer. Get it together.”
It’s at that point I notice the corner of her mouth quivering, trying not to break into a smile.
“Was it Bryn or Izzy who put you up to this?” I ask.
“JT.” Lila releases the hold on her smile, and it blossoms across her face.
“He bet me I couldn’t get you to threaten to fire me before the meeting.
He thought you’d be too focused to throw around idle threats.
And you know Bryn would be pissed at you for suggesting we’re related when they aren’t even engaged. ”
I shake my head as we continue down the hall toward the meeting space. We’re almost thirty minutes early, but I didn’t want to risk getting caught in traffic.
As we walk into the empty meeting room, I relax enough to smile back at Lila. “And do I even want to know what you won from the asshole who apparently has far too much faith in me?”
“Let’s just say it’d definitely be classified as back-nine behavior.”
“I hate that I know what that means,” I say as I take a seat on the far side of the table.
Seating arrangements are always harder to navigate when the person hosting the meeting isn’t there first to establish where they want to be.
Sitting at the head of the table would be too aggressive of a power move, but sitting in the middle makes me seem weak and indecisive.
I opt for the seat to the left of the head of the table.
Not only is it asserting myself as the second most important person in the room, but it also gives me the benefit of being able to see the door.
Lila sits down next to me, pulling out four copies of our proposal and a few KH Security pens from her bag. I grab a copy of the proposal and flip through it, though I likely have the entire thing memorized at this point.
“OH MY GOD!” A high-pitched scream comes from somewhere in the building.
“I guess Jaxon is coming,” Lila deadpans, slowly perusing the proposal in front of her.
I shoot her a warning glare, which she pretends not to notice, though the corner of her mouth gives her away again.
The door to the meeting space is opened shortly after, and Lila and I both stand as two men walk into the room.
Jaxon is tall, well over six feet, with chestnut-brown hair and equally dark eyes.
The man with him is dwarfed in comparison, though the gray streaks in his hair give him an air of authority.
Given that he’s only forty-five, I have a theory that he adds them in to make himself seem more refined.
I walk around the table and meet them, extending my hand to Henry, Jaxon’s manager, who I met during the interviews a few months ago.
“Hello, Kelsey,” he says, shaking my hand.
“So good to see you again,” I say with a smile. “Let me introduce you to Lila Walker, my lead project manager on this proposal.”
I leave Lila to meet Henry and join Jaxon.
“Long time no see, Jax.”
“Hey, Kelsey,” he replies, pulling me into a friendly hug. “How’s…everyone?”
I catch the slight hesitation in his question and know he considered asking about my sister Izzy, his once best friend, but if he’s not going to bring her up, neither am I. “Good. Everyone’s doing really well.”
“That’s great. I appreciate you taking the time to drive up here to meet with us. Henry felt we should have this conversation in person.”
My stomach tightens at the statement, but I force a smile to my face and nod. I won’t let a potential client see me looking concerned. Even if said client is a famous musician who once spent hours every weekend playing GuitarStar with my sister.
“Not a problem. It’s an easy drive in from Wild Bluffs.”
“Right.”
Though I understand the value of small talk and forging interpersonal connections with clients or potential clients, I’d really like to see what this meeting is about. Hoping everyone will follow my lead, I head back to the table and sit down in my seat, now directly across from Jaxon.
“I know we’re still a little early, but shall we begin?” I ask.
“We’re waiting for a few more people,” Henry replies as he takes the seat at the head of the table.
“Oh,” I say, choosing not to ask who else is joining us.
We talk about the weather and a storm that passed through Jaxon’s home in Nashville for a few minutes before finally, the door is opened again.
Two large men stalk through the door, their black polos pulling across their chests to show off the Mitchell Security logos on their left pecs.
I know if I look in the parking lot, I’ll find a matching black pickup with the white logo gleaming in the sun.
The half brothers are opposites in every way except for the hulking frames they inherited from their asshole of a father.
My stomach churns at the arrival of the other security firm in Wild Bluffs, the twinge of unease from Jaxon’s comment earlier growing into a full-blown case of heartburn.
“What a pleasant surprise,” Trent Mitchell says as he takes in Lila and me standing to welcome them. “I wasn’t aware we were going to be joined by anyone else today.”
“Hi, Trent,” I reply. “Carter.” I nod my head toward the second man, the dark and broody to Trent’s blond, used-car-salesman vibes.
Carter’s dark eyes snap to mine, and he nods back, experience telling me that’s all I’ll get from the man. Even though we’ve known each other since preschool, I’ve always felt like I had to physically pull each and every syllable from his mouth.
We all shake hands, circling the table before finally taking our seats, Trent sitting next to Jaxon with Carter on his other side.
“Sorry for springing this joint meeting on you all,” Henry says. “But after careful consideration of the proposals submitted and interviewing both of you this summer, Jaxon and I decided we’ll use his six-week international leg of the Forever Starts Here Tour as a trial run.”
Wait. Did he just say trial run? As in, competing for the real contract?
“We’d like both of your teams to provide security for Jaxon during the entirety of the tour.
Now, as we covered in the request for proposal, this tour is going to be quick, with Jaxon playing almost every night for six weeks before we return to the States and Jaxon takes a much-needed break.
So it’ll be a seven-week commitment: one week in Vancouver for rehearsals and then six weeks with your teams traveling and working twenty-four seven. ”
Ugh. The last thing I want is to spend seven weeks working every minute with Trent Mitchell. I don’t know if I can listen to him go on and on about how amazing he is or what expensive thing he just bought his new trophy wife without punching him in the face.
“Well—” Trent starts, but Henry cuts him off.
“I understand it’s challenging to work with another company on things like this, but since you both specialize in different portions of the job, we need to understand which team performs better when working with Jaxon to make the final decision.”
That…well, that sucks, but I can see why it would be challenging for them to pick between our two teams. Mitchell Security is known for its boots-on-the-ground security personnel, and KH Security excels at security logistics and using technology to pre-assess risks.
When working with a large client like Jaxon, the security company manages all the protection officers and weeds out threats before they are even physically there, but comparing Mitchell and KH is like comparing apples to oranges—we’re both fruit; which one you want depends on preferences and needs, not superiority.
Henry continues, “After the stalking incident during the US portion of the tour and the issues we had with his previous security team not responding the way we would’ve preferred, we feel it’s vital to try out the firms before we commit to a three- or five-year security contract.
But, because of coordination issues we’ve had in the past when we tried to contract with more than one team, we will be picking just one of your firms to work with moving forward. ”
Henry claps his hands together lightly, taking in everyone’s faces before continuing, “So, in summary, you’ll each get a seven-week contract with us. At the end of the seven weeks, Jaxon and his team will be selecting one—only one—company for his long-term security contract.”
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
I can’t say no, even if the thought of working with Trent Mitchell for seven weeks makes me want to stick a fork in my eye.
This is a huge deal for my team, and so many people have worked their tails off getting us to the point where we would even be competitive for this type of contract—though in this case, it’s clear Jaxon is playing favorites with Wild Bluffs teams…
even if it makes no sense. Last I knew, Jaxon hadn’t set foot in town since he walked away from everything and everyone in Wild Bluffs the day he turned eighteen.
“Well, that sounds like quite the opportunity,” I say.
“While I’m confident in KH Security’s ability to provide the highest-quality protection officers in the business, I have no doubt our team will be able to support the operations of Mitchell’s CPOs while also focusing on threat assessment and security analysis. ”
Gross. I can almost taste the corporate bullshit lingering in my mouth.
Trent stares at me from across the table before looking at his brother, who is taking notes next to him. “I can’t wait to have you as part of the team, Kelsey,” he says with a malicious grin.
“I’m not part of your—” I start, but am cut off by Jaxon.
“Great,” he says as he stands. “Then it’s settled. We’ll see you all in Vancouver in January. Henry will put you in contact with Gail, who will be your point of contact moving forward with the contracts.”
Trent and I both shake Jaxon’s hand.
“I’m glad to have people I can trust on board,” he says before walking out the door.
“Gail will send the formal contracts later today so we can get the ball rolling,” Henry says, quickly following Jaxon out.
There is a stunned silence as we all stand there. I look at Lila, but from the “what the hell?” look on her face, it’s clear she’s not sure what to make of the quick meeting either.
“Well…that was unexpected,” Carter says gruffly.
“I’m not sure why we all had to drive into town for it,” I say, almost to myself.
A deep, rumbling chuckle comes from Carter. “Trust issues will do that to you.”
“Well,” Trent says, interrupting his brother.
“Kelsey, why don’t you handle the advance-team work?
Send me your plans once you have them, and I’ll get back to you with which operatives of ours will be assigned to which roles.
If you have questions about which of your coordinators will be best to place with our team, just shoot me an email. I guess we’ll see you in Vancouver.”
“Or at Wild Brews. Or the grocery store. Maybe even the movie theater,” Lila jokes next to me.
“Sure,” Trent says before picking up his briefcase. “It’s always so nice to see you and your boyfriend.”
“See you around,” Carter grumbles, and less than ten minutes after the men arrived, it’s just Lila and me in the room again.
“Well, shit,” I say as I drop my head into my hands. “We’ve got to win that contract.”