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“Then what’s the problem?” I ask, trying not to sound testy.
“Honestly?” she says. “It’s you.”
“Me,” I repeat. Now it’s Evie’s turn to nudge me. And even though I’m edging toward furious, her touch is still enough to send a shock up my arm and straight to my heart.
“Yeah, no offense,” Kara says, “but you look and talk like a stuffy rich guy. I get to choose who I work with, and I like to work with fun people. You don’t seem that fun.”
I clench my jaw to stop from making a sarcastic comment. Fun? This is business. It’s not supposed to be fun! If all I cared about was having fun, I’d still be washing dishes at my dad’s bar.
“Respectfully,” I say, “you don’t really want me to be fun. Fun means irresponsible and irresponsible means badly managed. I may not be someone you’d want to go clubbing with, but I’m reliable and I get shit done.”
“Are you implying that I’m irresponsible?” Kara asks. “Or that I don’t get shit done? Or that I’m unreliable?” She sounds annoyed herself now, and Evie rushes to try to fix things.
“He means in our area of work being too lax can be a liability. Obviously a creative like you needs to be out there living life and getting ideas.”
“My job is hard and I put in a lot of hours,” Kara fires back. “I have fun not because it automatically is, but because I choose to have a good time with it. And a huge part of that is liking the people I see every day. And I don’t know if I’d like to see you two every day.”
Ironic considering that I’ve spent so many days this month waiting eagerly for Evie to clock in. And maybe Kara would find Evie just as charming if she had some time to get to know her. Me, on the other hand, she’d probably never get along with.
Dalton gestures for Kara to listen to him and she does, albeit reluctantly. I hope to god he’s talking some sense into her. Opportunities like this don’t come around every day.
When he leans back, Kara no longer looks like she’s about to ask us to leave, but she’s also still not inviting us to sit down. She chews the inside of her cheek again and then says bluntly, “Dalton says I’d be stupid not to say yes.”
Fuck yeah. I’m starting to like him already.
Unfortunately, Kara continues. “But I also stand by what I said. I’m not here for the money. I’m here for the experience and I’m not signing any contract to promote your business and deal with your people unless I know you two can hang.”
Oh god, if last night at the club was any indication, I absolutely cannot hang, and it wouldn’t take too long for Kara to figure that out.
“What did you have in mind?” Evie asks, her voice a bit strained. In my own panic, I’d forgotten that Evie isn’t exactly a partier herself, even though she can rock a club dress.
I expect Kara to invite us to a show in the city, or maybe to a party at her penthouse. Instead what she says is enough to make my jaw drop.
“I’m playing shows in Paris and Ibiza over the next two weeks. We’re leaving tomorrow. You two can come, and if we get along, then I’ll sign on the line. Sound good?”
No. Oh no. Sounds bad. Getting dragged around Western Europe with a bratty pop star? Hanging out in gross clubs with tattooed assholes? All of it is so far beyond what I consider a good time. And even worse, despite all my instinctual resistance, a small part of me surges at the chance, the excuse, to spend time with Evie. Walking the streets of Paris hand in hand, seeing the sunset from the sandy shores of Ibiza. I want it with a surge of desire that threatens to stagger me. And that, more than any other reason is why I shake my head firmly.
“Absolutely not,” I say. “I have a business to run here. Ms. Davis is planning the launch of a huge investment in just a couple months. As enjoyable as a vacation sounds, we have responsibilities that can’t just be flung aside at a moment’s notice.”
Kara doesn’t look disappointed even though I can clearly see that Dalton is nudging her frantically with his knee. She just shrugs and relaxes back onto the couch. “Then it looks like we’re done here,” she says.
“It does,” I say through gritted teeth. I’m beyond furious. What kind of demand is that anyway? An impossible one, something she probably knew I’d never agree to. Something to get us out of her rainbow hair without pissing off her manager.
I turn on my heel and stalk toward the door, ignoring the calls of the strippers and focusing just on getting the fuck out of here. What an embarrassing waste of time.
A hand on my arm causes me to whirl about on the person in anger, thinking one of the strippers has gotten particularly brazen.
Evie quickly lets go of me and raises her hands. “I come in peace,” she says.
My eyes soften instantly, but then harden again as I see Kara and her group watching us from down the room.
“What do you want?” I ask. “We can talk in the car.”
“If we leave now they might not let us back in,” Evie says.
I scoff. “Back in? I wouldn’t ask to come back in this place if this was the only goddamn strip club in town.”
Evie raises an eyebrow. “Like strip clubs that much, huh?”
