AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sterling laughed and joined her at the table. Reese made sure to sit across from him as she grabbed a slice of pepperoni. “I didn’t know what you liked so I got four. Sorry I don’t have plates. He tossed her a handful of napkins, which fanned out over the table.”
“Classy,” she said. As she chewed her pizza, Reese thought about how different Sterling seemed. The Night and Day label that he had been wanting to escape was remarkably accurate. Though she suspected this slightly sarcastic version of Sterling was much closer to the real him. Or, the real him when he was happy. When she had seen him serious or grumpy, he didn’t seem like he was acting per se, but he seemed much more content in this playful version of himself. He seemed like he was in a good space. It made her happy to see him like this.
“Tell me how you got into social media stuff.”
Sterling managed to make the simple act of eating a slice of pizza look attractive. “My major was PR, but I always leaned toward social media and that aspect of branding. I went to UT and Austin has a pretty great music scene. It’s not Nashville, but it’s pretty awesome. I started working for a few clients there, just helping set up their accounts, creating a content strategy and overarching plan for how to best use social media to grow and get fans. When I graduated, I wanted to do something similar on a bigger scale and saw the job posting at Azul and a month later, I was moving to Nashville.”
“You like your work?”
Reese set down her slice. It was impossible to keep answering his questions with a mouthful of cheese. Sterling James was asking her questions. She had to push away the thought so she could appear like a normal, rational person having a conversation over pizza. It felt normal. Until she remembered how she used to fall asleep with a poster of him above her bed. Definitely needed to push that thought back.
“I like what I do, but I don’t think I’ll stay at Azul long. I hope not, anyway.”
“Why not? Do you miss Texas?”
“I love Nashville. Texas will always feel like home. But I didn’t mind getting some distance between me and my family.”
“Can I ask why?”
Reese made a face. “Nothing serious. I mean, my parents are still married and they are really great. It’s just … I’ve got a big sister, Rachel. Just two years older than me. But she’s a beauty queen. Literally: Miss Texas. I pretty much grew up in her shadow. People always compared us. And it wasn’t like I wanted to be a beauty queen, but it was like everyone had to make sure I knew I couldn’t be. I had to be the smart one.”
Sterling’s face was tight and his eyes seemed darker, almost angry. “Reese, you are beautiful. I’m sorry they made you feel that you weren’t.”
Sterling James just called me beautiful. Reese tried to make her brain move past that thought. “You don’t need to say that. I mean, I’m comfortable in my skin now, even if I’m no Rachel. But it’s like, even after she was done competing and all that, I still couldn’t keep up. She got married her senior year of college to a doctor. He was an intern then. Full doctor now. They’ve got two kids, both gorgeous, of course. And then there’s me.”
“You don’t need to be married or have kids to have value, Reese. Being a smart girl, I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that, but I’m telling you anyway.”
Reese couldn’t keep the smile off her face. To deflect a little, she looked down at the untouched piece of pizza. She hadn’t meant to unload all this on Sterling. Earlier it was Johnboy. Now she was sharing her personal insecurities. And he was being so nice. She couldn’t quite get her head around this moment.
“Thanks for saying that,” she said. “The thing is: I want that life. I want to get married to someone that I could see myself waking up to every morning for the rest of my life. Raising a family. Not the way Rachel is. My own way. But still, when people compare us, it makes me feel unsatisfied with my life and impatient for things.”
As if Sterling could sense how hard it was for her to talk about this, he shifted the subject. “You mentioned that you like what you do, but you don’t want to stay at Azul. Why not?”
“My job is fantastic. My boss is just … I don’t know. He’s not a people person. I don’t really jibe with his style either. I’m not sure I fully trust him. He’s pretty much in the old PR world of spin. I like to keep things a bit more authentic wherever possible. My hope is to go out on my own and manage clients and accounts freelance.”
“Why don’t you just do that now?”
“If I want to get my foot in the door with musicians and other bigger clients, I need the backing of someone reputable. People like you aren’t going to just randomly run across a solo person handling accounts. Not unless there is some serious word of mouth going on. How about you? Do you love your job? Based on tonight, I would say yes.”
Sterling wiped his mouth, looking up to the ceiling in thought. She had expected a quick yes. The joy he found in his work was obvious when he came off the stage earlier tonight. But on day two of the tour and the first concert, Reese knew she didn’t know the half of it yet.
He dropped a crust on a napkin. There was a pile of six there. Six! How had he eaten six slices in that little time? Reese resisted the urge to take his crusts. She loved eating other people’s crusts. But that felt a few steps too intimate.
“I love some of it. I don’t want to complain, because I have been very fortunate to have the success and opportunities I’ve had. I mean, going from a normal high school kid writing songs in my bedroom and posting them on YouTube to packed stadiums—that’s like the dream. But it’s hard, too. You give up a lot.”
His voice dropped as he finished talking. Reese could see his thoughts traveling somewhere else. Clearly there was something that weighed on him much more than what they had hired her to take care of with his image and the stress over a possible rebrand. The nosy part of her wanted to press him about what he had given up, but he probably had tons of people he could talk to about his personal life. He might think she was butting in. Of course, he had just asked some personal questions … but maybe it was time to stop being so personal.
“Should we get started?”
Sterling nodded and stacked the pizza boxes and cleaned up the table while she set up her laptop. He had finished the questionnaire, but Reese hadn’t had time to go over it yet. She skimmed his answers as he returned to the table, holding out a bottled water. As she took it, their fingers brushed. Even that slight touch sent heat to Reese’s skin. Sterling just had that physical appeal. Good thing the table was between them.
But as they spent the next forty-five minutes going over his answers and more questions that she had related to his brand and social media usage, his bare foot found hers under the table. She had kicked off her sandals when they sat down.
At first it was an accidental bump and he pulled away, both of them smiling across the table. “Sorry,” he had said.
A few minutes later, his foot returned, stopping just inches shy of hers, though she could sense it there. She could have pulled away, but instead, felt drawn to lean her leg a little, angling her foot closer. When the side of his foot brushed hers, Reese avoided looking at him, focusing on her computer screen as she typed. It was clearly an intentional move, but one they could both pretend not to notice.
When his foot shifted again so that his toes covered hers, Reese felt her entire body shudder to a halt. Her fingers froze over the keys, eyes on the blinking cursor in front of her. Even her breathing hitched in her chest. Slowly she dragged her eyes up to meet Sterling’s gaze. His hazel eyes sparkled with humor and a small smile lifted one corner of his mouth, as though he was daring her to say something about the small touch.
