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“You are extremely talented.”
“There’s a lot of undiscovered talented performers out there. We got very lucky.”
I reached out and touched his arm. He never came off as insecure; it was flattering to see him expose a vulnerable side of himself to me. “It was hardly luck. Luck doesn’t make you part of the most sought-after group on the planet. That’s talent, plain and simple.”
“Don’t know. I’ve spent a lot of time on the streets, and I always wondered how we managed to get on top while many of the others who could sing circles around us never got recognized.”
“You’re also hardworking. Yes, Zack in particular has had a reputation for being a bit of a playboy, but when it comes right down to it, everyone in the band is dedicated. I’ve done a lot of research on your music and rise to fame once I was assigned Hypnotic and your music is brilliant. I was a fan before I became your manager, despite the band reputation.”
He laughed. “Whoa. Despite our reputation?”
I shrugged. “Come on, it’s not like you don’t know that you guys have a reputation.”
“That’s mostly Zack’s reputation.”
Chewing at my lower lip, I gave it some thought. “Nope, I’m pretty sure you’ve had your share of public relationships.”
“Relationship. That’s the key word there.” Finishing his first plateful, Dylan went back for seconds.
“Okay.” Laughing, I nodded. “I’ll give you that much.”
Sitting back down, he nodded toward my food. “Get eating before I finish it all myself.”
Looking down, I was surprised I hadn’t touched much -breakfast was generally my favorite meal of the day- I’d gotten too wrapped up talking with him. Dylan was so easy to talk to, it was nice. There was an undeniable sexual chemistry crackling between us, but it was nice that we could push the attraction aside so that we could have a conversation.
Cutting a piece of pancake, I put it into my mouth and raised my brows at him as I chewed. Once I swallowed, I responded. “See, I’m eating; I just don’t gobble my food down like other people I know. I like to savor it.”
He laughed again. “You’re so full of shit. So why did you decide to walk in your daddy’s footsteps?”
“It’s what I know. I more or less grew up in the business. When my father died, I knew I had to continue with what he’d built. It seemed only logical. Besides, I love the challenge of the business,” I leaned over and bumped my shoulder with his, “Though some groups are more challenging than others.”
“You’re not being very nice this morning. And here I went to the effort to bring you breakfast and engage you in conversation.”
“I appreciate it. It’s a sweet gesture.” Grabbing a slice of bacon, I popped it into my mouth. The bacon had a nice smoked maple flavor.
“You know, we’re not as big of assholes as the world has been led to believe.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, there were reasons why we got rid of the previous managers. It wasn’t just one of those spur-of-the-moment things.”
“Like?”
He sighed, placing his fork on the plate and sitting back on the sofa. “Well, let’s see.” He began counting them off on his fingers, “There was one who was skimming off the top. There was one who couldn’t seem to score us good gigs to save his life.” He chuckled. “Oh and there was the one that was selling stories to the tabloids; he actually had the nerve to defend his actions by saying even bad publicity was good publicity. It was only an added bonus for him that he was making money off of it.”
“Oh, brutal. I had no idea.”
“Oh yeah. When you were brought up to us, I have to say we were pretty skeptical, but you seem to be working out pretty well.”
“I’ve only been with you guys for a few weeks and I’ve already got us all in the headline news.”
“Correction: Zack has gotten us into the headline news. No one knows it’s you.”
“Yet.”
“There is no yet. The whole groupie story is very typical of Zack. No one would think any different. They were reaching when they accused you of being that person.”
“But I was.”
“Again, they really don’t know that. They were fishing, nothing more, nothing less. This isn’t our first rodeo when it comes to dealing with the press.”
“No. You’re definitely right.” Looking over at him, I could see the reassurance in his eyes. His strength and confidence made me feel so much better about the situation. I was fortunate and grateful that he’d dropped by this morning.
As I sat there staring at him, and him back at me, I was struck by the urge to kiss him. Fuck, what was wrong with me? I’d only been with a few people in my lifetime and all of a sudden, I was becoming a slut playing bed pong between two sexier-than-sin men. They were both so different in personality, but deep down they were both good, kind, and passionate. If I didn’t stop this soon and find a way to end this dual attraction, I’d be the next one on the dismissal list. I couldn’t keep sleeping with both of them. Something had to change, and pronto. Sadly, ending the sexual part of my relationship with both men seemed to be the most reasonable solution, but not one I wanted.
