“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,andyou’re dating a professional golfer who most women reactto in a similar manner.Andyour 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 proposaland 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.
