“Just calling it like I see it.”
“I’d expect nothing less.” She closed the file and slurped her drink. “You gonna sign him?”
“Maybe. He’s a hell of a talent, and if I don’t scoop him up, sooner or later, someone else will.”
“How did you come across him?”
“Joz Raynor.” I raised my arms overhead and stretched. “He bailed on my meeting on Thursday, then called me to this dive bar where Presley was playing.”
She frowned. “How does a guy like Joz Raynor stumble across an unknown kid from the other side of the tracks?”
“Saw a video of him online, apparently. He tried to tag a contract for Presley onto his own negotiations.”
Her eyes rounded. “He didn’t?”
“Oh, yeah, he did.”
“And what did you say?”
“Told him I didn’t take kindly to his manipulation tactics and was prepared to walk away from a deal with him if he wouldn’t budge.”
“Wow. Considering you’ve been chasing this guy around the globe for eighteen months, that was brave.”
“Hardly chasing.”Definitely chasing.“Give a rock star like Raynor an inch, and he’ll walk all over me. It’s not worth the headache.”
“Fair enough. He caved, I take it.”
“Yep.” I broke out into a grin. “Sent the contract to his people late last night, then immediately got on a plane home.”
“It’s a coup, Aspen. I hope you’re proud of yourself.”
“He hasn’t signed yet.”
“But he will.”
A shiver of… something… trickled down my spine. My music label was small enough that I could be hands-on with my musicians, which meant if Joz did sign, he and I would spend a lot of time together. Despite what I’d said about never mixing business with pleasure, my lady parts were not unhappy about that scenario. Although I would never date a musician, especially a world-famous one like Joz. Every single one I’d ever come across was dealing with more baggage than an airport on the fourth of July, and I’d wager Joz was no exception.
Great flirt, though.
“Your eyes have glazed over.”
I blinked, pulling myself back to the present. “Sorry. Was miles away.”
“In bed with Joz Raynor?”
“Ew, no. For one, I’m too busy for relationships. For another, the man has an ego the size of a planet. There’s no room for anyone in his life besides his inflated sense of self.”
She wafted a hand in front of her face. “Hot, though.”
“If you like that sort of thing.” I reached across the table and plucked the sheet of paper from her hands before running my eyes over it. “Thanks for this. I appreciate the quick turnaround.”
“That’s part of my job.” She got to her feet and scooped up her Frappuccino. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
As the door to my office closed, I opened a blank presentation document. Sam might not like this form of communication, but the Kingcaid board insisted on it.
At three o’clock, I signed into the board meeting from my office computer. If Penn were here, we’d gather in one of the conference rooms, but as it was just me, so there wasn’t any point. The Seattle boardroom came into view, with my father, both my uncles, and my cousin Asher already seated. We chattedwhile we waited for the rest of the family to join. At five after three, we were all present, and Asher’s father, my uncle Joshua, kicked off the meeting. He and his brother’s rotated the chair, and this month was his turn.
We went through the standard agenda items, then each of us gave a business update. When my turn arrived, I had a momentary rush of nerves. Silly, really. They were my family, and they were likely to support me, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t grill me like a steak on a barbeque. We hadn’t become this successful by letting family loyalties get in the way of good business decisions.
