“Thanks, but I made a commitment.” The excuse sounds flimsy, even to my own ears. Axel Cox is asking me to perform with him. Anyone in their right mind would take this chance. Or at least anyone who didn’t have a secret to harbor.
“What if I took care of that?”
I’m curious despite myself. “How?”
“I can hire a group of workers to decorate, and you’ll be off the hook.”
“You have no idea how tempting that is.”
“Then say yes.”
“Bianca said you didn’t want a barrage of workers going in and out of your house. That’s why she hired only one person—me—to decorate.”
He waves a hand. “Yeah, I said that because I know how Zoe and Bianca tend to blow things out of proportion. But in this case, I can call my housekeepers. I trust them, and they’ll be thrilled because I’ll give them a hefty bonus.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to. It’ll help them and me. Whaddaya say? Will you help me out? Please.” He crooks a grin that does strange things to my insides.
Everything in me wants to give in just to appease him, but that would be a dumb move. There’s no way I can perform with Axel at the benefit in my hometown. Everyone will recognize me, and then he’ll start asking questions. At this point, it’s lookinglike I won’t even be able to attend the benefit for fear of running into him. And that’s a shame because I was looking forward to it. My parents and brother will be there, which means I’ll have to spend Christmas Eve alone, moping around my parents’ house and eating copious amounts of sugar cookies.
He leans forward. “Come on. Say yes.”
Why does he have to be so appealing with those arresting eyes and chiseled jaw? I can almost hear Harmony screaming for me to take the deal. From a writing standpoint, it’s the chance of a lifetime, allowing me to spend one-on-one time with Axel. And I won’t have to touch another infernal tree. Of course, there’s no way I can actually perform, but I could pretend that I’m going to and then develop a sudden sickness the day before. He’ll resent me for leaving him in the lurch. However, he’d detest me even more if he found out who I am. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
A large smile breaks over his face. “Let’s get to work.”
“Maybe you should call in your workforce first.”
“Sounds good.”
“Oh, we should probably keep it on the down low that I’m not the one decorating for the party. That way, I can stay on good terms with Bianca.” No need to rock the boat there. If she gets wind of me performing with Axel, she could get squirrelly, worrying about me getting too close to Axel on account of her. Also, something tells me that Zoe won’t take it well that I’m performing with Axel. Speaking of which, I might as well call out the elephant in the room right off the bat. “Hey, will Zoe be okay with me performing with you?”
He looks puzzled. “I don’t see why not.”
Heat rushes to my face. “Yesterday, I heard y’all talking after she saw us playing together. She seemed bothered that I’m here. I don’t want to put you in a difficult position.”
“You let me worry about Zoe. All you need to be concerned about is learning the songs.”
“That, I can do.”
Chapter
Four
Four and a half hours later,I’m starting to understand why Axel Cox is such a superstar. The man has an incredible work ethic—well, maybeincredibleisn’t the right word.Sadisticis more like it. The man doesn’t stop.
We’ve worked straight through lunch.
When I started coughing from dry mouth, he at least got us bottles of water. That was the only time he left the music room—well, that and when we stepped out to let in the crew to wrap the trees. Once they were settled, we came right back in here and haven’t stopped since.
I thought it would be easier on my hands to play drums rather than wrestle with the branches, but now I’m not sure. My palms are rubbed raw from the drumsticks, my fingers ache, and my shoulders feel like they’ve been wrung out.
“Let’s do it again,” Axel says.
I groan. “Seriously?” We’ve been working on the same song for the past hour and a half.
He flashes a crooked smile. “It’s not right yet.”
