Tony left, and the quiet settled again.Jami watched her close her laptop and gather her notes, each movement careful and contained.
When she turned to leave, he said, “Thank you for today.”
She paused.“You don’t need to thank me.”
“Yeah, I do.”
Their eyes met, and for a second, the air between them felt like that night again.She broke the moment first, nodding once before walking out into the sunlight.
Jami stayed where he was, listening to the waves outside and the faint hum of the amps cooling behind him.
He knew what he was supposed to do: keep things professional, let the tension fade, and move on with the tour.But watching her walk away made one truth settle deep in his chest.
He didn’t want to move on.
And no matter how clean the statement sounded or how calm the headlines looked, nothing about this felt finished.
ChapterSixteen
Carlene drove back to the hotel with the windows down and the radio off.The sound of the wind filled the car, but it couldn’t quiet the noise in her head.Every word from the interview replayed on a loop, layered with Jami’s voice, the hum of the cameras, and the polite smile of that reporter who had clearly wanted to catch her slipping, and made it known that she'd like to get to know Jami a bit better.
She gripped the steering wheel tighter, trying to shake it all loose.Every problem had a solution.That was what she’d built her career on.But today, with virtually no sleep, she couldn’t see the path forward, and that terrified her.
By the time she pulled into the hotel parking lot, her shoulders ached from tension.The sunlight glinted on the windows of the lobby, but it didn’t bring comfort.She checked her reflection in the rearview mirror before going inside.Her eyes looked tired, makeup smudged at the corners.Not the polished professional the label expected.Not the look she wanted to present to Jami.Now more than ever, she needed to be strong.
She climbed the stairs to her room, heels tapping a slow rhythm on the old wood.Each step echoed the same thought.You shouldn’t have let him in.
When she unlocked the door and stepped inside, the silence was deafening.No ringing phones, no notifications, no one asking for her advice.For the first time in days, she was alone.
She set her laptop bag on the desk and stood there, staring at it.Her whole life lived in that machine, every campaign, every win, every sleepless night spent fixing someone else’s disaster.It was supposed to make her feel safe.But right now, all it represented was the mess she was in.
Carlene kicked off her shoes, letting them fall beside the bed, and sat down.Her hands trembled slightly.She had held it together for so long that her body didn’t seem to know what to do now that she didn’t have to.
At first, it was just one tear.Then another.
Then the dam broke.
She folded forward, elbows on her knees, and cried.Deep, shaking sobs that left her gasping for breath.Tears hit her palms and soaked the fabric of her slacks.Every ounce of frustration, fear, and exhaustion poured out at once.The sabotage, the public scrutiny, the sleepless nights, and the one mistake she hadn’t meant to make.And didn't know how she'd not make it again.
She cried for all of it.
When there were no tears left, she sat there breathing hard, staring at the floor.Her chest hurt.Her eyes burned.She pressed a cold washcloth against her face, then dropped it to the floor and laughed bitterly through the last of the tears.
“Get it together,” she whispered.
She stood, picked up the washcloth, and walked to the mirror.Her reflection didn’t look like the woman she’d trained herself to be.Her hair had fallen out of its clip, her mascara had smudged, and her eyes were swollen.But worse than that was what she saw in them, vulnerability.
That was what she hated most.
She’d spent years making sure no one could ever see her weak.Not after what Reed & Carr had done to her.She could still remember standing in that sterile conference room while her old boss called her reckless for questioning a client’s ethics.The dressing down she'd taken in front of her entire team at Reed & Carr still made her heart race.Her cheeks burned with the memory, making her sweat.Humiliation had become embedded in her bones.She’d sworn never to let anyone have that kind of power over her again.
Until Jami.
She grabbed the edge of the sink, fingers digging into the porcelain.“You knew better,” she whispered.“You knew exactly what this was.”
He wasn’t just another client.Somewhere between the first late-night planning session and the quiet moments in the barn, he had become something else.Someone she thought about when she shouldn’t.Someone she trusted when she didn’t trust anyone.
Her reflection stared back, defiant now.“You’re not falling for him,” she said, her voice low but sharp.“You can’t.”
