“I thought she was your missus’ best friend?” I’d learned that much. “Shouldn’t you be warning me off?”
“Fuck no,” Jackson shook his head. “Sophie eats two full sized businessmen for breakfast and pickles their testicles for a mid-morning snack. Have you seen the awards she’s picked up?”
“Some.” I had googled her. Information on what she was like was important if I was going to go into business with her, because that was essentially what we were doing. I couldn’t deny it: she was clearly a successful business woman. Bright. Attractive.
I sat down at the chest press. For a small hotel, the gym was impressive. I started to rep the tension out, focusing on the contraction and release of muscle, slowing down the movement, feeling the tension.
Lyrics flickered through my head, snatches of words bandied together and I could feel a pulse of a beat. This was the part that I loved; creating. Performing I enjoyed; I had no issue with being the centre of attention, singing and being that showman, but writing songs was the part I could do all day that didn’t have the dark lows afterwards.
“You look like you’re in a different world.”
The voice brought me back to earth. Jackson stood next to the machine and frowned.
“Working on a song..”
Max nodded. “That’s the sort of look Jackson gets when he’s constipated. We were worried you were having issues.”
I laughed. “No. Just part of the process. Never had to worry much about what my face looks like when I’m working out the acoustics.”
“We’re making the most of the last couple of days here. You joining us in the springs?” Jackson looked out of the window.
The hotel was made up mainly, it seemed, of glass, with views over every direction. The building I hoped I would own was similar.
“I will. Thanks.”
“See you then. You can help us in our mission to drown Seph.”
Jackson seemed almost too serious.
“Your brother isn’t that bad.”
Max laughed. “He isn’t but don’t tell him that.”
* * *
I found most of the men sitting in one of the heated pools, a hot tub next to it. From here, the sauna could be seen, another window showing that the women had congregated in there. I saw Sophie immediately, her curves laid out on one of the benches, a bikini hinting at what could be underneath.
I pulled my gaze away before anyone could catch me staring.
“How’s the song writing?” Seph spoke before anyone else, which I’d learned was generally how it usually happened.
“Mine’s good. The singer’s - not so.” I wasn’t going to start bullshitting now, and I’d learned enough about these people to know that they weren’t going to be selling any stories to the media.
“Seph’s seen her about.” Maxwell glared at his younger brother. “Warn her off him, if you would.”
I shook my head and slid into the water. The warmth was soothing and I felt the tension I knew I’d been holding slip away. I fucking loved this place. It felt like I was meant to be here, that all the tours and time spent in recording studios making records for fat cats I detested seemed worthwhile.
“She could do with being messed about.”
“Not by Seph, she couldn’t. He seems a complete idiot half the time and needs a note to remind him what his name is, but put a single woman anywhere near him and he becomes this pussy magnet. It’s fucking awful to watch.” Maxwell shook his head and reached behind him where there were a couple of glasses of champagne.
“But we could do with Seph getting a steady girlfriend. Then he’d maybe settle a bit.” Jackson ended his sentence by dunking under the water.
“He doesn’t want the hassle that one would cause.” I tipped my head back and looked at the sky. It was mid-afternoon and I still hadn’t had a chance to clear the air with Sophie. I didn’t know who had been more of a dick, but at some point we needed a sensible discussion where we weren’t trying to – I didn’t know what.
She was a pain in my arse. An attractive pain in my arse, it had to be said, but a fucking irritating splinter all the same.
“Afternoon.” The blonde dictator dipped into the pool and eyed me as if I was polluting the water. “Max, Vic said something about it being that time. I have no idea…” She stopped talking because Max was already out of the water and practically running back to the changing rooms.
