After she asked, she paused to question internally if that would change anything for her. On one hand, she wondered if she would feel less… intense… about Darcy if they weren’t alone.
On the other hand, she definitely didn’t want to be ganged up on. Juliet was pretty certain she could hold her own, even with the three ofthem. But it would be ideal not to have to.
Thomas shook his head. “Only Darcy,” he confirmed. Interesting. “A real duet; just the two of you.”
Just the two of them, hmm?
“My final answer, then…” She paused, mulling it over. Really, she couldn’t try to dig too deep into this, not here. Not in front of Harrison. Rolling her shoulders back, she angled her chin. “I’m still a yes. I suppose I can take a day to show Darcy how it’s done.”
She slid a long-practiced smile onto her lips, something she’d perfected in her youth for Harrison, and it had become so very useful once she’d risen in fame.
“Great. I believe Brett is still here in his office, so I’m going to grab him to finalize some details and get this rolling. Glad we could make this work for everyone.”
Thomas was out of the conference room in seconds. No one would ever say he didn’t take advantage of closing a deal as quickly as possible.
Slowly, Juliet turned her attention to Harrison.
Unsettlingly, his smile mirrored hers – except it was a little warmer, which made her stomach sink. He seemed genuinely pleased, which meant he hadn’t been hoping that she’d choose to recuse herself from the album.
If Harrison was giving her any semblance of a happy look, it meanthewas going to be getting something out of this, too.
She supposed the best thing about her stepfather was that he valued his own time enough not to keep her in suspense.
“I’m so pleased you’ve figured out how to manage your schedule properly. Given that you’re able to make time for the Shelby Linwood cover, I worked it out with Thomas that you’ll now also be able to perform at the Prosperity Fair in a few weeks.”
There it was.
If there was something she got to do purely for herself, becauseshewanted it, there would always be strings. Strings that cut even deeper than the Darcy of it all.
But these were strings she couldn’t do anything about.
“Glad your tour schedule isn’t as hectic as you’d thought it would be,” Harrison continued, and he was downright glowing with a victorious grin, now.
Her cheeks hurt with this smile. “Mhmm.”
The hum was all she could manage without letting her frustration shine through. She’d declined Harrison’s request to make an appearance at their city’s fall fair – something he sponsored over fifty percent of all by himself; his name was all over their hometown of Prosperity, Texas – months ago, utterly delighted to be able to cite that it coincided with her tour. Even if she didn’t have a show on the same exact night, the excuse had worked.
Of course, it hadn’t escaped her notice that she’d had that conversation with Harrison the week before the studio had finalized the decisions for Shelby’s album. She knew that Harrison had gone on a big hunting trip with several of the Copper Canyon execs and Thomas over that weekend.
And then Juliet had been unceremoniously not chosen to be featured on the album.Somehowshe wasn’t convinced it was all a coincidence.
Frankly, she’d been an idiot not to have realized what was going on the second Thomas had mentioned Shelby.
Harrison’s smile sharpened. “That’s the spirit. I’ll see you in a few weeks.”
“Yes, I suppose you will,” she returned in a measured, cool tone.
No one was going to take away working on Shelby Linwood’s album. Not Harrison, andcertainlynot Darcy Kincaid.
With whom she would apparently be collaborating with later this week.
Juliet’s eyes narrowed as a dark trill of anticipation thrummed through her. Perhaps it was about time for a face-to-face with Darcy, anyway.
Chapter Seven
Darcy was meetingwith Juliet Jacobs. Face-to-face. In person.
She was doing so in order for them tomake peace.
