Page 25 of All Tied Down

“The fundraiser is coming up, but you’re going to have to make a few appearances before then.”

“I don’t make appearances now. Are people really going to expect me to⁠—”

“Yes,” he says without letting me finish, annoyance plain in his tone. “You married an heiress. You’re in a rock band. You should have thought that through if you wanted to skate under the radar.”

Thinking of Emerson has the riff kicking up in my head again along with wondering what color red she chose this morning. I didn’t know I had a thing for red lipstick, or maybe it’s a her thing—I’m not sure.

Either way, I’m off track.

And so is Theo.

Weird.

“What’s got you all pissy?” I ask, staring at him over the lip of my coffee cup, his eyes widening with alarm as they meet mine.

“What? What? Why…would you ask that?”

Eyebrows in my hairline, I watch as Theo blushes furiously, his gaze now looking anywhere but at me.

“That was less believable than the time I told Colt I could hit a home run no problem even though I haven’t swung a bat since high school.”

“It’s nothing.”

“I got all day.” I grin, sipping my coffee so it makes the high-pitched slurping sound until his eye twitches and he holds up his hands in surrender.

“Fine. Fine. I had a video call with Emerson’s assistant.”

“Oh.” I frown, not expecting that in the least. “Was he a jerk or something because I can talk to Emerson and⁠—”

“No, he’s very professional.”

“What’s the problem?”

“He’s really hot. Like scorchingly hot with muscles and tight dress shirts and ties, and I’m not that strong, Garrett. How am I supposed to resist him?”

“Um…I mean…”

“You asked,” he hisses, arching an eyebrow as I try to fight the shit-eating grin that’s trying to spread across my face.

“Is he into guys?”

“He can gladly get into me,” Theo deadpans in what was clearly supposed to be an inside thought, and it’s too much for me to hold it together anymore.

Mug clanking against the counter, I bark out a laugh as Theo tries—and fails—to look annoyed, his cheeks pink and his mouth curving up on one side.

“Are you done?”

“That was perfect.”

“I’m so happy you’re amused.”

“To be fair, my question was valid.”

“Yes, well, I was distracted and I don’t know. It’s hard to gauge through a computer screen.”

“On the plus side, I’m sure you can find an excuse to have an in-person meeting. Make something.”

“I’ll work on it.” Clearing his throat, Theo leans back against the island. “We need to talk about what you want to do with Darren and the band.”