Page 13 of Heartbeat Girl
Ignoring him, Jayne caught up and walked beside me. “How are we deciding the sleeping arrangements for the nights we sleep on the bus?”
“You get the bedroom. Don’t worry, it has a door,” Steve said. Vampires never slept, but we needed to make it look like we did.
Jayne’s eyes widened like saucers. “Oh, no. That wouldn’t be right. You guys are the band…the owners…”
“And you’re a woman,” I cut her off.
“That we had to convince to come with us, by the way,” Steve added.
Jayne raised her pointer finger into the air. “To work. I arrived to work for you guys.”
She had to say something unnecessary. We would really have to let her assist us, or she wouldn’t stay.
Jayne dropped her hand and lifted a brow. “This feels weird. Why does it?”
“Because you’re making it awkward.” Steve hooked his arm around her neck and dragged her to him. My jaw tightened. I didn’t notice how hard I gripped the handle of Jayne’s luggage until something snapped. Steve caught my glare as he looked back. I glanced down as a few pieces of chipped plastic clunked to the ground. He cackled outrageously.
“What was that?” Jayne tried to turn, but Steve steered her forward.
Fuck. He was right. I needed to dial down the intensity.
Playful, Liam. Lively.
That was the version Jayne knew during the few times she allowed me around her. I could be—Iwas—that person.
Sometimes.
Chapter Six
JAYNE
It was a bad idea. The absolute worst.
I gawked at the bent handle. How did Liam destroy my suitcase the short distance from my vehicle to the bus? I had no clue what I was thinking when I agreed to be their PA. One hour on the bus unpacking my clothes into the tiny compartments connected to the bed, confirmed the truth of my words.This is a bad idea.
Buses were compact. The bedroomwasthe bed. There were compartments lined all up and down the sides to store things, but to be in the room, I had to sit on the bed. And the entire time I tried to get comfortable being there, Steve, standing in the doorway, drilled a hole in the back of my head. He laughed at his own jokes about my discomfort.
“For fuck’s sake, Steve, leave her alone and let her unpack,” Liam snapped from the booth. The cushions were black. I hadn’t tried them out yet, but they looked super cozy and would be where I’d likely spend most of the summer eating as I toured with The Oppressors. The bus was nice. But God, I really hoped we stayed in hotels more.
That eerie aggression wafting from Liam put me on edge. He glared, his eyes like daggers, at Steve. Compacted spaces did that to people.
“I wanted to be in her company.” Steve rubbed the back of his neck, whining as he trailed down the aisle.
I took a deep breath and followed him. “Do you have your contacts for me? I need your previous assistant’s planner if possible. Also, am I in charge of merch? What company do we go through, or did you pick someone indie?”
Pete blinked rapidly at me while Steve held out his palm. “Whoa, whoa, whoa…” He glanced at Liam. “Liam, as our ex-PA, do you have the answers for her?”
My mouth dropped. “You said you fired your assistant. That’s why you needed me.”
“And Liam was horrible, so we fired him because I have no fucking clue about everything you just said,” Steve replied.
I groaned, placing my forehead into my palm. Gritting my teeth, I said, “You claimed your assistant wasstealing.”
I didnotlike being lied to.
Liam shook his head at Steve before slapping a tiny, worn, black notebook on the table. “Here’s everything you might need. If you know better than what we have, go for it.” When I said nothing, seething quietly, the creases on Liam’s forehead softened. “Come on. You know why we did that. It got you here, didn’t it?”
I snatched up the notebook and skimmed through it. When I saw how empty it was, I sighed. Nothing about their tour, or their career for that matter, made sense. “Why are you guys so alone? Why isn’t Black Hearts doing more? In fact, they should do everything. Even hiring a PA.”