Page 22 of Book People

‘Still. You’remyfriend.’ I sound like a child. This is what she’s reduced me to. It’s infuriating.

‘You like her.’ Dan’s gaze is very direct. ‘Don’t you?’

‘Dan—’

‘Don’t think I didn’t notice you being all territorial the moment I smiled at her.’ He’s grinning now. ‘Fucking hell, mate. You’re almost bloody in love.’

‘Daniel—’

‘I get it, believe me. She’s gorgeous.’ He shoves his hands in the pockets of his trousers and looks at the ceiling. ‘Maybe I should ask her out for a—’

‘Don’t you fucking dare,’ I growl, rising to his bait despite knowing full well he’s taking the piss.

‘Really, though,’ Dan continues, unfazed. ‘The real question is why you’re holding back, because it’s clear you are. You’re a grumpy bastard, Bas, but you’ve never been this feral.’

No, he’s right. I haven’t.

I make a conscious effort to release the tension in my muscles. I’ll probably have to go for a run later and then have the mother of all cold showers.

‘Wyatt pulled out,’ I say shortly. ‘Which is not helping my mood.’

Dan frowns, because he knows what this means. ‘Shit. That’s tough. Why?’

‘Some kind of scheduling clash. It doesn’t matter why, though. He’s not coming and I’ve lost my headliner.’

‘What are you going to do?’

It galls me to say it, but I do. ‘Miss Jones—’

‘You mean Kate.’

‘Miss Joneshas an idea.’

Dan grins at my stupidity. ‘Fine.Miss Jones, then. What’s the idea?’

‘She apparently used to work with Lisa Underwood. You know who that is?’

‘Yeah, course.Colours, right? I read it. Liked it.’

‘So does the entire world. Miss Jones is going to email her to see if she wants to come here.’

Dan’s brown eyes widen. ‘That would be a coup.’

‘It would.’

‘How well does Kate know her? I mean, would she want to come here? And also . . .’ Dan pauses. ‘She must cost a bomb.’

I shove a distracted hand through my hair, because I’m only now thinking that. She’s a major, global sensation and no doubt charges thousands for appearances. More than James Wyatt. More than I’ve got.

‘I don’t know,’ I say. ‘But, yes, she probably would. And I don’t have that kind of money. I’ve already invested far too much in this bloody festival and I don’t have any extra cash to spare.’

‘What about the council?’

‘They’ve allocated as much funding as they can. They don’t have any more.’

And they don’t. They were already generous with what they gave me, because they know how much it’ll benefit Wychtree. But I can’t ask them for more.

I drop my hand. ‘There’s not much here I can offer her as an incentive, either. It’s not a major festival. It’s a small local event and she’s not going to do it for free since it’s not like she needs the exposure.’

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