Page 9 of Mr. Not Nice Guy

Pursuing my dream while being able to make enough money to take care of Maw-Maw.

It’s so unbelievable that I squint at Brennan, then Liza, then August. “Are y’all fuckin’ serious right now?”

Brennan chuckles, and August smiles pleasantly, and Liza crinkles her nose, which is now tinged pink like she’s holding back tears of joy.

“Totally fuckin’ serious,” Brennan says.

I answer without a shred of hesitation. “Thenyes.”

Liza sucks in an excited gasp as she claps her hands together. “Yay!” she squeals, and she’sadorable. I can see why August is still so hung up on her.

Brennan smiles at her while rubbing her back. “I second thatyay.”

“Agreed,” August says, still pleasant and with total professionalism, as he continues to face me. “In that case, we’d like to meet with you in an official capacity at the label where we can go over the contract, production schedule, and marketing plan. Are you free this week?”

I haphazardly shake my head. “I’m always free. Just say when.”

He slips out his phone and swipes the screen. “Would tomorrow around ten work for you?”

I hastily nod. “Totally.”

“Excellent.” He taps Brennan’s business card before sliding it toward himself and pulling out a pen. “This is the label’s address,” he says casually, but I don’t miss the fact that he’s aggressively scribbling out Brennan’s name and phone number, and then adds his own. “If anything comes up before then, get a hold of me. Likewise, if anything comes up at all,ever, get a hold of me.”

Ah, yes. There it is. The typical male pissing contest. It’s not as amusing as I’d hoped, but I can’t exactly complain about the outcome of this impromptu meeting.

August holds out the business card to me, which I take, and then wave it at the level of my plunging gold neckline in an effort to remind him of how much he liked myperfect tits.

Hiswords.

“Oh, I’ll definitely be getting a hold ofyou,” I can’t help remarking with total flirtatiousness because I am fuckinggiddyright now, and I kinda wish he could remember who I am. That’s the fucking hysterical cherry on top of all of this.

But it’s still obvious that he has no idea that I’ve loudly orgasmed right into his ear before, and his green eyes do a subtle, awkward shift. And,ohhh…I see.

Mr.-Get-to-the-Fucking-Point is apparently Mr.-I’m-a-Consummate-Professional and doesn’t understand why I’m flirting with him.

So I guess he has a tendency to be grumpyandis a little too serious. Well, I can fix that. If I’m going to be working with him, he’s going to have to lighten up, lest he kill my career with boredom before it even begins.

I point at him with the business card. “SoAugust, does that mean you’re going to be the personmanagingme?”

He offers a deft nod. “Yes.” He gestures at Liza and Brennan. “Liza’s our VP and Brennan oversees the label’s finances. I head artist management. You’ll be working with our whole team, but you and I specifically will be our own team.”

“Reeeaally,” I say, stretching my mouth with another Harley Quinn grin. “In that case, could I speak with you privately for a second?” I offer Liza and Brennan a polite glance. “No offense, y’all. I just have a small personal issue that I want to discuss if I’m going to be working for him.”

“Oh no, not at all,” Liza says quickly, grabbing Brennan’s sleeve and tugging it as she stands up. “We actually need to get back home anyway. But we’ll see you tomorrow.”

I shake with them both, and then they wave as Liza practically drags Brennan by the elbow out of the club, excitedly speaking into his ear while he caresses the curve of her hip. I notice August noticingthatwith a total scowl on his face, and I have to stifle a laugh by swigging some of my beer.

“So,August,” I say again, crossing my legs toward him and tapping my high-heel-clad foot against his shin. “Let’s talk for a minute.”

He wipes the disgruntled expression off his face and turns to me with total pleasantness. “By all means. I’m here to ease any concerns you might have about any of this.”

I angle my chin upward at him, tapping the rim of the bottle against my quirked lips. “You werereallydrunk, weren’t you?”

He squints and inclines his head to one side. “I beg your pardon.”

I laugh lightly because that’s the first thing he ever said to me, and now I just want to get a rise out of him. “You don’t remember…ummm… let’s go with…meeting mebefore.” I tilt the bottle toward him. “I could tell you were schnockered, but I didn’t realize it was black-out style schnockered.”

He squints harder. “What are you talking about?”

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