Page 18 of Love is a Lyric
In her own way, she probably did. But that was the problem. Everything had to be Quinn’s way. Piper glanced at her phone, knowing Drew or Matt were only a call away.
Quinn’s eyes lit up. “Maybe you just need to get out of here. You can take the rental. Go into town. I don’t mind you taking a break.”
Break. Piper almost laughed. Quinn considered writing the songs forFate’snew album Piper’s break—on vacation when she shouldn’t even need permission to rest. “You know what, Quinn. I think I do need abreak.Matt’s probably still in town. I’ll see what he’s up to.”
“Matt? Drew Stone’s assistant?” Her face screwed up in distaste. “Honey, he’s an assistant. Surely you can do better.”
It was pointless to say Piper too was an assistant, so she scooted from the bed, her notebook clutched in one hand and her phone in the other. She couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
* * *
“Slow down there on that shake or you won’t be able to drive home.”
Piper closed her eyes. She knew that voice, the kind of joke, and it didn’t belong to Matt. “I thought you were out of town.” She continued to sip her strawberry shake, wishing it had more than ice cream in it. She’d never been a drinker, but if anyone could drive her to it, it was Quinn.
“I leave tomorrow.” Drew freaking Stone slid into the booth opposite her like it wasn’t the most ridiculous thing in the world. Even though she spent her life surrounded by famous people, she never got used to it. “Had a meeting I couldn’t miss this morning.”
Was it really only this morning Ben had claimed the same thing? Some clandestine meeting he’d rushed out to? Who else could he have been meeting in Gulf City? She itched to text Melanie and ask her, but the answers might be sitting right in front of her.
“Ben wasn’t with Mel this morning, was he?”
“How would I know?” Drew reached across the table and scooted her shake toward him. “Emma’shas the best food. What are you eating? I’ll buy.”
She checked the time on her phone, wondering how late she could push it before going back to the beach house to make sure they all ate. “What are you doing here? I called Matt.”
He ignored her question and tried to reach for the open notebook on the table. She snatched it away from him and set it on the worn leather seat beside her. “Don’t be nosy.”
A grin tilted his lips. “Making lists and doing whatever else you assistants do?”
Her lips flatlined. “Our jobs are important too, you know.”
“Oh, I definitely know that. Matt is basically my savior. I’d kiss the ground he walked on if he wouldn’t yell at me for looking like an idiot. He does that a lot, but then, I’m kind of an idiot a lot.”
“I’m aware.”
His grin widened. “Matt and I have an understanding. He’s hard on me—at my request—and I don’t make him do stupid stuff like my laundry or making coffee I know how to make myself. That would be ridiculous.”
Piper bristled at that, but he wasn’t wrong. It was ridiculous. She’d taken the job thinking she’d keep the band’s schedule, make sure their dressing rooms were stocked, arrange appointments and appearances—things like that. And she did it all, along with anything else Quinn didn’t want to do herself.
Drew’s face sobered. “I’m not going to lie. Losing him is a kick in the gut, but I’d never keep him from furthering his career. He’s been with me from the beginning, and I’m kind of lost at this whole thing. I don’t trust people easily, but Matt seems to think you’re the only one who can replace him.”
Piper took her shake back from him. “We weren’t supposed to meet until later this week, and this is starting to feel very much like an interview.”
“Matt told me you called, and I couldn’t resist trying. Especially here in my home town. This is the one town where no one mobs me unless they’re tourists. My life is crazy, Piper, crazier than anything you’ve seen withFate. I can’t hide like Ben prefers. I’m a household name, known even by little old ladies.”
“Bragger.”
He shook his head. “No. I’m being honest with you. This job won’t be easy. I know I’m fighting an uphill battle trying to lure you away from your own sister, but I know Quinn Hayes, and something tells me you’re being criminally undervalued.”
“Who knew Drew Stone could be serious?”
He laughed at that. “You’re one of the few. Please, just think about it. Whatever Quinn is paying you, I’ll double it.”
She choked on her shake. “Double?”
“I’m desperate. I leave for a nationwide tour at the end of the summer and can’t do it without a new Matt by my side.”
“So, this is a real offer? Gotta admit, at first I thought you were just trying to anger Ben.”
