Page 74 of The Librarian and the Rock Star

“I’ve put together a quick file of evidence proving some of the instances where Paul has completely screwed you guys over. Just say the word and I’ll send it directly to Jason.”

“Yes,” Jack and Tate said together, as the other two nodded.

“Should we find Paul and tell him that he’s fired?” Jack asked.

“He’s not here,” Kelly said with a broad smile. “He’s been banned from the building.”

“Yeah,” I confessed. “I may have told him off, then he lunged at me. Security kicked him out immediately when they saw that I got hurt.”

“Jesus Christ,” Marky said, “I was about to ask what was with the fancy wristband. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll just be clumsier for a few days.”

Jack’s expression terrified me. One second he had been half smiling, and in a blink he looked so furious he could have nuked the planet. “What do you mean, lunged? You said you fell.”

“I wanted to wait a few minutes until you see that I’m really okay. I didn’t want to freak you out right before your show.” His dark eyes locked with mine with the most tortured, horrific expression I’ve ever had directed at me in my life. “He jumped forward like he wanted to push me over the railing, and I dashed out of the way. I fell down a few stairs when I jumped out of his reach,” I said quickly. “Apparently not a moment of grace.”

“He tried to grab you?” Jack’s eyes were nearly black.

“He missed,” I nearly whispered.

He took a few deep breaths, calming himself down.

“She’s fine, man,” Marky said gently. “Be cool. We’re firing him now, and he’ll never be around her again.”

Jack’s hands were twitching worse than I’d ever seen them, and I reached out to hold his hand. He suddenly wrapped his arms around me. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered into my hair. “Please, please forgive me.”

“It wasn’t your fault, and I’m fine.” I pulled back a little to look him in the eye. “Really. Honest. The doctor said I should be fine in three or four days.”

He watched my eyes for a moment, then nodded, nearly smiling when he realized I had given him a specific time to calm him down. He turned back to the group but kept an arm around me. “Paul is dead to us,” he said grimly.

“Well,” Kelly smiled. “That was easy. Who wants to call?”

“I’ll do it,” Jack said. “Excuse me a minute.”

He left the room, and the tension seemed to rise. “Kelly, you can help us out in the meantime, right?” Marky asked.

“Of course,” she said brightly. “Promotions and marketing have trained me well for all sorts of organizational nightmares, even running you guys for a bit.”

Tate laughed. “Thanks, Kel. You’re the best.”

“So is Keira,” Noodle said seriously. “How did you find out all of this stuff?”

They were all staring at me so intently I felt myself instinctively want to shrink and run. There were four people watching me, expecting an answer. What did I tell Jack to do when he was nervous? Plant my feet. Taking a deep breath, I stood up tall. “I’m a librarian. I specialize in research and information technology. So, all you need is a professional nerd on your side, and you can do anything!”

They all laughed, and Noodle said, “Seriously, Keira, thanks. Not only did you dig our boy out of a bad round of depression, but you’ve also saved our show.” I felt myself blushing, and tried to mentally scrub the extra pink away from my cheeks.

Jack returned looking triumphant. “I called Neon’s Orange, and was put through to Jason right away. He’s completely devastated by Paul’s behavior and is firing him personally right now. He hopes we’ll stay with his label, and is going to figure out what to do, and get back to us as quick as he can.”

The guys all cheered, and Jack swept me up in his arms, kissing me so passionately it was almost embarrassing in front of his bandmates. But then his lips really sunk into mine, and I found myself clutching him desperately, my body instinctively melting into his.

“All right, you two,” Kelly laughed. “Let’s keep it PG for chrissakes.”

“Sorry,” Jack laughed, reluctantly putting some space between us.

Kelly’s phone made a noise. She read a text, then looked up with her eyes positively gleaming. “The show just sold out.” She looked down to read some more. “It’s from the concert hall’s event coordinator. They had thought this show would be a bust when they didn’t see any posters, but saw all of the stuff online. They loved the social media push last night.”

The band looked at each other, grinning, but oddly quiet.

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