Assure Her (Assured Distraction Book 1) (7 page)

“I take it you’re heading out?” he asked, his tone low and serious.

“Yeah, I’m dead on my feet. I had the bartender order a cab for me. I’m not far, just on the East side, near 8
^th
Street and Navasota. I’ll be fine.”

“Great. We can share a cab then. If you don’t mind, of course. I live about a block from there. And you really shouldn’t be out by yourself at night. Peri and Sawyer live in Hyde Park with all the rich fuckers.” He assumed she was unfamiliar with the area.

“You don’t have to leave just because I am. I can take a cab by myself.” Chandler didn’t want him to have to cut his time short with the guys on account of her.

“No, it’s OK. We have a long two days ahead of us what with rehearsing and shit. I should go on home, too.” The rest of the group decided they would head out as well when he reminded them what they were staring at for the next two days.

KeeMac took her guitar case from her, despite her protests that she could carry her own equipment, and escorted her outside into the warm night air. They only had a few minutes to wait before the cab arrived, and then he held the door to the cab open for Chandler and slid in after her. She looked back at the bar as a few of their group were leaving and a thought occurred to her. She lifted her hand to wave goodnight but they didn’t see her in the cab with KeeMac. “I’m really sorry the whole band has to give up their last weekend at home to work with me.”

“No sweat. We are just damn lucky we found someone on such short notice. Damn, Chandler, not everyone can leave on a two-day notice. We were all impressed with your talent. Actually, I’m pretty sure we all knew after the first song that you knew your shit. You know, if we’d seen you sitting out there in the lobby, you probably wouldn’t have made it to the keyboard. No offense, but we’ve auditioned so many over the past couple of weeks that didn’t know shit about our music, and we were all just burned the hell out on it. One look at you this morning in that librarian thing you had going, and we would have kept on walking out the back.”

“Well, I’m sorry my look didn’t meet up to the band’s standards. But you know nothing about me and that’s not fair.” Chandler was pissed that he would judge her so easily, and she was too tired to even bother trying to conceal it in her voice now. She had proved herself to them today, and he knew it. So, she didn’t really like him bringing it up again.

“Hey, I said don’t take offense. You shocked the hell out of us is what I’m saying. When you jumped right in on cue and played the way you did, we were so fucking happy. Losing Jacoby at the last minute has been hard on all of us. Cash nearly lost his shit right there in the lobby when he got the call from him. We’ve all worked so damn hard to get to this point and then he pussied out on us in the eleventh hour. We’re actually all half-convinced that his bitch of a girlfriend, Janae, got him sick on purpose to keep him from going with us. She’s not one of our biggest supporters. Hell, she’s not a supporter at all. She only comes to our concerts to make sure he’s not looking at all the hot chicks calling out to him.”

“Cash told me the story about what happened. I am sorry. I know this is such an important step for the band.”

“We’ve been lucky so far, and Cash has worked his ass off for us. We hate him most of the time but we know he wants what’s best for the band, and can get us there if we just listen to his bullshit.” He laughed hoarsely at his own comment his head leaned back against the seat. Chandler could tell he was looking in her direction but couldn’t see his face in the shadow. Her face, on the other hand, was occasionally illuminated as light from the streetlamps outside intermittently shot across her face from the back window as she turned to look at him.

“He seems great. Tense, but great. Peri has great things to say about him. Meeting you guys this morning, and getting to play all that amazing music, that was an intense hour-long jam session. It was such a thrill. I was blown away to just have had the chance to audition, KeeMac, really. Then after y’all let me walk out of there, I was sure I messed up the audition. Peri has been really great for my ego, though. She talked me down off a ledge over lunch then we went back to the studio. This afternoon was a whirlwind, unbelievable. The makeover, the shopping spree, and then a few hours tonight—in a
real
bar—as you so enjoyed pointing out to me, it has been one hell of a day, mentally and physically. This girl is dead.” She looked at him and offered a small smile, trying to keep it light, then let the comfortable silence fall between them for the last few minutes of their drive to her stop.

“This is my house, here on the left,” she told the cab driver, leaning forward to get a better look at the front of her place and then taking a look around. “I should have left some lights on, I guess. I wasn’t expecting to get home this late. My neighborhood seems kind of dark.”

As soon as the cab pulled up to the curb he was out of the car, holding her guitar case and helping her out. Then he saw her in the door before she could assure him she would be fine on her own. “You didn’t need to get out.”

“What would I tell Cash if something happened to you after we finally found you?” he asked over his shoulder as he led the way up the path to her darkened front step.

She was sure he didn’t know how alluring he was whenever he spoke to her. His attitude seemed different now that they were alone. She was glad about that. Chandler looked at him in the dark, the vague silhouette of his chiseled jawline and the broad curve of his muscular shoulders that tapered down to narrowed hips outlined by the neighbor’s dim porch light. She lingered there for a moment, in the dark silence, wondering what was under that t-shirt. She knew there were tattoos up his arms, not full sleeves, but close. Was his chest covered too, or his back? Maybe just a glimpse would satisfy her curiosity, she told herself. Maybe she could get a better look if some of their concert photos were on Google. That was something she could do later when she was alone.

She had to blink hard a few times as she tried to rein in her wayward thoughts before they reached her front porch. She was about to spend a lot of time up-close and in each other’s personal space. She couldn’t afford to be thinking about any of them in that way. They were going to be like a family and her thoughts were not leaning toward familial. Maybe the four glasses of wine were to blame.

When she turned around to say goodnight he took the keys from her hand, unlocked the door and reached in to flip on the porch light.

“Do you always take over like that? I can unlock my own door, you know.” She didn’t know what to think about his sudden take-charge behavior.

“Yeah, I know you can, but I needed to do it.” The look he gave her was something she wasn’t sure how to respond to, so they stood there, silently staring at each other for a moment.

“So, I’ll see you tomorrow at nine o’clock in the studio. It’s going to be a long-ass day, so be prepared.” He reached toward her and flipped the dark locks of hair back over her shoulder, his knuckles lightly brushing the skin on her neck. The cab’s horn broke whatever tension had taken hold as they stood there, but she was holding her breath, looking into his eyes when he simply dropped his hand back to his side gave her a small smile and turned and walked down her steps. She felt a surge of disappointed at the loss of the warmth that his simple touch provided.

He didn’t look back as he headed to the cab. “Yeah, I’ll be there,” she called after him.
Damn, could I be anymore lame?

After washing off the stress and grime of the day and the load of makeup from her skin, she was finally able to crawl into bed. She thought back on the wild day she’d had, ending with some unspoken something when she’d looked KeeMac in the eye. The guy was drool-worthy and she didn’t know how she felt about having those thoughts about him. She was sure it was a bad idea she would regret if she encouraged them or even allowed them to continue.

She had never had much time for a social life. The crushes she’d had in high school were quickly kept at bay by her parents who made sure she didn’t have enough down-time to explore any mutual attraction. The guys in college were as focused as she was on their art, and often gay, so nothing ever made it passed the friend stage. Now, at twenty-one, she found herself with no experience in the romance and sex departments. She had a feeling that was all going to change while hanging out with this bunch. With groupies and girlfriends, she thought her reference bar was about to be raised exponentially. These were the last thoughts lingering in her mind as she drifted off into a heavy sleep.

––––––––

A
rriving a little early to the studio, Chandler greeted Peri with a smile. Today’s arrival felt much better than yesterday’s. “Are you ready for this?” Peri smiled in return.

“Yes, I’ve been up for hours already, listening to their music. I got the feeling yesterday they were not all excited about me changing the way Jacoby played in any way, so I wanted to listen to his interpretations of the music so I would be able to copy it exactly.

“What you should have done was slept in! You’re about to be caught up in a whirlwind, and your feet might not touch back down for eight weeks.” Peri said it jokingly, but Chandler knew she was probably speaking the truth.

“I’m ready. I want to be perfect for them though, so I’m willing to put in the extra time on my own.” Performing with this band was a huge opportunity for her and she did not want to let them down in any way. Perfection is something she demanded of herself, and she would not change that, especially now.

The rest of the band trickled in one at a time. Mornings were definitely not their best time of the day, if their looks were any indicator. Cash briefed the band in the conference room first about scheduling, rehearsals, and sound checks. He wanted them to at least have an understanding of how tight their time was going to be once they departed. The only real down-time they would have would be on the bus, when they weren’t sleeping. The rest of that time he wanted spent on them writing new material so they would have music and lyrics ready to lay down when they returned to Austin.

Chandler didn’t think this would apply to her much since she was only a fill-in, but she would be happy to work with them however much they would let her. She loved writing new music, and had a lot of experience at it in college. Her composition classes were something she excelled in, and she was silently thrilled at the prospect of getting to do something meaningful with the band, even for the short time.

“OK, guys—and Chandler—get to it. You’ve got all day today and most of the day tomorrow to teach her anything she needs to catch up on for the first show in Dallas.” So it would seem that the first travel day would only be a few hours’ drive away. But once they arrived, Cash made it clear that they wouldn’t have much free-time outside of sound checks and then prep leading up to showtime. AD was actually the second act, appearing between a local Dallas opening band and Frission, the main event. They all looked forward to being the headliners themselves with their own opening acts one day soon.

Gunner led them down the hall to the rehearsal room and made his way behind his kit all while twirling his sticks through those long fingers. He flipped his shoulder length blond hair back when he sat down and caught it in a leather strap he kept around his wrist for exactly this purpose. The excitement of getting on the road was ramping up everyone’s energy quickly and Gunner starting in on an impromptu solo managed to get everyone’s blood pumping this morning.

KeeMac turned and looked at the others as he picked up his favorite Fender Telecaster. He produced a Herco pick from his front pocket and gave the guitar a quick tuning. “Let’s do this! Chandler, the playlist is set and you should have a copy on the keyboard. We will start at the top and run through it with you. When you see something that’s a problem, let me know and we’ll stop and work ‘em out with you.” He finished with his typical smirk directed at her, but she was already accustomed to it, nothing to read into there. It was just part of his natural charm.

He was very no-nonsense about the music. His professional attitude as he they worked the list impressed her. They all seem in a different mode today, focused, and she was surprised at the work ethic in which they attacked the rehearsal. Several hours later KeeMac finally called for a lunch break. She was both exhausted and exhilarated. She knew it would be intense but nothing like it played out. These guys were serious about their music. Deep down, she was pleased with the rehearsal. It was what she was used to, and they didn’t disappoint.

“Y’all want to head down to the food trucks and then we can all have whatever we want?” Carter asked.

“That’s a good idea. I want some fajitas and you know Gunner will want the crab cakes from SoCo Cafe,” KeeMac piped up with the suggestions. “Chan, they have just about anything you want in one location.”

“Sure. I’ve eaten at those spots a lot, and we can have a cupcake to top it off.” She smiled, thinking about Hey Cupcake’s signature Red-Headed Stranger cupcake. It was her favorite, and it being named after Willie Nelson added some whimsy in her mind.

When he heard her comment about the cupcake, Keeton seemed surprised. “So, how long have you been in Austin? I thought you just moved here a few weeks ago.”

“Yeah, I just moved back, but I’ve lived here basically my entire life. My parents weren’t really much for eating at places without tablecloths and cloth napkins but I could live on food trailer food.” As they walked side-by-side along the sidewalk, Chandler explained about living between Austin and D.C., and going to Juilliard.

“You know, maybe Cash should have given us a little more of your background information before we interviewed you because you are full of surprises,” he laughed, and then gave her that smirk she was coming to expect from him. While he used it this time to cover his ignorance of her musical training that far exceeded his own, she assumed he unleashed it on most females. It made her wonder what other looks he used to lure them into his trap. One look from him was likely all he needed to capture the attention of most women. He was undeniably hot.