Rock Me: Sexy (New Adult Rockstar Romance) (New Adult Rock Star Erotic Romance) (2 page)

For the second time, my mouth hung wide
open with shock, even as I felt the first stirrings of excitement bubbling in
my veins.
Executive Producer / Director!

Hugo continued, “This project will make
or break your career. If it fails, you’ll find it almost impossible to fight
your way back. You
know
that I will always take you back, but you’ll
never shine to full potential under me. But if you succeed, the sky’s the limit
for you. And I know you’ll succeed. I expect you to. After all, I taught you
everything I know.”

I was grinning like a schoolgirl just
praised by the headmaster. “What genre is it in? What is this series about?”

Hugo’s brilliant smile faded just
slightly. “In many ways, it’s very similar to the documentary work we do. Just
with an interesting twist.”

I knew Hugo. Something was up. “Hugo,
spill it. What have you got me into?”

He reached for his wine glass and sipped
slowly, clearly stalling. “Well, it’s a series following the trials and
travails of a rock band while they are on tour.”

My reaction was loud and explosive.
“What! You’ve got to be kidding me!” Heads were turning in the quiet restaurant,
but I didn’t care. “You want me to do reality TV? To go from the world of
prestigious documentaries to this low-brow, reality-” I couldn’t find the right
word. “Crap?” Found it.

Hugo winced. “It’s going to be a
challenge. Especially since Jeff is not personally interested in this project.
That will be a difficulty for you, certainly. You are going to have to spin
this into something bigger than it is. You’ll need sex and drugs and
rock-n-roll to reel them in, but then you need something huge to launch your
star on. If it becomes an average run of the mill reality show, you’ll be
crushed professionally.”

I groaned. “How could I possibly spin
gold from… crap?”

Hugo took a long sip of his wine. “There
lies the challenge. But I hear this band is wildly popular right now. With the
right touch, this show could become the next big thing. It could become huge.”

My heart was pumping furiously. This was
crazy. Reality television? I looked around the room. “Where’s the camera? Am I
being punked right now?”

Hugo laughed. “See? You do like reality
TV.”

I drained my second glass of wine. “I
know absolutely nothing about ‘fake’ reality shows.”

Hugo checked his watch. “Well, it’s time
to start learning. Jeff is waiting for you. He wants you there when he meets
with the band’s manager to review the contract. I pulled Michael James from the
Cordoba project to work as your assistant. Thornton already okayed it. James is
fairly inexperienced, but he’s showing great promise. You’ll need someone solid
to assist. He’ll meet up with you at the Vibe headquarters.”

“Now? But I didn’t even accept the job
yet.”

Hugo shrugged. “They always do things
backwards. I’ve already looked into everything. Your personal salary would be
generous, but your show budget, I’m afraid would be paltry.”

My eyes narrowed. “We’ll see about that.”
It slipped out before I could stop it.

Hugo laughed his approval. “That’s my
girl. Go get ‘em, Kaitlyn.”

Oh my God
. Was I really going to do this? Two
glasses of wine on an empty stomach leant me the courage, or was it the foolishness,
to set out and try.

Tyler Matthews was on top of the world.
Things had been going so well for him, he almost wondered when it was all going
to come crashing down. His band, Cold Fusion, was at the height of success, and
looked to be rising even higher.

After the nationally televised New Year’s
Eve performance in Time’s Square, the band was in high demand. They were
heading out for the second leg of their tour in less than a month and tickets
were already sold out.

So when Scott, Cold Fusion’s manager,
asked to meet with him, and specifically told Tyler not to mention it to the
other band members, he was worried.
What was going on?
When things were
good, Tyler was always waiting for the next shoe to drop.

He handed some cash to the cabbie and
stepped out into the biting cold air. Tyler strode across the busy sidewalk and
into the small bar where Scott had asked to meet him. The bar didn’t have any
interior windows so it was fairly dark inside. There would be little chance of
being recognized there, so Tyler slipped off his shades and tugged the knit cap
off his head.

Scott waved to him from a small table
tucked into the corner of the bar. As Tyler headed over, he noticed that the
place was fairly empty. In a few hours it would be packed with people stopping
in for a drink after a long day of work.

Tyler sat across from Scott on the black metal
chair.  “Hey, Scottie. Those two beers for you?”

Scott slid a full beer mug towards Tyler.
“Got you a Guinness. Hope I didn’t get you up too early?”

Tyler smiled. “I had some overnight
guests. This was a good excuse to get rid of them. So what’s up?”

Scott tapped nervously on the table.
“I’ve got this offer. It’s a manager’s goddamn wet dream and it just fell into
my lap. I know it would take Cold Fusion higher than we ever imagined. To the
fucking top…”

Tyler shifted in the uncomfortable chair.
“If it’s so fucking good, why do you look like someone just kicked your puppy?”

Scott took a gulp of his beer. “It’s
fucking good, Tyler. I just don’t know if you guys will go for it. Or if you
should, for that matter. I’m torn. For me personally, for Cold Fusion- this will
clinch it. But I’ve been with you guys from the start. I think of you all like
my own sons. And this might not… Ahh, hell, I don’t know.”

Tyler couldn’t imagine why Scott would be
hesitant about something that would propel the band to even higher stardom. “Sure
we’ll do it. As long as you’re not talking about extending the goddamn tour. We’ve
already lined up studio time to record the next album-”

“No, the tour stays the same.” Scott ran
a hand over his shaved head. “The next album release is already in the can, so
we can’t fuck around with producing it late. But this opportunity would push
that album multi-platinum, no doubt. And it will give me some negotiating
muscle. I’m sure I could get you guys an even bigger slice of the pie. Myself,
too.”

Tyler tapped his foot impatiently. “What
the fuck is it, Scott? You’ve got us headlining some giant festival? What could
be bigger than Time’s Square on New Year’s Eve?”

Scott took a deep breath. “It’s a reality
TV show about Cold Fusion on tour.”

A burst of laughter escaped from Tyler.
“What? Are you kidding?”

“Not kidding. The Vibe already ordered
six episodes.” Scott was clearly studying his reaction.

Tyler felt a buzz of warmth collecting in
his veins, not unlike the high he felt right before he took center stage at a
concert. He lived for that feeling.

On stage, Tyler felt invincible. Like the
fucking king of the world. Thousands of fans screaming his name, watching his
every move, even idolizing him. And the moment he stepped off the stage, he ached
to have that back. Like a fucking addict, he was always trying to replicate
that feeling. Years back, he had gotten into a bad place trying to recapture
that high with drugs and alcohol. Thankfully, he never could match that feeling
satisfactorily, and he was able to pull out of his dark spiral.

Now, he was itching to get out on the
road again. Recognition from fans, media, publicity and promotional events all
served to pacify him until he could get his next fix on stage. Alex called him
a fame whore. So he liked a bit of attention? Was that so bad?

But a reality TV show called to him like
a beautiful but deadly siren singing her haunting melody and luring him to inevitable
shipwreck along the rocky coast. He knew within seconds that he wanted to do
it. He could even foresee the potential negative consequences for himself and
his band quite clearly, yet the draw of the spotlight was irresistible.

Tyler tried to wipe the silly grin off
his face and appear more serious. “Jesus, Scott. That would change all our
lives. And not necessarily for the better.”

“Yeah, but I can already see that you
want to do it. Tyler, this thing could make us all filthy rich. The worldwide
recognition and promotion this will give Cold Fusion is enormous. From that
standpoint, this offer is a no-brainer.”

Trying to calm the adrenaline pumping
through body, Tyler took a long drag of his beer. “Or we could end up looking
like a bunch of dopes and this could crush everything we’ve worked so hard
for.”

Scott looked conflicted again. “That’s something
we have to nail down. I have a meeting later with the head honchos over at the
Vibe channel. I want you in on this so that we can get the flavor of what this
show is gonna look like. Then, you’ll have to help me sell it to the guys. But
if we don’t sign, I was told that they’ll find another band. The show is a
definite go.”

Tyler’s eyes narrowed as he thought.
“Alex is not going to want this. Nick is a wildcard. Who the fuck knows what’s
going on with him lately? Tommy would probably just roll with it... So, they’re
going to just follow us around on tour and tape backstage footage? It wouldn’t
be so bad.”

Scott shrugged. “I imagine they’ll want
to see interactions with fans and wild parties and stuff- just the regular rock
and roll lifestyle. You would carry on as normal, except cameras would be
following you all over the place. We’ve got some leverage because they want
Cold Fusion. And I’m going to wield every bit of that leverage to keep creative
control in our hands.”

“Fuck. Alex will be so against this.”

Scott held up his hand. “Let’s not get
ahead of ourselves. First we have to get some more details. We’re not
committing to anything today. We’ve got about another half hour before the
meeting. Let’s grab another brew before we head out.”

***

Tyler and Scott shared a cab to the
address of the Vibe headquarters, a massive steel skyscraper that was ironically
dwarfed by the behemoths surrounding it.

Scott grabbed Tyler’s arm and stopped him
before they entered. “Hey, if it even comes up today, don’t do any talking
about money. Let me take care of all those negotiations.”

“Yeah. I’m just here to listen.” He
noticed the look of doubt cross Scott’s face.

Tyler wasn’t exactly known for keeping
his mouth shut, but Scott didn’t have to worry this time. He wasn’t all that
interested in money. He wanted a good, fair deal of course, but he had learned long
ago that money couldn’t solve every problem. He still couldn’t help the one
person in his life that needed it the most; no matter how much money he spent
trying.

After spending at least 10 minutes going
through a surprisingly stringent security check, they were sent to the 16
^th
floor. The elevator doors opened onto a large open reception area filled with
Vibe memorabilia and promotional posters from the channel’s various hit shows.

Scott approached the reception desk while
Tyler idly looked at some of the displays.

Looking irritated, Scott returned. “Looks
like they’re putting us on ice for an hour.”

“We have to wait here that long? I
haven’t even eaten yet today.” Waiting around was bullshit. Maybe he could get
a bite to eat and then come back.

Scott moved to the leather sofa and sat.
“Don’t even think about leaving. It probably won’t be that long. It could just
be a strategy to make us feel less important. Or maybe we just
aren’t
that damn important to them.”

Shit.
Scott was losing his so-called leverage already and they
hadn’t even started the meeting yet. Tyler let out a long breath of
frustration. He needed to remain calm. Despite looking more like a meathead,
Scott was a shrewd businessman and knew what he was doing. He had made Cold
Fusion the success that it was today and he had always steered the guys in the
correct direction.

Scott chose a magazine from the coffee
table and started leafing through it. He spoke without looking up. “The
receptionist recognized you. She’s probably calling all her friends right now.”

Tyler looked at the woman behind the
large wooden reception desk. She was glancing his way and giggling while she
talked on the telephone in hushed tones. She was kind of cute. She would be
even hotter if she pulled the bun out of her hair, lost the prim suit jacket
and unbuttoned her blouse a bit.

In fact, maybe he’d go talk to her. See
if he could loosen her up a bit. Anything beat watching Scott read outdated
gossip magazines. Unless Tyler was starring in them himself, of course.

Scott looked up from his magazine and
rolled his eyes, almost as if he could read Tyler’s mind. Tyler shrugged and
strolled casually over to the reception desk.

The woman’s face flushed as she saw him
approaching. She whispered a little too loudly, “Oooh. I gotta go. He’s coming
over here!”