Stepbrother Backstage (The Hawthorne Brothers Book 3) (35 page)

“Huh…Guys you could meet on the street, instead of
professional models,” Carol says, picking up on her wavelength.

“Or guys you could meet at a bar,” she shoots back, a
mischievous glint in her eye.

My stomach flips over as a grin spreads across my best
friend’s face.

“Uh. Yeah. I think I see where you’re going with this…” I
say, shooting her a look that clearly asks,
What the hell are you up to,
lady?

“I’m liking this direction,” Brian says, “Very intriguing.”

“How do you see this playing out in the Asphalt campaign?”
Carol quizzes Allie.

“A lot of video content, mostly,” Allie goes on without
missing a beat, “We can produce short documentary-style spots of all the men we
find, show them in their places of work wearing the new Asphalt line, have some
interview footage where they talk about their super-manly jobs and whatnot. We
can have the videos running all throughout the event spaces, give guests and investors
something to interact with.”

“So more atmospheric…I see…” Carol says, nodding slowly as
she processes.

“What kind of man are we imagining here, exactly?” Brian
piles on, hands clasped on the table, “Who can we use as a point of reference?”

“Actually,” Allie replies, swinging her green eyes my way,
“I think Maddie has a great lead on this one.”

Brian and Carol turn to face me as I feel the color drain
out of my face. What the hell kind of scheme does Allie have up her sleeve?
Before I can diffuse the situation, Allie’s made her way around to Carol’s
laptop and pulled up a new screen. I swallow a gasp as Cash Hawthorne’s
sculpted, wryly grinning face appears right there on the projection screen. A
real, painful pang of longing twists my core at the sight of him, and for a
long moment I’m rendered speechless.

“An acquaintance of yours?” Carol asks me, her own gaze
lingering hard on Cash’s gorgeous face.

“In a sense,” I say faintly, shooting Allie a helpless look.

“This is Cash Hawthorne,” my friend continues, “Maddie met
him while she was in Montana. I pulled this photo from his business’s website.
He fixes motorcycles at a shop he owns near the state line. He’s an Army vet, a
tattoo and MMA enthusiast, and an outdoorsman. I think he could be
exactly
the kind of guy we’re looking for, here.”

“You forgot to mention the fact that he’s sexy as hell,”
Carol says appreciatively.

You have no idea
, I think to myself, blushing as the
image of Cash standing in the altogether on the lake that morning of our
sunrise fuck springs to mind.

“I say we move on nailing this guy down,” Brian says, “He’d
be perfect for this campaign. Tough, authentic, utterly intriguing. How soon
can we make this happen?”

“Whoa, whoa…” I cut in, laying my hands on the table, “No
need to be hasty, here. We can at least discuss some other candidates—”

“Why bother?” Carol says bluntly, “This Cash person is a
great fit. We can’t afford to dawdle here, Maddie. Asphalt has us on a tight
deadline. You know this business is about creating a ballsy campaign, not a
perfect one. Besides, Allie says you know this guy. We already have an in!”

Allie smiles at me across the table, shooting me a wink
behind our bosses’ back. I can’t believe she managed to pull this off. More
than that—I can’t believe she’d go through all this trouble just to get me back
on speaking terms with Cash. On the one hand, she’s gone above and beyond best
friend duty, here. On the other, she’s also seriously crossed the line by
taking the reins on this. She doesn’t even know the full story, all the
troubling complications, all the ways in which this relationship could ruin
Cash and I both.

But I can’t think about that now. Right now, my bosses are
both looking at me expectantly, pleased as punch that I just happen to know the
exact hunk they want to hire. I have no legitimate excuse not to follow
through, no recourse to back down or pawn the campaign off on someone else.
Allie’s plan was flawless. I have no choice but to go with it.

“I guess you’re right,” I smile through gritted teeth, “Mr.
Hawthorne would be an excellent fit for our campaign.”

“I knew you’d think so,” Allie replies across the table,
folding her hands contentedly behind her back, “That’s why I took the liberty
of reaching out to see if he’d be available for a meeting this afternoon.”

The conference room spins madly around me as panic and
excitement battle for control of my mind and heart. Good god, this woman works
fast.

“Love the initiative Allie,” Brian says.

“Is he available, then?” Carol asks.

“He is,” Allie replies, “He works long days at his bike
shop, but he said he could take a few minutes to answer a couple of initial
questions. He’s expecting a representative from our agency later this
afternoon.”

“Is he local?” Brian asks.

“Not quite,” Allie shrugs, “But he’s worth the trip. We
could just do a phone interview, but if you guys are already sold, I think a
face-to-face meet would be preferable.”

“Agreed,” Carol says, “That’s what you two excel
at—face-to-face interaction. Maddie, you should take this first meeting, since
you already know Mr. Hawthorne.”

“Oh. But,” I stammer, looking back and forth between my
bosses, “Allie could totally take this one, too. She’s the one who reached out,
after all—”

“No, no,” Carol cuts me off, “It should be you. Take the
afternoon and pay a visit.”

“But it’s the middle of a workday,” I protest weakly.

“Which is why I’m asking you to
work
on this
assignment,” Carol replies, out of patience with my pussyfooting. “What’s the
problem, Madeleine?”

“No problem,” I rush to assure her, my heart hammering
against my ribs, “I’ll just…go and pay Mr. Hawthorne a visit. See if he’s
interested in…working with us.”

“Super,” Brian smiles, clapping his hands together. “What a
stroke of luck that you happened to run into this guy! How did you two meet,
anyway?”

“He’s…Uh…” I splutter, searching for the right words, “A
friend of the family.”

“Excellent, excellent,” Brian goes on, nodding his head,
“You know what they say, ‘Keep it in the family!’”

I wrangle my face into a placid smile, despite the fact that
I want nothing more in this moment than for a trap door to open up beneath my
chair and swallow me whole.

“You can head out right away, Maddie,” Carol tells me,
“Allie, why don’t you keep researching potential candidates? Brian and I will
discuss some more logistics while you two get to work.”

“Sounds good!” Allie chirps, walking around the table toward
me. “Come on,” she says, “We can chat on the way to your car.”

I pull myself numbly to my feet, feeling as though I’ve
stumbled into some alternate reality. My real life and the backwoods fantasy of
last week are racing toward each other, set for a collision course. Will I even
be able to handle these two separate parts of my life coming together? Or will
I be leveled by the wreck their meeting is sure to cause?

“Allie, what the hell are you doing?” I hiss to my evil
genius of a friend, the second we’re out of earshot.

“At the moment, I’m walking you directly to your car to make
sure you don’t bolt,” she replies smoothly, taking me by the elbow.

“You know what I mean,” I shoot back, hurrying toward the
front doors of the office. A little fresh air sounds pretty good right about
now.

“Oh, you mean the whole ‘making sure you don’t blow it with
the one guy you’ve actually cared for in years’ thing?” Allie replies.

“Yes,” I breathe, pushing open the front door and rushing
out into the overcast afternoon, “That is exactly what I mean.”

“Maddie, I admit that what I did back there was…unorthodox,”
my best friend allows, laying her hands on my shoulders. “But I couldn’t just
let you watch as your chance with this guy slipped away. I had to step in.”

“You should have asked me,” I reply, exasperated, “Or at
least
warned
me. Now I have to drive halfway across the state and
confront the man I’ve been pining away for—”

“Aha! You admit it!” Allie roars triumphantly, “You
have
been pining.”

“I’m not—I didn’t—” I stutter, “Goddammit, Allie. This isn’t
funny. This is my whole life you’re interfering with, now. My career, my
family—”

“What does your family have to do with it?” she cuts me off.
“I thought your parents were friends? So what if it’s a tiny bit awkward,
they’ll get over it. I still don’t understand what the problem is.”

“Let’s just say there’s….some history,” I reply, averting my
eyes.

“Well, fuck history,” she says adamantly, taking me by the
hand and leading me over to my car. “You can’t change anything that’s happened
to you or your family, Maddie. You only have control over what happens right
here, right now. You only get to make so many choices in your life. Usually,
things are out of your hands, and you just have to take what you’re given. But
you have a choice with Cash, Maddie. You can choose to go get him, or choose to
let him go. Now, I may have gone too far, getting in touch with him, but it’s
only because I can see how much you want him in your life. You can be mad at me
all you like, but I won’t let you spend the rest of your life being mad at
yourself for fucking this up. I can’t. I love you too much.”

“Allie…” I breathe, resting my hands on the roof of my car
in an attempt to steady myself, “How can I be sure that he’ll even want me
now?”

“You can’t,” she says gently, laying a hand on my back, “But
you can at least be sure that you tried, this way.”

“I know you’re right,” I whisper, “I
know
, but—”

“No more buts, Missy. You’re on the clock,” she says,
pulling my car keys out of my purse and placing them firmly in my hand. “So go
bag a stud, would you? We’ve got some denim to hock, and you’ve got a fuck
buddy to get reacquainted with.”

“I’m sure I’ll thank you for this some day…” I say
bemusedly, “Or else I’ll never forgive you. It could go either way.”

“You know what? I’ll take my chances,” she grins, “It’s
better than risking having another Paul on our hands. One more boring, lame ass
boyfriend from you and I would have had to toss your ass anyway.”

“Your confidence is ever-so-touching,” I drawl, yanking open
the drivers side door and sliding inside. “I’ll let you know how this goes, I
guess.”

“Take your time,” she tells me, turning toward the office,
“True love and contract negotiations both happen in their own time.”

“What a romantic,” I mutter, starting the engine and peeling
out of my parking space. Allie waves cheerfully from the front door, totally
unaware of how high the stakes are for this little visit.

With my hands clamped firmly on the steering wheel, I turn
the radio up full blast and set off once more toward Cash Hawthorne’s turf. I
guess I was bound to see him again one way or another…Our parents are
cohabitating now, for god’s sake. What’s the real harm in speeding up our
reunion? The real question is, what will he have to say when I arrive? Will he
scoop me up in his arms and shower me with “I missed you’s?” Or tell me to get
back in my car and leave him the hell alone? At least I’ll know one way or
another before the day is out. That’s one tiny shred of comfort in this
otherwise bonkers situation.

I’ve barely made it onto the highway when the sprawling
mid-day sky goes dark with storm clouds. Heat lightning crackles along the
horizon, heralding a nasty downpour. Sure enough, the sky cracks open with a
shattering peal of thunder. Buckets of rain slosh against my windshield—and
I’ve got hours to go before I make it to my destination.

I wonder what Cash thinks about my impending drop-in? Does
he think I’m totally pathetic, having had my best friend reach out to him
instead of doing it myself? I can see how this stunt could come off as totally
pathetic. I can’t show up without knowing where his head is at. I reach into my
purse, hunting for my phone so I can shoot him a preemptive text…but I can’t
seem to find it. My stomach sinks as I remember shoving my phone into at my
desk drawer before the team meeting. I have no way of getting in touch with him
before our surprise reunion.

“That’s it,” I mutter, pulling onto the shoulder of the
highway as the menacing forces of nature tear at my beat-up car. I rest my
forehead against the steering wheel, my mind reeling. I can’t drive halfway
across the state through a crazy thunderstorm for a man who hasn’t even said he
still wants me. A man I shouldn’t even be with in the first place. I’m acting
like a crazy person. A crazy, reckless person just looking for heartache. If I
had even an ounce of sense, I’d turn around and head home right this second.

Just as I flip on my turn signal, preparing to make a
U-turn, a twanging guitar riff sounds out from the speaker as a familiar,
unmistakable voice croons…

“As sure as night is dark and day is light

I keep you on my mind both day and night

And happiness I've known proves that it's right

Because you're mine, I walk the line…”

My mouth falls open as Johnny Cash goes on singing about his
will to “Walk the Line” for the person he loves. All at once, a wild, ringing
laugh rips out of my throat.

“All right, universe,” I crow, slapping at the steering
wheel as amazed, excited tears well up in my eyes, “I get it. I think you may
have just jumped the shark, but I get it.”

Pulling carefully back onto the highway through the
torrential downpour, I maintain my course for the small Washington town that
Cash calls home. This visit could be a triumph or a disaster, but at least I’ll
always be able to say I threw caution to the wind…and all the other elements,
too.

I won’t come begging to your doorstep either, Cash
Hawthorne
, I think to myself, peering through the rain-splattered
windshield,
But at least I’m gonna show up, for once.