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Might’ve swung the pendulum a tad too far.

“Great, well, if you don’t mind, I should get this food to my hungry bandmates.”

“Of course! And your secret is safe with me.”

Successfully converted, Mara leads me out of the office, locks the door, and marches us back through the maze of cubicles with all the confidence of a woman on a mission.

If music doesn’t work out for me, it’s good to know espionage might be an option.

My surprise breakfastand update about the rehearsal space has everyone’s anticipation and mood up, but the rest of the day drags from there.

By the time Mara calls Luke’s suite to inform us the secret room is ready, I feel like a kid whose birthday party just got postponed by two hours due to rain. Callie thinks it’s hilarious, but she’d feel the same if she heard the song brewing in my head. They haven’t even experienced a fraction of what “Greetings from the Inside” will be when it’s transformed from vision to reality. If she was impressed by what she heard after a few hours of production on a laptop, wait until she hears what four elite musicians do with it.

“Not bad,” Sweeny says with an approving look as we scan the cleared storage room. I don’t know what they keep in here, but it must be massive.

“We could get some nets and play a pickup game when we’re finished,” Eli jokes.

Mara’s forehead scrunches in the first hint of concern since she introduced us to the space.

“He’s not serious,” I assure her.

At least I don’t think so? Hard to tell with him.

His noncommittal shrug does nothing to clarify the situation.

Her severe stare brightens when she turns to Luke. “Let us know what you need, if there’s anything else we can get for you.”

Luke passes another evaluating scan over the space, and my heart does a small hiccup at how seamlessly he’s slipped back into the role of band leader.

“This is great, Mara. Probably just a small table and some chairs, I guess. Maybe a few bottles of water?”

She returns an emphatic nod. “Absolutely, Mr. Craven. I’ll take care of that right away.”

But she makes no move to take care of that. In fact, she seems stuck in awe as she absorbs the sight of Luke and friends inherstorage room.

He has that effect on most people. Good thing he’s also a pro at mitigating his unintentional star power.

“Thanks, Mara. We appreciate it,” he says with subtle encouragement toward the exit.

Her smile as she leaves makes it clear he could ask for a helicopter to the moon and she wouldn’t rest until she could hand him the keys.

“I think she’s starting to warm up to me,” Callie says with a smirk once we’re alone. Guess they have a history as well. “At the very least, accepting the fact that I will continue to exist.”

Luke chuckles in that easy manner he has with Callie. “You’re too hard on her. Do you have any idea how many people she has to thwart on a daily basis?”

Fair. Pretty sure every person in this room except Luke was one of those people.

“Fine. Good point,” Callie sighs out. “Okay, well, I guess I’ll go wait for your chairs and water while you work.”

I barely contain a grunt of frustration as she turns to leave. How can shestillnot get it?

“Not a chance,” I snap, taking her arm. She turns on me in surprise, and I cringe at the unintentional bite in my tone. I force a more patient approach. “You’re not our road manager, Callie. It’s not going to be like that, got it? We pay people to get us water and chairs. Not you.”

She winces, and I feel like an ass, but I don’t know how else to say it.

“I know, I just…”

I slide my hand down her arm to squeeze her fingers before letting go. “You like to take care of people, and I love you for it, but we need you here, okay? This is as much your song as ours.”