Page 123 of Hard Rock Tease

“That’s Cornelius Conner. He’s one of the best up-and-coming producers. Feral Silence is lucky they snagged him. After this, he’ll probably be promoted from assistant to full producer.”

“I had no idea. Is he known for being grumpy?”

“I wouldn’t say he’s grumpy. He’s known for being a perfectionist. If you’re an asset to his work, you’ll stay on his good side. If you’re a hindrance, look out. And never,” she whispered as he came within hearing range, “call him by his first name. Use Connor.”

“Excuse me,” he said, coming up to the two of us, hands in his pocket. “Do you mind if I talk with your friend alone?”

“Sure, go ahead. I was just leaving.” Gabriella mouthedgood luckas she walked away.

“Yes? Can I help you?” I used the same words I had on the first day we met.

“I wanted to apologize.” His blue eyes were earnest and his messy brown hair made him look tousled and unkempt. I was a bit taken aback, not expecting to hear an apology from him.

“For?” Maybe it was petty of me, but I wanted to hear him say it.

“For being a jerk. When I got mad at you for stepping in front of my camera.”

“You called me a groupie.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Even though I was the one wearing the staff badge, not you.”

He looked genuinely remorseful. “I’m sorry. I was just under a lot of pressure. I only had a few minutes to shoot the scene I needed.”

I didn’t want to leave him squirming for too long, so I uncrossed my arms and let them dangle at my sides. “Okay. Apology accepted. Although you’re going to get a bad reputation if you snap at people whenever you’re stressed.”

“I’m working on it.”

“At least you’re aware of your character flaws.”

He huffed out a rueful laugh. “I’m more than aware. One, I’m a perfectionist. Two, I don’t know how to delegate.” He ticked off each point with a finger. “Three, I always take on too much and end up overworked. Four—”

“There’s such a thing as being too hard on yourself,” I said, interrupting his monologue.

“I just want you to know that I’m aware I can be an asshole at times.” He stuck his hands back in the pockets of his tan slacks. “So, what do you do here?”

I hadn’t expected him to ask about my job, so I blurted out, “I’m the internet girl,” before I could stop and think about how that sounded.

Instead of laughing at me, he looked intrigued. “And what’s that, exactly?”

“I’m in charge of posting to the band’s social media accounts. Updates, pictures, answering questions, that sort of thing. I’m the direct line of communication between the band and their fans.”

“I know a girl who loves that stuff. She’d probably kill to have your job.” His eyes lit up, and he pulled out his phone in excitement. ”Hey, I know you don’t owe me any favors, but I want to film a scene where the guys respond to weird fan things. Like this.” He shoved his phone in my face. There was a screenshot of a fan sleeping with a body pillow. The pillowcase was printed with a picture of Kell’s shirtless body. “There’s so much junk on the internet, though, so I don’t have time to pick out the good stuff. Maybe you can help me?”

“That sounds fun.”

“Do you think you could gather together a bunch of outrageous stuff? We could show the guys and capture their reactions on camera.”

“Kell and Ren would love that.” I wasn’t sure Jayce would, but no matter how he felt personally, I knew he’d pull off a typical rock star-Jayce attitude and egg the fans on to higher and crazier feats.

“Thanks. Sorry, I didn’t even catch your name.”

“I’m Aimee.” If his friend was into the online music scene, she might have heard of Audio Ailey, and I’d prefer to keep my alter ego a secret as much as possible. Creepy stalkers could be hiding anywhere. “And you’re Cor… Connor?” I caught myself in time. The corner of his lips twitched, and I knew he’d caught my slip up, but didn’t say anything.

“Here’s my card. Just shoot me an email when you’ve got the content ready and I’ll squeeze it into the filming schedule. Thanks again, Aimee. I owe you one.”

I took my phone out of my pocket and entered his email into my contacts. When he was gone, I messaged Neil.

@AudioAiley:I guess even assholes can grow aconscience.

It took a few minutes, but he eventually responded.