Page 131 of Hard Rock Tease

On the way back, though, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have those two men at the same time.

Chapter Eleven

Ididn’t wakeup with a headache the next morning. I’d drank a couple glasses of water before lying down on my hotel room bed and completely passing out.

That was a good thing, because Neil had messaged me and asked if I was free that night after the concert. I would have hated to go on a first date still hungover from the night before.

Figuring out what to wear was impossible. I tried on every combination of skirts and shirts I’d packed, but nothing stood out as particularly sexy or date-worthy. I hadn’t packed many clothes that weren’t business or business casual. I could have worn the red dress, but that just reminded me of going out drinking with Jayce and finding out Jayce had been in a threesome. That wasnotwhat I wanted to be thinking about on a date with Neil.

I cringed inwardly, an awkward feeling rising in my stomach. I’d been talking to Neil for months, had become close friends with him, and was going on a date with him tonight, but I couldn’t stop going over what happened between me and Jayce in the stairwell.

My fangirl crush on Jayce was turning into something more. Something real. What made it worse—or better, depending on the point of view—was that he was attracted to me, too.

Except we couldn’t do anything about it.

Jayce had hordes of fans to seduce. If anyone ever found out about us, it would mean trouble. I didn’t want to deal with the gossip and death threats that would follow me around. Jayce would have jealous fangirls abandon him in droves. The band would suffer. My reputation would suffer.

I had to stop thinking about it. I needed to move on and concentrate on my work.

Besides, what happened with Jayce would never happen again. It was a one-time thing. We’d both agreed.

I eventually decided to just wear my usual black pencil skirt and white silk blouse. Sure, Neil had already seen me in these clothes, but at least it made me look smartly dressed. My only other alternative was my one pair of jeans, and that was way too casual for a first date.

I was able to fancy myself up a bit by twisting my long dark hair into a complicated side bun that looked effortless and elegant at the same time. I put on a bit more makeup than I usually did for work, but not so much that I looked like a different person. Just enough to accentuate my best features, my brown eyes and high cheekbones.

As I rode the elevator down, I tried to combine the Neil I knew online with the driven assistant producer I’d gotten to know in real life. I never thought Neil was that kind of Type-A personality. Maybe getting to know someone online wasn’t like getting to know them in real life. A person could always be hiding a different side of themselves. After all, online, I liked to think AudioAiley was sharp and funny, but that was only because I put time and effort into the content I sent out. In person, I wasn’t nearly as quick-witted. Would Neil find me boring compared to the woman he’d expect me to be?

I had to shake off those thoughts and just go on the date with an open mind. No point worrying about it. I would get to know Neil and we’d either get along or we wouldn’t. Either way, I was sure we were adult enough to handle whatever might happen after that.

Neil was already waiting when I got there. He beckoned me over to a table. I wondered if he’d been waiting long.

He was wearing the same kind of tan slacks and light-colored dress shirts he usually wore, a light blue this time. His hair looked like it’d once been tamed with a comb but was now sticking out in all directions again. It was cute in a just-rolled-out-of-bed kind of way.

“Hey, Neil.” I flashed him a smile as I sat down.

“You know, I think you’re the only one who calls me that. It’s an online nickname. I usually go by Connor.”

“Do you want me to call you Connor?”

“No. I like it when you call me Neil.” His eyes sparkled with good humor. “What’ll you have?”

“Whiskey sour, thanks.”

I tugged on the hemline of my skirt as he went to get us drinks. I should have remembered this skirt tended to ride up when I sat down. I swung my legs under the table to cover my bare thighs. If things went well, Neil could feast his eyes as much as he wanted, but not this early on a date.

He came back with the drinks and set them on the table.

“I want to apologize again.”

“For what?”

He played with the drink, rotating the glass in his hands.

“That first day when I met you. I was an ass. I know I already apologized, but I wanted to do it again. If I had known it was you—” He shook his head. “No, that’s no excuse. I shouldn’t treat anyone like that.” He leaned forward, his piercing blue eyes clear and sincere. “I can be brusque and demanding at times. It’s something I know I need to work on.”

“I don’t mind the demanding type.” The words slipped out before I could take them back, but the slow grin that creeped across Neil’s face made me glad I’d said them.

“I always need to have my hands in every pie. I can’t just let people do their jobs. I’m always telling the camera guys where to shoot, when I know that’s the director’s job. We have a person responsible for scheduling scenes, but I’m always rearranging the dates and times. I just want everything to go perfectly. If I pull this off, I won’t be an assistant producer anymore. I’ll be able to work as a full producer.”