High Strung (Power Station Book 1) (25 page)

“I Want Your Sex” blared obnoxiously from my cell, I didn’t have the heart to change it and honestly, he was right, it was what I was thinking.

“Couldn’t live without me, huh?” I smiled as I pressed the phone to my ear. “Really, Dan, we’re going to have to get this dependency problem under control. I’m going to have a real job soon and not have time to listen to your heavy breathing and jerking off.”

“Why must you say such hateful things? My heavy breathing and jerking off should be prioritized, woman. I expected you to carve out at least twenty minutes of your day for it. If you won’t participate you can at least be my audience. Masturbation is important.”

I giggled into the phone, this man was all kinds of wrong but I really, really liked him. “So did you call for a purpose or just to remind me how vain you are?”

“I was actually calling to make plans with you. I was thinking we should do something Saturday. Celebrate you landing this big shot job offer.”

“Dan, I’ve only got an interview, there is no guarantee they’ll offer me the job. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“Please, we both know you’ve got this in the bag. They are going to love you. You’re going to roll in there being all badass with your fancy degree, wow them with S&P indices, and they will probably offer the job on the spot.”

“Dan, are you trying out your big boy words again? Where did you hear about S&P indices?”

“Wall Street Journal and for your information, that paper sucks. There are no pictures of girls in it at all, just a bunch of crusty old men. Lame if you ask me. I can’t believe you have to pay money for this shit.”

“Aw, you’re reading the Wall Street Journal for me. Be still my heart.”

“Well when it’s done being
still
can we make plans for Saturday? I’ll even let you pick the place.”

My heart fell. Saturday was my birthday and I had already committed to going out with Megs and a few of our friends for drinks. It wasn’t going to be a huge event but because I worked most weekends, I rarely got to spend any time with them, and I would hate to cancel. I didn’t want to be
that
girl, the one who blew off her friends just because the sexy rock star she happens to be sleeping with snaps his fingers. No, I had to honor my commitments. That’s who I was. Dependable and reliable. God, I sounded like a Toyota. In any case, the only option would be to invite Dan but I had already discussed it with Megs and ruled that out. It was too much, too soon. I didn’t want to rock the boat. Not now when things were going so well.

“Dan, I’m sorry but I can’t. I’ve got plans already.” I shook my head knowing I was probably going to regret it. “Maybe we can do something another day?”

“What plans do you have Saturday? Lifetime channel tele-movies don’t count, Ash.”

“I’m not staying at home and watching TV, you moron,” I laughed. “I’m meeting up with a few friends. It’s nothing important but it’s been planned for a while and I just can’t cancel. I’m sorry, Dan. I really would love to come out with you.”

“Okay. Yeah. No biggie. We can do whatever, some other time.”

“Of course, any other day.”

“Okay, well I’ll let you get back to your boring shit. I’m going to go hang with Troy. Later.”

“’Bye.”

Had he actually sounded disappointed by my inability to meet him Saturday or was I projecting? I’m sure it was more likely he couldn’t believe I would actually say no, as I doubt he heard the word very much. Yes, that was it. He was probably annoyed he had wanted me to do something and I wasn’t available. I’m sure his ego would recover by noon. Dan wasn’t the type of guy who let disappointment sit with him for long. I wondered if he would ever ask again or if I’d blown my chance. Not that it had been a date. At no point did he imply it was going to be a date, he was just trying to be nice. Still, I’d really liked him asking me out. More than I cared to admit.

I sighed, walking over to my beat-up desk and sat in the recycled office chair that had come with the apartment. Well, came with the apartment in the sense that it was placed next to the outside dumpster. Either way, it was functional and unwanted so I hauled it back up the three flights of stairs and it became mine. I fired up my outdated laptop waiting for the operating system to kick in, it was just one of the many things that needed to be replaced and had been added to the when-I-have-the-money list.

My email menu flagged unread messages and I scouted through the endless irrelevant crap that seemed to fill my inbox to find the one from Matthew Burns, Lexi Reed’s senior PR manager. He gave me a basic run down on Simon Jennings. He was a New York born and bred real estate broker who had made some wise investments just before the housing bubble burst in 2007. A self-made millionaire, whose office was located in the financial district, was looking for an analyst for a twelve-month contract with scope for ongoing employment. Standard. It sounded perfect.

I also had an email from Simon Jennings, asking me to call his office to make a time for an interview. My heart thumped loudly in my chest as I picked up my phone and dialed the numbers. I hoped Mr. Jennings didn’t have crazy sensitive hearing and assumed I had a heart condition.

“Good afternoon JenCorp, Joanna speaking.”

“Hello Joanna, my name is Ashlyn Murphy. I received an email requesting I call so we could set up an interview time.”

“Ah, Yes. Ashlyn, we’ve been expecting your call. I have your resume in front of me. Mr. Jennings requested I set up a time for you.”

“Sure, I’m flexible with my schedule so I can almost do any time.” I hoped I didn’t sound too desperate. I was flexible because I was mainly working nights in a bar. Not that they needed to know that. Selective resume listing I called it.

“How about tomorrow at eleven?”

Crap. Not a lot of time to prepare but I could run with it. It would mean I would be up all night but if I could land this job it would be worth it.

“Tomorrow at eleven sounds perfect.”

“Wonderful, I will forward you a confirmation of your appointment. It will include directions to our offices and any additional information we may require.”

“Thanks, I’ll see you then.”

“Goodbye.”

My stomach flipped. I felt sick. I was so nervous I couldn’t stand it. Job interviews were hard enough for me to get through; they always put me on edge. But an interview for a job I wanted? That was hard-core pressure. I squeezed my eyes shut. Concentrating on my breathing. It was my time. I could do this.

“Dude, sit your ass
down. You are going to wear a hole through the floor.” Troy tapped out some rhythm with a pair of sticks onto a chair. We were about to head out to rehearsal; Alex and James had some new material they wanted to test run.

“She flat-out lied to me, dude. She totally dissed me on her birthday. What the fuck is up with that?” The more shit rotated in my head the more it pissed me off. I never gave the whys of the situation much stock, but now…now it was all kinds of important.

“Dan, you going to give me some context or am I supposed to just fill in the fucking blanks? What are you talking about?” He lifted the sticks, twirling one in his hand as he stared at me, grinning like an asshole. Of course this would be amusing for him. He wasn’t the one being dodged.

“It’s Ashlyn’s birthday Saturday. When she left her purse in the Suburban, I checked it for ID and I saw her date of birth.” I don’t know why it bothered me so much. It sure as hell wasn’t the first time a girl had lied to me, but this time it really bugged me. It was also turning me into a whiny bitch. If it had been anyone but Troy I’d have shut my mouth and pretended it was business as usual, but with the big guy, I didn’t have to fake it. He always seemed to know when I was ate up about something anyway, so I was just saving time by coming clean.

“I wanted to take her out for her birthday. Thought we could go out to dinner or something. She said she had plans.” I pushed my ass into the couch beside him. He was right; I was going to wear a hole through my carpet. Besides if we were going to get all Dr. Phil with this, I might as well be comfortable.

“So? It’s not like the girl didn’t have a social life before she met you, numbnuts. It’s short notice, of course she is going to have plans for her birthday.”

Fucking Troy, trying to be Captain Fucking Obvious. Of course I knew this. Hell, of course she had a life before we’d met, no doubt, with a steady line of douchebags trying to crawl into her panties. A fact I was trying to get out of my head before I put my fist through a wall.

“So why didn’t she just say she was going out for her birthday? She made up some bullshit about it being no big deal, and that she was going out for drinks with friends but couldn’t cancel. If it’s no big deal why the fuck can’t I go?”

Was she going to try and hook up with some other motherfucker or was it that she didn’t want me around? Both of these scenarios pissed me off, the first more so than the second, and I was cool with neither. I pushed my hands through my hair wishing I had some way of knowing what was going down in her head. Mind-reading powers would be good about now.

“Dude, you are starting to freak me out. If you are going to start menstruating we are going to have serious problems.” Troy laughed, slapping me hard on the back. Clearly he was enjoying the situation.

“Fuck you, asshole. I’m serious. This shit is messed up.” I punched him in the arm. This was no laughing matter. I wasn’t spilling my guts for Troy’s enjoyment.

“Have you fucking asked her?” He relaxed into his chair, putting the sticks down and clocking me with a look. “Or is this just you pulling shit out of your ass?”

I waved him off as it was bad enough I was talking about it with him. I wasn’t about to lay it out on the line with her. “I’m not going to ask her, numbnuts. A man has his pride.”

“Can I ask you where you left your fucking balls and who the fuck is this dude standing in front of me? ’Cause I’ve got to tell you, Dan Evans has never given two fucks about what a girl did or didn’t do and he sure as shit didn’t care what she thought.”

“Don’t fucking start.” I pushed out a breath, leveling him with a stare. “I don’t know why but I fucking care and it pisses me the hell off.” Shit, I’d gone this far I might as well just let it fly. “I fucking want to be with her all the time, dude. It’s like a sickness. It’s not just about the fucking. It’s about her. She doesn’t take my shit but she doesn’t try and change me either. She’s cool, dude. We can just hang and she isn’t trying to score free shit or be on the cover of some bullshit magazine.” She was the first girl I had been with in a long time who hadn’t tried to selfie and tag herself while she was with me. Hadn’t even hit me up for tickets or a backstage pass. Hell she hadn’t asked for anything.

“Sounds like to me you’ve got yourself a girl.”

“Asswipe, it’s not like that. She’s got some weird ten-year plan or some shit. She’s not interested in dating, made that quite clear early on. We’re just chilling.”

“So is it just fucking?”

It pissed me off that Troy would talk about her like she was just some groupie. “Dude, don’t talk about her like that. She’s not that kind of girl.”

“Dan, newsflash. If you are so ate up about this chick and it’s more than just fucking, then I hate to break it you, but you have yourself a girlfriend.”

“Asshole, did you hear what I just said? She isn’t interested in dating.”

“Dan, brother. You know I fucking love you but you are seriously fucking dense sometimes. If you two are doing stuff, other than just fucking, you already
are
dating.”

“Are you sure, man? I’m thinking there needs to be some kind of agreement or some shit. People don’t just start dating.”

“If she is spending time with you of her own free will, then she is agreeing. I’m telling you. You’re dating, man.”

“How the fuck did I start dating and not know?”

“’Cause you’re a dipshit with emotional issues? How the fuck should I know? What I do know is you need to get some sack and sort that shit out.”

“You’re right, dude. I think I have feelings and stuff. I haven’t even thought about another girl since meeting her, not even to jerk off.” I scrubbed my face with my hands.

“Sounds pretty serious. I can’t remember the last time you were with just one girl.” Troy surprisingly wasn’t being an asshole about it. “I think it’s a good thing. James and Han have been happy for years and Alex and Lexi still dig each other. Maybe it’s time. I know I’m getting sick of groupies and band whores. Ash seems like she has a good head on her shoulders. I can’t see her being in it for the money or the fame. Fuck, if she has to put up with your sorry ass, I say she deserves a pay out.”