“Bullshit! That music was mine. It was all I had left. I told you that, and I shared it with you, and now you took that, too! I trusted you, and what do you do? Record it without my permission so you and your buddy could set up some fake deal to pay me off.”
She blinked in surprise. “Pay you off? For what?”
“So you could give me the money to save the farm. Too late anyway, everything is gone.”
“Hold on…you seriously think I’d go that far just to get around your pride? That’s absurd. You made it crystal clear you don’t want my money, and I’ve accepted that.”
“How else would your friend get my name and number if not from you? How the hell else would he get my songs, if not from you?” He punctuated each of the last two words with a poke in her direction.
“Yes, I sent him your songs,” she admitted, her stomach churning. “Yes, I even put your name on the files because after horror stories Luke has told me from the legal side, I wanted to make sure your copyright was protected. But, I did not set up any type of a backhand deal to give Kevin money to buy your songs. I only asked his professional opinion so I could encourage and support you. He was never supposed to contact you.”
“Encourage and support?” Logan sneered. “What am I, ten?”
“Sometimes it seems like it,” she retorted. “And here’s a newsflash for you—I haven’t even talked to Kevin since sending him the files yesterday morning. If he’s offering a deal, it means he liked what he heard. End of story.”
He was shaking his head before she finished. “It doesn’t work that way. Unknowns don’t just get deals like that. It’d be like winning the frickin’ lottery, and that ain’t happening twice in one day. He’s only offering because of you.”
“Oh, my God, when are you going to get out of your own damn way? When it comes to business, Kevin only cares about the music and the bottom line. We’re not that good of friends that he’d throw money after a bad song. How much did he offer?”
“I didn’t stay on long enough to find out.”
Ah, the hanging up part. She huffed out a sigh. “You should call him back. Or I can call him for you?” She held up her phone, and he snatched it out of her hand.
“Why are you so hell bent on getting this deal for me?”
“I’m not getting the deal. I didn’t write the song. It’s all you, Logan.”
Denial still filled his expression. “Everyone is still going to know you had to help me.”
“And so what if they do? Accepting help isn’t a bad thing. Especially if it’s from someone who…” Loves you.
The words sat on the tip of her tongue, but a thick lump of fear held them inside. He didn’t want her help, why the hell would he want her love? Her heart broke a little at that truth.
“Who what? Wants to make me a ‘better man’?”
“Is that such a bad thing?”
“Yes, because you can’t accept me for me. You can deny it all you want, but all along I haven’t stacked up to your standards.”
That pissed her off. Never once had she said he wasn’t good enough. “I’m beginning to think that the only person whose standards you don’t stack up to are your own.”
He reared back in disbelief. “Excuse me?”
“You looked into selling your songs after I first suggested it, didn’t you?”
His clenched jaw confirmed her suspicion.
“Did you send any in?”
“It doesn’t work that way,” he ground out.
“But you didn’t even try.”
“You don’t just write a song and send an email and sell it. You have to live down there. Learn the craft from the pros. Network and make connections.”
“I’m
a connection, Logan. One anyone other than you wouldn’t hesitate to use because, as you’ve said yourself, that’s how it’s done. And you’ve got an offer on the table that you won’t even listen to because you’re afraid.”