C-Flat to C-Sharp (PR Girls & Instalove 3)

Then my head jerked up.

“That’s something that would be talked about,” I said, pushing him away to face him. “Name your band, and announce it at the show. People love being at a live reveal of anything.”

His saucy grin was causing a fascinating pressure low in my belly. “That is a great idea,” he said slowly. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he dictated a message while flashing me a wink. “Hey guys. Start brainstorming names for our band, and bring them to rehearsal tomorrow.”

His phone slipped back into his pocket as his arm slipped around me again. “You’re a genius, Corina,” he whispered into my ear.

“No, just doing my job.”

“What else does your job entail?”

The way his eyebrow raised suggestively, I could tell he was teasing. But I couldn’t tell whether he was simply being playful, or whether he was testing the waters to see how far I wanted to take this little flirtation.

“I’ll be taking care of your entire project,” I said slowly, trying not to bite my bottom lip. How could those eyes make me feel chilled and overheated at the same time? “Ensuring that the event goes smoothly, and that you get as much publicity as possible for you, the show, and the new album.”

“And what about me?” Ethan asked, reaching up to trail his fingertips along the back of my neck. “What if I need inspiration, to make this a success?”

“If that’s part of the project, then I’ll have to look into it,” I said, shocking myself.

He pulled out his phone again. “I need your number.”

I told him, watching him enter it carefully, then text me with the message, “This is Ethan.”

As we left the restaurant, I couldn’t meet anyone’s eye. I would never have thought that I’d end up making out in public, and wasn’t sure how I felt about it.

Ethan drove me home so quickly that I actually wondered if he had somewhere else to go afterward. When we got to my building, he walked me all the way up to my third floor apartment.

Before I could even dig out my keys, his hands gripped me gently, pulling me against him as he held me close.

His goodnight kiss was so steeped in raw emotion that I knew I’d be replaying it in my dreams forever. My soft gasp against his lips seemed to arouse him even more and I could feel the evidence pressed against me.

I’d never truly felt the urge to be naked with a man before, and now I couldn’t get the thought out of my head. I knew it was too soon to invite him inside, but I needed more.

He finally broke off the kiss, his lips skimming my forehead as he murmured, “I’m so glad I found you again, little angel.”

Then he was gone, leaving me feeling floaty. As I stepped into my apartment, the only thing I could think of was figuring out how quickly I could see him again.

4

_____

Ethan

After a last-minute songwriting session with my bass player that ended up running until three in the morning, I was going to send Corina a text as soon as I woke up.

Checking my phone, there were already two texts from her, and three emails.

Skimming the emails quickly, she had obviously hit the ground running on my project. Somehow she had coordinated with the concert venue to create a VIP area on the balcony with perfect sightlines of the stage. She had sent formal invitations from her PR company to the record executives I had mentioned, and two more.

She had discovered that the company I was considering for a distribution deal also ran a button printing company, so she was ready to place an order with them as soon as we had named the band.

Chuckling to myself, I got out of bed and stretched a bit. I hadn’t been hitting the gym hard enough lately, and didn’t want to slip up. Corina clearly approved of my new physique, and I didn’t want to lose any of my hard-won gains.

My transformation from scrawny band geek to buff rock guy had been a strange journey, and although it had the pleasant results of making women notice me, there was only one girl whose attention I needed to capture.

After wrenching the kinks from my shoulders, I grabbed my phone again to read her messages.

Corina: No offense, but your social media is a mess. You don’t have a single great photograph of you anywhere. You need a much better online presence immediately. One of our resident photographers is in the office for another shoot at 10 am, so could you be here for 11?