I was coming on too strong.
The fact I wasn’t down on my knees, pleading with her to run away with me made me feel like I was playing it pretty damn cool, but clearly, I was still fucking it up.
Her somber reaction must not have been about me because she gave an explanation she didn’t owe. “I have an early morning.”
“And you’re going to kill it, so stop stressing,” Maddie said.
“I’m not stressing.”
“Liar. You keep untucking and retucking your hair behind your ears. You do that when you’re stressed.”
“It’s annoying how well you know me,” Greer said with a sigh.
“Liar again. You love it.”
“Damn it, you’re right on both.”
“Greer has a job interview,” Maddie staged whispered to me before I had to ask.
An audition would’ve made more sense since she looked like she belonged on a set, a runway, or in a studio.
I looked at the beautiful siren—and willed the room to stop spinning so I could actually see her. “For what?”
“Just an office thing,” she said dismissively.
Maddie made a disgruntled noise into her drink before pulling it away. “She’ll be running an investment firm.”
Greer rolled her eyes, and I was glad to see her annoyance wasn’t reserved for me. “I would be an office assistant. Technically, I’d be an assistant to someone else’s assistant. A part-time one at that.”
“For now. But once you work your label-maker magic, they’ll offer you the world to keep you there.”
“I wish I shared your optimism.”
“I need an assistant,” I blurted out.
“Tripp, you…” Easton started before sitting back and flicking his hand forward. “You know what? Never mind. Continue.”
Maddie didn’t share the same restraint. “You already have an assistant.”
She isn’t wrong.
I scanned across the crowded bar until I spotted said assistant at a table with a group of people. “Alex!”
I knew the fucker had to have heard me. Everyone else in the area froze at my loud shout.
But he continued talking to the blonde next to him.
“Alex!” I yelled again.
He probably would’ve kept ignoring me, but the woman pointed to me.
I waited until I had his attention before I said, “You’re fired.”
There. Now Maddieiswrong.
That got him moving. He was up and out of his seat so fast, it was a wonder he didn’t leave a smoke outline in his wake. He comically scrambled through the crowd. “What do you need, boss? Some food?” His eager gaze darted around before landing on my glass of water. “A drink?” He didn’t wait for my answer before snapping at a nearby server. “Mr. Carter needs a whiskey soda. Now.”
“I’m good,” I told the server with a smile. I let it drop when I looked back at him. “You’re still fired.”
