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“Since I didn’t make it, that love would be misplaced, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.” I straightened and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear.
Adam chuckled and stole a fry from one of the Styrofoam containers. “Have you met everyone yet?”
“I’m sure I’ve greeted them all.” I caught myself fiddling with my skirt and quickly snapped my hands to my sides. That felt awkward, so I clasped my hands in front of me. That felt unnatural, but I made myself stop fidgeting.
Adam barreled over my discomfort, making a round of introductions. “Iris, meet Wren. She’s the ray of sunshine at the front desk.”
Iris had just taken a big bite of a veggie burger, so she covered her mouth with one hand and waved to me with the other. Adam continued, pointing out a producer and sound engineer, who were both digging into their food. They hardly spared me a glance, but that wasn’t new for me.
“Roddy, this is Wren.” Adam tossed another fry into his mouth, and my stomach grumbled. I was hungry, and the smell of their dinner wasn’t helping.
Rodrigo nodded, bracing his ankle on his opposite knee. “Nice to meet you, Wren. You weren’t working here when we recorded our last album, were you?”
“No.” I tucked my hair again and nearly slapped my hand away to stop the nervous tic. “I’ve only worked here a week.”
He nodded. “Didn’t think so. I distinctly recall the last woman being surly some days and all up in my grill other days. That’s not you.”
“Wren has never been surly a day in her life.” Adam whacked Rodrigo’s arm with the back of his hand.
“I’m sure I have at least one or two days.” My chin trembled with the effort it took to continue this conversation and not melt into the floor.
Adam’s grin warmed on me. “Speaking of surly, that quiet bastard over there is Callum. Callum, say hi to Wren.”
As if in slow motion, Callum’s head turned, and his gaze landed on me. Not on my face, though. It seemed his focus was on my hands, which were ringing the life out of my skirt.
Then, even more slowly, he spoke in a smooth, deep, southern drawl. “Hi, Wren.” It came out sounding more like ‘Ha, Rin,’and I instantly loved the way he said my name.
Except no. I couldn’t love anything he did. He was a beautiful rock star, and I was the plain girl with the big butt who sat at the reception desk. One he passed every day without ever returning my quiet greeting.
“Nice to meet you.” I thrust the words from my throat. His gaze was still on my hands, so I allowed the fabric to unfurl and flattened my palms to my sides. Lips curving into a lopsided smirk, his shoulders jerked once, then his attention shifted to a window, and I was set free.
“You should hang out,” Adam said. “We have enough food to feed a legion. Stay a while, have dinner with us. I want to get to know the girl at the desk.”
A balled-up napkin hit him in the chest. “Leave her alone,” Iris said. “She’s just trying to do her job.”
I tucked hair that was already tucked and shifted from foot to foot. Everyone was staring at me again. I probably should have left, except my ballet flats suddenly felt more like lead boots.
“Aren’t you off the clock?” Adam asked. “Isn’t it, like, illegal to make employees work more than a certain number of hours?”
The engineer huffed a laugh, slapping his jean-clad thigh. “You’re fucking funny, kid. I’ve been locked in this room for twenty hours during a marathon recording session. You were there. You know this for a fact.”
Adam nodded and shot me a sheepish grin. “But Wren is an office girl. Rules apply, don’t they?” He moved into my space, making my heart kick up a notch. Adam Wainwright was handsome and famous. Being flirted with by him sent me sideways. I didn’t know what to do with myself. He probably knew that. The Seasons Change was a newer band, but Adam had been famous long enough to be well aware of the effect he had on women. Especially women like me who weren’t used to attention.
I shifted again, moving to the side, one step closer to the door. Callum came into view, and to my shock, he was watching my interaction with Adam with keen interest. His deep, cold pools were narrowed and focused, not quite on my face, but on me. His attention was more disorienting than being flirted with by a beautiful rock star.
“Um…” I stopped myself from tucking my hair for the hundredth time, “I don’t know about laws or rules, but my workday is over. Thank you for the offer, but I have a long commute home, so I need to get going.”
“Come on, Wren. You’re too young to be acting like a responsible citizen. Stay a while.”
I shook my head. “I really can’t.” If my feet didn’t weigh a thousand pounds and Callum Rose wasn’t burning me to the ground with his steady, unyielding gaze, I would have darted from the room to put an end to this back and forth.
Adam opened his mouth, most likely to argue, but it slammed closed at the low, commanding southern drawl coming from across the room.
“Let her go, Adam.”
Adam whipped around to look at Callum, and Callum answered him with a cold, blank stare and a faint shrug. I took the opportunity to move my leaden feet and make my escape.
Rodrigo sprung from his seat and opened the studio door for me. “After you, Wren. Thanks for the food. Sorry shit got weird. It happens from time to time.”
