Aftershock (2 page)

***

Sydney picked up her café mocha at the counter and carried it to an empty booth, settled carefully on the bench seat, and placed her briefcase on the table. Her heart still thudded with the aftereffects of her confrontation with Rick Trajean. His picture had not done him justice. None of the pictures or videos she’d seen had. Tall and lean, with thick dark hair that curled to his shoulders. The sensual lines of his very masculine face were enhanced by the rough stubble of a dark beard. She’d had to clench her fist to keep from reaching out to touch it.

This man was walking sex, sensuality so raw and hot the air around him crackled with the heat. And lordy! Those come-fuck-me eyes, a color she could only call smoldering midnight fringed with lashes she’d kill for. How easy it would be to get lost in them.

She’d been around a lot of sexy men. That wasn’t what bothered her. Rick Trajean reached deep inside her to ignite an explosion threatened to consume her.
Damn!
  She didn’t have time for relationships and certainly not with one of “her” musicians. She had a job to do. A goal. The Plan. Establish herself as one of the top PR agents in the business. The go-to person when you wanted success. A name people uttered with respect.

And this job should be her ticket to achieve what she wanted. She needed this success more than her next breath. No way would she put herself in a position to be the subject of industry gossip.

In her eight years at the agency, she’d worked with more musicians than most people listened to in a lifetime. They’d come in all shapes and sizes, many of them so blatantly sexy it made Sydney laugh. Their come-on lines were straight out of musicians-R-Us. Sydney, female as any other woman, somehow found it easy to look at the men as pieces of merchandise they were selling and not react to them at all.

Rick Trajean was different.

She’d had relationships in her life, some more exciting than others. But the effect he had on was like nothing she’d felt before. She didn’t recall ever meeting a man who flipped her switches like Rick Trajean. When she walked into their rehearsal, a hot zap of sexual awareness—and something else, a sensation she didn’t even want to define—jolted her. He pushed buttons she didn’t know she had, tempting her with his presence alone. The atmosphere between them burst into flame, bringing a tug of emotions that slammed into her when she looked at him.

Not good at all.

I can do this. I want to. I
have
to.

Remember, Sydney. This is business, not pleasure. And important business. Don’t you ever forget it.

Yes, important business. Her big break at long last. The internship at Full Moon had opened a whole new world for her. From the very beginning, as she watched experienced agents take unknown clients and mold them, her goal had been to develop the same skill. To find a band—a rock band, her favorite kind of music—and take it to the very top.

Pie in the sky? Maybe. But if you didn’t dream big, why dream at all? For eight years she’d observed and taken notes. Learning from the agents she worked with when she became a full-timer.

Now she had her chance. She’d worked her ass off to get here. Closing her eyes for a moment, she relished the fact she at last had a client of her own to work with. All the contacts she’d cultivated over the years, all the connections she’d made, not to mention the power of Full Moon, would help her achieve The Plan. No idiot musician would screw it up for her. He had to know who was boss in this area. And that was her.

Much more than the normal dream of success, Sydney had harbored a very private reason for her passion. A hunger rooted in the days when a bitter woman gave shelter to a frightened child.

It wasn’t Sydney’s fault her parents were killed when she was ten years old. Or that her mother’s sister, Janine, the sole relative who could take her in, had dated Sydney’s father before he met and fell in love with her mother. Resentment and acrimony colored Janine’s relationship with Sydney. She did her best to raise Sydney as a clone of herself, a hater of men, career driven at the expense of all else.

How often had Sydney heard the woman say to someone she’d “done her duty” by raising the child of the man who’d betrayed her. All the years of her youth, Sydney heard over and over how men were “no damn good” and how Beth stole the love of Janine’s life.

 
“Gave up her own life, too,” Janine spat. “Walked away from a promising career to do what? Be at the beck and call of a faithless man? You won’t catch me doing that.”

 “But Mom did what she wanted to,”
Sydney always tried to point out.

 
“And what did she have to show for it? Take that as a lesson to be learned, Sydney. Watch out or the same thing could happen to you.”

Sydney supposed she should be grateful Janine took her in at all, but the open hostility and constant rain of vitriol ruined any pleasure she might have found in having a place to call home.

Until Full Moon.

 
“Musicians? Publicity agent?”

She could still hear the scorn in her Aunt Janine’s voice when she told her about it.

 “It’s a great chance for me.”

“A chance?” The woman snarled. “Stuck with musicians who are the worst examples of the male of the species? You’ll be in trouble before you can blink. You should focus all your determination on a solid goal in the business world. Musicians are here today and gone tomorrow. And you could be, too.”

The agency specialized in public relations for single performers and bands. Selective about who they repped, they had created stardom for an impressive list of clients. While Sydney had stars in her eyes from the people she rubbed elbows with, the excitement of the business and the pleasure gleaned off every small task she conquered also infected her.

When the internship the summer following her high school graduation evolved into a part-time job while she attended the University of Texas at San Antonio, she jumped at it. Janine, sarcastic as usual, belittled it as a waste of time in a profession for useless people.

 “I want to do this,”
Sydney had insisted.

 
“Fine, but not under my roof.”

She took the woman at her word.

Since she hoarded and pinched pennies, she had the money to rent a not-so-tiptop apartment with three other girls and had never looked back. Not a penthouse apartment, by any means, it still couldn’t have been better. Her new place put her outside Janine’s sphere of influence. Every day, like today, the conversation replayed in her mind. Was she scared? Damn straight. But determined to be a success and nothing would stop her.

The head of the agency, Linc Forrester, gave her a full-time job as a college graduation present. Grunt work, she knew, but a chance to work up to a position as a recognized agent. And, thus, The Plan took shape. It consumed her every day, even as she tried hard to shut out Janine’s words. Words with a permanent place in her head.

 
“You won’t amount to anything. Not in the business you’ve chosen. You’re too soft. The men will eat you alive. If that’s the only goal you have, then you might as well settle for marriage like your mother did. You won’t be good for much else.”

Now, eight years later, on her own and away from Janine’s hateful attitude, she’d actually moved ahead with The Plan. She had her first independent assignment with Full Moon.

Sort of.

She’d have to coordinate with whoever handled the promo for Deep Blue River, but Lightnin’ belonged to her.

And she had big, big, big ideas for them. And herself.

The little girl who tried her best to please the angry, bitter woman still hidden in a dark corner of Sydney’s psyche. Maybe she’d never disappear. Her presence created a constant fear of failure. If Sydney wanted to succeed, she needed to get past the scared little girl to the woman she’d become. And she had. Almost. Still, she wondered what it would take to make that frightened child vanish forever.

And prove herself to Janine, a woman she barely spoke to any more.

Enough! You have business to take care of. Forget about Janine.

And forget about Rick Trajean, in any manner except a professional one.

But, oh lordy. Something fiery and emotional had blazed between them. What did she do with that?

You ignore it.

Yeah, right.

Determined to ignore the effect the man had on her, she took a sip of her mocha, savoring the rich flavor.

Then she opened her briefcase and took out the Lightnin’ folder. Even though she knew its contents by heart, she went over the information one more time. The next couple of weeks she’d hit the pavement to promote them, tempting reporters, bloggers, columnists, everyone out there with any connection to the music industry. Put Lightnin’ through their paces for their debut party, so to speak. To make it work, the band members—especially Rick—must acknowledge her authority and let her guide them. Forget about their groupies and starstruck, sappy females. Sydney held one position with them, businesswoman, and right now
they
were her business.

She studied the outline in front of her and chomped at the bit to put the pieces of the plan in place. The media releases were set to go. Linc had given her plenty of information to create them. She’d already arranged the event to introduce the band. A week in advance she’d fax and e-mail them, follow some of the contacts up with personal phone calls. Many were familiar from her prior role as assistant to the senior agents. She hoped that relationship and Full Moon’s name would be enough to assure a good turnout. But you could never be sure, so follow up was important.

Okay, so maybe her unannounced walk-in today had been a mistake. She knew other agents did it, but probably after they were already established with the band. She’d get past this and do better next time.

She removed a yellow pad from her briefcase and began to make careful notes. So engrossed in her work, she missed Rick’s approach.

“Those plans for us?”

Her hand jerked, the pen flying from her fingers onto the floor. Sydney looked up, her other hand at her throat, willing her pulse to slow down to a manageable rhythm. Not a dream, not a vision from her imagination but a hot presence with a voice that made her insides quake. And when his gaze locked with hers, a volcanic impact erupted inside her again. She opened her mouth but no sound emerged. Rick’s rich baritone vibrated through her body. Shivers skated over her skin and danced along her spine. The first sight of him had rocked her and she thought she’d done a masterful job of concealing it. Only now, here they were, one on one, and the shimmery explosion that blasted at the door of her hidden emotions had strengthened.

Just listening to him made her nipples harden and her pulse beat hard and furious at every erogenous zone in her body. She had to squeeze her thighs together to control herself.

“Sydney?” he nudged.

“What? Oh, sorry. Hi. Thanks for meeting me.”

“I asked if you were working on stuff for us.” He nodded at the open folder and her pad of paper as he slid into the booth, a cup of coffee in his hand.

Forcing her eyes away from him, Sydney swept the papers into the folder and closed it. She turned the yellow pad upside down then plastered a smile on her face.

Business, Sydney. Be professional. You’re in charge
.

“Yes, as a matter of fact it is. I want you to know I’ve given a lot of thought to this and I’ve done a lot of research on what it will take to craft a successful plan. I’ve put together a strong campaign—television, newspapers, online blogs, personal appearances—to create and establish your image. Brand you, so to speak. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about earlier. Why I came to the rehearsal.”

Rick slid a small rectangle of pasteboard across the table to her with the Lightnin’ logo on one side. When she reached for it their hands touched. Again Sydney felt that surge of electricity zip through her body and dance in the air. She looked up to see if Rick felt the same thing. If the glitter in his eyes was any indication, he did.

She didn’t ever remember being so intensely aware of a man. Not ever in her life. The reaction was so instantaneous it frightened her. Pulses throbbed and her breathing hitched. “Just making sure you were focused on us.” The heat in his eyes scorched her. The tic of a muscle in his cheek showed he, too, fought to maintain self-control.

Holy crap! How is this happening?

No, no, no, Sydney. You can’t let yourself respond this way to a man. Any man.

She pulled the card toward her and turned it over. On the reverse she saw Rick’s name, cell phone number, and e-mail.

“The cell number is the best one to use,” he told her. “You can always get in touch with me and schedule a meeting.” Those hot eyes scorched her face for a long moment. “Please don’t come to rehearsal again unless you’re invited. When we’re there, it’s all about the music.”

Sydney picked up the card, tucked it into her briefcase, and did her best to hide the way her hands trembled.

“I understand. I made an error in judgment today. It won’t happen again.” Even as she offered the semi-apology, she tried to put authority into her tone. “But I have a job to do, and I have to do it in a timely fashion or it won’t work. And what I do will benefit the band.”

If he would quit looking at her with such hunger. No, not simple hunger. More than that.

“I’m not an idiot, Sydney. But we’re there to work.” He blew out a breath. “Away from an audience, where mistakes can be corrected.”

He had a point. But as a neophyte agent given the chance to test her wings, she could not fail. She’d been so intent on establishing her presence, her authority, it hadn’t occurred to her she might interrupt the band’s schedule.

Okay. Point taken
.

“I hear what you’re saying.”

When she raised her eyes to him another shock zapped through her body.