Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 69266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I muttered.
Campbell hadn’t sounded mad, which meant he didn’t know what had happened last night. He wouldn’t have bothered calling me if he’d found out about Nora. He would have shown up and put his fist through my face. But that didn’t mean I wanted him to show up now and do it.
I scrambled into the room. “Nora.”
She groaned and rolled back over. “Sleep,” she muttered in the softest voice, which made me want to crawl right back in there with her.
“Campbell’s on his way.”
Her eyes flew open. “What?”
“Campbell is on his way here right now. He called and said he was five minutes out.”
She wrenched upward, tugging the sheet tight to her breasts. “Fuck.”
“Pretty much.”
She ran a hand back through her hair. Her eyes slid down my exposed chest and down lower, lower, lower to my boxers. “That’s disappointing. I was having a really good dream.”
My cock twitched at the implication in those words. “What sort of dream?”
Her cheeks showed a hint of pink. “If only we had time…”
I looked to the ceiling, cursing Campbell’s name. “If only.”
Nora looked suddenly self-conscious as she searched the floor for her dress. We’d kicked it to the other side of the room at some point. I went and grabbed it, handing it to her.
She blushed again, and I hastily turned around, so she could tug it back over her head. I felt ridiculous since I had literally kissed every inch of her yesterday. But this wasn’t how I’d planned to wake her up either.
A loud knock came from the door.
“Fuck,” I spat.
When I turned back around, Nora blanched. “I’ll change and come out in a minute.”
I nodded, and then she was gone, dashing down the hall to her room. The door creaked closed as I threw on a pair of shorts and snagged a T-shirt. I was pulling it over my head when I reached the front door.
“Hey, man,” I said when I found Campbell in the doorway.
“Hey,” he said, barreling inside. “Where’s Nora?”
I shrugged. Did I look nonchalant? “Still sleeping.”
Campbell wrinkled his nose. “I thought she still had cleanup at the winery this morning.”
Shit. I’d forgotten. Neither of us had set an alarm. Hadn’t exactly been on our brains.
“Maybe she left then. I just got up.”
I headed to the coffee machine and poured myself a cup to have something to do with my hands.
“You’re never going to believe the call I got this morning,” Campbell said.
“What’s that?”
“We’re playing The Tonight Show.”
Well, he was right about that. I never would have fucking guessed. “You’re shitting me.”
Just then, a door opened, and a fully dressed Nora stepped out. She yawned. “What’s going on?”
“We’re playing The Tonight Show,” I told her.
“Really? That’s great!”
“Why aren’t you at the winery for cleanup?” Campbell asked.
Nora’s eyes widened slightly. She was not good at hiding her thoughts, but thank fuck she didn’t look over at me. “I didn’t realize how late it was. Yesterday must have wiped me out. I bet Tessi is wondering where I am.”
“Can we get back to the matter at hand? We’re playing The Tonight Show?”
“Yeah. I heard from Bobby. He said they’re going to drop the first single this week, and we’ll play in New York City the following Friday.”
My eyes widened. “A single already? I didn’t think we were even planning an album drop for a few months.”
“Still the plan, but we’re going to start building suspense for it. With all of Blaire’s footage, people already know it’s coming. It’s a matter of when.”
It was my first real album release. I’d played with a ton of no-name bands, but this was a whole new level. I had no experience here. I was just going with the flow.
“What are we releasing?”
“We’re going to drop ‘Rooftop Nights.’”
I nodded. We’d talked about which songs to release when we were recording in LA. “Rooftop Nights” was the strongest song with a wicked beat and a fun chorus. I always thought it was going to be the party song of the summer.
“That sounds incredible,” Nora said.
“We’re leaving a week from Wednesday. Bobby is going to send a private plane for us with the rest of the band.”
“And he wants me to play keys?”
Campbell shot me a strange look. “Of course you’re playing keys.”
“And Bobby is okay with that?”
“Bobby isn’t the fucking band. I don’t give a shit what he wants. You’re playing the keys at the show.” Campbell then paused before continuing, “Unless you don’t want to.”
“Fuck yeah, I want to.”
“Awesome.”
We clapped hands. It was all getting so fucking real. I wasn’t an official member of the band by any stretch, but I was going to play The Tonight Show. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I wasn’t going to squander it. Plus, it might put some much-needed distance between me and Nora.
“What about you, shrimp?” Campbell asked. “Do you have a wedding that weekend?”