Ace (Playtime Series Book 1) Read online

  ~Chapter Five~

  Ace

  Monday morning already! I knew I had a hell of a job on my hands… the band was crazy to say the least, but Dash had signed them to the label and I was now managing them. They needed to be rebranded and have a major overhaul. I had tried to do a little research on them and get a feel for their style in music. They were talented, and according to the many fan sites I found on Facebook and Twitter, the guys were popular, especially the front man Jake.

  “I hope you’re ready for this?” Elle rejoiced, as we headed into the conference room for the meeting with Dash Records CEO and Finance team. She was more excited about this than I was.

  It seemed this meeting was compulsory. As much as I groaned and whined about it I guess it was something I would have to get used to.

  The team at Dash wanted to discuss logistics, finances and how I was to tackle this

  operation; the big commitment of keeping five bad boy rockers under wraps.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied as I took a seat at the conference room table.

  To my surprise, Hank and the very attractive Mr Dash were present. This was a little strange, since this meeting was meant to be with the CEO. Dash, as he liked to be called, was the founder and owner of Dash Records, however he barely even set foot in the building… ever. He had made his billions when he first started the company. Now he pretty much took a back seat and enjoyed the high life.

  “Good morning ladies,” Dash smiled, showing me those big, beautiful, brown eyes of his. At this rate I was going to slip into a man-coma and stay there forever. I didn’t think I had ever been surrounded by so many men...especially ones I was so attracted to. Maybe I was just a horny shit who needed a good lay. Smiling back I focused my thoughts to anything but sex, I didn’t need distractions, not when this meeting was important.

  “Miss Rivers, I understand Mr Dash assigned you a new client.

  You need to be aware that with all new clients we like to hold meetings, strategy sessions, and talk finances before you jump head first into working with them,” the man across from me spoke out with a scowl on his face.

  It was nine-thirty Monday morning and

  in all honesty, I was on the verge of scowling at having to sit here and discuss logistics, finances and whatever mumbo jumbo they may decide to throw at me.

  I smiled, and started to jot down notes, damn this was going to be one hell of a long day.

  Stepping out into the cool breeze of Los Angeles was like heaven, after being cooped up in that office all day. I had been working on getting the band booked in to do some studio time, setting tour dates for when they finished recording their first EP, as well as trying to make the five boys look good in the public’s eye…it was all more than my brain could handle in one day.

  In my opinion, the front man Jake was more like man whore Jake, with his blatant disrespect for women. It seemed the rocker and singer liked to get into any woman’s panties he could find.

  Groupies were his biggest audience, but the guy had also happened to make the tabloids numerous times for hooking up with a few socialites and even some cougars.

  Jake didn’t discriminate and he didn’t care if he broke up a marriage or two either. Clearly Jake liked to live the lifestyle of the rich and famous.

  Eric, the bands sexy bass guitarist, appeared to be the most down to earth of the

  five. I had to admit though, he oozed sex appeal

  and it was no wonder he had a bad reputation; even if he was meant to be the best behaved of the bunch.

  Chris and Lucas were brothers; Chris had bleached, blonde hair that he spiked up to the nines, whereas Lucas liked his shoulder length, dark locks. They were both striking men, at least from what I could tell from the pictures I had seen while I was browsing the web.

  The last, but certainly not least member was Damon. He was, as Eric had said, the loud mouth of the group. He also played lead guitar, but it seemed the reason Jake and him always fought, was because all in all, Damon was jealous. He wanted the spot light, but he didn’t have the voice to front the band, and from what I had heard Jake could sing like an angel.

  JED had started out as a garage band, like most bands that we signed to the Dash label.

  They performed a few gigs here and there with the original band members Jake, Eric and Damon, hence the JED name.

  The band then started to gather a small following and picked up more and more gigs, groupies and so on, so it seems they added Chris and Lucas to the equation to help round out their number to five.

  Chris now played drums, while Lucas was the bands second guitarist; he enjoyed taking a back seat position at gigs.

  I was already envisioning that, all in all

  the boys were going to be a massive handful. I wasn’t even sure I could help them, but I was determined to give it a shot…in the end we would either fly high or crash and burn.

  ~Chapter Six~

  Ace

  So the saying, ‘all good things must come to an end’, is completely true. No matter how much of a grip you have on your life, you eventually end up either disappointed or regretting something. I was regretting a lot; being at that party the other night and gripping that poor kid Freddie like he was a bag of nuts… ha-ha no pun intended. But in all seriousness, I was really wishing I had fought to get a different client.

  JED was the biggest bunch of sorry asses I had ever met. The only reason I was still waiting here in the studio, was because Eric had the decency to show up on time and he had reassured me the others wouldn’t be far behind him.

  The thing was, Eric had no clue where any of them were and I was starting to become tired of waiting.

  This was their first booked studio time and if they couldn’t even bother to show up for

  this, I bet they wouldn’t show up for anything.

  “You have to know something about where they are,” I groaned. Eric looked up from his seat on the couch positioned in the sound box.

  I had been up since five to make sure I arrived at the studio half an hour before JED was booked to be here, so I could set up and inform the staff of today’s schedule and goals.

  “Like I said, the guys went out and partied a little. I wasn’t with them which is why I managed to get myself here,” Eric replied with a smile.

  I would be lying if I said that smile didn’t make me want to swoon over him. In fact, it was making me a little less stressed and pissed off with the world; which was a good thing.

  “Look, this is costing the company money, so I suggest you use this time to record anything you want. I am not going to be wasting a hundred thousand dollars every time these guys can’t be bothered to show up because they’re too busy dealing with hangovers. So I propose you get your leather clad ass in there,” I bellowed, pointing to the recording booth, “And play me something worth recording,” I added.

  “Sure thing Ace,” Eric grinned, jumping up from the lounge he was sitting in before walking in to the recording room.

  I didn’t really care what he recorded, as long as I had something so that we didn’t waste

  money and the studio’s time.

  ˜*˜

  We had managed to record a few new riffs, which to my surprise, Eric had made up as he went along; he had talent and seemed to enjoy having the studio to himself.

  I, of course, was still trying to track down the rest of the band and it seemed I was close to finding them.

  The other guys were still in L.A so that was good news; they hadn’t run off or ditched the city. But trying to find their exact location was a lot harder, especially when Eric wouldn’t tell me anything. I could see he was hiding something. For now, all I had to do was find them and make sure they arrived at the studio tomorrow, on time, ready to record their latest album.

  “That was great, Eric! Do you want to run through it again?” I asked. He grinned, and nodded to the sound technician.

  I smiled and sighed all at once, my phone had been vibrating
in my back pocket.

  “Miss Rivers,” I said answering my cell.

  “Ace, my sweet thing, I found the band,” Hank announced. His voice was heaven to my ears, not to mention he had news, good news.

  “Thank you, thank you and thank you! I owe you big time for finding them,” I sighed heavily.

  “I have them in a taxi on the way to the studio. You have Jake to blame for the fuck up, but remember to be kind; Dash is watching you closely, so please try not to piss off the band,” Hank joked, even if he was slightly serious.

  I knew Dash was watching me closely and as much as I was ok with it, because I liked his prying eyes on me… get your mind out of the gutter Lacey… I also knew that with him breathing down my neck I couldn’t afford to fuck up.

  ˜*˜

  “Thanks guys, pack up and we will pick this up again tomorrow and at this time…please don’t be late. You cost the studio a lot of money this morning,” I groaned, a little annoyed, but happy we had managed to get at least something done today.

  The sound was incredible, it was true what I read; Jake had an amazing voice. The grunge rock and husky tone to his singing gave them something that other rock bands didn’t have.

  “You heading home?” A voice behind me

  asked. I turned to look at Damon, who like usual, seemed to have no shirt on. Even in a studio the man needed to at least bear his chest.

  I wasn’t heading home after this; in fact, I was going out with Elle. It was Thursday night and she had yet another band she wanted to check out. Stupid me had caved and said yes to her on the one condition that I didn’t have to drink. I had more studio time, not to mention a meeting tomorrow afternoon with heaps of stylists and photographers, ready to shoot album covers and promo pictures for the upcoming tour.

  It still amazed me at how quickly the label could pump out a record and everything that came along with it.

  “Damon,” I acknowledged with a meek smile. I looked down at my cell phone as I typed a message to Elle.

  “So are you going home?” he asked again.

  “Why?” I questioned.

  “I wanted to know if you would like to go have a drink. We didn’t exactly get off on the right foot and I would like to redeem that,” Damon claimed with a grin.

  “Unfortunately I have plans, but if you’re interested I guess you could tag along,” I mumbled, regretting inviting him the moment the words slipped from my mouth.

  “Count me in,” Damon applauded.

  “Where are we going?” Eric called.

  I had just been about to click send, letting Elle know that I’d be picking her up in ten minutes, which was now going to be fifteen at this rate.

  “Ace and I are going out,” Damon said, smiling from ear to ear. The guy seemed to enjoy pissing off Eric at every opportunity. I rolled my eyes…men! They seriously had way too much testosterone, that and the urge to outdo each other at any possible chance.

  “I already had plans, but decided that Damon could tag along, if you want to join you’re more than welcome too,” I stated as I looked up from my phone. Eric’s eyes were too gorgeous, with their silvery outline and dark brown irises.

  This could not happen! I needed to concentrate on something other than the way he was looking at me right now. I quickly drew my focus back to the phone, clicking send. I decided I would skip the part of telling Elle that I was bringing anyone. She would get one hell of a surprise when she discovered that I was bringing Damon along with me.

  “Count me in too,” Eric said.

  Oh shit, let’s correct that. She wouldn’t just get a hell of a surprise, she would die when she found out I was bringing not one, but two members of JED.

  ~Chapter Seven~

  Ace

  “Sorry I’m a little late,” I sighed, as Elle answered her door.

  I had decided to go up to her apartment and get her, leaving the boys in the Jag. I wanted to tell her that I brought them with me, but I knew she would flip and take twice as long to get ready. She was already gorgeous the way she was, she didn’t need to change a thing.

  “I’m ready to go,” Elle smiled, grabbing her purse off the bench and walking out her front door.

  She lived on the ground floor so it was only a small walk to the street where I had parked the car. I was a little excited. Hank loved his cars and rarely allowed anyone to use them but I had managed to sweet talk him into letting me drive his Jaguar-JX Sedan. The vehicle was a joy to drive and I was determined to have a Jag of my own eventually.

  “You will have to sit in the back babe, I’m sorry,” I sighed as I rounded the bonnet to jump

  into the front seat.

  “Why?” Elle asked.

  “You’ll see,” I smiled.

  “Ace, what are you up to?” Elle inquired suspiciously.

  “Nothing just get in the car, trust me you will like what you see,” I exclaimed, as Elle sighed and opened the back door of the car scooting inside. I expected to hear screams, instead I heard nothing. I opened the driver’s door and climbed in.

  Eric was shaking his head with a smile on his face. It seemed as though the reason I heard no protests from Elle was because she was busy necking in the back seat with Damon. I rolled my eyes; seriously? I said she would enjoy it, I didn’t mean literally. If those two started fucking in the back seat I was going to kick them out and make her pay to have the car dry cleaned.

  “You have a very interesting friend,” Eric stated with a grin.

  “She has her weaknesses and hot guys in leather pants are one of them,” I replied, knowing that talking about Elle while she was in the back seat was probably wrong, but I wasn’t

  going to give away too many of her secrets. She would kill me and besides I didn’t know Eric well enough to start spilling things about my personal life either.

  “Where is this place?” I asked, as I pulled

  the car out of its parking spot and into the traffic of L.A.

  I hoped she would hear me and stop her make-out session with Damon in the backseat. I needed directions, or at least the name of this particular club or pub we were meant to be going to. After all, we were going to visit the band she recommended.

  “Damon,” Eric yelled, making the two of them realize they weren’t alone.

  “Elle, where is this club and the band you’re dragging me to see?” I asked again, knowing this time she would hear me.

  “Umm, do you think you could take me back to my place?” Elle inquired, smiling to me through the rear vision mirror. Was she kidding? I had pulled up to a set of lights not even two minutes from her house. If she wanted Damon so badly I would happily let them out and they could walk back.

  “You can get out now and walk if you wish,” I stated smiling.

  She unbuckled and climbed over the seat, kissing me on the cheek.

  “I owe you,” she whispered. “I’ll call you later with details,” she added. Oh my gosh, I hoped she wouldn’t. I heard her giggle as she exited the car.

  I hate awkward silences. Why on earth did I say

  it was ok for Elle to ditch and have a night of sex with none other than JED’s lead guitarist?

  Now I was stuck in a car with Eric and he seemed about as happy as a pumpkin laying in the garden, waiting to be picked. I wanted to go home, open a bottle of wine and soak in my tub. I couldn’t do that with him in the car and now we had no destination.

  “Do you mind if I tag along to wherever you’re heading? I don’t feel like going back to the hotel while the guys are busy drinking,” Eric mumbled.

  Hmm, how would I answer this question?

  “I’m going to go home, you don’t mind?” I asked, as he turned to me with a smirk on his face. I should have known. I was seriously considering not going home and just driving around L.A, but I really wanted a bath.

  “Did you enjoy your studio time?” I inquired, trying to think of anything to discuss with him.

  “It was interesting,” he muttered.

&nbsp
; So that was all he was going to give me? I put my butt out on the line, even gave him

  valuable one-on-one time in the studio, thanks to the tardy boys,

  and I all get is, ‘It was interesting.’ Men! Argh! They were so frustrating!

  Especially power-tripping rock stars who sit on their high horse and think they’re a gift to women.

  I pulled the car into the street that housed Hanks Beverly Hills home. All the houses in this street were full of households in the million dollar price range. Hank supposedly paid quite a number for his, I didn’t know exactly how much because we never bothered to discuss money and I certainly had no desire to. I was just grateful for the roof over my head and the amazing man who helped me out of a sticky situation.

  Hank was an angel. No matter what shit I copped from work about my so called relationship with him, I knew the truth. I would most likely always have him in my life.

  I pulled into the driveway of the gated house, and flicked the switch for the automatic garage doors. I needed to tuck this little baby in its safe hidey hole, especially since it wasn’t mine.

  I parked the car and climbed out. Eric seemed way too quiet for my liking. Why did he

  have to turn on the silent treatment? The other night at the party he was more than happy to chat away. He joked with me, even if it was at the expense of Freddie, but then Freddie was his brother. Wasn’t it the right of the elder brother to tease the younger?

  “Are you hungry?” I asked as I opened the front door to the place I knew as home.

  “I’m a little famished,” he mumbled in reply as I made my way down into the

  sunken lounge room.

  “Make yourself at home, the remotes are under the coffee table,” I smiled, heading for the kitchen. I was hungry from spending the whole day in the studio, only surviving on cups of terrible coffee. It was not my idea of a good day on the job.

  “Can I get you a drink? Beer, wine, water?” I yelled, as I slipped off my jacket and opened the fridge to find something to eat. The more I thought about it I realized I wasn’t in the mood to cook. Maybe ordering a pizza would be my best bet. I pulled out two beers and closed the fridge, coming face to face with two beautifully big brown eyes.