Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
“Sounds good,” he said cheerfully. “Just tell me Aunt Bella, is it bad news?”
“No. I swear it’s not bad, but it’s not good news like we won the lottery or something either.”
“Bummer, it would be pretty cool to be filthy rich.” His boyish grin tugged at my heart.
“It would,” I agreed with a heavy sigh.
Chapter 10
Derek
I woke up to another day with fuck all to do, and I couldn’t deny that I was going out of my mind. A contractor had stopped by to take a look at the small barn, and he assured me that with the budget I’d provided, he would have it completed within four weeks. It seemed ambitious, but it was something to distract me from the daily monotony of doing nothing.
Accomplishing nothing.
The studio would at least allow me to work. To do something that made me feel as if I wasn’t just wasting away to nothing. I picked up the phone to call Brody, to tell him that I would do whatever he needed me to do so that I could get back out there and be part of the world again.
But he called me first. “Brody, tell me you have some good news for me.”
He laughed. “Derek. I’m doing great, thanks for asking. I take it things in Podunk aren’t as glamorous as Nashville?”
“Very funny,” I growled into the phone. “My studio will be done soon,” I lied. “And no one will want me to produce a damn thing if the world thinks I’m some kind of sexist pig.”
“Not some kind of sexist,” Brody clarified. “A sexist would be preferable to a misogynist.”
“Semantics.”
“No Derek, not semantics. I’m glad you listened and kept your ass off social media, because the uproar hasn’t died down. That’s why I’m calling actually.”
I snorted an unamused laugh. “You need me to go further away, maybe to the wilds of Alaska?”
“No, thankfully. But I do want you to put out an apology video, and I want it to be sincere. And it would be very, very helpful if you can get Lacey and Levi to vouch for you.”
“That won’t be a problem,” I assured him, because Lacey had already agreed, around a loud guffawing laugh, to help in any way she could. “How quickly should I do this?” I heard the defeat in my voice and I loathed it. This wasn’t me, I wasn’t a guy who indulged in unnecessary emotions like self-pity. I was a move-forward, take-charge kind of guy.
“As soon as you want to join the land of the living again.”
“You know Brody, your glee in the face of my misery is really unattractive.”
He let out a loud bellowing laugh on the other side of the call. “Didn’t realize you were trying to fuck me, Derek. Thought it was my job to make us both richer than ever.”
He wasn’t wrong about his job, and he was damn good at it. He’d made me the face of a famous denim brand, gotten me my own cologne, and increased my exposure by getting me a couple of seasons on a music based reality TV show. “Yeah, yeah, you’re good at your job. Is that what you want to hear?”
“There’s never a time I don’t want to hear that, Derek. For the record.” He laughed again and I heard papers shuffle, it was a classic Brody sign that he had more to say, and he wasn’t sure how I would react. “There’s something else.”
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “What is it? Just spit it out Brody, please.”
“A girlfriend would really help your cause here.”
I frowned and stared at the phone for a long moment. “You’ve lost your mind, Brody. How in the hell would a girlfriend help in this situation?” I shook my head. “The last thing I need is some woman holding this over my head just to keep me around.”
“If a woman in the twenty-first century can forgive you, the fans will too. Monkey see, monkey do ring any bells?”
I growled at the phone, so angry my hands shook. But as my anger subsided another thought occurred. A girlfriend meant the company of a woman. “I’m sure I can call Maritza. Maybe Elena is back in town, the last time I heard from her she was leaving for Prague.” Both women were models, and the closest I ever came to anything resembling a relationship.
“No, no, and hell no Derek.” Brody’s tone changed, turned darker, and I could almost see him shaking his head, thick black hair swishing around his face because the man didn’t use hair products. “Of course some airheaded super model is going to forgive you, I’m talking about a normal woman. A real woman with a brain between her ears, someone your fans will look at and see themselves in. Only luckier, because she’s landed you.”