Feverish (Bullet #3) by Jade C. Jamison Page B

couldn’t discuss business with him at all. Two days.
Two. Stinking. Days. And the guy was out of control. Emily thought
she was finally getting a feel for how Clay worked after being in
his employ for two weeks, but she was starting to believe she had
no idea. Every time she thought she had him figured out, he’d pull
the rug out from under her.
    Still, it was an almost boy-like sense of fun
and play that had him distracted and running around like a kid in a
candy store. Even though he was driving her nuts, keeping her from
getting work done, she couldn’t help but smile. He’d pull out a
guitar almost like a dress and ask if she thought that was the one
he should take. He’d go back in his music room then and grab
another.
    Mary had told her she loved Clay, but she was
glad when he had to be gone. It gave her a break. When the band
would tour, he’d be gone for weeks and months at a time, but this
was just for a few days. Still, Emily had the mail held for that
time since she’d have to accompany him.
    She was trying not to let it bother her, but
Bryce hadn’t been communicating much either. He’d sent a couple of
emails, but she saw his regular posts on Facebook. He was posting a
lot of pictures. It looked like they were having a lot of fun, and
she was glad for that, but she was a little irritated that he
couldn’t be bothered to just talk with her for a few minutes.
    So she immersed herself in getting Clay
prepared for the charity concert. He didn’t have a list of what he
should take, even though the guy had been playing in concerts and
had been on the road for years. She spent a few days compiling a
list after getting the details. The concert was going to be in
California near the coast in a huge venue, and Last Five Seconds
was one of several bands playing. They were raising money for a
school that had been devastated in a tornado in Kansas just a
couple of weeks earlier. Emily couldn’t remember the exact details,
but one of bands was from the town—that very high school, in
fact—and had wanted to do something to help. She’d read through the
list of bands and saw that Last Five Seconds was one of the
heaviest ones on the ticket, and they were playing late
afternoon.
    She would never say it out loud, but she was
excited. Her dad wasn’t a rich guy by any means, and so she’d never
done much traveling. She hadn’t been to California since she was a
child—since her mother was alive, in fact—and she remembered loving
the beach. She couldn’t wait to see it again, see if she loved it
as much as she thought she did.
    Fortunately, she didn’t have to make the
travel and accommodation arrangements. Apparently, their manager
had taken care of all that. Clay had only received one email from
the guy. He talked more on his phone to him. Emily reminded Clay a
couple of times that he could give his manager the landline number
and she could deal with him, but Clay said they’d both be murdered
if he did that. Clay was viewed as a “loose cannon,” and Dennis was
only satisfied if he talked to Clay himself. That wasn’t to say
that the man hadn’t felt more than a little relief knowing Clay now
had someone to keep him on track.
    As the day approached, though, Emily felt
even sadder. She wanted to tell someone her exciting news. She’d
told her dad, but already her father wasn’t happy that she was
actually living in Clay’s house, although he understood why. She’d
explained to him that she was “hired help.” He also wasn’t too
thrilled that he belonged to one of those “hippy” bands Emily
adored, the ones that sang about sex and drugs with curse-infused
lyrics. So she couldn’t exactly celebrate with him. She’d emailed
Bryce, telling him they were flying out to California and staying
for a few days. He hadn’t emailed back yet.
    For Bryce, it wasn’t a big deal. His family
was constantly flying here and there, several times a year. Emily
had never been invited on their spring break