A Rule Worth Breaking

Jake didn’t put out his hand for Caitlin to shake. Right then he had the strangest feeling that if he did he wouldn’t want to let it go. If this venture was going to work at all then he needed to maintain the requisite professionalism at all times. The last thing he needed was to get personally involved with Little Miss Hole in her Stocking. The band had been through enough upheaval and disappointment with Marcie walking out. No… If they were going to work together then he was going to play strictly by the rules. He had to, no matter how irresistible the temptation. And if he should at any time forget that vow then all he had to do was remember the scandal that had near crushed him and killed his career.

Taking a sidelong glance at Rick, and seeing that his friend’s avidly appreciative gaze was all but glued to Caitlin, as if only a madman would want to look anywhere else, Jake firmed his resolve. ‘Strictly by the rules’ went for Rick and the guys, too. And, by God, he’d make sure that they knew it.

As the band welcomed Caitlin he saw that their pleasure was absolutely sincere. He also saw how her lovely face lit up at their enthusiastic welcome, how a faint flush of pink stained her cheeks as she strove to handle it, and something told Jake she was definitely an innocent compared to the rest of them. That too could be a sticking point, he reflected…especially in the dog-eat-dog world that was the music business. But, that said, it made a refreshing change to meet someone with hope and enthusiasm in their eyes—someone who wasn’t old and jaded before their time as he probably was…

‘Come into my office, Miss Ryan,’ he invited her. ‘We need to talk in private.’

Vaulting off the stage, Jake strode to the end of the hall, the sound of his boot heels echoing loudly in his wake.

After eagerly helping Caitlin down from the stage, Rick hurried to catch up to his enigmatic boss. ‘Hey, don’t you want me there too?’ he called.

Turning, Jake shook his head, a muscle flexing in the side of his hollowed cheek. ‘Not at the moment, my friend. There’ll be time enough to go over the timetable for rehearsals when we talk later. We’ll have a group meeting tomorrow afternoon so that we can discuss everything. Right now I just want to have a private chat with Miss Ryan’

‘Miss Ryan?’ Rick frowned. ‘What’s wrong with Caitlin?’

Ignoring the comment, Jake turned and opened his office door.

Her trepidation mingling with excitement, Caitlin followed him. The whole experience felt strangely surreal to her. The office that Blue Sky’s charismatic manager was using was a room not much bigger than a generously-sized broom cupboard, she saw. All it contained were two grey plastic chairs and an upturned orange box masquerading as a table. One small window allowed just a paltry glimpse of sky.

Moistening her lips, Caitlin sucked in a breath. Somehow being in such close proximity to Jake Sorenson was ten times more testing than any audition she could imagine. He had the kind of highly charged aura round him that would stir the senses of a blind woman, she mused nervously.

‘Take a seat,’ he instructed.

Feeling undeniably overwhelmed, she complied. When she sat, her knees unavoidably pressed up against the rough wood of the orange box as she strove to make herself more comfortable. Adjusting her coat as she waited for Jake to carry on speaking, she felt her anxiety definitely intensify.

‘You’ve already told me that you have a job. I presume that’s full-time?’ Flipping open the black notebook on top of the box, he started writing inside it.

‘That’s right.’

‘You said you work in a shop? What kind of shop?’ Lifting his head, Jake pinned her to the seat with his pale blue eyes.

‘It’s a shop called Morgana,’ she told him. ‘It specialises in esoteric and personal development books, but we also sell things like incense, Native American jewellery, ambient music and crystals.’

And I love working there, she silently reflected. She shifted in the hard plastic chair. It would be a real wrench to leave that job, but what was the point in having a passion in life if you weren’t planning on doing anything about it? Her friend Lia knew just how much Caitlin loved music, how she loved to sing. And then Caitlin had told her that she’d seen an ad in the post office:

Versatile female singer aged twenty to thirty wanted to front established band specialising in soft rock.

Auditions were being held in St Joseph’s church hall, in the very village where they lived, and Lia had encouraged her to go for it.

‘It must be clear to you that if you want to sing with this band you can’t work full-time in a shop as well?’

Jake didn’t take his eyes off of her as he addressed Caitlin, and the blatant directness of his unsettling blue gaze made her feel as if someone had just curtailed her oxygen supply.

‘Rehearsals start tomorrow afternoon and will continue every day after that for the next three weeks before the band performs in public. After that we’ll be all over the country for an initial three-week tour. Are you ready to commit to such a schedule, Miss Ryan?’

‘I hadn’t really thought about much beyond the audition,’ she confessed honestly, ‘but I realise whoever gets the job will have to be prepared to do regular gigs and eventually tour. So, yes, I am ready to commit, Mr Sorenson. I’ve never wanted anything more.’

‘And you know that means giving up your present job to do so?’

‘Of course.’

Although she hadn’t hesitated to answer in the affirmative Jake didn’t miss the slightly perturbed frown between her elegant brows, and once again he had the distinct impression that Caitlin was a relative innocent when it came to the type of worldly experience that the rest of them had.

‘Does that worry you?’ he asked.

Lifting her chin, she was intent on holding his gaze and not shying away from it, he saw.

‘I’d be a liar if I said it wasn’t daunting to leave something I’m so familiar with for something much more challenging, but I want to rise to that challenge. Especially if it’s going to help me realise my dream of becoming a professional singer. Besides…change is inevitable, isn’t it? Nothing stays the same.’

‘You don’t have to make it sound like it’s something to fear. There’s many a singer who’d give their eye-teeth to have the opportunity I’m offering you. Blue Sky may have lost their lead vocalist but they’re still an established band. Just before Marcie left they were invited to play on one of the top music shows on television.’

And the guys had been gutted when they’d had to cancel the engagement. It might have been the big break they’d been praying for…

‘Please don’t think that I’m ungrateful.’

Shifting self-consciously in her seat, Caitlin snagged her stocking on a splinter from the orange box. As she picked at it to free herself she blushed scarlet, because Jake’s gaze was suddenly focused on her knee instead of on her face. The very air between them seemed to throb with heat and a disturbing prickle of perspiration slid worryingly down her spine.

‘I think I’m still in shock,’ she admitted, ‘I didn’t expect to get as far as this. I’m still trying to take it all in.’

‘Well…’ Reluctantly withdrawing his glance from her knee, Jake strove to remain businesslike. ‘I’m not asking you to sign on the dotted line tonight. But that doesn’t mean I’m giving you the chance to change your mind. When I’ve decided that I want something, Caitlin, I won’t rest until I get it. So be here tomorrow at five. We’ll be rehearsing until late in the evening. Do we have a deal?’

She bit down on her lip. ‘Yes—yes, we do. But can I make it five-forty-five instead? I have to close the shop at five-thirty. I won’t be any later. I can be here in just ten minutes if I drive.’

‘Five-forty-five it is, then. And before you leave you’d better give me your address and mobile phone number, just in case.’

Caitlin gave him the information and watched warily as Jake scribbled it down in his black notebook. Then he threw down his pen and got to his feet. She followed suit, her heart racing as he towered over her. She was five foot seven in her bare feet, but his physical domination of the tiny space seemed to make the already diminutive room even smaller.

Her fingers shaking, she fastened a couple of her coat buttons and managed a tentative smile. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow then, Mr…?’ She had a moment of panic because she’d somehow forgotten his surname.

‘You can call me Jake.’

To her utter surprise and secret delight a dimple appeared as if by magic at the corner of his very sexy mouth. Caitlin’s insides knotted painfully.

‘Right.’

‘There’s just one more thing before you go.’

‘What’s that?’

‘I’d better explain one of the most important house rules, and that is there’s to be no fraternising after hours with members of the band—and I’m not talking about a few drinks backstage after a gig. Am I making myself clear?’

Now Caitlin’s face really did burn. She tried to look anywhere but straight at Jake. If he seriously thought she would—that she might— Of course he could have no idea that she’d sworn off men for good, she realised. But after what she’d been through with her ex-boyfriend Sean she’d rather trek through the Sahara Desert with a fur coat on than risk another soul-destroying relationship with a man…however brief.

‘All I want to do is sing. I’m not interested in anything else. I can positively assure you of that.’

Jake couldn’t help wondering why. He’d glimpsed pain and fury in those pretty green eyes of hers just now, as if even the suggestion that she might find herself attracted to a member of the opposite sex was tantamount to contemplating suicide.

He sighed. ‘Okay, then. There’s just one other thing.’