Accidental Rock Star (22 page)

“Yeah. We’re out of
here,” Tyler said, leading her to the door. “Later.”

He didn’t wait for his
friends’ responses, which were a polite English, “Nice meeting you,
Aria,” from Caz.

And Garrett’s, “Later,”
which sounded funny in his Scottish accent.

“Crap. Just a second.”
Tyler squeezed her hand and let go. He rubbed his face, sighed, and
pivoted on his heel. He went to the foyer closet and pulled out an
electric lead guitar. The dark red lacquer screamed new. He took a
Sharpie from a drawer, pulled the cap off with his teeth and
scrawled his name on the base. He closed his eyes for a second and
then went over to Garrett, holding out the Sharpie to him. “Sign
this for my friend Ethan. You douchebag.”

Garrett’s green eyes
lit with unholy glee. He signed his name.

“Don’t,” Tyler said,
anticipating mockery.

Caz smirked while
waiting his turn. He signed, too.

“Don’t,” Tyler said
again.

“We can wait for it.”
Garrett kicked his feet up on the couch. “Hurry back.”

Tyler shook his head
and led her into a garage. “Ethan doesn’t know what that cost
me.”

Aria giggled. The
guitar was beautiful and probably worth more than her car. “What
about your friend Max?”

“I already got him to
sign it. And, yeah, he gave me shit about it.”

The garage held three
cars.

“They’re beauties,
eh?”

“They’re something. I
kind of thought you’d have a truck.”

Tyler snickered. “I
have people to haul shit in L.A.” He popped the hood of the
Bugatti.

“Is that going to
fit?”

“Barely.” Tyler stowed
it and got her door. She sank into the black leather that lay
slightly reclined, so she could barely see over the dash.

Tyler got inside. “The
windows are tinted so don’t worry about the paparazzi.”

That hadn’t crossed her
mind. “Okay.”

They headed to the
recording studio and parked underground. The second they got out,
two assistants, a guy and a lady, ran over to Tyler, barraging him
with questions.

“Sax, can I get you
anything?” the lady asked.

“Not yet, Pasha. Thanks
though.”

“Can I carry that for
you?” the guy asked. “Is it for the shoot?”

“No, thanks, Tom, I got
it.”

“Did you get the new
demo?”

“Yeah…”

“Were the V-log
instructions clear?”

“Yeah.” Tyler might
have said more, but the second one of the assistants got a
response, the other leapt in with a question. They kept it up all
the way from the parking lot to the inside of the warehouse. The
interior held cameras and massive lighting equipment. The lights
highlighted a drum set, a mic stand, a bass and a guitar.

Tyler broke from the
questions to tell her, “We’re just filming the band playing and me
signing. The video’s story shots will be laid in later, along with
the actual tracks.”

She had a thousand
questions but didn’t want to compete with his assistants for the
answers. Tyler strode over to a seated area where Dylan and Ethan
were waiting. They greeted them, and Tyler handed Ethan the
guitar.

“Oh, man. Oh, man.”
Ethan cradled it like a newborn. Dylan clapped him on the
shoulder.

“I want you guys in the
video.” Tyler looked at all three of them.

Ethan didn’t look up
from the guitar. “Yeah. Cool.”

“Cool,” Dylan said.

A rush went through
her, excitement tinged with surprise. “You’ve got to stop with the
surprises.”

“But it’s so much fun
to see your face.” Tyler waved the female assistant over. “This is
Pasha. Pasha, this is Aria. Please get Aria whatever she wants.” He
winked at Aria and moved away. More staff converged on him.

“What can I get for
you, Aria?” Pasha asked.

Aria thought about it
and gave her a short list.

***

“Bring in the lizard.”
The director waved his arm, and Pasha carried in a giant stuffed
lizard. Who knew where’d she’d found it. Aria covered her grin with
her palm.

“Why a lizard?” One of
the makeup artists asked the other in a hushed voice that Aria
could still hear.

“She’s a rock star,”
the other makeup artist said like that was answer enough. “What’d
you expect?”

Aria stifled a
laugh.

Pasha put the lizard by
the drum set. “Go ahead and take your marks. Try to stay within a
few feet of the colored tapes on the floor.”

Tyler got in front of
the mic stand.

“Kill the grin, Sax,”
the director said. “Look brooding.”

Tyler frowned and
glared into the light. He cupped the mic stand with both hands,
morphing into a rock star in front of her.

They ran through the
song, playing live, like at Ethan’s. She’d thought she’d be
nervous, but the cameras mostly focused on Tyler, and it was music.
It was fun.

“One more,” the
director said.

They ran through the
song again.

The director stared
intently at each of them. “Camera Four, zoom in on Aria’s mouth.
Good, Sax, that’s the frown we’re looking for. Great energy
guys.”

“Okay, that’s a wrap.”
The director pumped his fist into his palm, smiling big. “That’s a
first. A music shoot completed in two takes.”

Pasha brought over
bottles of water, and Aria chugged the cold liquid.

The director gestured
for Pasha. “Set up studio time with Aria.” He looked at her
directly. “Great tone.”

Pleasure at the praise
rushed through her.

Pasha came over with a
computer tablet, her head bent to the screen, her fingers tapping
on a calendar. “What’s your schedule like for the rest of this
week?” She lifted her dark enthusiastic eyes to Aria.

“My parents and I are
looking at music programs here. Then on the weekend we’re flying to
Lubbock to check out Texas Tech’s music program and then driving to
Southwestern in Georgetown for theirs.”

“Okay, we can work
around that.” Pasha swiped the screen. “I’ll email you some
options.”

“Okay, thanks.”
Wow.

Tyler walked over to
her. He took the bass away and propped it against a speaker, and
then he threaded his fingers with hers. He winked. “Sneak away with
me.”

That gave her a bigger
rush than the shoot. “Let’s go.”

They walked off with
everyone staring at them, though they were pretending not to.

Tyler took her into the
green room, a break room with a long navy couch, a mini-fridge and
a TV. She sat on the couch, and he locked the door.

She watched him walk
back to her with a smile, feeling like she was glowing on the
inside. “Did you like the lizard?”

Tyler sank beside her
and placed his arm over the back of the couch. “I loved the
lizard.”

Aria bit her lip. “Are
they waiting on us for anything? Or hovering outside the door to
hit you up with more questions?”

“Probably. But forget
about them.” Tyler stroked her cheek, using a light touch with his
rough musician’s fingertips. “I didn’t mean to go so fast earlier,
back at the house.” He lowered his voice. “Don’t be mad. Come over
again, and I promise I’ll keep it slow.”

Her heart thudded at
the care he was showing her, at his words. Slow. Tyler. “I changed
my mind about slow.”

Tyler grinned, a wicked
grin, and his eyes flashed. “Yeah?” His voice came out husky.

“Yeah.”

“We’ve got a few
minutes before they bang on the door needing something. What do you
want to do?”

“Get a kiss from
you.”

“Yeah?” He cupped her
cheek and lowered his head.

“Kiss me like you’re my
Tyler. And kiss me like a rock star.”

 
To my Readers:

You’ve changed my life.
Thank you for reading and the reviews. I try to read them all.

P.S. For older readers,
I plan to release an “adult” romance Summer 2015 under the pen name
Aylee Bay. Hope you like it.

All the best,

~Emily

Accidental Series

The Accidental Movie
Star

The Accidental TV
Star

Accidental Action
Star

--

Experimental
Series

The Boarding School
Experiment

Prep School
Experiment

--

Do Over

The Kissing
Deadline

The Prince with
Amnesia

Whenever

Thanks! You’re
awesome:

Teresa, Veronica,
Stacy, Joellen, Barbie, Brennan, Joseph, Mishann, Wayne, Darlene,
Jeff, Heather, Mom & Dad.

Musicians: Rachel,
Megan, Katy, Trevor, and Dylan Ethan

Writers: Dr. Heather’s
Stuck-In-Houston Summer Writer’s Group, Houston YAMG, Gordon, Stan,
Michelle, Toni, Benita, Nora, Kate, Mike, Sean, and Piotr.

Editors: Tracy Seybold,
EditingbyTracy.com
, and
Karen Dale Harris, content editor,
karendaleharris.com

Formatters: Polgarus
Studio,
polgarusstudio.com

Thanks to Elance
Proofreader Ailsa Campbell. And Elance Proofreader Debbie Brunettin
https://www.elance.com/s/debbiebrunettin/

Thanks to awesome
Beta-readers Kella Carlton & Michelle.