“That’s Sully Parrish.” Ervin spoke to Shauna as he strolled to the studio with his drum kit. “Don’t pay him no mind. I think he was dropped on his head as a baby.”
From the way Shauna’s jaw flexed, Truman could tell it did bother her. She didn’t have to be so sensitive. She didn’t know Sully. She didn’t know any of them.
When the rest of the band disappeared into the soundproof booth, Truman stepped closer to Shauna. With each step, his heart pounded harder and harder.
What the hell was going on with him? His mind needed to be on his son, his band, and his music, in that order. With the exception of his music, he needed to keep his emotions in check.
“Sully’s just nervous.” Truman sat his case on the floor.
Shauna spoke as though she didn’t hear him. “Let’s go over your song list.”
“My what?”
Shauna sauntered to the couch and eased down on it, curling her legs under her and looking poised like a cat. His hand itched like he wanted to pet her, stroke her from her wavy hair down her long back and to that sweet ass.
As soon as that thought entered his mind, he snapped his attention back to her face. As long as he stared in her eyes, he would be fine.
“I want to see the list of songs you’re planning for the album. Or do you and your band fly by the seat of your pants on these things?”
More like a ferocious cat. Forget petting. Maybe he needed to hold her down, pin her wrist back, and—Christ, he had to stop. He had been around sexy women before. Shauna had him thinking and feeling in a way he hadn’t in a long time.
“I don’t understand why I need to show you my set list.” He maintained his position but kept his stare fixed on the woman who seemed a lot more confident and sure of herself than the last time he’d seen her.
“It’s not a set list. This isn’t a show.” Shauna rolled her eyes like she didn’t enjoy dealing with amateurs.
That notion boiled Truman’s blood. He stomped closer to her.
“Your album should tell a story, set a stage.” She ran her hand over her hair. “You should start off with a bang to get people interested, then ease them in with some mid-tempo tunes, then bring them down with some slower songs, then finish it even stronger. Think of your favorite albums that you love listening to from start to finish. Think about the stories they tell.”
He didn’t. Instead he wanted to question her experience. What made her such an expert when she had to be a few years younger than him?
“How long have you been producing?” Truman glared at her, daring for her to break.
“I’ve never produced an album or even a song. You guys would be my first.” Shauna barreled on. “But let me tell you about my seven albums I’ve put out, in particular, my first one. I was given a list of songs to sing by the label. Since I was new with no hits, they wanted to make sure I had some winners on the CD. They got some hack songwriter with one or two big hits to his or her credit to write most of the songs. The rest were covers. My manager thought, at the time, that was the best way to introduce me. You do have a manager, right?”
Truman kept his mouth closed but gave her one solid nod in response.
His slow response must have answered some other questions in her head. “Are you the lead singer and the band’s manager?”
He kept his stare on her but his mouth closed. When Shauna sighed, Truman felt his stomach twinge.
“I may be new at owning a studio, but this is not my first time recording. If you let me, I can help you avoid some of the pitfalls I experienced.” She held up her hand to him.
“We’re supposed to be partners in this, right?” He folded his arms. “Why don’t you make sure we sound good, and I’ll take care of everything else?”
She ran her tongue over her teeth. He could almost hear her counting to ten in her head. His mother would be so disappointed in his combative behavior.
“Fine. Don’t listen to me. I’m not your manager.” She stood. “I’m not even your friend.”
Craig stepped into the tense room. “So how is my dream team working out?”
No one spoke until Truman broke the ice.
“No disrespect to either one of you, but I have to get in there with my band and we need to tune up and rehearse.” He shook Craig’s hand, tipped his hat to Shauna, and walked toward the recording booth. The drama wouldn’t help him sing any better.
“Before you do that, I have an idea.” Craig held up his phone and smiled.
* * * *
Shauna had a sinking suspicion what Craig wanted to do. She kept her stare on him until he approached the duo.
“I plan on going to New York tomorrow to the Universe office to personally play a song from you guys.” Craig pointed to Truman and the band in the studio. “So you all need to do a great job on recording one song that’s an example of your style.”
Truman nodded. “Sounds doable. We’ve been playing our songs for years, so we have them down pat.”
Shauna had no idea Craig had planned on going to the Universe office. She knew the reason. He would make a plea to keep Charisma so that they would have distribution. If Craig planned on going tomorrow, Shauna would have to make a trip later that day. Time to act like a boss.
“Truman, you were right about something when you were in my office. A month to get your album out does not give you a lot of time to promote yourselves. So I have a plan.” He patted the couch seat cushion next to Shauna. “Have a seat.”
Truman split his attention between Shauna and her manager. Even she didn’t know what Craig had planned.
Truman attempted to lift his guitar case and make a speedy exit. “I don’t want to waste time. I should get in there and start rehearsing.”
“We have the studio until nine so we have some time. What I want to do won’t take long at all, but it’ll have mega impact on you and Shauna.” He patted the back of the couch this time. “Sit. Please.”
Truman huffed but finally sat down next to Shauna. Good to see that Truman didn’t want to be a part of this dog and pony show either. The way he kept his gaze cast down, he made it obvious that he barely wanted to even look at her. Seeing that hurt her a lot more than she thought it would. She barely knew this man. Why should it concern her that he didn’t want to look at her?
He leaned back, though, like he didn’t want to get near her. The supple leather squeaked under his weight. That worked for her. He hadn’t exactly been Mr. Charming.
“Shauna Stellar still has about two million followers on her Instagram account.” Craig took a few steps back. “So what I’ll do is snap some shots of you with her and caption it that Shauna is working hard in the studio with Truman Woodley and the Sliders. You guys do have an Instagram account, right?”
Before Truman could answer, Craig took a picture of him.
“Um, I don’t know. Tony normally handles our social media accounts.” Truman looked into the recording booth.
“How am I supposed to tag you if you—never mind.” Craig snapped another picture. “No. This isn’t good. Truman, hand Shauna something. Your music. Yeah. That’ll look good.”
Shauna tried hard not to smile at her manager’s antics. The man knew the best ways to work around any obstacles.
When she peered at Truman, he glared at her for a moment, then turned to Craig before he finally pulled out his music and handed it to Shauna. When she reached