#BURN: Fever Falls Book 2 Page 3

  “You know what kind of city calls itself up-and-coming? A city that’s not going anywhere. Would you brand anything with up-and-coming?”

  “Maybe my dick on a good night.”

  “Okay, fair. Anything besides a dick?”

  “I get your point, but you never know. Don’t knock Ash Carmichael’s hometown, now.”

  “Yeah, I guess if it’s good enough for him, it can’t be all that bad,” I conceded.

  “Jace Kruse might not be all that bad either. He might surprise you.”

  “He already has,” I muttered, hoping Carter didn’t hear me.

  When I was at the fire station, confronted with the man from that viral pic, I was blown away. There was something about him, aside from being absurdly attractive, that got to me. I’d been around models, superstars, hotties galore throughout my career. Dime a dozen, but he had more than that. I’d seen it in the picture. Then I saw it in person too. But it wasn’t just the enviable it factor that Hacksmore had picked up on. Although, I couldn’t put my finger on what I found so goddamn compelling about him.

  “Ooh, someone sounds smitten,” Carter added, clearly catching on to my comment about Jace surprising me.

  “He’s a charming guy,” I admitted.

  “Mmmmm. Okay, well, have fun on your date. Go get ’em, powertop.”

  I rolled my eyes, picking up every bit of the suggestiveness he’d thrown down.

  “Thanks, Carter. I’ll see you on the other side, when we get this account and saddle up with the hottest ad campaign of the year.”

  “You sound like a supervillain, Dax. I love it!”

  “Shut the fuck up.”

  * * *

  I’d wondered about the quality of the restaurant we were meeting at, but as I entered Fever Pitch, I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t half bad. The booths and tables were packed with patrons engaged in lively conversations. In a corner room, a couple of pool tables were set up. No one was playing at them just yet, but I figured it was probably a little early for that.

  Jace and I hadn’t exchanged numbers, but I assumed he would keep his word. Wasn’t much of a reason for him to stand me up when he could have just as easily told me to fuck off the day before.

  I checked my phone.

  6:45 p.m.

  He had some time, so I made myself comfortable on a stool at the bar on the other side of the restaurant. The bartender grabbed me a dirty martini, which I enjoyed during my wait, watching the baseball game playing on the TV screen behind the bar.

  I glanced around the restaurant once again, noticing a table where a little boy, maybe eight, made faces at who I assumed was his younger sister. His sis laughed, and his mom told him to cut it out.

  A real-life family.

  Something worth drinking to.

  I downed most of my martini before I heard a voice behind me say, “Now don’t get started without me.” I set my glass down and turned to see those dark blue eyes peering right through me, the way they seemed to in the Instagram photo.

  “Hey, Dallas, you mind grabbing me a cold Budweiser?” he asked the bartender. “And I think my buddy’ll have another.”

  “That’d be great, thanks.”

  He slumped onto the stool beside me, and once Dallas brought us our drinks, we headed over to a booth.

  “Thanks for meeting with me,” I said.

  “Well, it’s my day off, and I figured I had to eat dinner anyway.” He took a sip from his Budweiser bottle, then set it on the table, narrowing his eyes, his lips twisting up at the corners. “I swear, if you say you want an interview, though…”

  “No interview. Promise.”

  “What kind of business proposition are we talking about, then?”

  “I’m with a PR company. We handle some of the biggest accounts in the country, everything from Mercedes to Gerber Baby to Abercrombie. We develop their top ad strategies, head up their biggest campaigns.”

  “Oh, wow. Is that why you were acting like you were such a big deal when you came into the station, all wearing your sunglasses inside?”

  “No, I was—”

  “I’m just giving you hell, man.” That charming smile overtook his face. It caught me nearly as off guard as he did. “I’m just trying to get a feel of you.”

  You can feel me all you want.

  I tightened my fist as I worked to control the desire he stirred.

  “So where you from?”

  “Los Angeles. Well, West Hollywood really.”

  “Ah, a big-city boy. And you’re not denying it, so what do you think of our Fever Falls?”

  “Did you want to talk about Fever Falls or about a business proposition?”

  “Can’t we talk about both? Or were you in some rush?”

  “I’m always in a rush.”

  His face scrunched up, and I noticed he was even more attractive like that. Made me wonder what he looked like when he was fucking someone…a woman, I reminded myself, given the info Carter had shared with me.

  “That sounds more revealing than you probably meant it.”

  Again with those goddamn eyes of his that looked right into me as though they could see back into my past, my history…my everything.

  “Fever Falls seems like a nice place. Very friendly,” I said, redirecting the conversation back to his inquiry.

  Jace shook his head. “You aren’t a fan, are you?”

  “I can honestly say that most of my time has been spent in the hotel, so I wouldn’t be able to speak to it more than that.”

  “Fair enough. Just, some guys from places like New York City and LA can get a little judgy when they come here. We’re not the biggest city in the world, but stick around and you’ll find some great people.”

  “I have no doubt about that,” I assured him, playing along with his game more than paying much mind to what he was saying.

  The waiter arrived and took our orders.

  “Just chicken tenders?” he asked me as soon as the waiter left. I wasn’t surprised by the question because the way he kept on with his order, I figured he might as well have asked for one of everything on the menu.

  “Diet.”

  He seemed particularly annoyed by that, but didn’t comment further. Just said, “Okay, I’m ready to hear about this business proposition.”

  “One of my company’s clients has expressed serious interest in working with you for their current ad campaign.”

  “Ad campaign?”

  “Yeah, billboards, commercials. This would be a little bit of everything.”

  “Who is this?”

  “Well, I’d be happy to disclose that, but if you’re interested, I say we at least sign an NDA and an agreement that you’re willing to work with us.”

  “Oh, wow. Sounds like I need an attorney for this.” He pondered for a moment. “Commercials? I’d be like the GEICO Gecko?” he asked with a wink.

  “Probably more like Progressive’s Flo, but that’s actually a pretty good idea of what you’d be doing.”

  He chuckled before throwing his head back to enjoy a good laugh. He took another sip of his beer before saying, “This is some crazy shit, Dax, right?” I confirmed it, and he said, “Listen, you have to bear with me for a second. This has all been a lot to deal with recently, and so far outside anything I’m used to. I’ve spent most of my life in Fever Falls, and stuff like this just doesn’t happen unless you happen to be a big-shot sports celebrity like Ash Carmichael, who for the past few months had paparazzi hounding him after being outed online. But after my picture got big, I was getting all these calls, so much that I had to change my number. I even stayed at my mom’s place for a few days because people were hiding in the bushes outside my house to get pictures. It was out of this world.”

  As I’d suspected, the guy was in way over his head. I almost felt bad that I would be persuading him to get himself in this that much deeper.

  “You’ve gotta enjoy some of it, though.”

  “Oh yeah. It’s a little f
un, and it’s awesome having people and even kids coming up and asking for autographs. And I got Mac out of it, so…”

  “Mac is…”

  “My little Shar-Pei.”

  I laughed. “Of course. He looked like a Mac, so good name selection. So…what do you say, you interested in being the face of a brand?”

  “Me, the face of a brand?” He laughed out loud, as though that was the funniest shit he’d ever heard. “But what exactly does that even entail?”

  “For something like this…a year commitment to the endorsement deal, but a longer non-compete clause. You’ll be expected to, at the drop of a hat, head off to any city, worldwide, for photoshoots and commercial shoots. You know how singers go on tour? Or like Miss America? You’ll be doing something similar, but to represent the brand at events, fashion shows…”

  “What about the station?”

  “The fire station? You would have to take time off to make this commitment, but we could likely work something out for you to work too.”

  He bit his lip, as though that was his greatest obstacle.

  “I think maybe I need to tell you, we’re talking high six figures here. I’m not dicking you around, flying out here to bullshit you with some offer that won’t be well worth your time. This would be lucrative for everyone involved.”

  He sighed. “Yeah, I just don’t know. I’m sure you know this isn’t the first pitch I’ve heard since all this started, and…well, it was especially hard to handle when everything was happening those first couple of weeks. I like my life. I like my job. I like my little Shar-Pei.”

  “Oh, we would expect the Shar-Pei to be part of the deal,” I assured him, finding the whole situation fairly comical. By the way he laughed at my comment, he seemed to as well.

  He shook his head. “It just doesn’t seem like me. Hell, this whole thing started over a dumb picture.”

  “Jace, it might have been a dumb picture, but it’s not: it’s gold. An opportunity like this is like winning the lottery.”

  “Six figures? Yeah. Damn.”

  Our food arrived, and I nibbled on my chicken tenders as Jace devoured his steak and fries.

  He swallowed another bunch of fries before saying, “Well, you’ve definitely given me something to think about. Why aren’t you eating your chicken?”

  “I’m eating it,” I said defensively, and he offered a cross look in response.

  “What kind of diet is this?”

  “A lifelong diet. Apparently, the gods gave you the metabolism of a titan, but I have to fight this shit off if I want to look even close to that picture of you.”

  “Ah, you must have a pretty hot body. Come on.”

  Again with him catching me off guard.

  He must be closeted…or something. I hadn’t seen anything online about him being gay or bi, but maybe I’d just overlooked it.

  “Well, my body under this is a direct consequence of my diet, so I think I’ll keep with my tenders and let you lay waste to your platter.”

  “I do love food,” he acknowledged before continuing right along.

  I gave him some time before finally picking up where we left off. “So what are you thinking, now that you’re digesting what I said and the food?”

  He pressed his thumb against his cheek, eyeing me in a way I couldn’t read.

  “I think you should meet my mother.”

  “What?” I asked, totally thrown.

  “Yeah.” He nodded subtly. “You need to come meet the fam. My mom’s a great judge of character. If she likes you, which is rare, then maybe I’ll do this.”

  “I’m not meeting your family, Jace,” I said sternly. “Come on.”

  “No, I think you’re cool, and I’m considering it all more than I did before, but I’ve always said, if Nance doesn’t like someone, I don’t trust them. And I’m not going to sign over a year of my life and walk away from my job and my family if I don’t trust someone. I need time to think it over anyway, and you’re in town…”

  “For the night. And now it’s already been an extra night.”

  “Well, if you can’t stay, consider it a no.”

  God-fucking-dammit. Hard to reason with someone who had all the cards. “Okay, okay. When are we doing this dinner?”

  “That’s more like it,” he said, smirking like he realized he had all the power.

  I didn’t like the feeling of not being in charge, but I was desperate for this account, so I would put up with whatever ridiculous requests this guy made.

  4

  Jace

  “What are your thoughts, Mac? You think we should be celebrities?” I glanced in the rearview mirror at Mac in his little car seat. Droopy-looking black snout, creased brown face, purple tongue sticking out as he panted, and those wide, black eyes assuring me that, in fact, he still didn’t understand a damn thing I said to him.

  We were en route to the hotel Dax was staying at in downtown Fever Falls. I almost felt bad he had to stay in town for another day, but he didn’t have to stick around if he didn’t want to. Only if he wanted me to consider the sort of ad campaign he was pitching, and which I needed some time to think on.

  I should have blown him off like the other bigwigs who’d called with offers. Hell, I had every intention of doing just that when I headed into Fever Pitch to chat with Dax. However, since things had calmed down, it was easier for me to think straight, and what he was talking about was a lot of money for me to throw away without so much as giving it a second thought.

  High six figures. A guy could do a lot of good with that much money.

  Was I really considering any of this, though? Or was I just interested in continuing to chat with Dax? Both, maybe?

  I pulled into the porte cochere at his hotel and called him. He came out a few minutes later and slid into the passenger seat, talking on his cell.

  “Just tell Baxter I’ll get back to him tomorrow about that whole ordeal. I’m in a meeting.”

  “Yeah, I can imagine the kind of meeting you’re going to have tonight.” The words were unmistakable on the other end of the line, and Dax turned to me as though to see if I’d heard. I made no attempt to hide my amusement.

  Were they just joking around, or was Dax into guys? And why did I give a shit, since it wasn’t like we would do anything together.

  “Okay, Carter. Later,” he said, then hung up and closed his door.

  “Sorry, that was my assistant.”

  “Ooh, you just keep getting fancier and fancier. Sunglasses indoors, martinis, and now an assistant.”

  He eyed me curiously. “Do I seem like a cliché LA PR guy? I promise I’m that and so many more of the dickbag aspects you might assume about me.” He flashed a smile, looking more like a model than a PR guy in that moment.

  Not even just a model. He had an almost star-like quality. Wasn’t hard to imagine him on a billboard or in some hotshot movie trailer, playing a major action star in some sort of Die Hard-esque film.

  “I’m only giving you a hard time,” I said. “It’s all very different than what I deal with day-to-day, but I respect it. And aside from you thinking we’re not as cool as your LA crowd, I don’t judge it. You’ve hardly been here two days. It can take some time to warm up to this place.”

  “Thank you for being such an incredible welcome wagon.”

  “Thank you for offering to pay me some serious cash.”

  We headed out of the porte cochere, and I started through town. “Nance’s place is a little off the beaten path, I should warn you. About ten minutes outside of Fever Falls, and if you think this is a small city, you don’t even have a clue how rural it can get. We’re in the ’burbs, but go maybe ten minutes farther, and you’re in farm country.”

  “And this is where you grew up?”

  “A little bit. I was at the shelter in town until I was ten, and that’s when I was adopted.” I could feel Dax’s tension, the way people sometimes got when I brought up my childhood. “That wasn’t to turn the conversation sup
er serious or anything. That’s all in the past, and I have an amazing mom, best in the goddamn world.”

  “Clearly, if I’m already meeting her, you guys have a great relationship. That’s really awesome.”

  “What about you and your parents?”

  Dax grew quiet, and as I glanced over at him, it was evident this wasn’t a subject he was comfortable with. And here I thought I was the one with baggage around that topic.

  “Hey, whoa. That wasn’t meant to dig shit up. I figured we had a bit of a drive ahead of us, so I was trying to make small talk, not open the floodgates or make you uneasy. If you’d rather, we can talk about something else.”

  He chuckled, but judging by the way his face was all tense, I’d struck a nerve.

  “Just…my mom raised me, and we’re not as close these days. Not distant, but not as close as it sounds like you are with your mom.”

  The way he said it, it seemed that was all he was willing to divulge. “Fair enough. I can leave that right there. Any brothers and sisters?”

  “No. Just me.”

  Given his curt responses, family wasn’t his favorite topic, so I helped him out. “You work with a lot of celebrities?”

  “Well, I don’t typically go around bragging, but T Swift and Cardi B… And of course, Fever Falls’ own, Ash Carmichael.”

  “Damn…” And as I checked out his coy smile, I added, “Seems like you’re bragging a little bit.”

  “It’s fun to say, but to be fair, I haven’t worked with either of them in a while. Only been a few years, but in PR terms, that’s eons ago.”

  “Hey, if you worked with them, it counts. I’d be milking the crap out of that if I were you. You should have just led with, ‘Hi, I’m Dax, and I’ve worked with Taylor Swift, Cardi B, and Ash Carmichael.’ I woulda been more likely to sign right there, but now here you are, stuck with visiting the family.”

  He laughed. “For some reason, I have a sneaking suspicion I couldn’t whip out a contract now and get a signature.”

  “Well, I said if you’d led with that, but now we’re stuck in this car, and Nance is expecting us, so… That’s just a joke, by the way. I’m considering this more than I have with other guys, but I don’t want to lead you to think that I’m definitely doing this. It’s possible you’re wasting your time, barking up the wrong tree.”