You Really Got Me (Rock Star Romance #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

own.”
    Dipping his head, he smiled. “You’re freaking out.”
    She let out a shaky breath. “I’m freaking out.”
    He came into the room, worrying the bands around a wrist. “You know you’re awesome, right? I mean, there’s nothing you can’t do.”
    “Well, I guess we’ll see about that.”
    She knew that troubled look. He had something to say. “Yeah, but I mean, even if Irwin doesn’t promote you, you’ll get a job somewhere else. You’ve got enough connections and—”
    “He’ll promote me.” Of course he would.
    “I know. I’m just saying if he’s dumb enough not to, you’ll get an A&R gig with another label. Irwin’s great, sure, but he’s not the only game in town.”
    She got up to face him. “But he’s the best game. And I’m this close to getting inside. All I have to do is discover a band, and I’m in. Anyone else will hire me as a secretary. You think I haven’t gotten offers? They all want me to do for them what I do for Irwin. But I’m not going to start over with someone else. Not after putting in eight years with Irwin.”
    “Inside what, Em? You’re already in the music industry. You always have been.”
    “I’ve always been on the
periphery
. I don’t want to book a tour bus. I want to work
with
bands. I want to be in the studio, helping them choose their first single. The important things.”
    Derek’s lips pressed together, his brows pulling in.
    Did he not think she could do it? “What? If you have something to say, then just say it.”
    “No, I just . . . I can relate. We both work so hard, we’re both damn good at what we do, and yet we’re still on the outside.”
    “Oh, my God, you’re a
musician
. You’re in the club. I’m a glorified secretary. I sit on the other side of the closed door. It’s not the same thing at all.”
    “Of course it is. How many years have I been inviting A&R guys to come see us, sending out our demo, and I get nothing but rejection. It sucks.”
    She’d never thought of it like that. He was right. How funny she’d only ever seen his musical abilities as making him an insider. Well, the fix for him seemed simple enough. “I know you don’t want to use Dad’s connections, but he said—”
    “No. I won’t be associated with him, you know that. He’s an asshole.”
    She knew Derek needed to achieve success on his own. The intense need to prove their dad wrong—to become the self-supporting musician her dad said he’d never be—fueled his every move.
    Well, she wouldn’t give him platitudes or make baseless promises. Of course she’d help him, but she needed to go to more shows, spend time with them to see how they worked as a band, before she could assure him of the success that eluded him.
    He rubbed the back of his neck, drawing in a breath. “It’s just . . . it’s all too familiar, you know? This frustration. This wanting in all the time.”
    “What do you mean? Familiar how?” She had a sense of something, could feel the energy of it like a hand hovering just over her skin but not making contact.
    He tipped his head back, pulling his bottom lip into his mouth. “It’s like . . . Dad all over again. He just . . . he never fucking let us in.”
    Nothing was more vivid to her than sitting on the floor outside the basement studio in her flannel nightgown listening to the laughter, the disjointed music through the walls. She could feel the pressure of her dad’s hand on the small of her back—to this day she hated when a guy guided her that way—as he shut the door behind her.
Go see your mom
, he’d say, before shutting her out. “But you were with him all the time. He let you into his studio.”
    “You’re kidding me, right? He fucking tormented me. His friends would ask me to jam with them, and then my own father would make fun of me. Make those shitty comments about how my music didn’t count because it was just noise. That I cared more about my ‘costumes’ than about learning