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

technique. He always had to tear me down because I’m not some virtuoso like he is.”
    “Derek, God, I didn’t know that. I mean, of course I heard you guys fighting all the time. But I didn’t know he did that to you in front of his friends. That’s awful.” How could she have known? She’d been shut out of the studio.
    He lifted his arms, the muscles bunching, like he wanted to hurl something, and then he looked around. Finally, he crossed them over his chest. “He’s an asshole, and I never understood how you could’ve worked for him all those years.”
    “He’s my dad.” Other than musicians, her dad had difficult relationships with everyone. His son had moved out the day after high school ended, his wife had divorced him, and his girlfriends came and went like patients in a waiting room.
    But he was her
dad
.
    “He treated us like shit.”
    “I know that. But he’s an artist. He—”
    “Stop.” He shook his head. “I can’t listen to you defend his asshole behavior. I’m just saying it all feels too familiar. Me wanting to get signed by a label, and you wanting this damn promotion. I just . . . I don’t want Irwin jerking the same strings Dad always did, making you feel you’re not good enough. You
are
good enough. You’re better than good enough. Em, you’re amazing. No one gets shit done the way you do.”
    “He didn’t say I wasn’t good enough.” She drew in a tight breath. “He said it wasn’t right for me.”
    “What isn’t?”
    “A&R.”
    “What the fuck does that mean? That’s all you’ve been doing the last eight years.”
    This was good. She could throw her deepest fears onto the screen and see her brother’s reaction. Her brother knew her better than anyone, and he wouldn’t lie. She shrugged. “Maybe it means I’m not creative enough. I’m obviously not musically inclined. Maybe to guide an artist’s career you have to be one yourself. You know?” She watched him carefully.
    “Is Irwin a musician?”
    “Not really. He’s always in the studio with his bands, and he knows what he’s doing.” No one could question Irwin’s creative genius.
    Derek stroked the short patch of whiskers on his chin, looking thoughtful. “I don’t know. It makes sense—how else can you relate to the work, you know? How else can you recognize talent in its primitive form if you don’t understand music?” He gazed off unseeingly. “Maybe he’s right. Maybe A&R isn’t right for you.”
    The arrow pierced her heart, giving a jolt so violent it practically lifted her off the ground.
    So her brother agreed. She
wasn’t
creative enough.
    “But who cares?” he continued. “There’re a dozen other jobs you’d be great at. Publicity, management. Christ, Em, you could do anything. Not just because you’re smart, resourceful, and fucking tenacious, but because working with Irwin’s given you exposure to literally everything. You don’t need him or A&R anymore.”
    No. “I don’t want any other job—I only want to work with the artists creatively. Besides, I know this job inside and out. So what if I can’t help them in the studio—they don’t need me for that. That’s what the producer and the sound engineer are for. I’m creative in a different way—a problem-solving way. And you know what? Bax might have a better sense of which producer should work with which band, but I can guarantee you there’s no way he’ll ever be better than I am at making the decisions that are important to a band’s career.”
    Breathing too quickly, she set her hands on her hips. Her body shook with how right she felt.
    Derek’s slow smile started before he cocked a finger gun at her. “Amen, Sister. Fucking A. That’s the Emmie I know and love.”
    She smiled. “I feel
so
much better.”
    He laughed. “I can see that. Listen, I’m out. Can’t afford to lose a paycheck.”
    She followed him out of her room, knowing the fear that chased him. At some point, most bands broke up for