“Actually, I’m taking Jessalyn out to lunch today.”

Did he look relieved?

Or was she simply projecting her guilt on him?

“Okay.”

With a nod, he pulled away. But when she thought he was going to leave, he instead sat on the edge of her desk.

Leaning back in her chair, she let herself stare at him, though she tried not to make it too obvious. He looked absolutely lickable. His ragged jeans had bloodstains, probably from his fingers, but they hugged his thighs like a second skin. His black t-shirt had several holes and the sleeves had been ripped away to expose his muscular, tattooed biceps. She wanted to bite them, to lick away the salty sweat on his skin.

Hell, if he offered to bend her over her desk right now and fuck her, she wouldn’t say no. Not even with Greg down the hall, the band waiting for him in the studio, and Jessalyn just yards away in the reception area.

She’d let him lift her skirt and wrap her hair around his hand and slam into her hard and fast.

She’d love it.

She needed to tell him she was releasing all claims on him. Not that she’d had any to begin with, but for her own sanity, she needed to let him go. Before he left and she had to pick up the pieces of her broken heart.

Jesus, you sound pathetic.

“Where’re you going?”

She blinked. “Going?”

One side of his mouth quirked into a grin. “For lunch. With Jess.”

So he was already calling her Jess? Which is exactly what their new receptionist had told Tru to call her this morning.

She was totally losing it.

“To Haven. It’ll be quiet and we can talk.”

“She seems nice.”

Tru smiled sincerely, because, yeah, Jess was. And Tru couldn’t help patting herself on the back every now and then for hiring her. “She is. I think she’ll fit in well here.”

His head cocked to the side. “You sure you’re okay?”

He looked worried and that was the last thing she wanted him to be. He needed to be focused on his music so he and the band could finish their album and go back out on tour. So he could be who he was meant to be.

The rock star.

“I’m fine. Just a lot on my plate today.” She smiled up at him, hoping it didn’t look too forced. “You need to go back to work so I can do the same.”

His smile returned as she pulled out her bossy tone and pointed toward the door.

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll get right on that.”

He pushed away from the desk and headed toward the door.

“Sebastian.” I love you. “Try not to make yourself bleed any more than you already are.”

He lifted tape-covered fingers and saluted her, smiling that smart-ass grin before he turned and walked away.

For several long minutes, she sat there staring at the door, trying to breathe through the rock of anxiety sitting on her chest.

Last night, in bed, alone, she’d realized exactly what she needed to do.

She only needed to hold it together for the next two weeks. The guys would be finished recording by then and getting ready to head out on tour.

Sebastian had told her they were about to finalize a co-headlining tour with another major act on their label, which would start in a month, a week after the film premiere. The only reason they’d been able to manage it in such a short time was because the other group had already set the dates but hadn’t yet announced.

According to Nik, this other group was thrilled to have Baseline Sins join up. Combining forces meant potentially doubling their ticket sales. And it meant Baseline Sins didn’t have to shoulder the burden of headlining a tour.

A win-win for everyone.

Except it also meant that the guys would have no downtime between finishing the album and rehearsing for the tour. They’d have to go straight into rehearsals to make sure they were ready and knew the music.

And that meant Sebastian would have no time for her.

Luckily, she had more than enough to keep her busy. There were so many different pieces of ManDown that needed attention right now.

In addition to the release of Greg’s film, Val still had another few weeks of filming, and the company was close to signing a development deal with a TV production unit that wanted to film a show on location in Philadelphia. They had two other films shooting as well, one in Canada and one in Chicago and she was negotiating with two other smaller production companies that wanted ManDown to partner with them.

Just the sheer amount of paperwork involved in keeping ManDown running day-to-day kept her mind off everything else.

Everything else being Sebastian.

*   *   *

Sebastian knew something was up with Tru. He just didn’t know what or how to talk to her about it.

He figured his usual approach of just blurting things out wouldn’t work this time. She deserved something more. Something better. He just hadn’t figured out how to approach the problem yet.

“Jesus, Baz, keep your head in the game, man. You fucked up that progression again.”

With a sigh, he shook his head at Zach. “Shit. Sorry. Let’s go again.”

They’d been working on this song for most of the morning. Nik, Trev, and Jase hadn’t come in yet. Probably sleeping off yesterday’s fourteen-hour session. But it gave Zach and Baz a chance to nail down this rhythm in the song Jase and Trev had written.

It’d been close to two in the morning before they’d split. They all had suites at Haven now, making it easy to keep track of everyone. If Baz had an idea at three in the morning, he could go across the hall and wake up Nik.

Trev and Jase had connecting rooms down the hall, and Zach’s suite was next to Nik’s. Tyler had fortunately been able to get them all on the same floor, but they were spending almost all of their time in the studio anyway.

And what little time he did spend away from the studio, he spent with Tru at her townhouse. Which hadn’t been more than a couple nights in the past two weeks.

“Nah, let’s take a break.” Zach shoved his sticks in the holder and stood, stretching his back. “Fuck, I could use a massage but I haven’t been able to find a masseuse I like since Sonya went and got knocked up.”

“When’re you gonna see Gina again?”

Zach busted out a goofy smile that made Baz want to shake his head. “Not for a while. They’ve got dates on the west coast for the next two weeks. Then they head up into Canada. I’m gonna catch up with them for a few days when they hit Chicago.”

Baz nodded, glancing down at his hands for a few seconds before figuring out how to phrase the question that’d been bugging the hell out of him.

“Baz?”

“Yeah?”

“What’s going on, man?”

Baz’s head popped up and he saw Zach staring at him. He didn’t look worried but he definitely looked concerned. And yeah, there was a difference.

He’d noticed that Trev and Jase kept watching him, like they were waiting for him to crack again. They were worried. He got that.

Hell, even Nik kept watching him, but he didn’t think Nik was worried. No, there was something else going on with Nik but Baz just wasn’t ready to deal with that problem head on.

Zach was the only one of the guys he felt able to talk to without watching what he said.

“How do you do it? How are you making it work?”

Zach held his gaze as he thought about his answer for a few seconds. “I’m not gonna lie, man. The time apart . . . it sucks ass. The first few weeks, I seriously considered calling it off. I spent a few weeks on the road with Gina and her band before we realized that wasn’t gonna work. I didn’t have enough to do and she had too much going on to babysit me. I was driving her crazy. And I was driving myself crazy because I couldn’t get out onstage and play.”

Baz shook his head. “I’m so—”

“No.” Zach held up one hand. “Wait. Just listen. I’m not trying to lay a guilt trip on you. I’m just explaining where my head was because I don’t wanna see you fuck things up with Tru.”