Read Online Burn Out by Cheryl Douglas - Free Book Online Page B

her on Friday night.”
    She raised an
eyebrow in question.
    “At the airport.”
He chuckled. “You haven’t forgotten Dom and Lena’s wedding, have you?”
    “Oh no.” She
blushed and dipped her head. “Right. Okay, um. I’ll see you there.”
    He winked at her
over the roof of his car. “Lookin’ forward to it.”

Chapter Six
    Evan hated being
idle. He was a man of action, constantly putting out fires and mitigating
disaster. It wasn’t like him to sit back and do nothing, especially when he
wanted something as much as he wanted Erika, but he promised himself he
wouldn’t contact her this week. He would give her time to miss him and ponder
the incredible night they’d shared. One more day, just one more day until he
would see her. Pathetic, but he was already counting the hours.
    Ryan poked his
head in the door and grinned. “Workin’ hard or hardly workin’?”
    Evan rolled his
eyes. “That’s your motto, not mine.”
    “I haven’t seen
much of you this week. You’ve been busy, huh?” Ryan asked, sitting down across
from him.
    “Yeah, we got a
lot goin’ on. How are things on your end?”
    Ryan crossed his
legs and smiled. “Nothin’ I can’t handle.”
    Evan had to admit
he was impressed with the way his brother was settling in as the second in
command. He’d always been reluctant to give Ryan too much responsibility
because he wasn’t sure he could handle it, given his carefree attitude, but
that seemed to be changing. It gave Evan hope that maybe he could start
delegating more of his workload.
    “So listen, I had
an idea I wanted to run past you.”
    “I’m listenin’,”
Evan said, tipping his swivel chair back. When Ryan hesitated to fill him in,
Evan said, “Just say it already, I haven’t got all day.”
    “So I stopped by
Uncle Trey’s place last night and we got to talkin’.”
    “And?” Evan hit
the mouse to refresh his computer screen. “How’s he enjoyin’ retirement?”
    “He loves the fact
he doesn’t have to travel anymore, but I think he misses the business.”
    Trey Turner had
been country music royalty for nearly three decades before he decided to retire
last year. “But he’s made it clear that he’s not interested in makin’ music anymore.”
    “I’m not talkin’
about him makin’ music.”
    Evan reached for
his coffee mug and took a mouthful, grimacing when he found it cold. “Then what
are you talkin’ about?”
    “A big part of
what you do is findin’ new talent, negotiating with them, workin’ with Avery to
help build their brand…”
    “Yeah, so?”
    “What if we
brought Trey on board as an artist development consultant?”
    Evan frowned. No
one had ever assumed such a role at Titan. “An artist development consultant?
What the hell does that even mean?”
    “Think about it
for a minute,” Ryan said, raising his hand to halt Evan’s objections. “No one
knows country music better than Trey. He understands what it takes to build and
sustain a career that spans decades. He understands the business, marketing,
packaging, branding, public relations, touring, song writing… Hell, there’s
nothin’ he doesn’t know about it.”
    “I’ll agree with
you there,” Evan said. He started to see where his brother was going, and he
had to admit he liked the idea. There were few people in this world he trusted
more than his Uncle Trey, and if he could help reduce Evan’s workload by
shouldering some of the responsibility at Titan, Evan was all for it. It would
give him more time to convince Erika he was a changed man.
    “Trey could scout
new artists and help develop them once we hammer out the deal. He could be
there to hold their hands, answer any questions, help build their image so they
can be a multi-platinum selling artist like he was.”
    “It could work,”
Evan said, shaking his head.
    “Damn right it
could. Come on, think about it, Ev. We’re good, but we’re still wet behind the
ears compared to Trey. As a new artist just