tank top, and cowboy boots. She was grinding one of her boot heels into his hardwood floor. Her foot went back and forth, back and forth, in a restless rhythm that unnerved him.
“Wayne Rush?” That caught him completely off-guard. “Did you tell him you’re in the middle of writing a new album?”
“I told him yes.”
“What?” There were alarms going off somewhere in the back of his brain, but Chance chose to ignore them. “Why would you do that?”
He was annoyed. That was something they should have discussed. Her actions affected his career.
Jolene looked defensive. “Because it’s a good career move. He can take me to the next level.”
Wow. That was a kick in the dick. “I thought we were taking each other to the next level.”
“That’s not what you want,” she said. “That’s been the problem the entire time.”
“I never said I didn’t want success. What, am I an idiot? Of course I want success. But I just went and turned Tennyson down when she asked me to collaborate with her.”
“Collaborate? Is that a new euphemism for get naked and rub body parts? I knew she was hitting on you.”
Whoa. There had been no naked, nor would there ever be rubbing. “Hey, now. Just calm down, Jolene. You know me better than that.”
Jolene was flustered. She had a sinking feeling she was in the wrong here and she didn’t want to admit it. Nor did she want to fight with Chance. Not now, not ever.
“I’m sorry. That wasn’t fair.” She moved over to his fireplace. “But I will tell you this. You just call up Tennyson and tell her you’re available to collaborate because I am going to be working with Wayne Rush for a while.”
“Excuse me? You can’t do that. Just declare something.” His nostrils flared and his jaw twitched. His hands folded into fists. “We agree together on what’s next for us.”
“It’s an opportunity I can’t afford to pass up.” She didn’t know how else to explain it.
“It’s a betrayal.”
She felt a pang of guilt at his words. “That’s harsh. And easy for you to say. You have your name, your family to fall back on. I’ve got nothing, no one.”
“Bullshit. You have Shane, you have Ginny. No one is going to let you land in a pile of mud.”
“I can’t work with you and Tennyson. You all are so talented together and it just drives home for me that I don’t have that range. I need to chase my success and I need to let you be free to be a hit songwriter, like you were meant to be.” Jolene was confused and upset. She hadn’t realized how much the last few months had destroyed her confidence. She’d felt rootless without Chance and she didn’t like that.
He was staring at her, shaking his head slowly. “We agreed we were in this together. Communication. That was your rule.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do.” She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t somehow pull it together and sit there with Chance and Tennyson and write music about the pain of her relationship with him. It would also make her vulnerable in a way a businesswoman couldn’t afford to be. “We can’t be both partners at work and at home. At least, not right now. I have to sort all this out in my head, and I can’t do it sitting there across from Tennyson Mitchell, no offense to her and her talent. This is perfect timing, frankly. I can’t afford to sit back and wait to sort out my emotions about our business partnership. If we want to save us, our professional pairing needs to take a back seat for a minute.”
“I don’t know how to unravel the two from each other, JoJo.” His voice was earnest. “You and me, we’re Hart-Rivers. We need both to exist.”
“Yet having it all or nothing seems to hurt both of us.” She felt a pounding behind her eyes and she wasn’t sure what she was saying. She just wanted out of Chance’s house. She needed to think, regroup. Be smart. “Let me give you what you’ve always wanted.”
“Don’t act like you’re doing this for me.” Chance shook his head slowly. “Don’t do this. Tell Wayne’s people no.”
“I already said yes.” She wanted him to understand. She needed him to understand. “I want your support.”
“Yeah, well you said yes to me too and now you’re backing out on that.” Chance looked away from her, running his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, this just feels