The Has-Been and the Hot Mess - Isabel Jordan Page 0,29

an arrow from his mouth, right to her panties. “OK, fine,” he finally said. “I’ll do it. Four songs. No more.”

She raised her right hand. “Hand to God, that’s all you’ll need to do. I’ll take care of everything else. It’ll be great.”

He held his hand out to her, and when she took it, lightning shot straight up her arm. How the hell did he do that to her? She’d met plenty of celebrities before. No one else had ever given her lightning arm. And she’d met Hugh Jackman, for fuck’s sake!

“We have a deal,” he said, giving her hand a shake.

“Deal,” she agreed. “Trust me. I can do this, Jackson.”

“I believe you, Kendall.”

Wow. She’d finally earned his trust. This was momentous. And humbling. Probably the biggest victory she’d ever had with a client.

Now all she had to do was not fuck it all up.

And, of course, not fuck her client.

Kendall crossed her legs. Hard.

Chapter 17

The next couple of weeks were grueling. Kendall questioned her sanity many, many times. But everything was coming together exactly as planned.

She had a great local band lined up for the event. Everyone in town adored them, and when she met with them and heard a few of their songs, Kendall had been impressed.

And Kendall was not easy to impress. So, she’d signed them on right away.

Then, she’d cashed in about a hundred favors to line up merchandise vendors and food trucks. She’d also made a bold decision not to have alcohol at the event, which could backfire horribly (if the live entertainment didn’t go over well). But it also saved a ton of money and enough logistical headaches to make Kendall feel pretty good about taking the risk and making it a “dry” event.

Contacting shelters had been the easiest and most rewarding part of the whole process. Every shelter she contacted was more than happy to participate. A few employees had even cried when she’d told them that the old dogs, disabled dogs, and so-called “un-adoptable” dogs would be welcome.

Lining up transportation to get the dogs there wasn’t a problem, either. Her cousin owned a trucking company, and most of his employees were animal lovers who were happy to donate their time to give dogs their ride to freedom. And most of Jackson’s employees had readily volunteered to transport in-state dogs from all over Montana to the event.

Port-O-Potties, clean-up crews, parking attendants, and security guards were all lined up. The local cops were onboard to help direct traffic. And her ads for the event across social media were drawing huge numbers, and were being widely shared by all of the event participants. Ticket sales climbed so fast it made Kendall’s head spin. Pretty soon, she’d have to announce that they were sold out.

Kendall worked full, twelve-hour days, and in the daytime, she didn’t see Jackson once. He spent as much time working on his set list in his basement studio as she spent on her phone. But at night?

Ah…at night.

The evenings were the very best parts of her days. Because that’s when she’d finally take off her headset, put on her comfy pants, and crawl onto the couch to recover from the day—and Jackson would join her.

They never talked about the event. They never talked about his set list. They just…talked. About everything and nothing.

She heard all about his childhood, and about how he’d stumbled into fame after Maelstrom was discovered playing an open mic night at a West Texas dive bar.

He told her all about his recovery process, and how it was sometimes still hard not to turn to drugs or alcohol when things went wrong in his life.

He listened while she told him all about her rotten luck with men, which dated back to her first date at age fourteen when Lyle Laundry ate too many Twizzlers at the movie theatre and puked on her favorite ballet flats.

Then he rubbed her back while she cried talking about losing her nanna to lung cancer when she was nineteen. And he confessed to not feeling much of anything but relief when his abusive father died of cirrhosis.

They talked about silly stuff, like their fantasy “free hall pass” choices. The celebrity he’d sleep with if given the option? Halle Berry. Hers? One hundred percent Jensen Ackles.

Kendall now realized that it had only taken Jackson Hale a couple of short weeks to worm his way completely into her heart. He now knew more about her than any man who’d ever been in her life. It was