Page 28 of Places I've Never Been

“It’s truly a first,” Lucas muttered. “A woman turnedyoudown.”

Adam frowned at him. “It’s not like that.”

“It’salwayslike that. She’s a woman, you’re a man. Laws of the jungle apply. Look at it this way, she didn’t say no to your face. That means the door’s open.”

“I doubt that,” Adam said. “She’s just too nice to reject me outright.”

Lucas glanced at him. “Let’s find out. Computer, call Kat Marshall.”

The phone autodialed as Lucas pulled out onto the freeway and immediately slowed to a near stop in rush hour traffic.

“Kat Marshall,” a woman answered.

“Kat! This is Lucas. I hear things went very well today between your girl and my boy.”

“Oh, Lucas. Hi. Um, I haven’t heard from Mattie yet. Arethey done for the day?” Kat sounded surprised, like she’d expected a longer session.

“Vultures were parked out front so we gave her a ride home in my delivery van. Listen, Adam tells me the band is leaving for a writing retreat soon and he wants Mattie to go with. He’s buying.”

“Oh really? The whole band, or just him?” She sounded suspicious.

Adam made a whirling motion with his finger and mouthed,All of us.

“Uh,” Lucas watched his finger, so confused he nearly ran into the car in front of them. “Oh, all of them. Of course. It’s a nice place, very respectable.Veryexclusive tropical island.”

He gave Adam a sideways look. “She’ll have her own room, and there’ll be no unwanted bedroom creeping.”

“I’ll need to talk with her about that. She’s having kind of a tough time right now,” Kat said. She paused, then added, “What tropical island?”

Adam mouthed the name, but Lucas couldn’t tell what he was saying. “I forget the name off the top of my head, but trust me, it’s going to be fantastic. Thing is, Adam thinks Mattie’s going to say no. Think you can change her mind? It would be a great way to wrap up those last three tracks without distractions, and it’ll be a lucrative deal for everyone if these two kids work together on this. Especially if they take Best Song, which how could they not, right?”

“Right. Best Song. Would submission be in the contract?”

Adam nodded emphatically.

Lucas eyed him. “Uh, yes. Of course. All we need is a signature.”

“Great.” Kat sounded as distracted as Mattie had been. He wondered if she was texting Mattie right now. “Interesting. A tropical island retreat? For how long?”

Lucas glanced at Adam.

“A month,” Adam said loud enough for her to hear.

“Is that Adam?” Kat asked.

“Yeah,” Adam said. “Hi, Kat. We’ll stay a month to really give the song the attention it needs, but of course Mattie can come and go whenever she’d like. No pressure. I know she’s been through a lot of stress recently, and I just thought she might like a chance to get away from it.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you.Verythoughtful. What resort is this?”

“Syer Island, in the Seychelles,” Adam said. “She’ll have her own private villa that opens right onto the beach.”

He stressed the word “private,” hoping to drive home the idea that he wasn’t a Devon Morales clone. Mattie deserved a lot better than that prick.

He could hear typing in the background. He glanced at Lucas, who shrugged and mouthed,Wait.

“Syer Island. I just looked it up. Wow. That’s beautiful. You’re staying amonth? I’m not sure I’d ever come back if I stayed that long.”

Adam laughed softly. “Think you can talk to her for me? I’d really like to work with her on this project, and I think she’d have fun.”

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