snappy, constantly catting with Jenna. What was it with those two, he wondered?
Don sighed to himself. One thing he was sure of was that this track would bomb if the group couldn’t get on. If it could be done well, the music would be dynamite, no doubt about it. It was just a question of getting these kids to bond, and work together.
‘Zac, wait a second,’ he shouted, a note of appeasement in his voice. ‘What do you say we take a break for a while – order some food, then work through the night to get this thing nailed?’
Zac hesitated for a moment.
‘Okay,’ he replied casually, pulling out his iPhone. ‘I’ll just call Amber, tell her I’m going to be late.’
Don looked at Zac with relief, and a grudging respect. ‘Thanks,’ he commented.
‘No problem,’ said Zac with a shrug.
An hour later, the group sat flaked out on the vast, welcoming sofas in the chill-out room adjoining the studio. The pungent smell of Nick’s spliff hung heavily in the air, and the table was littered with discarded takeaway boxes, crushed beer cans and empty bottles of champagne. The alcohol was flowing freely, but had only heightened the emotions that existed previously; Jenna and Nick were flirting like crazy, and Zac had sunk deeper into his dark mood. He sat on the floor with his back against the sofa, his taut, denim-clad legs stretched out across the carpet as he drank in silence.
Don shot a quick glance at Jenna and Nick. Noting that they were both laughing loudly, engrossed in each other, he leaned forward to talk to Zac.
‘Work with me here, man,’ pleaded Don. ‘There’s a really strange vibe, and I can’t work out what’s going on with you guys. We need it all to come right,’ he continued, as Zac remained unresponsive, looking blankly ahead. ‘Is this going to work or not? Because I’ll tell you something for nothing – at the moment, this is looking like an extremely expensive disaster.’
Zac didn’t say anything, but took a long drink of his beer.
‘I can’t work with her Don,’ he said finally.
‘I know she can be a little difficult,’ Don sympathized, ‘but surely you can cut her some slack?’
‘A little difficult?’ exploded Zac, struggling to keep his voice low. ‘She’s lazy, stubborn; she treats this whole thing as a game. She just won’t take anything seriously.’
‘Hey, she’s not that bad,’ Don laughed, surprised at the vehemence of Zac’s outburst.
Zac raised an eyebrow.
‘There’s nothing wrong with having a good time,’ Don said gently. ‘This whole process is supposed to be enjoyable, you know, not some kind of endurance test.’
‘Don’t blame me,’ retorted Zac. ‘What are you saying? That if I’d lighten up a little then everything would be okay? That I’m the one causing the problem?’
‘Hey, calm down,’ said Ryan lightly. He moved across to sit closer to them. ‘That’s not what Don was saying. Yeah, we’re having a few problems, and we gotta work through them. But you can’t blame Jenna for not being Josh.’
‘I know that. It’s just …’ Zac paused, and his brow creased as he struggled to find the right way to explain himself. ‘I accept that Josh’s gone, and it’s not going to be the same. But it shouldn’t be this difficult to work with someone new. I get the feeling that with anyone else it would have been easier, whereas with her …’ Zac trailed off, and they all glanced across to see Jenna – whether by accident or design – rearrange her endless, tanned legs so that her deliberately demure knee-length skirt rode a little higher up her thighs, the clinging fabric wrapping tightly around her shapely butt.
‘I know what you mean,’ Ryan conceded, dragging his eyes away. ‘She’s probably not the easiest person to work with – and Nick doesn’t always help the situation. But sometimes I think you don’t give Jenna enough credit. She really wants this to work.’
Zac made a noncommittal noise.
‘It’s got to be intimidating for her too,’ continued Ryan. ‘We’ve been with Josh for so long, then suddenly she has to step into his shoes and there’s no guarantee it’ll work. There’s no guarantee everyone will like her – us or the fans.’
‘She doesn’t look like the type of girl to be intimidated by anything,’ Zac muttered, darting a look across the room to where Jenna was giggling as she gulped down another mouthful of champagne.
‘Oh come on, Zac. She might act confident, but you can tell a lot of it’s just a front. I’m sure she’s nervous as hell really, so try and go easy on her, yeah?’
‘She just … gets under my skin,’ finished Zac lamely.
‘Yeah …’ nodded Don, looking thoughtfully at Zac.
‘Oh, that feels good!’ squealed Jenna from the other side of the room.
They all looked across to see Jenna’s shoes discarded on the floor, her right foot in Nick’s lap where he was drunkenly attempting to massage it.
‘Ohhhhhh, right there,’ Jenna groaned, flexing her foot in pleasure and squeezing it against Nick’s thigh.
Nick felt himself grow instantly hard and pressed his fingertips into the delicate skin of her foot, mesmerized at the way she was writhing around on the carpet, arching her back and moaning. Yeah, she’d look pretty damn good rolling around on a rug in front of a roaring fireplace, Nick thought to himself. Maybe he should buy a place in Aspen and fly her out there. He moved her foot to one side, gently opening her legs a little. If he could just get her legs a little wider, he’d be able to see right up her skirt, Nick realized. His cock was chafing against his pants so hard it hurt. Man, imagine if she wasn’t wearing panties – he’d be able to see her, ready and waiting for him. Imagine that – Jenna Jonsson lying in front of him wearing nothing but a thin scrap of fabric. He wondered if she was a natural blonde. Or maybe she was waxed, with just a little landing strip to guide him in. If they were alone, all he would have to do would be to walk over and yank up her skirt – take her right there over the sofa.
Nick knew she wanted him, and the thought made him feel uncontrollably aroused. Maybe if the other guys were engrossed in their own conversation, no one would notice if he just moved a little closer and ran his hand along those soft, yielding thighs before slipping a finger inside of her. He’d stroke her ever so gently, and feel her get wetter and wetter, until she was begging him to give it to her. Or maybe she would touch herself and he would just watch …
‘What are you boys talking about?’ Jenna demanded to know, realizing that the others were heavily involved in conversation. She jumped up, pulling her foot from Nick’s hand and leaving him flushed and alone on the floor.
‘We were, er, discussing how the record’s coming,’ replied Don uncertainly.
‘Oh fantastic,’ gushed Jenna, as she picked her way across the room, stepping delicately over the discarded pizza boxes and making no attempt to pull down her skirt which had ridden up to show acres of toned, tanned thigh, kept a beautiful shade of honey brown thanks to her regular St Tropez treatments.
‘So how do you think it’s all coming along? I’m thrilled
