Free Ace of Spades by Elle Bright

bass
player,” Jackson continued as though nothing had happened, nodding to a tiny
man with a huge green Mohawk and multiple facial piercing.
             
The little man grinned at her. “Welcome to Ace of Spades, Ms. Rabbit.”
             
Uncertain, Mel glanced at Jackson. “Dare I ask?”
             
Jackson grinned. “It’s okay. I’ll explain later.” His smile flattened out when
he turned back to Shortie . “You heard what I said to
Lenny. Same goes for you, Shortie .”
             
“Hey, I wouldn’t dream of pissing off the lovely new boss,” Shortie protested.
             
“ Mmhmm ,” Jackson murmured, clearly unconvinced. “Next
to Shortie is Tommy, my drummer.”
             
Tall as Shortie was short, Tommy was apparently the
big, silent type. Maybe he was shy. Or maybe he’d fried his brain with drugs.
Either way, Tommy grunted something that might have been a greeting. Mel
assumed his drumming skills surpassed his social skills and waved in
acknowledgement.
             
“Then, there’s Dodger, my guitarist,” Jackson pressed on, indicating the
handsome blonde man across the table.    
             
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Davis,” Dodger purred, flashing a sexy,
lady-killer smile full of perfect white teeth in a perfect tanned face. Trouble . Melody filed him away under ‘things to
avoid.’
             
His flirtation didn’t go unnoticed by Jackson either. “ You have a
completely different set of rules, Dodge. Hands off,” Jackson growled at the man.
             
Dodger chuckled. “I hear you loud and clear, man. You couldn’t have staked your
claim any more clearly if you’d started pissing circles around her.”
             
Mel ruffled slightly at the statement. She didn’t belong to Jackson.  Nor
did she intend to. Sure, they were old friends and now he was her boss, but
that was it. He was just setting down some ground rules. That was all. Well, at
least if she had her way.
             
“Whatever,” Jackson muttered. “Just keep your hands to yourself. It’s a lot
harder to play guitar with all your fingers broken.”
             
Mel wondered if Jackson would take his own advice. He’d made it perfectly clear
he had more than a professional interest in her. Hopefully, he could keep his
head on straight and not complicate things between them. She wanted to help
him, not get dragged down with him.
             
Jackson cleared his throat and rushed through the remainder of the
introductions. “Next is Zane, my driver. Then, Kip, my stage
director, and Sheila, my publicist. Next to her is Tracie, my personal
assistant, and next to Tracie is Miles, my agent. You’ll be working quite a bit
with Sheila, Tracie, and Miles, so you’ll want to get to know them well. “
             
The remaining members of Jackson’s team offered their greetings and Melody
nodded in thanks. 
              “Alright, alright. Now everyone has met,” Grimms grumbled. “Let’s take care of her paperwork, so I
can get back to Los Angeles.”
              Grimms slid a thick manila envelope filled with
papers in front of Melody.  “The first page is your acceptance of the
position, including the salary you have discussed with Mr. Blackner .
The next page is a nondisclosure agreement. The next several provide an
in-depth description of your duties…”
             
The old man rambled on and on, detailing each document in Melody’s new hire
paperwork. Melody dutifully listened and wondered if it was possible to fall
asleep with her eyes open.
             
“Tax withholdings… health and dental… retirement…” Mel was definitely going to
need lots of coffee if he intended to talk about every form in such a drawn out
manner.
             
Amid the blur of legal forms and blabbering attorney, a thought grabbed hold of
Melody and