“That’s about the size of it, yes.” Tobias put his cigarette out and folded his hands together, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.
“What did he threaten you with to make you come here?” Josie thought a moment about whether or not she should tell him. It might speed things up; on the other hand, it would open her up to his mockery. She supposed that her ego could tolerate his shrewd and sharp wit-as long as she kept her end of the bargain.
“Adam told me that if I didn’t at least try to get you to come and maintain appearances, he would withdraw his support from the label signing me,” she said calmly. Tobias raised an eyebrow at that-not in surprise, but in interest, she thought. She hadn’t noticed it before, but his eyebrows were very finely arched, and looked as if he kept them groomed.
“That is certainly a threat to dangle in front of someone so hungry for a contract,” Tobias conceded in a dry tone. He stood. “Do you want a beer?” Josie shrugged.
“Sure.” Tobias padded across the apartment, his bare feet making no noise. Josie watched him, thinking to herself that if things had been different-if she hadn’t encouraged Nick to pursue a solo career, if Tobias hadn’t construed it as a betrayal, if a dozen things had gone more smoothly-that she might have been attracted to him, might have even asked him out.
When she had first met him, she had been struck by Tobias’ masculinity, his off-beat attractiveness. There was something muscular about him, something intimidating and at the same time beautiful, like watching a panther move through high grass after prey. When he fixed that dark gaze on a person, it was difficult to maintain a train of thought.
Tobias came back into the living room with two opened beers, extending one to Josie with an air that was polite, if not exactly pleasant. She accepted it and took a long pull, waiting for him to continue the conversation. He watched her and there was something unsettling about the way his gaze was locked onto her movements. Josie had never been able to read Tobias well-he was always throwing off her assumptions about him. She had heard from one of his ex-girlfriends that his unpredictability, while frustrating in a relationship, had added a pleasant spontaneity to their sex life. She tried to stifle the thought.
“So, in return for showing up to this party, what do I get?” Tobias sat back on the couch, apparently totally relaxed. Josie recognized the way he was sitting as his equivalent of the stillness of an alligator before it strikes. You could be in the water right above an alligator and never know it until it sprang up from below and dragged you down.
Josie always felt oddly uncomfortable around Tobias-even before the bad blood that had sprung up between them. Moments like this were the reason why. There was something about the musician’s gaze that made her feel naked, exposed. She had sometimes had the feeling that when she spoke to Tobias, part of his mind was dealing with the situation at hand-keeping up his end of a conversation, engaging in strategy to gain the upper hand in an argument-while another part of him was cataloging every anatomical feature of her body.
“The label will back off on the issue of your solo work. You can work with the producer of your choice through Adam directly, or you can move on to another label with his blessing.” The label knew full well that the material Tobias had in reserve would sell well, but in the wreckage of the band’s commitments and agreements and contracts, they also knew Tobias was looking to start over elsewhere.
Part of why they had made so much trouble for him was that the label wanted to keep its grip on the potentially highly lucrative material. Josie had told Adam that she would have to have a substantial deal to offer Tobias in exchange for his playing along. Adam-tired of the months of back-and-forth between Tobias’ representation and the label-had agreed. Even if they couldn’t hold on to Tobias, they had Nick and his material which was something.
Tobias raised an eyebrow at this, picking away at the label on his beer bottle absently. He seemed to consider a moment and laughed, looking away from his hands and back at Josie. The impact of his sudden glance in her direction was almost like a blow. She tried to swallow against a suddenly dry throat as imperceptibly as possible, but she was sure he had seen. Those eyes didn’t miss much, she thought as her heart pounded. She forced herself to maintain eye contact, to keep her hands relaxed.
“He’ll have to do better than that,” Tobias said quietly, taking another pull from his beer. He reached out and picked up his pack of cigarettes without looking at it, steadily watching Josie, waiting for her to show a weakness. His thick but curiously nimble fingers found a cigarette in the pack and he brought it up to his lips and lit it.
Josie took a deep breath and brought a pack of her own cigarettes out of her purse. Tobias helpfully pushed the ashtray closer to the middle of the coffee table, making it accessible to Josie as well. She figured, if he was going to smoke in his apartment, she might as well, too.
“What more do you want?” she asked, bringing a cigarette to her lips and lighting it quickly. She took advantage of the action to look away from Tobias for a moment, collecting herself. Even looking away from him, she could feel his gaze still on her; feel the dark brooding intensity of him across from her.
Josie took a long drag of smoke and forced herself to relax into the chair. She wondered if he felt as tightly wound, sitting sprawled on the leather sofa, as she felt leaning back in the chair. Tobias smiled slowly. He flicked an ash off into the ashtray, the smile, his gaze, not wavering from her face for a long moment.
Tobias took a long drag of smoke and kept his gaze on her until Josie felt the urge to move, to squirm. She made herself stay still. She knew he was psyching her out, that he was waiting for her to say “Well?” or make some kind of movement. He was enjoying making her nervous, of course.
“I want you,” he said simply, maintaining the eye contact a moment longer before leaning in to flick another ash into the ashtray. Josie felt her own cigarette slip in her fingers as her hands went slack with shock. She blinked a few times and took a pull of smoke into her lungs, trying to sort through the simple phrase he had just uttered.
“What do you mean, you want me?” she asked finally, telling herself to stop imagining things and focus on what he was likely to really want from the exchange-a way to further torment Josie, to punish her for what he saw as her part in breaking up his band.
“Just what I said,” Tobias replied. “I want you to be my label representative.” He paused. “I also want you to spend the afternoon here.” He paused a moment, and the sardonic smile returned to his face. “Have a few drinks, answer my questions. Your choice. Do it or I won’t show up to that stupid fucking event no matter what threat you make.” Josie thought for a long moment. She drained the last of her beer in a long swallow, setting the bottle down. She took her cell phone out of her purse and dialed out.
“Adam?” she said when she heard him come on the line. “I just spoke to Tobias. He wants me to be his label representative.” She handed the phone over to the musician to confirm. Adam was sputtering on the other end of the line as she held the phone out. Tobias chuckled lowly and took the phone, holding it to his ear.
“Yeah Adam, it’s me,” he said. He listened for a moment. “That’s right. The deal you’re offering me, but I want it from Josie, not you. I have no interest in dealing with you anymore.” Josie finished her cigarette and stubbed it out, leaning back in the chair. “Then fucking promote her, asshole.” He took the phone from his ear and pressed the ‘end call’ toggle on the touch-screen, placing it on the table between them. He finished his beer and grinned. “I noticed you didn’t mention the other part of the deal.” Josie felt herself blushing, fought it down and smiled.
“If I’m your label rep, then that part of it is none of his business.” She grimaced. “Though you may have overplayed your hand. I might just get fired outright.” Tobias shook his head, leaning back into a stretch, his arms extending over his head.
“I know my value to the label. Adam will try and squirm out of it, but his boss will promote you and that’ll be that.” Josie realized with a start that Tobias had not only gotten Adam out of his life with the simple gambit-he had also made it so that Josie was no longer dependent on her boss’ goodwill to develop the contacts to make her own way in the industry. She would have clout of her own.
“So,” she said, trying to keep the elation out of her voice at realizing the power she was being handed, “what do you want to know?”
Tobias smiled slowly, turning that intense, watchful stare on her again. “We need more beer,” he said, standing up and ambling in the direction of the kitchen. Josie tried not to watch him, but found her gaze drawn to his muscular ass covered in worn denim, his thighs flexing as he strode across the floor. It was so rare anymore
