More Than A Feeling, page 10
She smiled, small and tired, and whispered into the quiet,
“You too.”
Then she turned off the light, slid under the blanket, and let herself drift. Sleep came easier this time. But somewhere between awake and dreaming, she saw his face again, the softness in his eyes, and the truth she’d been trying to deny finally settled deep inside her.
She wasn’t just fighting to protect the band anymore.
She was fighting to protect the man who’d somehow stolen her heart.
Chapter Nineteen
Jami woke before sunrise to the steady patter of rain against the roof. He’d crashed on the couch again, too wired to go to bed and too restless to sleep. The air smelled like wet cedar and the wet Jasmine from outside. Usually, mornings like this helped clear his head. Not today.
He sat up, ran a hand through his hair, and reached for his phone. The screen lit with a half dozen messages from Tony, Bret, and the label. He ignored them long enough to pour a cup of coffee. The smell pulled up an image he couldn’t shake, her standing in the doorway, eyes tired but steady, telling him she’d handle it.
He hoped she was still asleep.
When Tony’s name popped up again, he answered. “Tell me this is good news.”
“Depends on your definition,” Tony said. “The clip Carlene pulled last night hit internal review. The label’s calling it ‘resolved,’ but they’re being weirdly quiet. No follow-up, no praise. Just a line that says, Don’t dig further.”
Jami frowned. “Does that sound right to you?”
“No. Normally, they’d be throwing a parade for her. Something’s off.”
Jami rubbed the back of his neck. “She said she found traces of deletion requests. You think they’re trying to hide more?”
“Could be.” Tony’s voice dropped. “Don’t say anything to her yet. She’s burned out. Let her sleep a few hours before we light another fire.”
“Got it.”
After the call ended, Jami leaned against the counter, staring out across the gray horizon. Every instinct he had told him something about this story still didn’t fit. Reed & Carr were snakes, sure, but this whole mess had felt too big, too polished, too perfectly timed to just be an old rival gunning for revenge.
He strummed the guitar leaning nearby, soft enough to fill the air but not so loud that it interrupted his thoughts. The unfinished song that had been haunting him came again, the one that always showed up when his brain was trying to tell him something.
By the time the rain stopped, Tony had arrived at the barn, followed by Livia and Sean. He slid his shoes on and sauntered across the wet grass to join them. They moved quietly through the barn, each of them checking equipment or running through a few notes. The plan was to prep for tomorrow’s livestream — Carlene’s idea — and they all knew how much was riding on it.
“Where’s Carlene?” Livia asked.
“She’s resting,” Tony said. “Or at least pretending to. I told her to take the morning off.”
Sean grinned. “You think she’ll actually do that?”
Tony snorted. “Not a chance.”
Jami smiled faintly, but it faded as he scrolled through another message from the label. Vivian had sent a short note thanking them for staying aligned with the brand strategy. It read more like a warning than a compliment.
Brand strategy. He hated those words.
Around mid-morning, Carlene showed up. She had pulled her hair into a loose knot, and a soft gray sweater replaced her usual business jacket. She looked like she hadn’t slept long, but her eyes were clear.
“Morning,” she said. “Sorry, I know I should’ve stayed back, but I can’t sit in a hotel room when there’s still cleanup to do.”
Tony lifted a brow. “You ever gonna take your own advice about balance?”
“Not today,” she said, setting her laptop on the bar. “We’ve got a narrow window before the livestream. I want to make sure the analytics and metadata checks are clean.”
Jami handed her a fresh cup of coffee. “You’re unbelievable.”
She smiled slightly. “That’s not the first time someone’s said that. But I appreciate it just the same.”
He grinned, but it faded when her hand brushed his as she took the cup. The spark between them was subtle, but it hit all the same. She noticed it too; her eyes flicked up, caught his, then dropped again.
They spent the next few hours working through the livestream plan. Bret joined remotely to confirm servers and security protocols. The rehearsal clips loaded smoothly, and the sound mixing was clean. Everything was running too easily, which made Jami’s stomach tighten.
When Bret signed off, Carlene leaned back, rubbing her temples. “That’s all of it. Tomorrow should go without a hitch.”
Tony nodded. “Let’s hope so. The label’s been quieter than usual, which I don’t love.”
Carlene froze mid-sip of her coffee. “Quieter how?”
“They’re not asking for pre-approval on the livestream outline,” Tony said. “Usually they’d want to vet every second of it.”
“That’s odd,” she said slowly. “Maybe they trust us now.”
Jami shook his head. “Or maybe they’ve already got what they want.”
The room went still.
Tony frowned. “What are you thinking?”
“I don’t know yet,” Jami said. “Just… this whole thing. First, Reed & Carr get into our files. Then, just as Carlene figures out where the sabotage came from, the label’s been hands-off. All of this, two weeks before we go on tour.”
Carlene studied him. “You think they’re benefiting from this somehow?”
He met her eyes. “It’s crossed my mind.”
She was quiet for a long moment, her expression unreadable. “Let’s not jump ahead of ourselves. We’ll keep watching the feeds, keep things clean. If anything feels off, we’ll deal with it.”
He nodded but didn’t look away. She was calm, too calm, and he could tell she was thinking the same thing he was.
As the band packed up for the afternoon, he walked her to her car again.
“Try to rest,” he said.
“I’ll try,” she said, unlocking the door.
“I’m serious. You look like you’re running on fumes.”
Her lips curved faintly. “You worry too much.”
He shrugged. “Someone has to.”
She smiled at that, softer this time. “See you tomorrow.”
He couldn't stop himself. He leaned in and kissed her lips softly.
She moaned faintly, but he heard it.
He pulled back and swallowed the lump in his throat. He'd kissed many women in his forty-plus years, and except for his very first kiss at the age of fourteen, he'd never been worried about the outcome. Something in his chest made him worry that Carlene would run off at the first sign of something serious.
Her brown eyes looked into his for a long time. Her lips curved up into a beautiful smile. "See ya."
He grinned. "See ya."
He stood in place as he watched her drive off, the taillights vanishing down the narrow driveway toward town.
The barn felt too quiet once she was gone. He went back inside, picked up his guitar again, and strummed a few chords. The melody that came out wasn’t the one he’d been working on. It was slower, heavier, threaded through with something that felt too close to longing.
He played until the light faded from the windows, his thoughts circling the same point again and again.
Something about this story didn’t fit.
And whoever was pulling the strings wasn’t finished yet.
Chapter Twenty
Carlene woke to sunlight cutting across the hotel room, a warm stripe on the sheets that reminded her she’d fallen asleep in her clothes again. Her laptop still sat open on the nightstand, the faint hum of its fan mixing with the sound of gulls outside.
For a moment, she just lay there, eyes closed, replaying the kiss from the night before. It had been soft and quick, but her heart still fluttered at the memory. The warmth in Jami’s eyes afterward had felt like something she hadn’t let herself want in a long time.
Then reality caught up. The day was too important to get lost in feelings.
She sat up, reached for her phone, and scanned her notifications. Three messages from Tony. One from Vivian. Another from Bret. And one from Jami.
She opened Jami’s first.
Jami:
Morning, General. Hope you slept. Big day.
A smile tugged at her lips. Carlene:
I slept enough. You ready for the livestream?
Jami:
Ready to show them who we are. See you at the Barn.
That simple exchange steadied her. She showered, dressed, and pulled her hair back into a tidy ponytail. The woman in the mirror looked capable again, though the shadows under her eyes refused to fade completely.
By the time she reached the barn, the crew was already setting up lights and cameras. The energy buzzed through the air like static.
“Morning,” Tony called. “We’re running sound checks.”
Carlene nodded and opened her laptop at the table near the mixing station. “Everything looks good?”
“Better than good,” he said. “Even the label’s happy for once.”
That made her pause. “Vivian?”
Tony nodded. “She said she’s flying in tomorrow. Wants to congratulate everyone in person.”
Carlene frowned. “Since when does she make personal appearances for small campaigns?”
Tony shrugged. “Since today, apparently.”
She opened her email. Vivian’s message sat near the top: Outstanding work, Carlene. The label appreciates your precision and dedication. You’ve proven your worth on this one.
It should have been reassuring. Instead, her gut twisted. Vivian never used compliments unless she needed something.
Carlene’s cursor hovered over another new email, this one from Bret. The subject line read: FYI, they’re cleaning house.
Her pulse kicked up. She clicked it open.
Heads-up. The label just removed all external access to the content server. My credentials got wiped this morning. Yours probably will too. Something’s shifting, and they’re not saying why.
She reread it twice, her heart thudding louder each time.
“Carlene?” Jami’s voice broke through her thoughts.
She looked up. He was standing near the bar, guitar slung over his shoulder, wearing a black T-shirt and jeans that looked too good on him for her to think straight.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said quickly, forcing a smile. “Just catching up on some emails.”
He tilted his head. “You sure?”
“Positive. Go finish your sound check.”
He studied her a moment longer, then nodded and went back to the stage area.
When he was gone, she reread Bret’s message again, then checked her credentials. Access denied.
Her stomach dropped.
Someone had locked her out.
She tried the backup portal. Same result. Even the mirrored drive she’d built last night wouldn’t sync.
Her hands trembled slightly as she typed a new query, searching the public-facing feeds for file changes. Everything looked perfect. Too perfect. The data logs were scrubbed clean, as if no one had ever tampered with them.
“Damn it,” she whispered.
Tony walked by. “Something wrong?”
She snapped the laptop halfway shut. “No, just tired. How’s the sound?”
“Good. We go live in twenty.”
When he walked away, she exhaled slowly. She’d learned long ago that panic never helped. Whoever was tightening control around the files didn’t want her looking deeper. That meant the evidence she’d pulled last night was more valuable than she realized.
If they were trying to erase the trail, she needed to secure her copies in a safer place.
She opened a hidden directory and started transferring the mirrored backups to an external drive. The process crawled at a snail’s pace, each percentage tick taunting her. She glanced toward the crew. Cameras were rolling, people were laughing, Jami was tuning his guitar, and she was trying to keep her breathing steady while everything inside her screamed that something was wrong.
Her phone buzzed. A message from Vivian.
After the show, let’s debrief privately. You’ve earned some recognition. I’d like to discuss your next project.
Carlene stared at the text. It sounded friendly. Too friendly. And Vivian hadn't hired her for this job; Tony and Jami had. So what did that even mean?
Her fingers hovered over the keyboard. She typed,
Of course. Looking forward to it.
Then she unplugged the external drive, slipped it into her bag, and stood.
“Carlene?” Jami called from the studio. “You coming in here? We’re ready to roll.”
She forced a smile, walked to her spot by the control board, and nodded. “Let’s make some magic.”
As the lights came up and the music began, she let herself look at him once. His voice filled the barn, warm and raw, every note echoing off the rafters. The song was the one he’d been working on for weeks, the unfinished one that had kept him up at night. It was still unfinished, but the cameras only wanted a snippet for a teaser.
Something in her chest loosened as he sang, but the unease didn’t fade.
The label had gone quiet.
Her access was gone.
And Vivian was suddenly too interested.
Carlene forced herself to keep smiling as the livestream started, but inside, she knew one thing for certain.
The real storm hadn’t even hit yet. And her body tightened with the dread of what that might be. For her, for the band, but mostly for Jami. Just as they were hitting it big, he didn't deserve this bullshit. None of them did. The injustice of it all made her stomach go sour.
Chapter Twenty-One
The barn still hummed long after the livestream ended. The crew moved in slow, tired waves, wrapping cords and lowering lights, the sharp edge of adrenaline fading to relief.
Jami sat on the edge of the small stage, a towel around his neck, a half-drained water bottle in his hand. His voice was rough, his throat raw, but the crowd reaction online had been everything they’d hoped for. Comments were already flooding in, full of heart emojis and praise for the new sound.
They’d done it.
Still, he couldn’t shake the weight in his chest. Carlene had smiled through the whole broadcast, calm and confident, but something behind her eyes hadn’t matched the smile.
He’d seen it too many times in himself not to recognize it.
Tony clapped him on the shoulder. “That was solid, brother. You hit every mark. We’re trending.”
“Yeah,” Jami said. “It felt good.”
Tony gave him a long look. “You don’t sound like it.”
“I’m just thinking.”
“About Carlene?”
Jami gave a wry grin. “You think?”
Tony chuckled, then sobered. “Vivian texted me. She wants a full debrief tomorrow morning. Said Carlene would fill us in after she meets with her tonight.”
Jami’s head came up. “She’s meeting Vivian alone?”
“Apparently. Why?”
He didn’t answer right away. “Something about that doesn’t sit right. Carlene’s been on edge all day. She said she was just tired, but…” He shook his head. “It’s more than that.”
Tony leaned against a speaker. “You think the label’s got something brewing?”
“Don’t you?”
Tony sighed. “Yeah. The sudden praise, the silence before that, the server lockdown. It’s all too neat.”
Jami stood and drained the rest of his water. “I’m going to check on her before she goes.”
Tony didn’t argue. “Try not to scare her off.”
He managed a quick smile before heading outside. He jumped in his truck and drove to the hotel. There was only one hotel in town, so guessing her location wasn't a challenge. Though he grimaced as he realized he'd never asked her if the hotel was comfortable for her. He had three empty bedrooms in his house. She could have stayed in one of them. Though how he'd stay away from her was a puzzle.
The night air was cool and heavy with the scent of wet grass. Carlene’s car was parked under the old oak near the sidewalk. She stood beside the trunk, typing something on her phone, her posture tense.
“Hey,” he said quietly.
She looked up, startled, then forced a small smile. “What are you doing here?”
"I came to speak to you privately."
She straightened, "Okay."
They stood quietly next to each other. The sun was making its descent toward the horizon. The soft orange glow over them lent a beautiful glow to her hair and face.
As he racked his brain to figure out where to start, she broke the silence. "You sounded good earlier."
His heart beat faster. “Thanks. You, too. The whole thing looked flawless.”
“Flawless is the goal.”
He stepped closer. “Except you don’t look like someone who’s celebrating.”
She slipped her phone into her bag. “It’s nothing. Just logistics.”
“Vivian, logistics?”
Carlene hesitated. “She wants to meet tonight. Said she’d buy me dinner to talk about my ‘next project.’”
Jami frowned. “What next project? You work for Hart & The Hurricanes. We hired you. Vivian didn't. The label didn't.”
"I know. However, the reality, my reality, is that once we've fixed all the things we're working on with you, I can continue to be involved with you remotely, and I will need to keep new opportunities in my future plans."
His gut twisted painfully. He fought the urge to hold his stomach. Swallowing the large lump that now clogged his throat, he leaned against her car.
"And you think she'll be offering you something?"
