Managed 3: A Rock Star Romance Read online

  Managed 3

  Book 3 in the Managed series

  copyright 2017

  All rights reserved

  http://clarissacarlyle.com

  Copyright 2017 by Clarissa Carlyle (http://clarissacarlyle.com). All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the author.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons either living or dead, as well as any events or locations is entirely coincidental.

  In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, any means of reproduction, either electronic or physical, of any part of this book, without written permission is unlawful piracy and deemed a theft of the author's intellectual property. You may use the material from this book for review purposes only. Any other use requires written permission from the author or publisher.

  Cover Design by http://www.StunningBookCovers.com

  The Managed series is a spin-off from the popular Entertainment with Jem series. Not required to follow this story, but highly suggested you read that series first. If you missed it, you can find the links to each book in that series here.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Author Info

  Chapter One

  Matthew was still on the couch fast asleep. His body slumped over on the arm, and he was snoring away. Hailey stared at him. Some of Matthew’s swagger was taken away by the fact he was drooling. She shuddered thinking how close she had been to sleeping with him the night before. With a deep breath, and a thank you to her guardian angel for keeping her legs closed, Hailey went to the kitchen in search of coffee.

  As the dark roast dripped slowly into the pot, Hailey leaned on the island in the middle of the kitchen. Matthew let out a large snort from the living room. Hailey held her breath, wondering if he would wake up and join her in the kitchen. She prayed he didn't. That prayer made her think of Jasper. Even when he was high on pain pills after the cab hit him, he didn't look as unappealing as Matthew. In fact, she would have wanted him to wake up and join her. His personality made it easy for her to talk to which was rare for Hailey. Jasper's warm eyes flitted through her head and she banished the thought before it could take hold.

  Thinking of Jasper reminded her that she had a job to do, and she was doing a poor job at the moment. She knew he had gone out with Autumn. She shuddered thinking of what she was going to see on social media. Hailey tiptoed carefully to make sure she didn’t wake Matthew. She found her purse and pulled out her tablet and phone before creeping back into the kitchen where she poured coffee into a mug.

  She thought about the night before and realized she shouldn't have even wasted her time with Matthew. Hailey had been checking up on Jasper throughout the night. Matthew bombarded her with questions about Jasper's account. He kept repeating he wanted to help her since she was so new to the industry.

  She didn't want to be rude to Matthew but after declining his assistance he started to pout. Hailey tried to pay attention to him and that seemed to pull him out of his funk.

  “I was just worried about Jasper because he was going to be drinking again while he's with Autumn. I didn’t want him to jeopardize what we worked on by putting himself in a bad situation.”

  “I see. Well that makes sense. Look we’ll talk about something else. Put your phone away and just be in the moment with me.” Immediately she’d felt at ease with him. It was then she was able to relax and just enjoy being with Matthew.

  Once they returned to his apartment, the feeling of the night changed a bit. He no longer paid attention to what she was saying and his smile didn't seem to light up his face as often as it had been when he was trying to get her to put her work away. Being in his apartment was a new experience for her.

  Hailey excused herself to the bathroom as soon as they were inside telling him that she just wanted to freshen up. She sat on the toilet seat to give herself a pep talk. She needed to stop with the weird fascination she had with Jasper. Nothing good could come of it. Maybe if Jasper seemed the least bit interested in her, but he squashed that the last time she saw him.

  She realized she was in her head far too much when she was supposed to be on a date. Feeling guilty about being with someone other than Jasper was completely uncalled for.

  She worked for him, she reminded herself for what felt like the hundredth time that day. It was her job to keep his reputation on the up and up by tracking his social media. It was her job to make sure he didn't lose any more sponsors or any more money. It was her job to make him more popular than he had ever been. It was not her job to become abstinent for him.

  She tried to convince herself that the guilt she was feeling had everything to do with the fact that she was slacking off on the job, instead of keeping tabs on Jasper. She let out a bitter laugh knowing that excuse wasn't going to fly for long. Hailey needed this job, and she had fought tooth and nail to keep Jasper's account when Bill tried to take it away from her.

  With her resolve firmly in place, Hailey marched out of the bathroom and went in search of Matthew. She found him on the couch. She needed Matthew to get all the bad thoughts of Jasper out of her head. If he could keep her occupied for an hour, maybe two if she was lucky. She could forget picturing naked Jasper and start focusing on his career like she should be doing.

  In fact, Hailey promised herself that as soon as the glow of sex dissipated, she would check Jasper's social media accounts for the rest of the night. After getting her freak on she would be a great employee. She deserved a little reprieve though.

  Hailey walked over to Matthew and he looked up at her startled. He turned off his phone and set it on his coffee table face down. Hailey sat next to him letting her leg touch his.

  Matthew grabbed the remote and scooted over away from her. That was the opposite of what she had been expecting. He asked if she wanted to watch a movie and she agreed. He put a chaste arm around her not really on her shoulders but around the back of the couch, and that was that. So the night hadn’t gone the way she’d wanted.

  Hailey took a sip of coffee as she pulled herself out of remembering the night before. It was time to forget about that and forget about Jasper in any way but professional. She conjured up an image of Jasper and Autumn. They would be the perfect looking couple and the media would eat up all their appearances. She just hoped Autumn didn't try to ruin the image she was so desperately trying to get back on track for Jasper. Her face felt hot as she remembered the way Autumn had behaved when she thought she was alone.

  Taking another sip of coffee Hailey concluded if Autumn became a real problem she would just talk to Jasper. They had already breached the professional wall in some of their personal discussions. Jasper had been the one who encouraged her to give Matthew a try. Hailey's mouth turned down as she remembered Jasper urging her to make it work with Matthew when she had almost been on the verge of trying something with him.

  It didn't matter now. Hailey felt comfortable with the line of communication she had with Jasper. They had discussed personal matters that normally weren't discussed between a PR manager and the rock star she was representing. Hailey was confident she could talk sense into Jasper about Autumn if she needed to.

  Wondering if that talk needed to happen today, Hailey took a deep b
reath and opened the internet on her tablet searching Jasper's name. Before she could really start searching her phone lit up.

  It was Missy June, one of her few other clients she had at Big Deal. She had missed several calls from her too. She swiped the answer button on her phone and walked quietly back to the bathroom so she wouldn't disturb the still sleeping Matthew.

  “Where have you been?” Missy screeched into the phone.

  Hailey pressed the volume key down before replying, “Sorry, I fell asleep early last night. Is everything ok?”

  “No! Everything is not ok. Dustin refuses to answer his phone. He can't ignore me. I'm pregnant with his fucking baby.”

  Hailey rubbed the knot that was forming in her neck as Missy ranted on about Dustin. In all the chaos of last night, she forgot about the other problems she needed to tamp down at work. Missy June, her D-list reality star client, had been seeing Dustin also known as Jasper's best friend and band mate. Now she was apparently pregnant with his child.

  “I confronted Jasper.”

  “Well?”

  “He took Dustin’s side and implied that you are lying.”

  “I’ve done some crazy shit for publicity, but I’d never lie about a pregnancy.” Missy said clenching her teeth.

  Hailey's eyes narrowed as she pictured kicking Jasper and Dustin as hard as she could in the shins. Dustin for being a complete jerk, not taking responsibility for his actions, and ultimately causing her to have more work to do. Then Jasper for sticking up for someone like Dustin. But then again Dustin and Jasper are bandmates, so it really made sense he would be loyal to Dustin. Missy was still ranting on as Hailey mentally pictured beating up two of the members of the Weeds. Hailey was so lost in her thoughts she almost missed the fact that Missy had gone quiet and was waiting for Hailey to respond.

  “Missy, I agree Dustin needs to take full responsibility for the baby. You need to give him a couple of days though to let this sink in. You have to remember this is all new to him, too, and you know he is not used to this kind of situation.” Hailey hated that she was sticking up for him, but finding out he was going to be a dad unexpectedly must have shocked him. Part of Hailey had to admit she wasn’t entirely sure he was the father and there was no hardcore evidence of that fact. They weren’t together for long, Jasper had a point, but Hailey was giving her the benefit of the doubt. To be fair, the only reason they even started to see each other was because Missy thought it was going to be good for her career. Besides, she didn't think Jasper would be friends with someone who, at the end of the day, would shun his child. She crossed her fingers that Dustin would come to the realization that he was going to be a dad and step up if he was indeed the father.

  “Nope. He needs to man up now. I want him to hurt as much as I'm hurting. The next time he has a concert I'm going to show up and let all his adoring fans know what a piece of shit he really is.”

  “I don't think that is the best way to go about this, Missy. The more you try to pull him in before he is ready, the more he will pull away.”

  “Honestly I don't care what you think. I'm going to make everyone hate him the way I do.”

  “Stop. I need you to calm down. I'm your PR rep and you going and making a big deal in front of their fans is going to make you look like the bad person. Let me do my job and handle this for you. I'll get this so spun around, you will come out looking like a saint.”

  “I deserve sainthood with all I'm going through,” Missy huffed.

  Hailey could not help but roll her eyes at what Missy just said. The sad thing was the fact that Missy really believed that she deserved sainthood. “Let me work this out.”

  “No, I'm not waiting any longer. I need to do this soon before this damn baby he put in me makes me blow up like a damn balloon. I don't want to be on camera looking like some fat pig.”

  Hailey's mouth twitched, and she felt a headache coming on. Missy would blow away with a light breeze, but she was always talking about how fat she was. This was the part of the job she hated. It was her job to make people like Missy look good in the spotlight when really they were awful people. As mad as she was with Jasper for sticking up for Dustin, not to mention what he could have done last night to ruin his reputation, in the long run, he was a good person.

  It wasn't hard for Hailey to spin things to put Jasper in a good light because he practically was already there. Missy and some of the other accounts she was working on were the exact opposite, and it looked like Hailey was going to have to weave some elaborate stories to get Missy to look good. Or run a bit of interference and concoct some misdirection.

  Hailey swallowed her pride and washed it down with another sip of her coffee, “Give me a couple of days to get this figured out. Remember that is what you pay me for.”

  “I can't promise you anything. If you see me show up at their next concert, just make sure the media prints me on my good side and edits out any chub.” Missy hung up without waiting for Hailey to respond.

  The knot in Hailey's neck was nice and tight now. At least she did have some time before Missy made her big announcement. With Jasper stuck in a cast, all their upcoming concerts had been canceled. His getting hit by a car seemed to be working out in her favor; he was getting sympathy, and it boosted his followers and fans on all his social media.

  Heat bloomed on her cheeks as she remembered Jasper leaning into her to kiss her before she ran out of his penthouse apartment. She hated to admit how much she wanted his lips to collide with her. It was almost a desperate plea, thankfully she came to her senses before his lips touched hers. Him running after her and getting hit was one of the worst moments in Hailey's life. She thought for sure she was going to get fired, but Jasper had surprised her. Now it was working out that it would allow her the time to get Missy situated before she did something stupid. Hailey rolled her shoulders, knowing that with Missy, there were a number of other horrible things she could do to Dustin before another concert. Impatient and irrational Missy really needed to find a PR agent who could match her scandal.

  Chapter Two

  Jasper turned over and regretted the movement immediately. His internal organs groaned, but he was too afraid to make a noise. He had the distinct feeling if he opened his mouth he would vomit everything sloshing around in his stomach. Last night was crazy, but nothing that he hadn’t done before. The club was fun with great music, and Autumn had been right by his side.

  Jasper's tongue seemed to be glued to the top of his mouth. He wondered if it was a type of protest making sure nothing else passed his lips. With much effort, Jasper pulled his tongue off the roof of his mouth and wished he had let it stay there. The taste that rolled over his tongue and through his body was vile.

  What the fuck did I drink last night, he thought? He grabbed the cup of water sitting on the nightstand with the hopes to wash down the horrible taste lingering in his mouth.

  Shit, even thinking hurt. He laid on his bed, or what he hoped was his bed, and tried to calm the sickness. After several shallow breaths, Jasper's stomach calmed to a not so gentle roll instead of a full-blown storm.

  As much as he didn't want to think about it, he was going to have to remember what happened last night. He needed to know how much he was going to have to apologize to Hailey when he was able to get up.

  Anger tried to surface in his brain, but he was too hung-over to allow it to take hold. He told Autumn he didn't want to go drinking last night. Well, that wasn't true. He didn't mind drinking; he just didn't want to get so drunk he did something stupid and ruined his chances of fixing his reputation.

  Part of the reason he had gotten so drunk was because of Hailey. When she’d attacked him about his best friend, it upset him. Hailey had come out of nowhere going on about how Dustin had been acting. How he was being a jerk not claiming his child and ignoring Missy’s phone calls. She seriously believed everything Missy was telling her without question.

  It didn't help that Bill, her douche bag boss, had warned him to stay awa
y from Hailey. He had never had a girl mess with his head the way Hailey did. Sure Dustin was an ass for getting with some skanky reality star and not wrapping it up. It was just possible that the baby wasn’t his. There was no reason for Hailey to jump to that conclusion. What did Hailey want him to do about it? If the kid was his, he’d man up, but Missy had been with a lot of other people.

  Hell, the pregnancy test wasn't even dry yet and Missy was already demanding child support. How could Hailey not understand that? Of all people, she should have understood more than anyone else; since Missy was her client, she witnessed firsthand how much of a nut she could be.

  Slowly Jasper sat up, careful not to do it too fast. He still refused to open his eyes, not ready to inflict that torture on himself just yet. His stomach sloshed around letting him know there was still plenty of alcohol coursing through him. Jasper groaned and prepared for his eyes to open.

  Cracking open one eye as small as he could, Jasper began a slow shuffle to his bathroom. Autumn was asleep on his bed next to him. Her hair was a mess and the black makeup she had put on had journeyed all the way down her cheeks. The relief he felt seeing that Autumn was still dressed would have made any rock star want to slap himself for being a pussy.

  Hailey had definitely messed with his head. He should have been able to screw Autumn without a second thought. For all he knew, Hailey was having wild sex with Matthew while he suffered through the world’s worst hangover.

  His stomach lurched as he made it to the bathroom. The reality was the thought of Hailey with Matthew made him sicker than the copious amounts of alcohol in his system. Jasper turned on the shower, being careful with his hurt arm, and climbed in, his body aching with every movement. He leaned his forehead on the cold tile and let the water wash away what it could. It wouldn't be a miracle, but at this moment anything could help.