Seven Nights of Sin - Lacey Alexander [83]
Brenna watched him shut the double doors, leaving the two of them alone again. She’d stayed mostly quiet through the meeting, during which they’d had lunch delivered. She’d listened to the way Damon answered the woman so thoroughly, always respecting her inquiries, even when they got repetitive and confusing. Brenna herself had only chimed in to let Austin know how much she loved his music and how much she wanted him on board at Blue Night.
Turned out, though, that only three days ago Austin had been approached by a scout from one of the majors—who was offering more money, of course.
“The upside,” Damon told Brenna now, crossing the tiled foyer, “is that we got to meet with them first.” The other label’s A&R rep had simply invited them to L.A. next week, rather than talking business here where Austin lived. “We got the opportunity to show Austin how much we want him, we got to let him know how much we’re going to respect his music and that he’s going to get the personal touch with us.”
“And the downside?” Brenna asked, still sitting at the table.
Damon sighed. “We just don’t have as much money as they do.”
“Then what hope do we have? Why would he go with us?”
“For the reasons I just said. He likes us, I could tell. And he’s a bright kid—I got the idea he’s done his homework on the business and that he understands the perks of going with a smaller label. He knows he’ll just be a little fish in a big pond with the other guy, but that if he goes with us, he’ll have all our attention.
“And it’s actually very smart of him and his mom not to rush into anything, to talk to a lawyer, to find out what both sides are offering before making a decision. Frankly, our job is to try to rush people into signing before somebody else discovers them, just like we did with Blush, but when a performer is wise enough not to leap on the first contract shoved under his nose, I have to respect that and work with him on it.”
Brenna had never thought about that—that despite asking lots of questions about their contract, the girls in Blush had signed without seeking any legal counsel, asking friends or family, anything. And it had been Damon’s goal—and was now hers—to make artists do that. It suddenly struck her as another part of this job she might not excel at—trying to push someone into doing something that might not be in his or her best interest.
“What’s wrong?” Damon asked. Her feelings must have shown on her face—something she really needed to work on if she was going to be a good A&R rep.
“Nothing,” she lied. She found it so easy to be honest with Damon when they were talking about sex or most other things—but the last few days, she’d found discussing her new job…less easy. The truth was—the more she learned about it, the more she began to wonder if she’d really be any good at it.
“Listen,” he said, “if we get Austin—and I plan to get Austin, even if I have to get down on my hands and knees and beg the kid—I want you to take him.”
“Huh?” She tilted her head.
“I want him to be your first official artist.”
She felt her jaw drop in shock. “You’re kidding.”
Yet he misread her reaction as worry. “Don’t panic, babe—I’ll be there every step of the way to guide you. And I think the kid’ll be big, and not too temperamental. He’ll give you a nice head start in the biz—he’ll be an act to hang your hat on, get your name out there.”
Brenna let out a huge breath. Was he really offering her this? “Damon, you don’t have to do that. I mean, it’s hardly fair. You’re the one who spent the time talking with him and his mom today, not me. You’re the one he likes—and surely the one he wants to work with. And…” She sighed, letting her voice soften as she ran out of steam, her eyes dropping to the table’s wood grain. “I really haven’t done anything to earn a gift like that.”
In response, Damon sat down in the chair next to her, turned her toward him, and took her hands in his. “Brenna, I have a lot of faith in you to make it in this business. But it’s not easy to get people to trust