It was his own fault that he and Dale were now stuck in the studio with Sean and his watchful publicist when he should have been lost in sleep, daydreaming about the taste of Cherisse.

“How’s that sound to you?” Dale asked.

“Fine. Hey! What the hell?” Keiran jerked away from the fingers flicking his forehead. Dale sat back in his chair, arms folded. “What was that for, man?”

“You been spacing.” Dale nodded at Sean and Sheila in the booth. “We don’t do fine. Fine ain’t gonna cut it, and you know that. That line needs some work.”

Keiran rubbed his forehead. “Well, if you damn well knew that, why’d you ask?”

“Because Sheila deserves our best. Regardless.”

“He’s right,” Mara piped up. “Sean isn’t going to want to have his vocals associated with a mediocre track.”

She’d been filming on her phone as they recorded, with the footage to be used as part of their social media promo. Keiran wasn’t comfortable with any of that—his studio was his sanctum—but he’d sucked up his protest because behind-the-scenes moments would help build their Instagram engagement too. Not that Mara was posting the full thing. It was another avenue to capture footage for the teaser. Keiran usually left their social media accounts up to Dale, who he trusted. Mara, not so much. She was an anomaly in their space, one under his father’s employ. Her loyalty was to King Kong Entertainment and his father. Not Keiran.

Keiran’s jaw clenched. Dale was right on all counts. He chose to ignore Mara’s statement. She was in Sean’s corner, so chances of getting any sympathy there were zero.

Keiran didn’t want to jeopardize Sheila’s rise to stardom, and they needed Sean for that, apparently. He needed to fix this, give it his all like he did every time he got down here. Apart from Sean and Mara invading his space, it was also a little hard to focus when his mind helpfully supplied flashes of how Cherisse sounded and looked when she came. Of her head thrown back, skin flushed. Hips, soft thighs, and sex-sleepy eyes were the real distraction, not that he could or would admit that.

Keiran bit his lip, pushing the memories into a corner in his mind. He’d revisit those later. “Yeah, Dale, I get you. I’ll fix it.” All too aware of Mara, he lowered his voice. “I messed up big time. Eric’s also disappointed in me. Again. I’m surprised he hasn’t revoked my best man status.”

“How’s that going? You and Cherisse getting along with this party planning?”

If he could call steamy, spontaneous sex getting along, then they were doing just fine. So much for tucking those memories away. A discussion needed to happen at some point. He had no idea if he should broach it first. What would he even say? He hadn’t stuck around long enough to see the regret in her eyes, but he’d been waiting for a reply to his text. That they wouldn’t do this again.