Yep!

Another update already.

I'm trying to get you guys caught up to the amount of chapters that I've already got... so this will be posted today and expect chapter 4 to be up sometime tomorrow.

I just ask you to bear with the lack of Jomminess the beginning chapters bring. I'm already working through it, so just hang in there and you'll all be rewarded! :)

Once again, this chapter's not very long. For the most part, the beginning chapters average to about 6-8 pages in Word, and then they'll get longer after about chapter 8ish, I believe.

Thanks for the reviews! Keep them coming! I love hearing what readers have to say! The comments mean a lot, so please... click that button and review! :) You all rock!

Chapter 3

"Are you sure you still want me to go, Jude? I can always call and tell them thanks, but no thanks."

The offer was sounding more and more tempting every time he mentioned it. She had turned down his proposal to go to LA with him, but she had begun to regret her decision the moment she found out that Georgia had signed Tommy on as her new producer.

She knew that they clicked well when it came to music, but she wasn't thrilled with all that she had been hearing about him; she didn't really want to deal with his famously awful personality or his playboy, hedonistic lifestyle. But, she could handle him. She had to.

Jude groaned. "Johnny, I'll be fine. I've worked with him before."

"I know, but I feel bad. The guy's a dick!"

"Tell me something I don't know," she mumbled.

He twirled around in the big chair and rested his hands behind his head. "If I find out he's giving you any problems, you can bet your bottom dollar that my ass will be on a plane back here quicker than you can say… Humperdink."

Jude raised an eyebrow. "Humperdink?"

"You know? The dude from that movie, what's it called? It's got Andre the Giant in it?" Jude knew exactly what movie he was talking about, but decided to forgo mentioning that fact, and watched amusedly as he tried desperately to think of the name. "Shit. I'll think of it."

"Uh-huh."

"Any-way. I'm serious. If I hear that he's giving you any trouble at all, I'll be back with a vengeance." He smirked, "Do you remember how bad I made Shay's life after the whole fiasco at your sixteenth?"

Jude grinned. "How could I forget? You almost made going through that horrible break-up worth every second."

"Oh, those were the days. That little punk was nothing without T-Bone around. He cowered like a baby," he said fondly. "He practically peed his pants," he reminisced as he laughed appreciatively at the memory.

"Well, I somehow doubt that you'd have the same affect on Tom Quincy. From what I remember about him, he doesn't back down—or cower—that easily." She let out a small snort as she remembered how often he'd get in Jamie's face. "In fact, he was usually the one causing the cowering."

He snapped his fingers. "See! I told you I would think of it."

She blinked. "Random much? What are you talking about?"

"The movie! It was The Princess Bride!"

Jude grinned. "I know."

Johnny's eyes widened and a scowl graced his features. "You mean you knew the name of the movie this entire time and let me drive myself nuts trying to think of the name?!"

"Pretty much."

"You're evil."

"I know, but you love me for it. And by the way, nice avoidance tactic, Johnny."

He raised an eyebrow and was failing at trying to hold back a grin. "What are you talking about?"

"As soon as I said you wouldn't have the same affect on Tom as you did on Shay, you changed the subject loser."

"I did no such thing," he declared adamantly.

"Oh but you did! Your poor ego couldn't take it, huh?"

"You wound me, Jude."

Jude laughed, "You big baby."

Johnny immediately made a face, which made her laugh even harder. He really was the world's biggest baby. His ego was easily bruised and she loved to use that weakness against him. But the nice thing was that she knew when to quit. And now wasn't one of those times.

"I'm not a baby, JuJu."

She doubled over with laughter as he called her by the nickname she despised. He was only further proving her point that he was, in fact, a baby. She was so lost in her own amusement that she failed to notice him advancing towards her. As soon as she realized what was happening though, she put her hands up in a surrendering motion, as if to shield herself from him. "Johnny…" she said with a warning tone in her voice.

He continued walking towards her with a sly grin on his face and before she knew what was happening, she had backed herself into a wall. Literally.

"Nowhere to run now, Harrison."

Her eyes darted around the room and as she attempted to get by him, he snaked his arms around her waist and proceeded to pick her up, bridal style. As he picked her up, she let out a squeal of surprise.

She grinned mischievously and wrapped her arms around his neck and playfully batted her eyelashes. "Why Mr. Summers, I had no idea you felt this way about me." She leaned in and whispered into his ear in a jokingly seductive manner. "You should have told me sooner."

His face blanched and he immediately dropped her onto the black leather couch. "How romantic, Johnny."

He rolled his eyes and simply leaned forward and began tickling her mercilessly. "Stop it!" she screamed through her uncontrollable laughter. She saw him inching towards her feet and kicked him in the stomach.

"Ow! That hurt!"

"Duh. That was the point! You know I don't like it when you tickle my feet."

She was just starting to catch her breath when an un-amused voice filled the room, cutting through the playful atmosphere. "So this is what I have to work with now?"

She swallowed nervously and turned around only to be greeted by quite possibly one of the most gorgeous men on the planet. He wore dark, faded jeans, a white t-shirt with some logo that she didn't recognize, and his black leather jacket he was always sporting. Christ, she felt like she was meeting him again for the first the time. He was damn intimidating and she hated him for it.

He kept a cool exterior and his gaze was so intense that she had to look away.

"No wonder your songs are mediocre at best."

Jude's eyes narrowed. Now, she was mad and no longer feeling intimidated. He just made one of the biggest mistakes he could have made with her.

He was going to kill Darius.

He sent him to Toronto to work with this?

Tommy wasn't even supposed to have come into the studio today, but he wanted to see what type of routine she worked with Summers. He was hoping to get a handle on what he had to work with and he couldn't have been more shocked at the sight that greeted him.

He had managed to see her producer tickling her while they were supposed to have been working. Great.

So not only were her songs whiny as shit, but she also had poor work ethics. Tommy may have been a lot of things, but he at least had discipline when it came to work. It didn't matter if he had the world's worst hangover and he had an eight or nine AM studio session. He'd be there—on time with a bottle of aspirin in hand. Then he would work straight through the day.

As he tried to keep his disgust at bay, he noticed that Jude looked indignant beyond belief. She began walking towards him with an angry scowl on her face.

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Your new producer. Look, let's get one thing straight, girl. I was forced into this situation and had no say whatsoever and I don't want to be here. I remember all the drama from last time and quite frankly, I don't want to deal with it. But, I'm here. And while I'm here, you're not going to waste my time. Are we clear?"

"Believe me, that won't be a problem," she said with a sneer.

His eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean I wouldn't dream of wasting your time because the more time I waste, the longer I have to stay with you. So really, if you think about it, it's a lose-lose. So trust me, you don't have to worry about your precious time being wasted." She turned around and mumbled under her breath, "Though from the stories I hear, I might have to worry about you being wasted."

Anger coursed through him. Who the hell was she to judge him? "What was that?"

"Oh nothing. Nothing at all."

Tommy bit his tongue and decided not to start an argument with her. He just said himself that he didn't want the drama and he wasn't about to start any himself.

"So is this what you two do all day? Sit around with your hands all over each other?" he asked sarcastically, then mentally chided himself for saying something so provoking. He had just resorted himself to not starting any drama and what does he do? And what the hell did he say that last bit for? He didn't give a damn what they did. Just as long as she didn't expect the same type of behavior from him, then whatever those two did was their business.

Summers finally spoke and instead of looking angry, as Tommy would have expected him to, the guy merely looked amused. "I assure that we're productive. You just happened to catch us on a break. Jude here—"

"Why the hell are you explaining our normal work routine to him? The guy just came in here and insulted our music and then has the audacity to accuse us of having more than a professional relationship."

"Now hang on a second—I didn't do anything of the sort."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah."

"So then what was that, 'so is this what you two do all day?' shit? Just your poor sense of humor?"

He had no idea why, but he actually felt… guilty. For the first time in a long time, somebody managed to make him feel bad for what he'd said. And he hated that some girl that he left behind years ago had the ability to make him feel that way. Hell, he'd said a lot worse things to other people and hadn't even felt a twinge of guilt about it. So, why with her did it seem to matter?

He shrugged his shoulders, shaking off the guilt that had settled in him. Damn it to hell. He wasn't about to let some emo wannabe teenager make him second-guess himself.

"That was just me calling it like I see it. If you can't handle it, tough. You better get used to it."

She smirked at him and crossed her arms. "Or I could just ask Georgia for a new producer," she said smugly.

He knew his eyes were darkening at her words. She couldn't ask for a new producer—this was his last shot. If he screwed it up, he was finished. Not that he could let her know that she essentially had the power to end his career for good. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He had to let her know that he was in control, not her. Even if it wasn't true, he had to make sure she thought it was.

"Yeah. Sure. You go ask Georgia for a new producer. You're lucky she found one on such short notice and that your album isn't being put on hold. But, by all means. If you want a new producer, go ask and see if you can get lucky twice," he replied cockily. It wasn't easy to switch producers—at least not if you wanted a good one. Jude remained silent with a pissed off glare in her eyes. He knew he had won. For now. "Be here at nine o'clock tomorrow."

He turned to walk away when he heard Jude laugh. "You're not my producer yet, Quincy. I don't take orders from you."

He gritted his teeth and was determined not to let her attitude get to him. He was getting quickly frustrated with her and knew that if he didn't walk away now, things would only get worse. They both had tempers and a stubborn streak that amazed even him. How they had managed before to get through sessions without killing one another was beyond him.

"Nine o'clock, Jude," he said with finality. He wasn't going to let anybody try and back him into a corner—especially not Jude Harrison.

The door slammed shut behind him and he smirked as he heard Jude let out a frustrated scream.

He spotted Kwest in hospitality and made his way over to greet him. Kwest looked up with an amused expression on his face. "What's with you?"

"Oh nothing. Just getting under the kiddies' skin back there."

Kwest let out a whistle. "Bad idea."

"Why's that?"

"You don't want to be on Jude's bad side. She can make your life hell. Trust me." He looked lost in thought as he grimaced and shook his head. "I would know."

"I'm not too worried about it," he remarked with an amused chuckle. "I think I can handle her just fine."

"Whatever you say, man. Oh, by the way. What are you doing tonight?"

"Oh you mean besides sitting in my barely furnished apartment and becoming best friends with the couch?"

"Yeah, besides that."

"Then nothing. Why, what'd you have in mind?"

"Sadie and I were going to hit some clubs with a couple of friends tonight. What do you say? I bet you're just itching to bust a move back from your parachute days."

Tommy groaned. "Ha. I'm laughing. On the inside."

"So you comin' or what?"

He probably shouldn't. Not when he was going to be here at nine o'clock tomorrow. Wouldn't that just be starting things out great if he came in with a hangover?

"Come on, man. I haven't seen you all that much for the last two years—"

"Oh don't guilt trip me. I'm coming." He just wouldn't drink. A lot, anyway.

"Great. I'll tell Sadie."

Tommy made a face and rolled his eyes. "I'm sure she'll be just thrilled. Especially after the greeting she gave me earlier today."

Kwest's gaze softened to almost sympathetic. "Look, she's just watching out for her sister. Jude's been through a lot and she's just taking her big sister duties seriously."

Okay, that was the second time he'd heard that Jude had been through a lot. He'd only been away for three years. Surely it couldn't be as bad as they were both making it sound. Could it?

"A little too seriously if you ask me. What the hell am I going to do? It's not like I'm planning on striking up a friendship with the chick. She's my artist. Plain and simple."

"If you say so."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He felt like he was asking that question a lot lately. It was getting rather irritating, actually.

"All I'm saying is that I remember one of the reasons why you left. You'd do well to remember it, too."

Kwest grabbed his sandwich and left Tommy standing alone in hospitality. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair and instead of feeling somewhat calmed by the action, he only felt himself growing more and more frustrated. He felt like punching something, so he did just that. He slammed his fist down on the counter and let out a curse when pain filtered through his hand.

He was not going to get suckered into this game again. Not after what happened to him the last time he let himself get caught up.

No. He wasn't going there with this girl. Their relationship was going to be strictly professional. If he had to, he'd be the biggest prick he knew how to be outside the studio. Christ, he'd only been here for an hour tops and already he felt the drama starting to slowly enter into his life.

He hated Toronto.