Tassia sent the message but knew she couldn’t hold up this entrepreneur. “If you’ll help me with my luggage, I’ll wait out here.” She opened the back door and stood by the trunk area of the gray sedan.
Tassia read some of the signs a couple of the women held in front of their bodies, hoping to capture Hyde’s attention. “Can’t hide my love for you, Hyde!” “Marry me, Hyde!” “I want to have your baby!” How desperate.
The driver huffed as he got out of his side and marched to the back of his vehicle. He pulled up the trunk and retrieved Tassia’s two large suitcases. Tassia’s plan before this project fell into her lap consisted of her vegging out on an island for an extended period of time. Luckily, she hadn’t unpacked.
The driver set her second bag in the parking lot in front of the exclusive hotel. If Hyde didn’t show, she would feel like an idiot. She for sure didn’t want to call this same driver back if she had to turn around and go home.
“Have a good night.” The driver gave her a dismissive wave while keeping his full attention on his phone and heading to the driver’s seat.
He hopped inside and drove off as soon as he slammed the door closed. A few of the women standing outside cut furtive glances at Tassia, particularly when she didn’t go inside the hotel, per Hyde’s instructions. Some of them giggled in little groups, probably at her expense as Tassia leaned herself and her bags against a pillar in front of the circular driveway at the front door.
“I hear he’s going to some club or something tonight.” One woman showed her phone to another fan. “He posted something about it on his Insta.”
Tassia tried not to listen in on their conversation, but she shook her head at the statement. If Hyde didn’t want to go to her favorite club, no way would he be going out to some other one.
She tapped her sandaled foot to try tamping down her curiosity. Tassia pulled out her phone to confirm this fan’s statement. Before she could get to Hyde’s page, the women around her became excited and screamed as they looked beyond her.
Tassia turned in the direction that caught their attention. At the far corner of the hotel under a streetlight she caught sight of a tall man wearing a backward baseball hat throwing a wave to the women before he ducked into the back seat of an all-black SUV.
The vehicle rolled slowly at first to the front of the hotel. Good. Tassia imagined him stopping to get her bags and her before leaving, although she thought he would have been a little more discreet than this. These women would try to tear her apart if she jumped in the ride with him.
Once the black ride got in front of the hotel, the window in the backseat area cracked open a hair, just enough for Hyde to give a wave before the truck zoomed off into the night.
Son-of-a-bitch.
No way did Hyde leave her. Tassia knew this man hadn’t played her, get her all the way out to this hotel in the middle of the night just so he could leave her.
“Come on! Let’s follow him.” One woman ran toward her vehicle, prompting the other ladies to run to their cars.
It took no time for the front of the hotel to clear. Good thing. Tassia didn’t know whether she wanted to scream at the top of her lungs first or stomp around like a child having a temper tantrum.
No use doing anything like that. She needed to get home and rethink her life choices. Why in the world had she even trusted Hyde Love would do the right thing by her? As usual, she got sucked in by the nice-guy attitude that always tricked her. Dorian had suckered her, sweet talking her and breaking down her resistance.
Tassia pulled out her phone and started to order another Uber to pick her up. She didn’t even care if the same driver picked her up and made comments about a failed job. She did have a failed job, but not the kind the driver would mean.
When a set of headlights hit Tassia from the other side away from where the driver had driven, she felt an embarrassed heat filling her cheeks while she struggled to move all her bags off to the side. At least a whole group of people wouldn’t see her humiliation. This driver wouldn’t know she came there to meet Hyde only to be left hanging.
Once she got her two pieces of large luggage moved closer to the curb, she hit the option to order the car. Just as she completed the order, the vehicle she saw rolling up to the hotel’s front door stopped.
The oversized silver Land Rover parked in front of her, which made Tassia blink. When she heard the driver side door open, she attempted to look over the top of the vehicle to see the driver. The shadow of the driver’s feet headed toward the back of the vehicle until the person turned the corner.
Seeing Hyde Love caused Tassia to stumble back while her heart pounded hard. Both took a chance on the unknown.
“You made it.” Hyde smiled at her, a surprise considering what she had just seen.
“How did you do that?” Tassia peered down the road like she could see the black SUV that had driven away only moments before. “I saw you go in that other vehicle.” She watched Hyde loading her luggage into the back of the pricey ride.
“Double.” He smiled and gave her a wink. “I do it a lot to get some peace.” At that statement, Hyde scanned Tassia from head to toe.
The look alone caused her body to flush all over. “No entourage?”
Hyde shook his head. “I told you we would be alone, um, in the car.” He slammed the back before regarding her fully. “Is that going to be a problem? If so, if you want to go home now, I can take you there.”
Tassia shook her head. “No problem.” She followed him to the passenger’s side door until she stopped cold when she saw him opening the door for her. “Did they already leave before us or will your team—”
“We can talk more on the road, but we really need to leave now.” To punctuate his point, he peered over in the direction where his double had gone. “It won’t take long for the fans to realize they’ve been had.”
She had been with a man who didn’t bother carrying her luggage for her. Hyde proved true gentlemen still existed. That didn’t mean he didn’t have something to hide.
Even if he had an agenda, Tassia wouldn’t. She agreed to this trip for work. If he thought this would be some sort of vacation like he had alluded to when they had spoken, he had another thing coming.
Tassia slipped inside and strapped herself in as Hyde shut her door. Thankfully he had the air conditioner blasting considering the heavy humid weather that blanketed the outdoors, making breathing challenging.
She settled back into the cushiony black leather seat and took a deep breath, catching the distinctly sweet and clean new-car smell. It wouldn’t surprise her at all if Hyde had purchased this luxury vehicle just for this impromptu trip.
When Hyde got inside, Tassia wasted no time in interrogating him. “I told my friend and my management team that we’re working off-site to write this album.” She pulled out her trusty phone. “I can call anyone at a moment’s notice if anything goes down.”
Hyde snickered before he pulled out of the parking lot. “Understood.” He glanced at her. “You have a strong support team. I get it.”
Her phone. “Shoot!”
“What’s wrong? Did you forget something?” Hyde left the truck in park until Tassia spoke.
“When I thought you had left me, I ordered an Uber. I need to cancel it.” She did so while keeping her stare on the phone.
“I’m a man of my word. I told you I would be here.” He cleared his voice. “Probably a really good reason to have not picked you up from your place. I wouldn’t want my fans to know where you live. Bad enough they camp out in front of my hotel. My body double is going to be working overtime while we’re gone.”
“You mentioned my support team. What about you?” She curved her body around to him while still clutching her phone.
“What do you mean?” Hyde rolled the big vehicle onto the interstate, bound for God knew where.
“D
o you have a strong support team? Did you tell your whole team where you’re going to be?” Tassia crossed her legs.
“Depends on what you consider my team is.” He glanced at her. Before she could elaborate, he continued. “I’ve been working constantly since I was eleven.” He kept his stare on the road. “When my tour ended, I told my dad I wanted some time off. His response was to propose another opportunity and to carve out a week for me.” He snickered. “A week.”
“You don’t feel like you can say no? You’re Hyde freaking Love.” Tassia slipped her phone into a side pocket on her purse.
He glanced at her. “Where were you when I needed someone to be on my side?”
“Fighting my own battles.” Tassia took a deep breath. When she caught his heady masculine scent again, she had to keep this conversation going. “So what team did you consult?”
Hyde sped up. “I’m taking you to one of my homes in Tennessee.”
“Tennessee? Whoa.”
What a strange turn of events. The beginning of the week, she never thought she would be recording with one of the most popular recording artists of the time. Now the man had her heading to his home in the south. Good thing Hyde would have a few people from his team there, maybe other musicians. That would take away the awkward feeling of being alone with him.
“I have some family there. Family I can really trust and rely on.” Hyde turned the air conditioner down lower.
This discussion must have raised his temperature.
Hyde continued. “If they’re really supportive there will be food and beer in the fridge.”
“Are we heading to Nashville?” It wouldn’t surprise Tassia that this country star would have a house there. Most did.
Hyde surprised her by shaking his head. “Bristol.” He gazed over at her. “I told you. I’m heading home.”
She nodded. Hyde surprised her. He seemed to be two steps ahead of her. That didn’t mean she could drop her guard or forget her mission.
“And how long do you think we’ll be there?” Tassia could write a song in a day. With them both working, they shouldn’t be there longer than a week.
Hyde didn’t answer at first. He drummed his thumb on the steering wheel. “Depends.”
* * * *
Hyde always prided himself on his honesty. Being so evasive and deceptive with Tassia felt foreign to him. He never thought that he would have to sneak away like this to eke out some private time.
This whole trip had been done under the cover of darkness. After texting Clever that he would be away to do some writing for this project, Hyde had been ignoring calls from Clever all day. Once he reached a certain point, he knew phone connectivity wouldn’t be an issue, at least not for him.
Hyde knew what his manager would be saying to him. Clever would want Hyde to come back and work at Charisma’s studio under his watchful eye. As an adult, Hyde no longer needed to be supervised, especially not with Tassia.
He should have warned her about his body double, but he didn’t know her yet. She could have shared his little secret and ruined the ruse.
“It’s going to be a long ride.” Hyde kept his stare on the road. He knew this route to his home, homing in toward it like a moth to a light. “You can sleep if you—”
Tassia cut him off. “I’m fine.” She kept her arms crossed over her chest and her legs crossed.
Her legs remained covered under her long dress. He guessed he had the air conditioner on too low when he spotted her pulling a cardigan from her purse.
“I have drinks in the back seat.” He jutted his thumb over his shoulder. “Water, sodas, and stuff.”
“Prepared.” Tassia snickered. “You’re a regular Boy Scout.”
Hyde shook his head. “I just know how challenging it’ll be for us to stop.” He glanced at her. “I don’t want to be spotted along the way.”
“Wow.”
“You saw what it was like at the hotel. Some fan sees me and then the chase is on. My life isn’t mine.” He tapped his thumb over the steering wheel. “I can’t imagine what it must be like for you in the business.” He glanced at her quickly. “Must worry your boyfriend when you’re out and about.” The hairs on his arm raised as he awaited her answer.
“If I had a man, he wouldn’t be cool with me going with you to some secret place, even if there were other people there. He either would be coming with me or we would be writing in the studio like we had planned.” Tassia smoothed her hand over her dress.
“You’re saying that your boyfriend or husband wouldn’t trust you?” Hyde tried to hide his smile. He never saw himself as some sort of sex god.
“I’m saying it’s not appropriate for an attached woman to go off with a, well, you’re single, right?” Her voice dipped down a little and sounded somewhat seductive. “I think I saw that online.”
“You believe everything you read on the Internet? I thought we got through that.” He gritted his teeth.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
Persistent. Or maybe Tassia’s curiosity stemmed from something else. Hyde shifted in his air conditioned seat.
“I didn’t.” Hyde cleared his throat. “But I suspect our relationship statuses will help us in writing.”
“Because you’re single?” Tassia kicked her foot back and forth.
“You don’t give up, do you?” This time, Hyde laughed out loud. “Yes, I’m single.”
In the darkened vehicle, he heard her sighing. He couldn’t tell if the expression came from relief or pity. His gut wrenched thinking Tassia could feel sorry for him for any reason.
“What’s the reason for the breakup?” The seriousness of the question missed the mark from the playful lilt in her voice.
“You didn’t read about that online?” Hyde kept his stare on the road, becoming hypnotized with the white road markings in intervals along the way.
“I want to hear it from you.”
Hyde glanced at Tassia to see her twirling the tail end of her braids around her index finger.
“Nothing to tell.” He scratched his head under his baseball cap before replacing it. “As in I’m not talking about it.” He shook his head.
“Hmm.” Tassia shrugged.
He could feel her judgment in what she didn’t say. “You want to talk about your last breakup?” Silence hung inside the SUV. “That’s what I—”
Tassia cut him off. “I was dumped.” She snickered. “You could have read about that everywhere online.” She put her hand to her head. “When I offered for him to go away with me on vacation, he decided that that was too much commitment. I guess you’d have a leg up on him if we were dating. At least you don’t mind going somewhere with me.”
Damn. Hyde didn’t mean for this conversation to get this serious. He thought with Tassia being such a spitfire that she would have been the one to dump the guy.
“The conversation is getting a little personal.” Hyde sniffed. “What inspires you to write?” Maybe knowing her inspiration would help him rekindle that spark.
Tassia chuckled. “Thank you.”
He felt his eyebrows knit together. “You didn’t answer my question. Why are you thanking me?”
“You asked me about my writing because you do believe me.” Tassia leaned her head against the overstuffed headrest behind her.
“No Internet stories. We made a pact, remember?” He smiled to reassure her.
“Yes, I remember.” She smiled and it seemed to brighten the inside of the vehicle. “Lately when I write, it’s all about making hits.”
Hyde felt like a million centipedes crawled over his belly. “What do you mean by that?”
“I write to get people moving. Catchy hooks, lyrics about partying, and hot men.” Tassia released a yawn. “Those songs pay the bills.”
“Are those the types of songs you would do for this
album? I don’t imagine that’s what Truman and Chantel want with this project.” Hyde shrugged.
“Of course not. I write for the artist and the market. I would switch gears for this project though.” She sighed again, but this time it came off as more wistful. “I hope once we get to where we’re going that I’ll be inspired by the surroundings.”
“If not?” Hyde always found inspiration at his home. It would disappoint him if Tassia didn’t see the beauty in the location.
“Then I’ll have to write about being let down by a man again. Women can definitely relate to that.” She smoothed her hand over her braided hair. “You don’t listen to music when you drive?”
“I do. I thought it would be nice to get reacquainted before we brought music into the mix.” Hyde missed driving and holding a real conversation with someone who didn’t fawn over him or receive a paycheck from him.
“To be honest, after you denied me a job as your back-up singer, I haven’t listened to your music.” Tassia reached forward. “Do you have any of your stuff cued up?”
Hyde held her hand to prevent her from turning on the radio. “No. I don’t like listening to myself. I’d rather listen to other artists.” He turned to her and noticed that she now stared at him as he held her. Her soft skin felt smooth under his fingers. A small part of him wanted more. At that realization, he released her hand. “We can listen to your music. I heard a little bit of it on the news that one time.”
“We don’t have to listen to that.” She shook her head. “Not my song. I just sang the hook.”
He heard a longing in her voice that pulled at his heart. “How about classic rock? It’s probably not your cup of—”
“Tom Petty? Grand Funk Railroad? Janis Joplin? I’m all for it. Play away.” She eased the back of her seat a little.
“Whoa. Impressive. You know who those artists are?” Hyde eased the SUV onto the long stretch of highway that would get him to his home.
“I’m in the music industry. I listen to everything.”
“Just not me.”
Silence hung again inside the compartment.
To cut the tension, Hyde tuned the satellite radio to a classic rock streaming channel. By the third song, this time by the rock group Heart, he heard a subtle hum. He brought his attention to Tassia and found her sleeping.
Crazy on You Page 11
