by Amy Brent
“Oh no.” I didn’t mean to say it out loud, and I could only imagine the expression on my face because he took a step toward me, one hand outstretched and his eyes gleaming with concern.
“Hey, are you all right?”
“Must have…must have been all that caffeine. You should, uh, probably just go now,” I said hurriedly, shock numbing all the pleasure that had just filled me.
“You sure you’re okay?”
“I’ll be fine. Just go.”
He gave me one last long look before finally heading toward the door. I didn’t move until I heard the door close behind him. Then I covered my face with my hands as I groaned.
“Why me? Why him? Out of all the guys in Seattle, why did it have to be a fucking musician?”
No more musicians. Never again. I nodded firmly to myself, desperately trying to ignore the feeling of loss that settled deep inside me at the thought. No more Sam. No more musicians. They always broke my heart in the end, and I knew he wouldn’t be any different.
*
Sam
I tapped my foot to a silent, nervous rhythm as I sat at the table with the rest of the band. Alice was sitting next to me. She was the lead singer of Moon. Casey, the drummer, sat across from her as they told dumb jokes to each other.
Alice said something witty and sarcastic that had Casey laughing so hard he snorted, which set her off, but I didn’t pay attention to either of them.
We were waiting for the meeting she had set up with an agent for the band. Alice had met someone and said they were great, just what the band needed to make the next step in our career.
We had been playing together for five years, but I’d known Alice long before that. And Casey too, though not quite as long.
I glanced over at Alice, and despite the sarcastic mask she always wore, I knew her well enough that I could make out the nervousness in her gray eyes.
We were about as close as two friends could be, but Alice was more than just a friend. She was like a sister to me.
She’d taken me under her wing after the house fire that had killed both of my parents when I was twelve. She had saved me from the worst of the foster care system. We’d gone through hell together, but I knew she had always protected me from the worst of it.
We had met Casey in high school, and we had worked our asses off ever since to make a name for ourselves. And now we were going to be represented by an agent. Next would be regular shows at big-name venues. Maybe even a tour.
I had to admit, I was excited. And if I was being honest with myself, I was more than a little nervous. I knew I needed my head in the game for this meeting, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the girl from the day before.
She was dark and beautiful and had taken my breath away with her intelligence and the witty light in her sweet and sultry eyes. And her boldness. She’d been confident, knowing exactly what she wanted. And I was more than happy to give her that, over and over again.
I was still cursing myself for not getting her phone number. I’d wanted to call her the moment I’d gotten to the warehouse where the band practiced. That was when I had realized I had no way to reach her. I had cursed myself out so soundly that all the band members had stared at me wide-eyed, but I hadn’t been able to tell them the truth.
I’d finally hooked up with the girl of my dreams and now I couldn’t even call her.
She had rocked my world. But I remembered the odd way she’d acted afterward—practically kicking out of her place, running from hot to cold so fast I’d been sure I had whiplash.
My brows furrowed as I thought about it. She’d said that she hung out at Lunar Café a lot. She must have gone only during the day because the band played there pretty often and I had never seen her at the shows. I’d seen her at other times though.
With her long black hair and mysterious dark eyes, she had a sultry beauty that stuck out.
I had been drawn to her from afar and had been shocked at the heat in her eyes that had echoed the desire burning inside me. And I’d forgotten to ask for her fucking phone number.
I was such an idiot! Maybe I would run into her again. I could only hope. I’d felt a spark with her from the moment our eyes had met, and I wanted to see where it would lead.
Suddenly the door opened, a little jingling bell signaling that someone had just walked in, drawing my attention.
I froze.
Holy shit! It was her! My dream girl.
A grin spread across my face, and I started to rise. That was the moment she saw me sitting there, and she stumbled mid-step. It was obvious from her suddenly blank expression that she wasn’t as happy to see me as I was to see her.
Faye practically glared at me, in fact, as she took a seat at the opposite side of the table, as far away from me as she could be. She forced a polite, professional smile onto her face. It didn’t dim her beauty at all. If anything, the heat that now stained her cheeks a rosy red beneath her olive-toned skin made her that much more appealing.
Casey noticed and sat forward with an appreciative smile. I nearly growled out loud. Alice shot me an odd look, but before I could speak, Faye was introducing herself as if nothing had happened between us.
“I’m Faye Donnelly, and I’m ecstatic to be Moon’s new agent. We are going to do great things together.”
We already had. What the hell was going on?
The rest of the meeting passed by in a blur of signing contracts as Faye read a breakdown of her prospectus for the band. It was hard for me not to goggle at some of the venues she had booked for us. They were places we never would have been able to play on our own. But I was still stuck on what had happened between us and trying to figure out what the hell kind of game she was playing.
By the time Alice and Casey left, talking excitedly about the band’s success, I was still wrestling with confusion.
Faye put away her papers, neatly tapping the binder closed before rising herself—without a word to me. Not even a see you later. She turned to leave, and I was on my feet, reaching out for her before I could stop myself.
“What the hell was that?” Nothing could have halted the question, and I didn’t even try. I wanted to hear the answer damn it. She owed me that at least.
Faye turned to me with a cool look in her fathomless gaze.
“I have one rule,” she said, her husky voice rushing over me. “I don’t date musicians. Ever.” She jerked her arm away “My heart’s been broken by them one too many times.”
All I could do was stand there and watch as my dream girl turned and walked away, a sinking certainty that I was watching a good thing, maybe the best thing that had ever happened to me, leave settling inside me. What the hell could I have said to her answer anyway?
Chapter 1
Sam
18 months later
“Over here is the sound stage. This is where you’ll be recording everything for the new album,” Rebecca Maloney said in her clipped, no-nonsense tone as she gestured to the gleaming space. Her bright red hair was pulled up into a neat bun, and nothing about her subdued skirt and matching tan blazer was out of place.
I had to stop myself from ogling the state-of-the-art recording tech that filled the sound booth at Eureka Records.
“This is…incredible.” I didn’t even realize I’d spoken out loud until Rebecca turned her placid smile to me.
“Everything at Eureka is top of the line. Mr. Calloway always insists on the best for his artists.”
Rebecca was Archer Calloway’s assistant. Archer Calloway was one of the biggest names in the music industry. As owner and CEO of Eureka Records, he had made millions finding and launching new bands on the indie scene. And Moon was going to be the next big band.
I was the guitarist for the band. Alice Carlyle was the lead singer and songwriter, even though I had written some songs too. Casey Park was the drummer. He was currently busy testing out the ridiculous kit that was already set up inside the recording studi
o.
Casey leaned forward as he pulled off the headphones and spoke into the microphone in front of him. “Guys! This is nuts!”
Alice rolled her eyes before pressing the button on the sound board. “Yeah, I know. Get your ass back in here so we can continue on with the tour. You’re holding up Ms. Maloney.”
“Oh please, call me Becca. Everyone does,” Rebecca said with another polite smile. “But you’re right. We really should get on with the tour before Mr. Calloway gets here.”
Casey tripped over the drum kit in his haste to get back to the rest of the group, and I barely bit back a laugh. Alice didn’t even try to hold back. She threw her head back with the chuckle. Casey was red-faced when he finally made it back into the sound booth.
“Can you believe this place?” he asked me with a mischievous grin. All I could do was shake my head.
I couldn’t. Not really. I was practically trembling I was so ecstatic. And more than half of that was pure disbelief. After everything we had been through together, this whole thing still seemed like a dream I expected to wake from at any moment.
The last year the band had skyrocketed to fame, in no small part due to the national tour we’d just finished, as grueling as it had been.
I glanced over at the rehearsal studio, my gaze landing on the bass guitar that hung on the wall, untouched. It would remain untouched.
At the end of the tour, we had lost one of our bandmates. I barely held back a shiver at the memories.
Tyler had been the band’s bassist. He’d been with the band for a year and had even gone on tour with us. We had found out, nearly too late, that he’d been obsessed with Alice—obsessed to the point of sabotaging the tour, going so far as to tamper with the stage at one of our last shows. It had caused an accident that had sent Alice to the hospital.
She’d been okay, thank god, but she was still bruised up from crashing through one of the stage panels Tyler had messed with. It hadn’t been until the end of the tour that we’d found out he’d been behind it all. The man was so insane, who knew what he would have tried next to get to her.
It had all ended with Tyler threatening her life after he’d found out about Alice seeing the lead member of the band we’d been touring with, Obsidian. Tyler had lost it after that, like batshit crazy lost it.
In the end, Tyler had been arrested and Alice had come out unscathed, but it still gave me nightmares to think about how easy it would have been for Tyler to hurt her.
It had always been an unspoken pact between us to look out for each other, and I still felt like I’d let her down somehow even though she’d assured me it wasn’t my fault. No one could have known. It didn’t take that feeling of guilt away though.
After everything that had happened with Tyler, the band had gotten together to talk about auditioning for a new bassist, but it hadn’t felt right. Alice had been hesitant and Casey had just shrugged. In the end, we’d decided to just stick with the trio moving forward with the upcoming album. It would be a stripped-down, completely honest version of ourselves. No extra bells or whistles. Just pure music.
And honestly, I couldn’t wait to get started. We were all anxious to get in the recording studio.
I had always loved music. It was more than just a hobby for me. Growing up as a single child, it had been my escape from boredom and loneliness. And after my parents’ death, it had become my refuge, the only thing I’d had to cling to. When my whole life had been torn apart, it had been the one constant. I could put on my favorite Smiths record and suddenly I wouldn’t feel quite so alone, or afraid.
Music had gotten me through the roughest times of my life, and I still couldn’t believe I was actually here, actually making it as a musician. We were about to start recording our first major album, and I knew it had everything to do with—
A door opened, and none other than Faye Donnelly walked in, the woman I had been just about to name in my thoughts.
As always, she took my breath away. She strode in with her head held high, exuding a confidence that never dimmed no matter how bad the situation got. Faye didn’t accept failure sitting down. Or at all come to think of it.
She had been the band’s agent for the past year and a half, and she had fought as hard for us to make it as I or Casey or Alice ever had.
Faye had her long, dark tresses pulled up into a bun today, but a few tendrils had broken free to curl around her cheeks. Her eyes, as mysterious as ever, swept over the small group, pausing for a brief secretive smile with Alice before going serious again. She may have looked like sex walking, but she was all business.
I fucking hated it.
Ever since that one night we had shared together, there had been a tension between us. I knew there was something more, that there could be something more, between us, but every time I brought it up Faye snubbed me, walked away, or ignored me altogether. I couldn’t count the number of times she’d told me she didn’t date musicians. But that didn’t seem to matter. She still affected me, body, mind, and soul.
I’d even tried to distract myself with other girls, as there was always a willing groupie. I had thought I could drown the memory of her, but nothing had worked. I’d just been left with an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach and my heart still galloping out of control whenever she was near.
I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. Something about her always drew me in. I could remember every detail about that night over a year ago, before the tour, before Faye had become the band’s agent. It was the one and only night we’d ever had together, and it had never been enough for me.
Faye walked close enough for me to catch the scent of her perfume—rose and amber, like flowers blooming at midnight. Pure sex.
It was fucking torture, and it had been for the last eighteen months. She seemingly had no problem at all getting over me, but I felt like a lovesick puppy as I watched her.
Her gaze passed over me, and there wasn’t even a flutter of an eyelash to say that anything had happened between us, but I felt that look shatter all the way down to my bones.
I dreamed about her every night. She haunted me even when she wasn’t around, and when she was… It was a million times worse then. Like now, when she was so close I could have reached out and touched the satin-soft velvet of her skin. But I knew I couldn’t. Faye would break my arm if I tried.
No, torture didn’t even begin to cover it.
“Hey, guys. Good, you’re all here.” Faye’s voice was as prim and professional as always. Too bad I already knew what she sounded like in the throes of passion. I knew the little catch of pleasure in the back of her throat and the sexy little purring laugh after she’d come all over my—
I cut the thought off violently as I walked over to where Faye was chatting with Alice. It took me a few moments before I could move, though, and I breathed harshly through my nose to try to get my body back under control.
Casey joined us a few moments later so we were all standing in a circle. Rebecca, Archer’s assistant, watched from the sidelines of the room with a small, bored smile as she checked over the date book she held cradled in her arms.
I grimaced. As Archer’s assistant, she was probably used to dealing with mega stars on a daily basis.
We weren’t quite there yet, but soon enough, I promised myself. We were so close I could practically taste the gold records.
I drew my attention back to Faye as she started talking again.
“Before we go any further, I just want you all to know how proud I am of you guys. Proud of how far you’ve all come in the past year, especially after what happened with the tour…and Tyler.”
Her expression grew serious, but anger flashed hotly in her dark eyes. Faye and Alice had become more than just client and agent. They had become close friends, and Faye took what had happened to our star singer as a personal attack.
“We don’t have much time,” Faye said. “Archer is on his way in, but I wanted to let you know how amazing you
are and that I know you’re going to crush it.”
Faye had a fierce smile on her face that damned near took my breath away. I couldn’t say a thing, but luckily Alice stepped into the silence.
“Of course we are,” she said with a half grin of her own. After the attack, she’d bounced back far better than I would have expected. I knew it was because of her relationship with Connor.
I knew other secretes about them, too, but they weren’t mine to talk about. Alice would speak when she was ready, and with how fast everything had happen, I wasn’t surprised that she needed some time to work things out for herself first.
Faye had just opened her mouth to say something else when the doors opened once more. Rebecca fluttered over nervously to hold the door open as Archer Calloway made his entrance.
That was the only way to put it really. He strutted inside the room in his suit, which had probably cost more than all the clothes I had in my closet put together.
“There’s my star band,” he said with his slick smile that instantly put me on edge.
Calloway had perfectly styled blond hair and features most women found attractive. Everything about him had me gritting my teeth.
Archer greeted the band members with a mega-watt smile and fake air kisses before wrapping a proprietary hand around Faye’s waist and herding her to the other side of the room.
Alice started to whisper excitedly about the upcoming recording sessions but I couldn’t’ focus on her words. All I could do was stand there and stare at Faye and Archer.
They made a striking pair, standing next to each other, their heads bent close. Faye was dark and sultry, with an earthy sensuality that oozed from every pore even though she wasn’t aware of it. Archer, on the other hand, was fair-skinned and blond-haired.
I fucking hated him.
I had to grit my teeth as I watched them talk. It was obvious from the gleam in Archer’s bright blue eyes that they weren’t discussing business.
