“Right.” Nodding, I withdraw my hand and bring it to my chest. “You all act like you’ve never seen a person trip before,” I say, addressing the crowd. “Get back to it.” I clap my hands loudly toward the DJ, “Music!”
With an annoyed huff, she rolls her eyes and storms off in her black Converse.
Sneakers at a Hollywood party…Who is this girl?
“Don’t take it personally,” Nick says, coming up behind me and clapping me on the shoulder. “She’s Jax’s daughter.”
Jax Potter…Nicholas’s washed-up rock star uncle, who hooked us up with our agent and helped get The Rhett Taylor Band off the ground. So, that explains why her name sounded familiar. But still doesn’t account for her odd reaction toward me.
“Did I umm…Have we met before?” I stare after her until she disappears through the balcony door. “Did I offend her in some way?” I’m beginning to wonder if we’ve maybe hooked up and that’s the reason, I feel this strange connection. But I’m positive I’ve never felt like this before, and she certainly doesn’t seem like someone I’d easily forget.
“Nah, man. This just isn’t her scene. You know Jax…wasn’t easy being the one at home with her mom while he uh…did his thing.” He shrugs. “I’m honestly surprised to see her here at all.”
“Right,” I agree as Monica’s hands slink around my waist from behind. She’s shimmying to the beat of the sultry music, her breasts pressed to my back, but I’m just not in it any longer. “I’ll find you later,” I lie, kissing the tips of her fingers and sending her off to her friends.
She pouts like a child, running a hand over my chest. “Don’t forget me.”
Nick laughs after she walks off. “That’s probably what uh…what did it. She thinks we’re all like her pops.” He gives his shoulders another shrug. “Thanks for the party, man. You’re the best. I’m gonna go check on Korie.”
* * *
“Ahh, there you are,” I say, finding Korie perched on a wicker couch with a drink in hand. It’s a dark, clear night. She’s staring out at the stars, all alone on the balcony off Nick’s room. “So, I think maybe we got off on the wrong foot.” I take a pull from my beer then clear my throat. “I wanted to find you and reintroduce myself—start over again, you know, in less…awkward circumstances.”
Her head slowly rolls in my direction. The look in her eyes tells me she’s over this conversation before it even begins. “No need. Everyone with the internet knows who you are. You’re Rhett Taylor—bad boy of country music. Playboy. Womanizer.”
“Ouch.” I suck in a breath, bringing a hand to my chest. “Yeah…well, you see what the media wants people to see.”
She rises to her feet, closing the distance between us in a few strides. The wind blows through her hair, and I get a whiff of her floral shampoo. My dick twitches. She’s so close—inches away. I have to stop myself from giving in to the urge to reach out and touch her again. “What I saw when I walked in was nothing less than I expected.” She plants a hand on her hip. “That wasn’t the media. That was a rock star in his natural habitat.” She taps a hand lightly on the front of my shirt. “I know it’s probably real hard to believe, but I’m not here to go gaga and fall all over you.” She smiles a lazy smile. “As disappointing as that may be for your huge…ego.”
Did I just imagine her eyes dropping to my crotch?
“I came to see my cousin, who I haven’t seen in years. The rest of this”—her hand circles the air—“is just unfortunate.”
She stalks back into the house, leaving me to scrape my jaw up from the floor. Something about that sassy mouth of hers only makes me want her more.
I spend the rest of the evening lurking in the shadows of my own home, stalking a girl who wants nothing to do with me. It doesn’t take her long to befriend all of the girls who were making fun of her earlier tonight, including Monica. It would seem we’re all under her spell. But for some reason she’s decided to give them another chance. Me? Well, I think she’d written me off before walking through the door.
I’m green with envy. I don’t know what it is about this particular girl that has me feeling things I haven’t felt in years… but it makes me realize just how numb I’ve allowed myself to become.
For the first time since I can’t remember when, I’m feeling, and even jealousy feels a hell of a lot better than indifference.
CHAPTER 1
Rhett
“You’re serious right now?” Anika, my manager, paces the studio in four-inch stilettos while gnawing on the back of a pen. “You want to cancel studio time to go to…to camp?”
She’s kinda cute when she’s all riled up like this, her pale cheeks flaming red and daggers shooting from her amber eyes. I sink down further into the plush couch, crossing my arms on my chest. “It’ll be fun. I’m in need of some fun. You said so yourself. A few days on the coast with other single, college-aged adults. Real people, Anika. A break from Hollywood.”
“I said after we finish the album. Not right in the middle of recording it.” Her heels clack on the wood floors as she moves to crouch before me, resting her manicured nails on the arms of my chair. Her frustration is evident in the heaviness of her breaths. She shakes her head, tossing her long chestnut braid over her left shoulder. “It’s her, isn’t it? She’s going to be there?”
“Yes,” I answer, trying to cover a smirk. “Yeah…So, there’s no way I can put this off.” I realize the timing isn’t ideal, but it’s the perfect chance to work my magic on this girl, whom I can’t seem to get out of my head.
Pushing up from my knees, she’s again wearing a hole into the floor. “She hates you, Rhett. This is a terrible idea. Not only for your career, but because you’re going to end up disappointed.”
What she means is depressed. My first Hollywood girlfriend did a number on me, but that was before I knew how industry relationships worked. I keep my heart guarded now—locked up tight in a suit of armor. I just want the chance to play with my sword.
“I’m curious about her,” I say with a shrug, my mind wandering to my drummer Nick’s birthday party, about three weeks ago. To his cousin, Korie Potter. Her long, wavy blonde ponytail, faded jeans, and Rolling Stones tee. She stood out among the sequins and glitz. Her attempt to fade into the background had the complete opposite effect. Only adding to her appeal was the easy manner with which she carried herself. She had a confidence—an honesty—about her that I don’t see much in the circles I run. I can’t help but smile, remembering how unimpressed she was with everything Rhett Taylor. What did she call me again? Oh, yeah. The bad boy of country music. Someone’s been paying a little too much attention to TMZ.
At any rate, life gets rather boring when you can literally have anything you want. Anyone you want. I hadn’t realized how willing I’d become to settle until life dangled temptation, in the form of a sassy-mouthed, blonde-haired, green-eyed, fiery little vixen, right under my nose and shook things up a bit—shook me up a bit.