Played (Elite PR) Read Free Page B

that primal need he’d kept buried for so long came rushing back. And it was like he never left Tennessee. Never mind Vegas, Nashville’s the place they should call Sin City . A city with so much talent, so much raw energy, so many beautiful people…well, it made the freewheeling sex inevitable for a kid with a record contract.
    After his early morning run-in with the temptress, he couldn’t deny there was a part of him that missed it. Long, lean, and pissed as hell, she was irresistible. One of those girls who looked all prim in public, but get her out of that sorority getup and she’d have something wicked on underneath. He knew it.
    Forget playing to standing-room-only auditoriums, adoring fans screaming his name, and all-night drunken benders—this girl made that shit look boring. Thank Christ he’d had a mattress to conceal his reaction to her. Especially once those lace panties came a-tumblin’ from her purse.
    Where’d she been when his life was also full of wild nights of debauchery? Oh, the fun they could’ve had. Too bad that time was long gone for him. He’d just have to stay away from her as much as possible. It had taken him over seven years to get his life back on track, and he wasn’t about to let it go to shit because of a hot piece of ass.
    He was determined.
    Once he relieved his stress and put himself back together, he left the building to return the U-Haul—not wanting to run into his naughty neighbor until he worked up a little immunity.

    T hat evening, Aaron vowed to keep to himself and stay clear of the siren next door. But hell if he couldn’t help but take a peek out his bedroom window when he heard a car drive into the back alley. It was an unusually cool night—eighty degrees was brisk for Hotlanta—so he had the windows open to air out the stuffy apartment, which was precisely why he couldn’t miss her. The squealing tires echoed through his place the second they hit the drive.
    She drove a little green hybrid that he hoped wouldn’t dent his pickup as it barreled into the garage. He had to hand it to the woman. She knew how to make an entrance. As she stepped out of the garage, Aaron ducked away from the window. He didn’t need her thinking he was some fucking pervert watching her every move.
    What was it about her that got him so worked up?
    It didn’t matter. He had more important things to think about, like finishing the rest of his album. So he went to work…pacing the living room, doing push-ups, searching for a word to rhyme with fence , watching the Braves for an inning (or three), before finally falling asleep on the couch. So, the usual.
    He slept on and off, waking every few hours to contemplate his next move. He desperately wanted to create music on his own this time, but it wasn’t working, and his deadline was just a few weeks away. He needed to have a completed album in less than a month, and he was still a handful of songs short.
    He knew the surefire way to lay down the tracks, but it was a last resort. He wouldn’t call in reinforcements unless he absolutely had to. For now, he’d try to be patient and let the creative juices flow when they were ready. Sometimes if he forced the issue, it only made matters worse.
    It was a restless night, but the next time he woke up, he had something. A tune. He didn’t think twice before picking up his guitar in the middle of the night. Or working a drum beat on his new coffee table. When the muse came to call, you’d better answer. He’d learned the hard way to never turn his back on the finicky bitch.
    “Darlin’,” came his neighbor’s clipped tone from outside his door. Oh shit. He checked the time on his cable box. Five a.m. Still, he couldn’t help but smile at the way she made such a sweet endearment sound like a ball-busting threat. “If you don’t shut the hell up in there, I’m going to help you out.” She pounded on his wall for effect. “Turn down the blasted music.”
    “Sorry, hon, I can’t do