“We brought her here. Of course she’s the real deal.” Chantel’s voice cut through the tension of the room.
“Apology accepted.” Tassia kept her arms crossed though. She would have to watch herself around this group.
“Good. Now that that’s settled, tell us the time schedule for this project and your expectations.” Hyde’s smile could bring about world peace.
Truman took a deep breath after the tension left the room. “Like we mentioned before, the schedule will be pretty aggressive. We would like for you and Tassia to write and record here in the studio.”
“How soon?” Tassia felt the need to insert her voice into this process so that she wouldn’t be seen as a prop, an afterthought, a back-up singer.
“How’s tomorrow sound?” Chantel chewed her lower lip as she split her attention between Hyde and Tassia.
Tassia opened her mouth to balk at the plan, citing that she would need more time to prepare, when Hyde interrupted her flow.
“Sounds doable. The earlier we can get this going, the better.” He rubbed his hand over his short hair. “The more time I have between working, the more I’ll want to relax. Now that I have something to do, I don’t want to stop.” He stared at Tassia.
Although his gaze could melt ice caps, Tassia would be damned if she looked away from him first. “How many songs?”
“Standard album length.” Truman drummed his thumbs on the table. “Twelve to fourteen.”
“Maybe fifteen.” Hyde nodded. “You do half and I do half, and then we’ll do one together.”
Tassia opened her mouth to agree, but got cut off by one of her bosses.
“We were hoping all songs on the album would be a collaboration.” Chantel lowered her voice to something gentle and soothing. “We don’t want half of a country sound and the other half sounding like an R&B album. We want you two to blend your ideas.”
Tassia swallowed hard at the idea of blending anything with Hyde with his large hands and absolutely kissable lips. She brought her full attention to Chantel to clear her mind. “That brings me to my concern again. How will we be categorized? Pop? R&B? Country?”
Truman shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. Just worry about making great music.”
Hyde chuckled, which snagged Tassia’s attention. “Sounds like folk to me.”
Although she didn’t want to, Tassia had to smile at his astute assessment.
“No time like the present.” Hyde stood. “Tassia, since you’re familiar with the studio, will you show me around?”
Tassia looked at her management team for a moment before she could register an answer.
Hyde barreled through his thoughts. “You all work out the details of the contract.” He put his hand on his father’s shoulder. “Fifty-fifty.”
Clever’s audible gasp could be heard in California. “You’re the big star here.” He glanced at Tassia. “No offense. I know you have a hit right now that beat Hyde’s latest release, but that’s just one hit. Hyde has been at it for—”
“Fifty. Fifty.” Hyde spaced the words out so much like he wanted to make sure his manager understood him. “This album is a collaboration. Treat every detail of it like it is, understand?”
Clever cursed under his breath, but Tassia heard him. If she heard him, she knew everyone else had.
“That is mighty generous of you.” Norma smiled and it deepened the dimples on the sides of her face.
Hyde walked around to the other side of the table where Tassia sat. She should have stood up. She should have moved. She could have at least said that she wouldn’t be going anywhere while negotiations occurred. When she saw Hyde take command of the situation and the room, she couldn’t do anything but follow his lead.
Hyde stood next to Tassia and held his hand out to her. “Are you ready?”
Nothing in her life had prepared her for this moment. She slipped her hand into his strong one and mustered a smile.
“Let’s go.”
Chapter 7
Hyde forgot about the project as soon as he encountered Tassia Hogan and realized he had a way to get his downtime. Although he didn’t want to use her, he recognized the opportunity to use this duet as a way to sneak in some time away from the business. Lying had never been a part of his character. For once, he would be selfish and hope that Tassia would understand.
Then again, maybe he didn’t have to tell her. He would keep the motivation for doing this deal under wraps. If she balked, he could easily pay her off. It would be money well spent for a tiny piece of relaxation.
After holding her hand long enough to get her to her feet, Tassia broke from the grasp to lead him around the studio located at the beach side.
At various spots in the studio, Hyde caught different aromas. Sometimes he smelled the scent of wildflowers. The fragrance immediately brought him back home to Tennessee and being in the woods behind his grandparents’ property. In other sections, the scent of wax and leather mixed in the air, a strange combination. The mixture conjured images of candles burning and musicians with their leather guitar straps circling their bodies. That vision alone had Hyde now imagining himself with his arms around Tassia’s body.
Tassia with her luscious curves under her long dress. He even started to like her braids. As he followed her around the expansive studio, his gaze dropped down to her ass.
His grandmother would have yoked him back for objectifying this woman. Hell, he had even yelled at a fan at one of his shows when he caught a guy pulling a woman’s tube top down and exposing her bare breasts while she danced around to his music. Here he had those same scandalous thoughts about this woman, wanting to slowly remove every stitch of her clothing and explore her body when only moments before, he had rejected the notion of working with her.
Damn. Had it been too long since his breakup with Shelby Lynne? Hyde really needed to get himself together. He would be working with this woman, closely, for the next few months, and then they would be business partners essentially as they promoted and performed. He couldn’t ruin that relationship by mixing pleasure with business. Besides, he figured with her bump-and-grind dance with Aaron that she already had her dance card filled, and wouldn’t find the likes of him the least bit attractive or desirable. That wouldn’t stop his rampant imagination.
Of course his father would love Hyde’s piggish thoughts. Since getting into the music business, his dad reaped the benefits, including scooping up young, willing women. Hyde thanked God Clever and his mother had split before his father lost his mind and his morals.
Hyde would push all illicit thoughts from his head right now to keep his mind on business. He had to give his full attention to Tassia.
“The business offices are on the top floor along with a couple of their recording studios.” Tassia glanced back at him as she continued down the hallway. She approached a bank of elevators, looked like she wanted to hit the up button, but then continued to a sign marked stairs.
“You’re not going to take the elevator to the top floor?” Hyde had to hustle to keep up with her.
“Stairs might be faster.” She flashed a nervous smile complete with a twitch as she opened the door and hiked up the front of her dress to ascend the stairs. “I don’t trust the elevator.”
Maybe she didn’t trust herself with Hyde in a confined space. A man could dream.
The door to the stairwell slammed closed behind Hyde as he followed her up six flights of stairs to get to the third floor. By the time they both reached the top, neither of them looked or sounded winded.
She glanced at him. “Need to rest?” Tassia smiled.
Hyde shook his head and took her beautiful smile as payment for the impromptu exercise. “Just fine. I work out a lot when I’m on the road so I can keep up in doing two- and three-hour shows each night.” He followed her into a room. “I suspect you must do the same thing.”
“Why would you say that?” She turned her back on a closed door and held the doorknob behind her while she looked up at him.
“Because you don’t look out of breath. A few nights ago, the news covered the story of your tour with Aaron. That’s where I first saw you, well, again.” And when she first infected his every thought—again—but he would leave that part out of his story.
“I was playing in another arena close by that same night.” In a need to get closer to her, Hyde placed his hand on the doorframe above her head, a feat considering she had to be five-foot-nine or a bit taller.
If she had worn heels, she would be able to look him in the eyes. Hyde kind of liked that idea.
“Was your show sold out?” Tassia leaned her head to the side, exposing her long, graceful neck.
Hyde had to clear his throat when a moan threatened to erupt. “Yes. And your show?”
“Aaron’s show.” She smirked. “Sold out as well. I was right.”
Hyde felt his eyebrows knit together from her statement. “Right about what?”
“We cater to two distinct fan bases. People who like your work will probably shy away from the type of songs I normally sing, and vice versa. We might be embarking on a losing battle.” Tassia kept her stare on Hyde as though daring him to disagree with her.
“Or we could be doing something great. Wouldn’t that be cool?” Hyde watched her staring at him for a moment.
He couldn’t be actually considering this. Hyde had had his mind made up as soon as he saw Tassia. Use the situation—not her—as a means to escape. She would sadly be a casualty.
His gaze dropped to her neck where he saw a thick vein pulsating. He had to stop imagining the impossible. Then again, if he had done that, he wouldn’t be Hyde Love, mega star.
“That song that you sang just now…” Hyde prided himself on remembering faces, especially one as beautiful as Tassia’s.
“The song I just sang didn’t stir any memories?” She crossed her arms over her chest. When he slowed to answer, she finally filled in the blanks. “That was the song I used during my audition to be a back-up singer for you.” She continued. “I had just graduated college. Charisma had offered me a job, but I wanted to spread my wings, test the waters.” She shook her head. “Should have known better. I caught wind about the auditions in Tennessee. I was twenty. I knew you from the show, not that I thought you would have hired me solely on that.” She took a deep breath before finishing her story. “I walked in this big conference room. You sat in the back and kept your head down on some notebook or something. It kind of reminded me of the last time we were on set together. You had your head down in the same way.”
Sounded like Hyde back when he started his career. He constantly wrote to make sure he could maintain his career. Then after a while, people offered to write for him, and he liked that even more.
“I sang my heart out. At the end of the song, your dad thanked me for my time and had me escorted out. I never heard back about the audition.” She crossed her arms and glared at him.
Hyde didn’t know what to say, but knew he had to say something. “I can’t believe you auditioned for me.”
Tassia exhaled. “Yep. And you let me slip through your fingers.”
She started to turn away from him, but Hyde put his hand to her shoulder to stop her. “And now we’re back together again.” He hoped Tassia took him seriously. “Before we go further, there’s something we should do.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Exchange numbers.”
Tassia blinked. “You trust me with your number?”
“Any reason I shouldn’t trust that you won’t share it with TMZ or some groupie?” He looked up from his phone at her before he continued.
She shrugged. “No reason. I guess it’s cool. We will be working together. If we get ideas while we’re not recording, we can shoot them to each other.” She nodded. “Good plan.”
Hyde held up his phone to her. “What’s your number?”
Tassia laughed. “Is that how you would ask a woman for her phone number?”
He felt his face go hot with embarrassment, which seemed foreign to him. He didn’t want to date her. Or did he? “I would like to say that I’m a lot smoother when I’m pursuing a woman to date. Since we’re only working together…”
“Yeah. Just working.”
Hyde couldn’t tell if Tassia expressed some disappointment with that news. He had to face facts. They would be working together like they did when they were kids. Nothing more.
“Your number.” He kept his thumb poised over his screen.
Tassia blurted her number. As soon as she said the last number, her phone rang.
“You might want to answer it.” Hyde smiled as he put his phone to his ear.
Tassia pulled her phone from her purse and looked at the screen. She smiled and turned it around so he could see it. “It says ‘Might be Hyde Love’. Cute.” She answered it. “Hello?”
“Now you know for sure that it is Hyde Love. Save me.”
Tassia kept her phone to her ear as she stared at him. If she only knew that he meant his statement in a different way. Something would have to rescue him from feeling lost in the business. Perhaps this new venture would renew his love of music again.
Hyde disconnected the call before she looked at her phone. “So is your name spelled T-A-S-H-A?”
She shook her head. “No. It’s T-A-S-S-I-A. My mother got creative. She thought it sounded regal. I think she gave me a name that guarantees I will never find a monogrammed set of ears at Disney World.”
“It’s pretty and unique.” Hyde stopped short of comparing her name to the woman herself. “So where did you take me?”
“In here is one of the recording studios.” Tassia strolled inside.
The place looked like every other recording studio he had been in and used in his career. A soundboard sat in front of a large window that looked into the actual recording booth. Two large leather couches sat in the back, one black and the other red.
“I guess the plan is to lock us in this room and have us write our hearts out and then go record in there?” Hyde pointed to the recording studio.
“I’m assuming, although saying that we’ll be locked up sounds like a prison sentence.” Tassia laughed a little. “I don’t think it’ll be that extreme.” She strolled into the recording studio and looked around the room.
Hyde’s full attention went straight to her. He had been in enough studios not to be impressed. He had never been so intrigued by anyone as much as Tassia had grabbed his attention.
Get your mind off her and think about the work.
He snickered and didn’t think Tassia had heard him.
“What’s so funny?” Her face became somber like his bit of glee had been at her expense.
“I just finished my tour. The plan was to take some time off.” Hyde raised his hands in the air. “Here I am still working.”
After a slight pause, a small smile curled at the corners of her luscious mouth before she exhaled loudly. “Oddly enough, I was supposed to do the same thing.” She glanced at her watch. “By now I should be drunk on a beach in Fiji and diving in deep to crystal-blue water and a trashy novel, not at the same time, of course.”
Yes! Hyde had his “in” with Tassia. He wouldn’t have to keep her in the dark about his plan to relax since it sounded like she wanted to do the same.
Hyde chuckled. “Our hard work should be rewarded.”
“Eventually. Right now we have to get to work.” She rubbed her hands together.
Damn. She still took this assignment seriously. Hyde had to revert to the original plan. He had to look out for himself.
He glanced around the room. “You ready to do some writing?”
“What are you looking for?” Tassia also scanned the studio space.
> “Pad and pen.” He had expected to walk away today without agreeing to do this project. Then he realized the prime opportunity to use this situation to his advantage. Now he came to the studio unprepared to do any work.
Tassia reached in her purse and pulled out her phone. “I keep everything here.”
He shook his head.
“What? Are you saying that you’re so country that you don’t trust modern technology?” She snickered.
Her comment sent an uncomfortable tickle up his spine. “It has nothing to do with my southern roots. Electronics can be tapped and whatever you’re working on or trying to hide can be made public. Trust me.”
Tassia didn’t verbally respond. She lowered her head and typed on her phone. Maybe she felt embarrassed of her words.
Hyde spotted a napkin and a pencil in the room. Those would have to do.
“Oh, wow.” Tassia covered her mouth for a second. “I see what you mean. Who took this picture?” She turned her phone around to show Hyde a picture that had haunted his past.
As an impulsive eighteen-year-old young man, Hyde allowed his then-girlfriend to snap a picture of his naked backside right before he took a midnight dip into a lake. The same all-over body heat that washed over him when the pictures first surfaced took over his body now.
“You don’t have to look at that.” Hyde reached for her phone.
Tassia pulled her hand back. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed. You have a really nice—”
“Okay. That’s enough.” He reached for it again, brushing his body against hers.
“I was going to say…” Tassia stopped when Hyde had to wrap his arm around her waist to keep from falling over on her and toppling her with him. “Um, smile.” Tassia swallowed hard as she stared into his eyes.
Hyde hung onto her a little longer than he should have. The warmth of her body became a needed sensation for him. He smoothed his hand up her back before he released her. “I wonder what I would find if I did a search on you.” To shake her up, Hyde reached down to his pocket to retrieve his phone. Then she touched the back of his hand.
Crazy on You Page 9