She stretched the fabric taut against his body, using it to help her move against him. Finally, they came up for air, gasping, panting, and hot for each other. Taking one hand off the couch, he moved it down her side, exposing the tattoo on her hip bone, rubbing the ink with his thumb.
“I got you; you know I got you,” he encouraged her, dipping his head to her collar bone, sucking, biting, nipping, as she went wild beneath him. At his spine, he felt her hands move to his ass, gripping the naked skin under the fleece of his sweatpants, digging her nails in as she thrust, grunted, and groaned with him.
When the climax came, it came for both of them. He glanced up from his spot at her collarbone, seeing her mouth open in a silent “O”, watching her head fall back, and that was all it took for Garrett to feel the hot rush of completion as he sucked her skin.
As they lay together minutes later, hearts pounding, wiping away sweat from each other’s skin, he wondered, like he always did, how many more times she could blow his mind.
* * *
It had been a struggle for Hannah to get out of bed this Monday morning, especially after the weekend she’d had with her family. But she’d gotten through it, calling Shell on her way in, asking her to meet so they could start going over some preliminary marketing strategies. She and Kurt only had three more songs to finish, and then they would be turning the album in.
“You don’t think that strays away too far from how people know me?” she asked Kurt as they finished listening to a number that was way more reminiscent of Miranda Lambert than Harmony Stewart.
Kurt shook his head as he turned off the track. “Listeners are definitely going to take into account who you’re married to. I mean you share a lot of your life on social media; they know exactly who your husband is and the type of music he plays. It only makes sense some of his style rub off on you, and I think that’s what this is. Do I think it’s going to be played on rock radio? No. This is still very much in-line with you and who you are. It’s not like you’ve completely changed. You’re just growing and evolving. Thank you for letting me be a part of it.”
She smiled brightly at his words. He got it. Everything she’d wanted to do with this record, he’d supported her. Now she hoped the record company got it too.
“So we have these three left to finish?” She pointed out the three names on the whiteboard they’d been using.
“That’s it, and then you’re done, Ms. Hannah. We’ll turn it into the record label and see what they say.”
Her next words she’d mulled over in her head a lot, and when she spoke them aloud, she meant them with everything she had. “I don’t care what they say. I’m really proud of it.”
“I am too.” He gave her a high-five. “So let’s get in there and get these done. Shell’s supposed to be here today, right?”
“She’ll be here in a few hours to go over the things we need to do to get the marketing campaign going.”
He turned around in his chair and pointed at the booth. “Let’s go ahead and get this work out of the way so you can concentrate on what she’ll want you to do when she gets here.” He stopped her before she fully closed the door. “Hannah.”
“Yeah?” She’d never heard the tone in his voice before, the urgency that made her turn around without pause.
“This album is going to blow you into the stratosphere. Don’t forget where you come from, your family, your friends, your convictions, and don’t forget the love your husband has for you. It’s all over every single one of these songs. It’s inevitable you’ll find yourself struggling to stay grounded after all is said and done. When you’re swooped up by not only the Nashville machine but the world, remember who you are right at this moment, and don’t let anybody push you to be someone you’re not.”
“I won’t,” she said, and she meant it with every single fiber of her being.
* * *
Hannah bit her nails as she watched Shell’s expressions. For ten songs she’d sat without saying a word, making notes of things here and there on a piece of paper in front of her. Now they were at the end, and Hannah was positively vibrating with excitement, wanting to beg and plead with her friend to tell her what she thought. When the last chords of the song faded out, she couldn’t wait any longer.
“Well? What did you think?”
Shell was quiet for a few seconds, the longest seconds of Hannah’s life. A small grin broke across her face that turned into a huge smile. “I love it! I mean fucking love it! It’s so much different than your old stuff, but in the same vein too. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s everything we’ve loved about Harmony Stewart for years, but it’s edgier, rockier, and just plain better than anything you’ve ever put out before.”
“I’m so relieved.” Hannah put a hand to her heart, trying to slow the pounding. The longer Shell hadn’t said anything, the more nervous she’d gotten. “So what are your ideas?”
“Oh girl, I have pages.” She held up the notes she’d been taking throughout the first listen. “I’m gonna type all this up for you with some bullet points that I think are going to make or break this campaign, and I’ll get it emailed to you. When do you deliver the record?”
“I’m sending it tonight.” She wrung her hands in a nervous gesture. “I’m not sure how they’re going to react. It’s different.”
Shell grinned as she got up and walked over to her friend, hugging her fiercely. “Do you remember when we first met Garrett and the guys? We kept saying how different they were, but then we realized different didn’t always mean worse?”
“I distinctly remember when that happened.”
“Well, I’m telling you this right here, right now.” She let go and pointed at Kurt. “What the two of you have done here is nothing short of amazing, and you don’t know how badly I want to tease the fans with some of the songs I heard tonight. But I’ll be good. I’ll wait until the record label hears it, until they give me the green light. Damn, this is going to be huge though. Mark my words. The world’s not going to know what hit them.”
Hannah smiled as she celebrated with her friends. With the touch of a button she sent the album to the record label and to Garrett. She still trusted his opinion above everyone else’s. But deep down, she was worried. Part of her was worried this album would tank, the other part was worried it’d do as well as everyone seemed to think it would. She was in a hell of a spot right now. Wanting to be a performer, wanting to be a mom, and wanting to be a wife.
One thing was for sure. She’d be getting a crash course in how to be all three soon and hopefully with a successful album to boot.
She grabbed her cell phone as she saw a FaceTime request coming from Garrett. Answering, she grinned. “Wow, that was quick. I just sent you the album.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not why I’m calling.” He directed the phone behind him where EJ was running a million miles an hour. “Someone doesn’t want to lie down for a nap. Remember when I told you I needed your secrets? Now would be good.”
“Grab the phone and lie down with him on the couch, even if he fights you about it. Make sure he can see me on the screen.”
Garrett did as he was told, fighting with their son the entire way. When EJ saw Hannah’s face on the screen, he calmed down, glancing at her.
“You ready to go to sleep, EJ?” she asked in a soothing voice.
He shook his head no, and she patiently began to sing. To everyone who watched, it was obvious they’d been through this once or twice. She sang softly to him, two songs, before his eyes started to droop, and then on the third, he was out like a light.
“There you go,” she whispered to Garrett, who was looking sleepy himself.
“Thanks, babe. I’ll listen to the album when we wake up.”
She laughed. “Enjoy your nap.”
What she wouldn’t give to be enjoying nap time with the both of them right now.
Chapter Thirteen
* * *
“Yes sir, I totally agree.”
Hannah s
at in her kitchen along with EJ, Shell, Garrett, Jared, and Havock as they listened to the conversation Shell was having with the head of the record label. Things seemed to be going in her favor, but she wouldn’t know for sure until Shell finished the phone call. She watched as Shell frantically made notes. For a while Hannah had tried to read them, but Shell had her own version of shorthand that only she could understand.
“Do you think they like it?” She leaned over as she quietly talked to Garrett.
“I have absolutely no idea, but I can tell you I loved it.” He slung his arm around her neck, pulling her in close enough so he could drop a kiss on her forehead. “For real though, I can’t wait to see what kind of tight leather pants you rock on some of the heavier numbers. You’ll try those on for me, right?”
She blushed as she turned her head into his shoulder. “You know you always get your own private show.”
The group went back to listening to Shell’s end of the conversation. She’d been on the phone with the head of the record label’s PR and a few other VIPs for over an hour. Hannah wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. She tried to never really be privy to this information, because it made her so nervous, but this season in her life was different than any other situation they’d been in before.
Glancing to the end of the counter, she saw EJ in his high chair, playing intently with the Play Dough Jared and Shell had brought him. Jared was turning a blob of orange into something that was making EJ laugh, and she couldn’t help but think about how good of a dad Jared would be when they decided to have kids.
“I don’t know how much longer I can take this,” she whispered to Garrett. “I just need a thumbs up or something.”
“You wanna go outside?” he asked, turning to face her.
Why not, she was doing nothing right now other than imagining the worst. “Do you want to take EJ?”
“Nah.” He pointed over to EJ and Jared. “They’re having fun together.”
“When she gets off the phone, will you have her come find me?” Hannah told Jared as she and Garrett made their way outside.
It was a crisp morning, with the smell of fall in the air and some of the lingering heat of the summer still pounding down from the sky. Highs had dropped into the seventies, and over-night they were bottoming out into the fifties. This was her favorite kind of weather. Soon Halloween would be upon them, along with bonfires, s’mores, sweaters, and boots. She wondered where she would be then. Would they immediately make her start touring? Would she get to enjoy those first few days of fall with her family? Would she be able to take him trick or treating? Everything was up in the air now, and she hated feeling like she had no place to land.
“C’mon.” Garrett grabbed her hand, pulling her to the back of their property. There he’d set up some playground equipment he and Jared used to work out on. There was a pull-up bar, and she knew he normally liked to do pullups with weights, but she didn’t see any around today. Taking his shirt off, he threw it at her in a playful manner, grinning when she wolf-whistled for him.
She watched as he went over to the bar and stood beneath it. “I need weight, come hang out with me.” He motioned for her.
She’d done this a few times, and she had to admit it was one of the hottest things he’d ever asked her to do. He bent down so she could loop her arms around his neck, hanging on as he hopped up, getting a tight grip on the bar. As he started lifting them up and down, he spoke.
“Tell me what’s got you so messed up.”
The same question had been mulling around in her own head. She wasn’t sure why she was so nervous. There had been many times in her career when the record label had hated what she’d done. They’d decided the direction she was going in wasn’t one she should be going in. It had never really bothered her before, probably because for the most part she’d given in to them. With this album, she didn’t want to give in; she didn’t want them to decide for her what was going to happen. She’d put a piece of herself and, if she were being honest, a piece of Reaper into this record too. He encouraged her to think outside the box, do things she wouldn’t normally be comfortable with doing, and flash a middle finger to the establishment. While that wasn’t normally her style, she’d done just that with this record, and if someone threatened it, if they questioned her authority to do what she wanted, she wasn’t sure how she’d deal with it.
“What if they hate it?”
“So what if they do, Han? It won’t be the first time, won’t be the last time, and really does it matter? You’re happy with it.”
“But it does matter,” she argued. “Kurt’s the only person who ever asks for my opinion in the studio. He took my direction. What if they hate it and it reflects badly on him? I don’t want to be known as the trouble child of Music Row.”
He chuckled as he continued lifting the two of them up and down. “I’m not sure anyone could ever label you as a trouble child, but think whatever you want. I personally think you’ve given them something different, something they didn’t expect, and I think they’re trying to figure out how to market it and you at the same time. You’re different now, just like you were different after we first started dating. It took a while, but eventually everyone came on board with it.”
He was right. She needed to woman up and realize things would always be a fight, but in the end, everyone wanted to make money, and she knew without a doubt this record would make the money the record label wanted. As she opened her mouth to speak, she saw the back door open, and out poured Shell, Jared, EJ, and Havock.
“I guess they have an answer,” he said as he dropped down from his bar. The impact with the ground jarred her, but she let go and steadied herself. “Let’s go see what that answer is. Are you ready?”
As ready as she’d ever be.
* * *
“Just give it to me straight,” she told Shell as they all met in the middle of the yard.
“They love it.” Shell’s voice was excited, tremoring with the possibility of all the cool things she knew were coming. “The first TV spots will drop the first week of November, and the album will be scheduled for a Thanksgiving release.”
“Are you kidding me?” she questioned, unable to believe this was her life. Big time artists dropped right before Christmas.
“They’re working on the press junket now, but let me just say enjoy the next week and a half here at home, because we’ll be hitting radio, talk shows, and everything known to man after that. Since this isn’t exactly a straight-up country record, they’re pushing you for pop radio too, Han. This could be huge.”
Hannah almost had to sit down. To crossover was something she’d never really considered, and to know the record company was going to attempt it was a big step in their faith of her. “They agreed to everything?”
“Including bringing your family on the road and concerts no more than three nights in a row. They believe in this Han, they believe in you. What it looks like now is they want this to be a huge tour, depending on how the first single drops. Multiple nights in big markets.” Shell couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “You did it, you did what you wanted to do, and I think they realize what they have in this record. You sound mature, your voice is better than it’s ever been, and the public wants you. They miss you, and you’ve picked the perfect time to come back.”
Garrett grabbed her around the waist. “Are you ready for this?”
Was she ready? It was a question she’d been asking herself all day. How would she juggle this? How would she make sure everyone had what they needed, including herself? “As long as I have all of you by my side, I can do anything.”
Garrett picked her up and swung her around, his smile infectious. “Then let’s take over the world, babe, one radio market at a time.”
With him smiling at her—she had all the confidence in the world she could.
Chapter Fourteen
* * *
“I hope it doesn’t rain.” Hannah bit her lip in apprehension as their little
family hit the interstate, heading out of Nashville to a private farm in Franklin.
The record company had taken her suggestion and were letting her do the album photography the way she wanted. She wanted all of them on the cover, and they’d been good with it.
“If it does, they have that huge barn,” Garrett mumbled as he checked his blind spot, accelerating onto the interstate.
He was right; they’d been there before when a mutual friend had gotten married. It was beautiful and everything she wanted for the photo shoot, but she still hoped it wouldn’t rain.
“Are you sure you’re okay with being on the cover?”
Garrett chuckled. “Yeah, babe, I think I’m man enough to take it.”
“Oh, I have no doubt you’re man enough to take it, but I worry you might be made fun of.”
He cut a glance in her direction. “I have the hottest wife ever, and I get to have a seriously fun photo shoot with my family. If people make fun of it they’re fuckin’ assholes.”
She sat back against her seat, knowing he was telling the truth. She still worried, like she always did, if he’d regret marrying her and not someone who was more like him.
“It’s this turn off isn’t it?” he pointed to a gated drive.
“Yeah, let me grab the gate code.” She reached over into her purse, grabbing her phone.
They got in with no problem, and he kept driving until they saw some cars, a trailer, and a couple of people milling around. “I asked them to keep it low-key.” She grinned. “I wasn’t sure how EJ would handle it—or Havock.”
When she said the dog’s name, his ears perked up.
“Yeah, boy, you’re a part of the family, aren’t you,” Garrett playfully spoke to him.
Havock barked loudly, causing everybody to laugh.
They exited the car, Garrett holding EJ so he wouldn’t run off, Havock’s leash in his hand. “Alright, babe, go see what you need to do, and we’ll be here waiting. I promise he won’t get dirty.”
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