He caressed her fingers, and she gasped and jerked her hands away. Her eyes opening as she swallowed hard.
“See?” he said in a low voice. “I told you. There’s nothing wrong with Sweet Desire.”
He was right. She’d been so focused on how to make the song better that she didn’t realize the problem was her. Staring at him, she slowly scooted back, out of his reach. The connection between them terrified her. It was a threat that she hadn’t imagined before. Kade had brought her songs to life, but she couldn’t rely on him anymore. She was the one who had to sing the songs. She was the one who had to make the listeners feel every word, every beat.
She had to do it without him. “You’re right,” she said with a hard edge to her voice. “Sweet Desire is perfect. I guess that means we’re done.”
Narrowing his eyes, he shook his head. “Addilyn.”
“No, that’s it. We went through Peter’s notes, and if there’s anything else that we have to do, I’m sure we can handle it over the phone. You can go back to Nashville.” It was painful to say, but it was true.
“Okay.” He stood up slowly and gave her a forced smile. “If you sing like that, then you have nothing to worry about. Everyone who hears you sing will fall in love with you.”
Will you?
“Gia will see you out.” Holding out her hand, she stiffened her back and met his gaze. “Thank you for this opportunity, Kade. I’ve learned a lot from you.”
“I’ll call you tonight.”
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary.” Releasing his hand quickly, she bent down and gathered her notebooks. She listened to his walk away, heard the door open and close, and fought every urge to run to the window and watch him leave. It was hard to admit, but he’d brought out her best voice, and but he’d also brought her to her lowest point. She couldn’t risk that again, so she’d just have to learn how to do it herself.
“That was incredible,” Gia said softly. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you sing like that before.”
“Yes. If you’ll excuse me, I have some practice that I have to do if I want to replicate it. Excuse me.” There was a catch in her throat, but she kept the tears at bay as she calmly walked passed Gia.
The memory of Kade would be a poor substitute, but it would have to do.
Chapter 13
"I'm here with America Holden who is causing a sensation in the music world. After six years of record-breaking pop albums, America is trying her hand at something new, and the public is eating it up. America, thank you for joining us."
The camera panned on Addilyn as she smiled for the camera. "Hi, Kasey. Thank you so much for having me."
"This is a huge change for you. What was the inspiration?"
"I love the pop music industry, and I adore my fans, but I thought it was time to challenge myself, not in just my music, but in my creativity as well. My producer thought the change would be a great time for me to try my hand at songwriting, and I've loved every second of it."
Watching the interview from the comfort of her couch, Addilyn winced at her response. What was wrong with her? She'd left herself wide open, and the reporter knew it.
"So you collaborated with Kade Hardy. How was that?"
America didn't give anything away. "Kade a talented songwriter and I have been so blessed to work with him. I have learned so much from him, and I'm truly grateful for all his help."
"Do you think that you'll collaborate with him in the future?"
"I'm sure I'll be asking for his advice and input. Even after producing this album, I still feel like I'm charting untested waters."
Kasey smiled slyly. "There have been rumors about your relationship between Kade. Any chance those rumors are true?"
America laughed. "He's been so patient with me through all of this, and he really has been a solid bridge for me as I move from the pop world to the country industry. I spent a lot of time with Kade, and there were some emotional moments, so I can see where these rumors are coming from, but I have to admit that they're false."
"You sound almost sad about that."
Addilyn shut the television off before she had to watch the laugh she'd faked for national television. Despite the constant questions about her relationship with Kade, the press had gone wild for her new album. Several country magazines had reviewed the album and published nothing but glowing reports. Her presales were through the roof.
Peter was eating it up. He had Gia lining up more interviews, and she'd agreed to every single one as long as she could take the next two weeks off. At first, she thought Peter would deny her, but he probably thought by then, the rumors about her and Kade would die down.
Her phone rang, and she glanced at the caller ID and smiled. "Are you calling to tell me that you hate my outfit?"
"You're going to be a country star now," Phoebe drawled. "No one thinks that country singers are slutty if they show a little cleavage, and you have such a nice rack."
Addilyn snorted. "I'm starting to think that you have a crush on me."
"It would be the perfect relationship. You don't judge me for how much ice cream I eat, and you already know about my television show addictions. If you had a cock, it's a perfect arrangement."
"Phoebe, it's not your ice cream and television shows that repel men. It's the fact that you get bored with them after three weeks."
"I saw your interview." Her voice was quiet, and Addilyn winced.
"So you didn't call about my outfit."
"You're normally a much better liar, but I'm pretty sure that the whole country is going to realize that you're crazy about Kade Hardy. How are you?"
"I haven't seen him in two weeks. I'm over him."
"Oh, honey. What am I going to do with you?"
Rolling her eyes, Addilyn pushed herself off the couch and headed to the kitchen. She hadn't had much appetite in the past couple of weeks. She'd blamed it on nerves about the album, but Peter didn't care. He threatened to schedule back-to-back concerts and force her live on the bus for months if she lost any more weight. He was afraid the press would think she was heartbroken over Kade.
That was ridiculous.
"I'm fine," she insisted as she made a peanut butter jelly sandwich. She really did need to go grocery shopping. "Seriously."
"So it's not going to bother you to find out that Kade has signed a contract to write Delany Tucker's new album?"
Delany? She was a gorgeous up and comer in the country industry, and she already had a reputation for breaking hearts. "No," Addilyn lied. "That's a huge contract for him, and I'm pleased."
"What about the pictures of him embracing her in front of his Nashville apartment? They look pretty intimate, and the press is already saying that he's moved on from you."
Pain sliced through her, and she gripped the counter. When she didn't say anything, Phoebe’s tone changed from cautious to worry. "Addilyn? Sweetheart? Are you still there?"
"I'm here," she managed. Closing her eyes, she tried to breathe through the pain. "Kade and I are not together. He can sleep with whoever he wants to."
"I'm coming over," Phoebe said instantly. "I'll get on a flight tonight and be there by morning."
"No," Addilyn said quietly. "And don't even think about sending Gia either. I gave her the week off before the shit really hits the fan. She has a tendency to forget to breathe when my albums drop."
"I'm worried about you."
"I know. And I appreciate that. Sometimes I forget that I still have people who care." Addilyn took a deep breath. "I'm a big girl. I'll be okay."
"You deserve to be better than okay. Kade is a bastard." Her friend sighed. "But if you won't let me come over and bash him over a bottle of wine, then promise me that you'll video chat with me tomorrow night?"
"It's a date," Addilyn promised. Hanging up, she stared at the sandwich in distaste. Her mind flashed back to the first time that Kade was here. Sitting on the floor in the living room, eating sandwiches. It had felt so normal.
&nbs
p; How had everything spiraled so out of control? How had he gotten so far under her skin?
Staring out the window, she took a bite of her dinner. She was a professional. She'd get through this. If Kade had moved on, then so would she.
Chapter 14
Kade stood outside her house. Raising his hand to knock on the door, he closed his eyes and hesitated. This was the moment that he'd been waiting on since the very beginning, but now that it was here, he was filled with dread.
"Damn you, Princess," he whispered. "What have you done to me?"
Gritting his teeth, he pounded heavily on the wood. When Addilyn yanked it open, he thought he saw panic in her eyes. "What?" she demanded. "What's wrong?"
"Sorry." He cleared his throat. "I didn't mean to knock so hard." She was dressed in a pair of yoga pants and another one of her beloved sweatshirts. The damn woman would look sexy no matter what she wore.
Crossing her arms, she looked at him expectantly. "What are you doing here, Kade?"
He didn't have much of an excuse except that he was dying to see her. Every time he closed his eyes, she was all that he could see, but there was no way that he could tell her that. Holding up the bottle of champagne, he tried to give her a genuine smile. "I saw the review of your album in the Nashville Country magazine. I thought we might celebrate."
At first, he didn't think that she'd let him in, but she finally stepped back. The silence between them was awkward, but he ignored it as he walked in. He could remember the first time he'd stepped in her private sanctuary. It was so warm and cozy. So unlike her New York condo, but that was for America Holden.
This place was Addilyn Wheeler.
"The recording went well." She took the champagne and headed to the kitchen. "Peter and Gia are lining up the interviews, but I wanted some time to prepare. How did you know that I was here?"
"I tried to go to your place in the city first, but the paparazzi were camped out in the front. I figured that you might be here to get away from it all." He popped the cork on the bottle while she pulled down some glasses. "Why do you need time to prepare? This is everything that you wanted. Your fans are going crazy at the thought of you writing your own songs."
"Helping," she said as she smiled. "I helped write my songs, but maybe after this, Peter will give me some more freedom."
"If you aren't happy with him, why do you stay?"
Addilyn shrugged and held out her glass as he poured. "I know he seems manipulative and controlling, but sometimes he still looks at me like the girl he found singing at his daughter's dance recital. I need that. I need to be with someone who knows me as Addilyn rather than American. When the stylists wanted to put me on stage on some sheer little number, he backed me up when I wanted to remain clothed. He refused to sexualize me. He's protective of me and not just of the money that I made him."
Studying her closely, he poured his own glass. "You still didn't answer my question. Why are you hiding out here?"
Irritation flashed in her eyes. "I'm not hiding, Kade. I've got a long few months ahead of me. I'm just stealing some time for myself while I can." She raised the glass. "To the success of our album."
"To our success," he muttered as he clinked glasses and sipped. He couldn't tell her that he was drinking to something totally different. "You're upset with me. Is it because I crashed your party."
"I heard you signed up with another artist," she said with a shrug.
"That is my job," he said slowly as he raised an eyebrow.
"Is sleeping with her part of your job too?"
Ah. So she saw the pictures. He wondered if that might be the case. "I didn't realize that I was sleeping with her. I also didn't realize that you cared."
"I don't!" Draining the rest of her glass, she set it down and clenched her fist. "I do care about what the press is going to say. I'm going to be painted as the woman you left behind."
"Addilyn."
"You had to jump into bed with the next singer," she hissed bitterly. "You couldn't skip one, maybe wait until the press weren't hounding me about our relationship."
"We don't have a relationship." His voice was sharper that he intended, and he sighed. "I meant that the press doesn't know for sure what happened that night. You've denied it, and I denied it. I had just signed the contract to work with Delaney, and I knew that the press were outside my door. Delaney doesn't care about her reputation, so I figured that a few pictures with her would throw the heat off you."
Addilyn stared at him as if she couldn't figure out whether or not he was lying to her. Deep down, he knew that she would always doubt him, and it was probably better that way. Taking a step towards her, he slipped his hands under her sweatshirt and spanned her waist with his hands. "There are no reporters out there now," he whispered. When she didn't push him away, he sighed and leaned down to kiss her. He'd only meant for it to be a gentle kiss, something to leave her with before he said goodbye, but as soon as his lips touched hers, as soon as he heard her sexy little moan, he lost it.
As her mouth opened under his and his tongue swept in, he pushed her hard against the counter. His cock hardened instantly, and he knew that he couldn't leave her without feeling her wrapped around him one last time. It was selfish, and in the end, it would only make things harder, but he couldn't help it.
Her skin was so smooth and silky beneath his calloused fingers, but she reacted to each touch like she loved it. Pulling at his shirt, he let her slip it over his head. When she traced her delicate fingers over his tattoos, he stiffened. "I was beaten pretty regularly," he said darkly. "The street that I grew up on was overrun with a gang, and they didn't appreciate it when I wouldn't join them. When my father died, they assumed that I'd finally turn to them, but I didn't, and they took a knife to me."
"Kade," she whispered. "God."
"The images don't mean anything, but I needed the tattoos to own the scars. I needed to turn them into something to remind myself that I could turn myself into something." No one knew that except for Christopher, and he thought it would kill him to tell someone. Staring at Addilyn, he waited for her pity.
Instead, she just smirked. "Don't lie. I know you just did it because you heard that women find scars and tattoos irresistible."
Chuckling hoarsely, he played with the waistband of her pants. She had to know that this was the last time. She had to realize that he was a bastard, and when she pushed him away, he felt a tiny bit of relief.
"Addilyn, I--" the apology died in his throat when she turned her back on him and unsnapped her bra. When she hooked her thumbs under the waist of her pants and lowered them slowly, bending at the waist, his mouth went completely. And when she spread her legs before slowly rising up and giving him a heated look over her shoulder, he wasn't sure he'd ever been so painfully hard in his life.
"Were you about to say something?" she whispered as she backed up to the table. Using the palms of her hands, she lifted her whole body up until she could scoot on the surface.
"I was just about to tell you how much I fucking love that table. Big. Sturdy. Best goddamn table I've ever seen," he growled as he stalked towards her and lowered the zipper of his pants.
"You should test it pretty rigorously," she said as she knocked her knuckles playfully against the wood. "I want to make sure that it's a keeper."
When he reached her, he acted purely on the primal desire that curled low in his belly. Jerking her up against him, he kissed her hard. He'd wanted to spend hours tasting her, loving her, making her scream, but when he pressed his fingers against her sweet pussy, she drenched his fingers, and he couldn't wait a second longer.
Stepping between her legs, he rolled her nipple between his finger and thumb and licked the skin of her neck. "I wanted to taste you again. I wanted to lick every inch of your skin. I want--"
"Next time," she said breathlessly. "Please, Kade. I can't wait. These past few weeks, not touching you, I nearly lost my mind."
There won't be a next time. Almost angrily, he slippe
d inside her and gasped as her muscles clenched around him. There wasn't anyone in the world who would fit him the way that she did, who would touch him the way that she did. "Damn it, Addilyn. Damn it."
"Kade." He could see the confusion in her eyes, but he closed his eyes and kissed her again and again as he slid inside her. So sweet. So innocent. He hadn't even realized it was possible to meet someone like her in this business.
She was so much better off without him.
"Please, please, please," she chanted.
"What do you want, Addilyn?" he cried hoarsely. "Tell me what you want from me."
"Make me come, Kade. Please." She sobbed, and he drew in a shaky breath. God, he was so close, and her desperation nearly put him over the edge.
This. He could give her this. Struggling to maintain his control, he gently tugged at her hair until she arched back. Biting gently at her breast, he flicked his tongue over her nipple until her cries escalated and she was bucking against.
"Say my name," he demanded.
Her orgasm rocked her whole body, and his name on her lips was music to her ears. She pushed him over the edge. "Mine," he roared as he reached his own release.
Bracing his weight on the table, he maneuvered a chair with his foot before he could sink into it. Unwilling to let her go just yet, he slid her off the table until she sat astride him and collapsed on his chest.
"I'll take that kind of celebration over champagne any day," she murmured finally. "What do you say we finish that bottle and move this party upstairs. I have a rather large bed."
"Large tables. Large beds. Do I detect a theme here?" he joked weakly.
"You should see my shower." She kissed his chest, and he groaned. Damn, but he did want to see her shower. More specifically, he wanted to see her naked in her shower.
Actually, he wanted to screw her senseless while she was naked in her shower.
Instead, he eased her off his lap and felt like scum. "I have a plane that I have to catch pretty early in the morning," he muttered as he averted his gaze. "I need to catch at least a few hours of sleep."
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