They all began talking, this time at her.
“C’mon, babe. Whatever you have to say, whether it is a popular opinion or not, might make us decide what we need to do,” Garrett told her.
She knew that she shouldn’t do this, but she was sick of hearing them fight, and they had been doing it for too long. She wanted to get out of here and spend some more time with her husband. Carefully, she bit her lip, considering how she needed to say this. “If you’re wanting to move away from your old sound, then you’re not doing it with this song.”
“So you’re saying it’s too much like our old stuff?” Brad pumped his fist in the air. He’d been arguing that.
She nodded, cutting her dark eyes over to where Garrett sat. She was going against his opinion, and she hoped he could respect that. He gazed openly at her, but nodded as their eyes met.
“I’m beating a dead horse?” he questioned.
“You are. You wanted this one to be different, and while it is, it’s not different enough. Not in my opinion. It sounds like a watered-down version of the music that all the fans love.”
He smirked at her. “Damn, baby, just tell me what you really think.”
The room laughed because she had.
“But you guys do what you want,” she quickly added. “I mean, it’s your record, it’s not mine, and it’s not the fans. It’s yours.”
Her alarm on her phone went off, and she sighed. She had hoped they would be done by now. “I hate do this to you guys, but I’ve got to go meet with the photographer and take some shots for my new promo pictures and stuff.”
“You going by yourself?” Garrett asked. It was going on seven at night, and while it wasn’t unusual for shoots to be done at night, he didn’t want her going by herself. Especially given that this photographer was a man.
“Nope,” she smiled. “Stacey’s coming with, but I’ve got to get out of here if I’m gonna have time to pick her up.”
She said her goodbyes, kissing her husband on the cheek before she left. As she always did before she drove in California traffic, she sat in the car for a few minutes, giving herself a pep talk. This would all be okay.
* * *
“You want me to wear what?” Hannah glanced at the outfit the stylist held up, trying to keep her eyes from popping out of her head.
“You’ll look hot in it, and you’re the wife of a rocker now. You can pull it off. Besides, I listened to some of the new stuff. It definitely has a more rocking sound to it, a harder edge. You’re a gorgeous woman, embrace it.”
This stylist was insane, Hannah was sure of that. Shaking her head, she took the outfit into the dressing room and began putting it on. This type of look had never been her thing, but maybe she needed to expand. Maybe now that she was married, she wouldn’t mind looking sexy.
“C’mon, Han, it’s just an outfit,” she told herself, disrobing.
Fishnet stockings were something she’d never once in her life worn before this moment, but she dutifully pulled them over her bare legs. Same with the leather miniskirt. She turned around; checking herself out in the mirror, making sure everything was covered. One wrong move and she would be showing parts of herself that she only wanted Garrett to see, but it looked good, if she did say so herself. Grabbing the clothing pack that the stylist had given her, she pulled out a hot pink bra and had to blink at the brightness of it.
“Wow,” she laughed.
Once that was on, she grinned slightly as a thought popped into her head. She grabbed her cell phone and took a picture in the mirror, sending it to Garrett. She felt a little evil and wondered what he would have to say about this. Next, she grabbed what appeared to be a black tank top, along with a cropped motorcycle jacket. The tank top came down low, showing the top of the hot pink lace, and the motorcycle jacket covered up the gaping holes in the side.
Looking at herself, she had to admit that she did like it. The stylist had done her hair in corkscrew curls, and her makeup was dark to match the outfit. Her cell made a noise, and she bent down to pick it up from where she had dropped it.
Please tell me you’re wearing a fucking shirt, and can you, for the love of all that’s holy, wear that home? Especially after you sided with everyone else during our conversation about the new song.
She threw her head back, laughing loudly. Leave it to her husband to get to the heart of all he really wanted to know. She quickly texted back that she wasn’t sure if they would give her the clothing from this shoot. Normally they did, but she didn’t want to make it that easy on him.
“You ready, Harmony?” the stylist asked from outside the door.
“Give me just a sec,” she yelled back as she put on the stiletto heels they’d also given her. A deep breath fortified her courage, and she stepped out. “How does it look?” she turned around in a circle.
“Hot. I’m glad you let me do what I wanted to do with you. You have such great muscle tone; it shows you aren’t afraid to eat, and that’s sexy. Thank you,” the other woman grinned.
Hannah didn’t know if she was being hit on or not, so she smiled back and walked towards the photography set. The guys in attendance, along with Stacey, whistled loudly. She blushed but turned in a circle and did a curtsy anyway. “Thank you! You’re great for a girl’s self-esteem.”
“We ready to get to work?”
She nodded. “We are, Damien.”
He was one of the top music photographers at the moment, and she was more than excited to work with him. It wasn’t easy to get an appointment, but he was a huge Black Friday fan and saw it as an honor to shoot Reaper’s wife. She would take it however she could get it, and if that meant using her wedding ring, she would. Garrett had laughed when she told him that.
“Okay, Harmony, give me heat,” he told her as he directed her on how to sit. This time it was with her legs crossed, her arms propped up behind her. Damien stood on a ladder, shooting her from over top.
She turned her head to the side, a slow smile spreading over her face as she saw Garrett standing next to Stacey. His tattooed arms were held in front of his chest, and she could see that his muscles bulged slightly against the tightness of the T-shirt.
“That’s it Harmony, that’s what I want to see,” Damien encouraged her.
Garrett’s eyes met hers, and she was pretty sure that the temperature in the room went up about thirty degrees. Her arms were getting tired, so she casually let herself drop to her elbows, turning her head so that she now looked at the camera. She threw her head back, exposing her throat. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine that Garrett was right there with her, and it made it easier to turn on the heat that Damien wanted so badly.
“You’re gorgeous,” he told her, as he snapped away. “Can you arch your back, just a little, not overly so. We’re not going for pornographic here.”
She giggled, opening her eyes as she did her best to arch her back in the way that he was describing.
“There, that’s great, I love that little look of mischief you have. Keep going, you’re a natural.”
It was easy to pose for his pictures, because he knew exactly what to say to her, and it didn’t make her self-conscious. She wished she’d had him on every photo shoot from the last four years.
“Okay, just need a few more shots,” he told her. Glancing to the side, he spotted Reaper. “You think we can get your husband in on these?”
They had never really done pictures together that were posed, except for their wedding pictures, and those had been done quickly. She would love to do this with him. Crooking her finger at him, she beckoned him over. “You wanna pose for a few with me?
“In that outfit? Fuck yes,” he answered, grinning brightly.
They called a makeup person over who gave him a quick touchup, and then he had a seat on the prop that Hannah had been leaning against.
“Okay, Harmony, I want you to stand in front of him with your back to his chest. I want some romance, you two are newlyweds.”
Garrett
clasped one of her hands at her stomach and then carefully placed one hand at her thigh, slightly pushing the skirt up. It wasn’t indecent, but it still caused Hannah’s breath to catch. She could feel the heat coming from his body, and she couldn’t help but look partially behind her shoulder at him, closing her eyes.
“That’s it, you two, pretend like I’m not even here,” Damien told them as he continued snapping away.
Hannah’s eyes lowered as she saw him moving in closer to her. She felt the slight brush of his lips against the back of her neck and smiled slowly, using her other hand to clasp it around his thigh.
They were lost in their own little world as they continued to touch each other, sometimes softly, sometimes with more force. Garrett whispered words into her ear, causing her to blush and giggle, and at some point, she turned so that she sat on his lap. It was the most fun she’d had with him in front of someone who wasn’t a part of their inner circle.
All too soon, Damien stopped snapping and laughed at the two of them. “You’re gonna explode my camera lens. You can definitely tell the two of you have chemistry. Thank you for sharing it with me.”
“Hey, man, can you send me some of those?” Garrett asked, his voice quieter than normal.
“Sure thing. You have a gorgeous wife, and together the two of you are smoking. I would love to photograph you for an art magazine if either of you are ever interested. Just keep it in mind.”
They both nodded as they made their way off set.
“I kinda feel like he’s asking us to do a porno,” Garrett whispered.
She laughed so hard she snorted before going into the dressing room and changing back into her street clothes.
“Don’t forget to bring that outfit home with ya. We might make it our own,” he reminded her.
In answer, she threw the bra over the door at him, smirking when he whistled. Coming out here and spending time with him was one of the best decisions she had ever made.
Chapter Ten
* * *
“I can’t believe I’m leaving tomorrow.”
Hearing those words come from Hannah’s mouth cut Garrett to the core. He couldn’t believe their time was already at an end. It felt like this revolving door was never going to stop, and he had to keep himself from going to a place he knew he wouldn’t be able to pull back from. Being pissed on her last night in California would not do either of them any good. He wanted to have good memories to get him through the long eight weeks that would follow.
“Me neither.”
It was hard to fathom that she wouldn’t be lying here in this exact spot with him tomorrow night. They were on the balcony, spread out on the lounger there. He could hear the ocean and knew if he bothered to open his eyes, he would be able to see the moon reflecting off of the water.
“You sure you’re not going to get in trouble for not recording tonight?” she asked as she snuggled closer, sighing when his arms tightened around her.
“Really don’t give a fuck if they’re mad. I told them you’re leaving tomorrow. I figure they should know what the hell that means.”
They were quiet for a few minutes before she cleared her throat. “As soon as I get back to Nashville, I’m going to be running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I start tour rehearsals the day after tomorrow. I heard from Shell today, they approved the CD and the photography that Damien took. They’re moving forward with releasing at the end of the month, and then the first full week of October, I go on tour.”
He worried about her, that she was pushing herself and it was for him. “I don’t want you to kill yourself with this schedule.”
She sighed. “I keep thinking that once it’s over, I get a full year and a half with you. It’s worth it. You know being tired and rundown is a part of this business and it’s something that we can’t help most of the time. I’ll be tired everyday if it means I can spend more time with you.”
When she spoke those words, it gutted him. It felt like he wasn’t going the extra mile like she did. “I hate that if feel like you put more into this marriage than I do. It makes me feel like a shitty husband and less of a man,” he admitted.
“It’s easier for me. I don’t have to clear my schedule with three other people. I can make my own decisions without getting it cleared, for the most part, and then when I’m ready to go, I only have to get one or two plane tickets. I don’t mind making the sacrifice. Besides,” she kissed his jawline, “you surprise me all the time. This isn’t going to be permanent.”
Everything she said, he knew as true, but it didn’t make the situation any easier in his eyes. “Fuckin’ hate this.”
“Don’t be a Negative Nathan on our last night together for a while. We both knew what we were getting into when we decided to do this. We either work at it or we let it fall apart.”
“Talk about a role reversal.” He grinned at her. “Usually I’m the one telling you to let it go.”
She shrugged, smirking. “I’m workin’ on it.” She turned serious. “What’s going on with you? You’re never like this.”
“I don’t know.” He ran his hand through his hair. It was getting longer now that they were recording. It was kind of a superstitious thing that he didn’t cut it while they were in the studio. “I have a bad feeling and I don’t know why, I don’t know what about. I just don’t want you to get on that plane and go away from me tomorrow.”
“I have to, Garrett.” She kissed his neck sweetly. “I don’t have a choice.”
“I wish I was rich enough to buy you out of your contract.”
Hannah laughed. “That would be awesome, if we even had that much money together. I’m sure if we sold our houses, cars, and got all of our stock options together that we could. I don’t want to quit forever though, just for a few years to experience life. Who knows, maybe I won’t want to go back to it and we’ll have to see what can be done. We don’t know the future.”
She was right, they didn’t know the future, but he knew that he didn’t want to let her go. He didn’t want to spend the next eight weeks trying to find five minutes here and there to call her. Knowing that they didn’t have a choice didn’t make it better.
“It’s because I’ve been here,” she whispered. “It’s always harder when you leave me. I cry for hours, especially after I take you the airport.”
“You seem fine, every damn time,” he accused.
“What good is it to let you know how bad it tears me up, when you have no choice? All it would do would be to make you feel like crap. I don’t want that for you, so I hold it together until you get on the plane and I get out to my car. It’s hard and it gets harder every time. It is what it is. We can’t change it right now, no matter how much we both might want to.”
“This sucks,” he laughed. “We’re both at the top of our games in our own musical genres, and our asses have to go and fall in love.”
“We can’t help when we fall in love.”
He allowed her to clasp their hands together and entwine their fingers. In truth, he loved when she held his hand like that; it made him feel more connected to her. “I’m sorry that I’m having such a girl moment. This isn’t like me at all.”
“I know that too, but at the same time, we’ve had a heck of a lot happen to us since we met. We’ve not known each other for a year yet and we’re already married. You have to admit, we’ve done things at a crazy pace.”
Slinging his arm around her neck, he pulled her to him, burying his face in her hair and breathing deeply. “Eight weeks, right?”
“Eight weeks,” she confirmed. “Eight more weeks and then I’m with you for over a year. It’s been approved, I’ve executed my clause, and nothing can stop it, not even legal action. This is mine to do with what I want. What I want is to follow you around and be your own personal groupie,” she giggled.
“My own personal groupie, huh?” he raised his eyebrows.
“I’ve never been a groupie before, but I would love to be yours.” She giggled ag
ain.
He couldn’t tell if she was being serious or not, so he decided to see what she would do. Instead of bemoaning the fact that she wouldn’t be here, he wanted to bury himself inside of her and forget about what they had to face. Garrett licked his lips and lowered his voice. “If you were my groupie, I’d have you bent over that table over there.” He pointed to the coffee table that sat where he sometimes used his laptop.
She cocked her head to the side, not sure if she understood what he was saying to her. “You would, huh?”
“I would.” He nodded, but didn’t say anything else. He wanted her to make the decision on her own, if she wanted to do this or not. He had to admit, he’d often wondered what it would be like to have her the way he’d had other women, but he was scared to tell her that. He didn’t want her to think less of him.
Hannah bit her bottom lip, contemplating if she wanted to do what he was obviously suggesting. It could be fun, and it would definitely make for a memorable last night in California. She wore a tank top and a skirt from where they had gone to dinner with his family earlier. Her brown eyes met his green ones. There she could see that he wanted her to do this, but he wouldn’t pressure her. He wanted this to be her decision and not his. If they were going to do this, it was going to be because she wanted to.
Disentangling herself from his arms, she stood up and kicked her shoes off before walking over towards the table. Once she got there, she looked over her shoulder at him. “Is this where you want me?” The harsh breath that she heard from him was enough to convince her that she wanted to do this; she loved to see his control slip, even if it wasn’t fully.
“Down on your knees and face forward,” he told her.
Hannah could hear him behind her as she kneeled. He had gotten up off the lounger and was walking towards her. She closed her eyes, wanting to experience this fully. She could feel the heat from his body as he came up directly behind her. Goosebumps appeared on her arms and her nipples hardened as she heard him work the belt that he wore then the slip of his zipper; even the sound of the material of his pants dropping caused moisture to pool at her core. This was exciting her way more than she’d thought it would. After a moment, she heard him lower so that he was also on his knees, but even on his knees he was much taller and bigger than she was.
The Price of Love (Rockin' Country Book 2) Page 6