Play Me : A Standalone Romance (Spotlight Collection Book 1)

by Cary Hart

  Not waiting for the outcome, I start packing up the rest of our things. If he isn’t going to leave, then we will.

  This trip to the park was just like the rest. Everything was always wonderful until he showed up.

  “Lee Scott,” my father says, not only grabbing Lee’s attention, but mine. “Scott. Scott. Scott.” He taps his chin, eyes narrowing. “Where have I heard that name before?”

  Lee and I just look at each other, wondering what he is up to. We know my mother and his obviously had some kind of connection from our run-in with Sammy-Jo a couple weeks ago, but neither of us pressed her for answers.

  “Have you been in trouble with the law?”

  “No, sir,” Lee quickly replies.

  “Scott. Scott. Samantha Scott.” My father’s eyes widen. “You are Sammy-Jo’s son.”

  There it is.

  “Yes, Mr. Hawthorne, that is correct, but I was—”

  “No need, son. Your mom was just like this one here.” My father snorts. “It’s all coming back to me now. Your grandparents had to raise you while she was off chasing her dreams.” He turns to me. “See, your boyfriend,” my dad seethes, “is a prime example of what happens when you try your hand in that industry. It’s not made for having families.” He glances back to Lee. “Isn’t that right, son?”

  “Mr. Hawthorne, Ellie is nothing like my mother,” Lee spits back.

  “You so sure about that?” My father inhales, then exhales. Being a lawyer, you have to choose your words carefully. This is him contemplating his next move. “Your mother and my wife were the best of friends. Anna wanted a family more than anything, more than music. That is why my daughter,” he jabs his finger in my direction, “had two parents raising her. A mother and father. Your mom? She never wanted a family and especially not a child. Music City was and always will be her life.”

  “Father, what are you getting at?”

  “My daughter here, she’s a selfish one. Her mother and I tried to break her, but it didn’t work. She always thought of herself, much like your mom, Lee.”

  “Your daughter is anything but selfish. She has never put herself before—”

  My father cuts him off. “You didn’t tell him, did you?” He pauses, looking between the two of us, waiting for me to answer a question, but I have no idea what he is asking. “She doesn’t want children.”

  Lee turns toward me. I know he wants to ask me a million questions right now, but he also knows it will make things worse.

  “Mr. Hawthorne, leave.”

  “So, as much as I would like to think she is worth saving. She’s not.” He locks eyes with me. “She. Is. A. Lost. Cause.”

  “Leave!” Lee shouts. “Now!”

  Handing Lee my guitar, I grab the bag. “Lee, let’s just go.”

  “No! We were having a pleasant day until he came up and invaded our spot. He can go.” Lee takes a step closer to my father, his breathing rapid. “Go!”

  “Son, if you want to get technical, we used to bring Eloise here when she was a child, therefore making it our spot.”

  Lee is fuming. If I were to throw water on him, I’m pretty sure it would turn right into steam.

  “Lee.” I tug on his back pocket. “Let’s go.”

  Leaning down, he crashes his mouth onto mine, but it’s more than a kiss. It’s him proving my father wrong. It’s him showing unity. It’s him protecting me.

  “Okay. Let’s go,” he whispers across my lips. “Home.”

  It’s funny how life works. How you can grow up in a house with two parents, but it never feels like home.

  Lee, he’s my family now. My home.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Lee

  It’s been a crazy couple of days but today will be better, or at least according to Ellie it will be, because it’s taco Tuesday.

  “Tacos make everything better!”

  Working side by side, Kyle and I tag team a stack of invoices accounting had issues with. Apparently, we were double-billed by the landscaper and not charged enough by electrical, which eventually would have come back to bite us in the ass.

  Flipping through the next stack I come across an invoice from Hawthorne and Hawthorne, Attorneys at Law.

  “What do you know about them?” I hold up the paper for Kyle to see.

  “Well they are a pair of egotistical assholes, but they are the best at what they do.” He takes the invoice and throws it to the side. “Why?”

  “Well, I had a run-in with one of them at the park. It’s Ellie’s dad.”

  I use the term dad loosely. The way he used his words to attack isn’t a man who respects his daughter. From what I know, Ellie has lived her life, for the most part, for him.

  “Oh hell.” Kyle exhales loudly. “What are you going to do?”

  Great, even Kyle knows there could be trouble.

  “She doesn’t have a relationship with him. He more or less cut her off and kicked her out.”

  After our little outing, Ellie and I went back to my place where we just lay on the couch and chilled. Every now and then she would fill me in a little more on what took place with her parents. I didn’t push. I know something about having to tell a difficult story. It takes time.

  “That’s a rough one, but I’ll tell you this. It’s my only advice I have for you.” He spins around, his chair now facing mine. “As shitty as that situation was for her, that is still her mom and her dad. As dysfunctional as it seems, she needs them.” He smacks me on the back and stands. “That’s all I got. Good luck.”

  “That’s it? That’s your advice?” I lean over and bang my head against the desk. “He sucks. How can I encourage a relationship with him?”

  “You don’t. You encourage forgiveness. You don’t have to ask for it to receive it.” Kyle grabs his keys and slides his hard hat back on before opening the door. “You need to forgive to move on.”

  And just like that Kyle is gone, but his words linger.

  I’m late and finding a place to park at Spotlight is becoming damn near impossible. Rebel Desire, a huge band, stopped in while passing through town on their US tour to play a short set for a local charity. All proceeds are going to Healing Hope, a shelter for domestic abuse victims.

  After my third circle around the block, my phone begins to ring.

  “Hello?”

  “You still coming?” Ellie seems more excited than normal.

  “Yeah. Just trying to find a place to park.”

  “I forgot! Cash Knight is here. I mean the band is, but hello!” She sighs dreamingly.

  I belt out a laugh. “Should I be worried?”

  “Hell no. You are freaking Presley Aaron Scott.” Her saying my full name doesn’t seem so bad. If I were to be honest, I kind of like it. “Oh wait! Maybe you should come around back so you don’t get mobbed. I want you all to myself,” she purrs.

  “Okay, now I know you are full of shit.”

  “Seriously, come around back.”

  “Heading that way now.” I turn into the lot, trying not to hit all the fans chanting for Rebel Desire.

  “I can’t believe I never thought to tell you to park there. The spot belongs to me.”

  Thirty minutes, that is how long I have been driving around, but there is no need to tell her that. She would just feel bad and this is something neither of us could control.

  “No worries. I know now—well shit!” I bang the steering wheel.

  “What’s wrong?” Her voice is laced with concern.

  “Some Mercedes is parked in your spot,” I say as I pull into the fire lane.

  “Just tell them to move. They don’t have a right to park there.”

  “I will. See you in a few minutes.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  The phone automatically hangs up and I throw the vehicle into park and open my door, but when I do, the Mercedes door opens and Ellie’s father steps out. He points to my passenger side.

  Getting back in, I close my door and wait for him.
/>   “It took you long enough to get here.” Her father doesn’t waste any time starting with the insults.

  What the hell?

  “I followed you from the lumber yard,” he says, climbing in. “Number one sign. Serious boyfriends know where to park. She ‘forgot,’ didn’t she?”

  “You act like she has been living here for years. Plus, she doesn’t have a vehicle. Out of sight out of mind,” I give it back to him. There is no need for me to hold back now. Ellie isn’t here.

  “I’m going to cut the bullshit. Your relationship with my daughter can end in two ways.”

  “That’s not happening,” I cut in.

  “Son, let me finish.” He reaches over clasping a hand on my shoulder. “Hear me out.”

  “Five minutes or Ellie will come looking for me,” I warn him.

  “Two ways.” Mr. Hawthorne holds up two fingers like this is some kind of school lesson. “First. She will either stay with you, live a happy life. I give it maybe two years, but then she will get the urge. Playing locally won’t be enough. She will need more, but you can’t give her that, can you? You will want kids, she will keep putting it off. Fighting will start and then eventually she will leave, accusing you of holding her back.”

  I can’t help but nod at his words. I don’t agree, but I’m taking it in, trying to respect the man enough to let him make his point before I face him with reality.

  “Two. You play the supportive boyfriend. You make her believe she can do anything she sets her mind to and you will always be there to support her. So, she does just that. She takes on the world, they see her talent, they sign her, she records an album, then the tour. But wait, where does that put you?”

  “We will make it work,” I sputter.

  “Will you? ’Cause if it’s number one you fall under, you’re screwed. Number two? Well, your grandmother puts a huge damper on that doesn’t it?”

  “You know nothing,” I shout, my finger in his chest. This man isn’t going to tell me about my life. It’s mine.

  He holds his hands up. “Hey, I’m trying to help you out. Save you from a life of shattered hopes and dreams.” He laughs. “Okay maybe that was a little dramatic. We aren’t in a courtroom.”

  “No, we are not.”

  “Listen, if it is the second scenario, you can’t follow. Your life is here, with your Grans. Isn’t that what you call her?”

  “Not that I owe you an explanation, but I filled out an application for Lavender Springs Care Center and my mom is back. She’s been helping—”

  “Excuse me for interrupting.” He holds up a hand to stop me. “But Sammy-Jo is the least reliable person there is. Like I said before, she and my daughter are cut from the same cloth. They get bored easily. They need more.”

  Her father hit me with a low blow. How can I argue with him when I’ve had those same thoughts?

  “I realize this is hard for you, son, but I’m here to make it easier for you.” He reaches into his inside suit pocket and pulls out a check book. “I know that Lavender Springs is pretty damn expensive. So, I’m going to cut you a check for a hundred thousand dollars to help pay for her expenses, in exchange for you to leave my daughter alone.”

  “No!”

  “Fine, you’re a smart kid from the wrong sides of the track. Greed suits you.” He waggles his finger at me. “I like it.” He voids the check. “How about a quarter of a million?” He begins to write it out, watching me out of the corner of his eye. “Yeah. You like that don’t you?”

  “I don’t need your money.” I narrow my eyes and try to fight back, but there is no winning with him.

  “Sure you do.” He rips out the check and waves it around for me to take it, but I don’t.

  “I do not. I have a job and I’m working on a project that will pay for a couple years of housing.” I say the words with pride.

  Because of my grandparents I learned the value of my worth. I have worked hard for everything I have. I got the job and I worked my ass off to prove myself. I did this!

  “Then what?”

  “What do you mean?” I crinkle my brow, confused to what he is getting at.

  “Then what? You follow her to Nashville? What happens when the money runs out? You expect her to support you? Pay for your grandmother’s living expenses?”

  “Yes. I mean no! I don’t know.”

  “Exactly. Just because she goes to Nashville, doesn’t mean she will hit it big. She may not be able to support herself, let alone you and your baggage.”

  “I-I’m not leaving your daughter.”

  “Okay, obviously you need time for this to sink in.” He rolls his eyes. “How about I leave this with you.” He opens my glove box and places the check inside. “Just remember. The one condition is you let Ellie go.”

  And just like that, he’s gone. In his car, backing out, and I’m left here with the weight of the world on my shoulders.

  The money doesn’t matter. What I have coming is enough to secure us a few years. Until we can figure out the rest together.

  He may have given up on her, but I refuse to leave the one girl who stayed for me.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Ellie

  I can’t believe it’s finally happening. Everything I have wanted is going to be a reality.

  My reality.

  After reviewing my contract, I knew I had to renegotiate or decline the offer. The requirement to relocate to Nashville was not an option. I know, it was always supposed to be a part of my journey, but maybe now I want more. Maybe, just maybe, it was more about the escape than the dream. Here I have both.

  I guess my mother’s letter made me see exactly that. Did she have a passion for music? Yes. However, her love for her family was greater, and even though my father is the biggest douche known to mankind, she still loved him. She wasn’t afraid of him. He didn’t talk down to her or treat her like shit. He worshiped her. That, I could never fault my dad for. He was a great husband, just a shitty father.

  But my mother’s words stick with me. “Your father loves you the best way he knows how.” Is this how he loves me? Why can’t he love me a different way? One where he is proud and lets me explore my talents?

  He’s scared.

  Her letter made so much sense and seeing him at the park just verified that. He’s not the strong, in-control man I thought he was. No, he is one who hides behind his words, an armor to protect him from what he can’t control.

  I couldn’t be controlled.

  He thought he had the upper hand by showing me this “tough love” he talked about, but he underestimated me and the shock on his face proved just that. I guess I assumed since I was playing at Spotlight that word would get back to him. I was wrong.

  I can’t let my father get to me. Tonight is taco Tuesday! When there are tacos, the world is right. So, dammit, let today be good. Plus, I’m cooking, and I don’t cook. Actually, I can’t. I think tacos and spaghetti are the extent of my menu. Lee is the one who keeps our bellies full.

  Glancing at my phone, I notice that Lee is late. He’s never late so I give him a call and he quickly reminds me Rebel Desire is playing tonight. I love me some Cash Knight, but not at the cost of not being able to see my man. Give me my Lee.

  I do feel bad that I forgot I had a parking spot. All this time Lee had to either walk a few blocks or pay for parking. Money he could have been saving.

  A light rap on the door is a welcome distraction.

  Lee.

  Swinging the door open, I get ready to launch myself at him, but instead of walking in he says, “My name might not be Taco Bell, but I sure can spice up your night.”

  I just stand there.

  “No?” he smiles. “How about this one.” He clears his throat. “Hey girl, can you make my soft taco hard?” His lips are tight, trying to not laugh at his own line.

  “Get your ass in here.” I wave him in.

  “How was your day?” Lee pulls me to him. Walking us backward, he kicks the door shut.
>
  “It was good. I have some news,” I tease him about the offer that is sitting on the coffee island.

  “Mmm hmm.” He begins to nuzzle my neck. “I missed you.”

  “I missed you, too.”

  “Shh, I’m talking to someone here. Oh, you missed my kisses? Well, let me fix that.” He begins to nibble his way up to my ear before he whispers, “I love you.”

  “You’re crazy.” I push him away. “But I love you anyway.”

  I go over to stir the meat once before I begin to plate up our food. “So, did that guy give you a hard time?”

  Lee freezes.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” He coughs. “How about a margarita?”

  “Lee? Are you okay?” I set everything down and head over to the little bar set up in the kitchen. I wrap my arms around him from behind.

  “Yeah. Of course. I just thought we should have some margaritas with the tacos,” he replies, not even bothering to look at me.

  “Okay.” I drop my hands and back away. I can’t force Lee to talk

  to me. Something happened and I’m not sure what it is, but if I keep pressing, I could make it worse. Especially if it has to do with his mom or Grans.

  “I do have some news,” I say again, hoping it will brighten the mood a little.

  “Oh really?” He walks over to me, handing me a margarita before he takes a seat on the other side of the island.

  “Yeah. It’s a couple things really.” I take a sip of my margarita, which is heavy on the tequila. “Wow! Trying to get me drunk?”

  “Well, you know.” He winks.

  Okay, fun Lee is making a comeback. Good sign of a better night to come.

  “Anywho, I talked to Rain today. Apparently, her parents decided that she needed an eco-friendly car so she is selling hers.”

  “That’s great! Have tips been good?” He reaches across the bar, grabbing his plate and adding all the fixings.

  “Yeah, really good. I should have enough to pay for it and still put some back for later.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  I catch Lee eyeing the contract sitting just a couple feet from him.