“My brother wants me to come by the studio.” All he had to do was glance the waitress’s way and she started moving like a moth drawn to a flame. She batted her fake eyelashes at him as he handed her his card. Really? Fake lashes this early? “Thanks, sweetheart.”

That was my cue to get going. I should have already been home, maybe even hop back in bed for a few more hours of sleep. But part of me was torn. I didn’t want to say goodbye to him yet.

“I need to get home. I have a few pictures I need to edit before I send them to The Morning Global .” I pulled my wallet from my gym bag sitting at my feet and tossed a few bills on the table for a tip. If he was paying for our food, I was at least covering that much.

Standing, I pulled the strap of the purple and pink gym bag over my shoulder. “Thanks for breakfast.”

He slowly got to his feet. The waitress had returned with his card and a receipt. He quickly scribbled his name across the bottom and left it on the table, completely ignoring the girl as she just stood there with her chest sticking out and her lips all pouty. I nearly laughed at the way she was looking at him as I walked past her.

Did girls really think that was sexy? I knew that my stepsister did, and she had caught more than a few guys in her web with that look alone. I thought it looked cheap and more than a little ridiculous.

“Bye, Shane.” I called over my shoulder as I reached the door.

“Wait!”

I stopped just outside. The streets weren’t as crowded now that most people were at work, but I still had to move to the side so I wasn’t blocking the flow of pedestrians walking by.

Shane had his phone in one hand and his wallet in the other as he stepped through the door. “Have dinner with me tonight.”

That was not what I was expecting him to stop me for. I frowned at him, sure that he was just playing with me. “Why?”

“Because I like spending time with you. You’re fun to hang out with.” He pocketed his wallet.

“I like hanging out with you too,” I told him honestly. He really was fun to just sit and talk to. Even though I was fighting a seriously big attraction to him, he made me feel comfortable. That wasn’t something that I experienced often with a guy.

“Good.” His grin was infectious and without hesitating I returned it. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

With a sigh I gave in. “Okay. But I’m not dressing up. Can we just grab some Chinese or something?”

“Whatever you want, beautiful. Now give me your number.”

Without thinking, I recited the number and seconds later my cellphone chimed with a text. Pulling it out of my back pocket, I found his number and a heart on the screen. “Cute.”

He pulled my phone from my fingers and started typing something in. I heard the camera click and figured that he was programing his number and picture ID.

“That’s better,” he murmured, then pulled me into his arms, turned me around, and snapped a picture of us together with his own phone.

I was sure that I was grinning like an idiot, but that didn’t matter. His head was still resting on my shoulder. I turned toward him just a little and his slight scruff rubbed against my cheek. After a moment he finally pulled back, but not before I felt his nose nuzzle against my ear.

“I’ll see you at seven,” his voice sounded a little deeper, huskier.

I cleared my throat, clearly affected from feeling his warm breath on my neck. “Okay.” 

Chapter 3

Shane

The line outside the studio was ridiculously long. I saw people with small tents and sleeping bags. Fast food bags littered the ground, and I smelled burgers frying on a tiny portable grill.

I paid the cab driver and stepped out at the front of the long line. Two security guards stood at the doors, along with a thin man with a clip board and a head set. Figuring the little man was in charge, I headed for him.

Of course the first five people in line were female and they noticed who I was even in my hat, sunglasses, and workout clothes. The first one screamed as I walked closer, which sent the rest of the females behind her into a frenzy. The little man frowned at me like I was dirt on his shoes. “You will have to go to the back of the line with everyone else.”

“ Shane!”

“ I love you, Shane!”

The chorus of fans screaming my name was the first thing to alert the guy of his mistake. When I pulled off my Boston Red Sox’s hat, he straightened and gave me a warmer greeting. “Mr. Stevenson. We weren’t expecting you.”

I shrugged. “My brother asked me to stop by.”

“ Shane!”

I shot the still screaming girls my seductive smile, the one that always got me what I wanted. “Hey, ladies. Are you having a good time?”

“It would be better if you stayed.” The second girl in line pouted at me. She was for sure a little hottie, with her long dark hair and blue streaks. She had a body that I could have gotten lost in for an hour or so.

But for once I didn’t take up the invite. If anything, I felt a little disgusted as she rubbed her hand over her curves in an open invitation. “Sorry, sweetheart. I have some business to take care of.”

The little man spoke into his headset, and a moment later one of the security guards showed me into the building. It was lunch time, or so it would seem. Even though I had just eaten, I was still starving. I hadn’t even tasted my breakfast because I had been so into Harper.

The security guard, a guy that looked like he would be right at home in a pro wrestling ring, stopped outside of a door. I nodded my thanks as I walked into the audition room. I took a moment to take in the occupants of the room while they were busy listening to some guy attempt to sing some song he had supposedly written himself.

I was familiar with Cole Steel. He was a legend and I had all of Steel Entrapment’s albums. We had even toured with the guy and his band when we first started out. A cancer scare had ended his career, but he was still deep in the music world with other ventures.

Beside of him sat one of my closest friends outside of my band brothers. I loved Axton Cage just as much as anyone in my family and was glad that he had finally seen the light and dumped Gabriella Moreitti once and for all. She had tied him in knots for the duration of their off and on relationship, not to mention made Emmie’s friendship with the guy strained because of all the lies she had told Em about Nik.

My brother sat to Axton’s right and he looked anything but happy to be there. He was barely paying attention to the guy with the shaky voice, who was just about to piss himself he was so nervous. Drake was doodling something, and I had a feeling it would be something with wings and halos. I felt bad for my brother. He was my hero, the man that had always had my back even at the expense of himself.