Made in Nashville: HarperImpulse Contemporary Romance (10 page)

Honor stifled a yawn. The whole day had worn her down. She was so tired.

‘Honor, Honor come over here. The photographer wants to do a quick shoot with you and Dan.’

Radley Stokes’ voice cut through the party atmosphere like a loud hailer in church. The words sliced into her and she gripped her water glass and made no acknowledgement. Perhaps if she made out she hadn’t heard he’d simply go away or she could quickly sidle out of here. She should have expected it. The scarred singer and the new voice. It was publicity gold.

‘Honor!’ Radley called again.

Her eyes caught movement in her peripheral. Jeans, a chain hanging from the belt loop, a black leather jacket over a gray Lynyrd Skynyrd t-shirt. His leather biker boots trod the plush carpet. Jared Marshall was heading towards her.

Her heart upped its pace as she watched him draw closer. He was here, at the party and suddenly she was a ball of nervous, excited energy.

‘Doll, the record company dude is calling for you,’ Mia informed, nudging her elbow.

She heard but she didn’t move or speak. She was too busy staring at Jared, mentally trying to talk her cheeks out of burning up.

‘Holy Moly, it’s the freaking knight in leather armor,’ Mia stated, her head turning in Jared’s direction.

As each step brought him nearer, Honor experienced something inside of her changing, spiraling, altering shape and motion. It was passion. It was heat. It had been over a year since she’d dated and ten since she’d felt anything close to this. Close, but nothing like it. He was raw. He was deep. He was dangerous. But underneath the harsh exterior she had seen something else. Someone loyal, someone soft and true. His appearance might make everyone, including her, a little weak but it wasn’t his looks that made her heart sing.

‘Hey,’ he greeted, reaching her.

‘Hi,’ she replied. Her hand went immediately to her hair.

‘Ho hey,’ Mia added. ‘I’ll just go find that cute waiter and get me a refill.’ He saw Mia give Honor an elaborate wink.

His heart was thudding so hard he could feel it in his neck as well as his chest. He was acting entirely on impulse and the beer he’d had. He wasn’t drunk, far from it; in fact he felt a clarity he’d not had in a long time.

‘I’m not here to apologize,’ he stated, his eyes locking on hers.

‘Apologize?’ She looked confused. He’d convinced himself, despite the fact she’d joined in with the performance, that she’d be angry he’d invaded the stage and forced her into an uncomfortable situation.

‘For droppin’ in on ya. For
Trapped by Love
,’ he elaborated.

She smiled, shook her dark curls. ‘I’m not angry. I know why you did it.’

He watched her gaze shift to Radley Stokes and Dan Steele who were setting up an impromptu photo shoot just yards away. Tables were being moved, urns of flowers turned and replaced at a slightly different angle.

‘It was either steal the limelight back for you or punch him again,’ Jared said, forming a smile on his lips.

She returned the smile then spoke. ‘Take me somewhere.’

The intensity of her expression had his blood pumping. She was nothing like the woman in the barely-there dress who’d just propositioned him. There was no desperation, no full-on flirtation, nothing obvious at all. But right now, he was more turned on than he’d ever been, just talking to her, just being near to her.

‘Where d’you wanna go?’ he asked.

‘Anywhere,’ she whispered.

His breathing quickened as they looked at each other, unmoving, the rest of the room and its occupants fading away.

‘Honor! Could you come and join us over here?’ Radley Stokes’ voice broke the spell.

‘Come on,’ Jared said, holding his hand out to her.

She looked at his hand, the large metal rings on almost every finger and remembered how it had felt in hers on stage at Cody’s. She didn’t hesitate, despite the press presence, taking his hand in hers and letting the warmth enclose around her fingers.

He quickly led her away from Radley and Dan. Stationed just outside the exit was a Yallwire reporter with a camera crew. Jared hesitated and Honor felt his grip on her hand tighten protectively. He headed off to the left, pulling her with him. He came to a stop opposite the fire exit doors. He turned, looking at her.

‘You ready?’

She nodded. Jared pushed down hard on the metal bars. Straight away an ear-splitting high-pitched alarm went off in the function room.

‘Run!’ he yelled, breaking into a sprint.

Honor screamed as she was jolted forward with the speed of his acceleration.

‘Jared! Stop!’ She tried to keep up, her fingers losing their grip on his.

He powered on up the street, passing people, lampposts, until he suddenly broke off and hung a left. He continued on up an alleyway. Honor skidded on her boots, the tarmac wet from the afternoon’s shower. Rain water splattered her jeans.

He stopped and brought her to an abrupt halt against the damp wall of a grimy-looking building. She was perspiring and her heart was racing as she tried to catch her breath.

‘Do you think …  do you think security will follow us?’ she asked him, putting a hand to her chest.

‘No,’ he said, laughing. ‘Just might be pissed if they can’t stop that alarm.’ He took a deep breath, his eyes alight, the sound of his laughter making all Honor’s senses react. She put pressure on his hand with hers, squeezing his fingers, wanting to let him know they were still connected.

She looked at him, longing for him to know how he made her feel. Wanting him to know that no matter what was going on in their lives; she seemed to need him in hers. It wasn’t something she could explain but, right now, she didn’t want to, didn’t need to.

His face, coated in that thin layer of brown stubble that so suited him, moved nearer to her, until she could feel the heat of his breath. She didn’t want this to be a repeat of their moment in his home studio. This time she wanted there to be no question, no doubt, no chance of misunderstanding.

‘Honor.’ The way he rolled her name around his tongue, coating it with that strong Southern accent made her skin prickle with anticipation.

‘I want you to put your hands on me.’

She knew that’s what she had to say to make this happen. Somewhere, behind this redneck boy was an old-fashioned guy who wouldn’t act inappropriately when it came to matters of the heart.

He closed his eyes the second the words were out of her mouth. She knew. She got him. Just like that. His values, the way he lived, the person he wanted to be. Was he ready for this? There was no doubt if he let go now, with Honor, it wouldn’t just be a thing. It would be everything.

‘Jared …  I want you to put your hands on me,’ she repeated. There was an edge of determination to her voice. Her hair had fallen over her face and she was looking at him, her mouth slightly open, her breathing fast.

In one quick move he turned his cap back to front, then placed his palms on the wall either side of her.

She took in a sharp breath as the edges of his leather jacket touched her body through the thin material of her blouse. She gazed up at him, his gray eyes, no longer shrouded by the cap, were wide and full of heat. She shivered, the moisture of the wall seeping through her clothes. She needed to feel his hands on her skin.

He raised a hand and she closed her eyes on instinct. She waited, expected to feel his fingers in her hair. When he touched her she snapped her eyes open and let out a gasp. His index finger was tracing a slow, tender path from the side of her face and along her scar. No one had touched her scar before except her surgeon. No one had wanted to and why should they? It was horrible. It was ugly. It was a disfigurement.

As if reading her mind, he spoke. ‘You’re beautiful, Honor.’

Her whole body melted at that moment and she took hold of his jacket with one hand and forcefully tugged him to her. His body fell against hers and she wound her hands around his neck as his hands lowered onto her shoulders caressing the skin with a heated touch.

She put her hands to his face and held it close to hers, searching with her eyes, looking for the desire she was feeling mirrored in him. She leaned forward, placing a chaste kiss on his lips. It was a start, a test of the waters. His lips were warm, moist, full and smooth, with that stubble over his top lip to roughen things up a little.

She waited, paused, wetting her lips with her tongue, her stomach convulsing and adrenaline pulsing through her veins.

And then he moved. He put one hand in her hair and drew her face towards him. Their mouths met and the longing she felt for him multiplied on contact. It wasn’t anything like she had expected. It was so much more. His free hand found hers and lifted it high, planting her knuckles against the wall. His tongue collided with hers but it wasn’t rough or frenzied, it was sensual, erotic. It was a kiss like no other and she didn’t want it to end.

He pulled away, parting their lips until she reached for him again, pulling him back, moving her mouth back onto his. He lifted her up the wall and she pressed into him, shifting her weight and moving her legs up with the momentum, wrapping them around his body. She drew him closer and could feel how turned on he was. She took his crucifix necklace in her hand and toyed with the chain.

She smelt like summer air after a fresh rainfall, tasted like the purest water with a dash of a sweet something he couldn’t even begin to describe. That’s what Honor Blackwood was to him. Indescribable. Her fingers were working their way down his t-shirt and with every centimeter she covered he got another bolt of arousal. This girl was special. She could break his heart and he could hurt her, but right now they needed each other.

‘Honor,’ he started as her fingers slid up under the fabric and began tracing a pattern upwards and over his abs.

She ignored him, caught his mouth up in another kiss, teasing his tongue with hers. This time she moved her hands downwards, settling on his studded leather belt. As soon as her fingers found the buckle they both stopped. She withdrew her hand, their mouths unlinked. His rapid breath visible in the air he looked at her. Her eyes were glistening, her skin ruddy, her lips swollen and plump. He’d done that to her. There was that shot of lust again. He swallowed, bringing a hand up to her hair and she nestled her head against his hand. The damp darkness of the alleyway suddenly seemed to matter and he took a step back, catching her hand in his.

She straightened her blouse with her free hand, not taking her eyes from him. She didn’t know what happened next. She knew what she wanted to happen but was she really ready for that? The belt buckle had a lot to answer for. As soon as her fingers found it, it was like someone had rung the bell for the end of a boxing round.

‘Listen, I don’t go much on party food and I haven’t really eaten so d’you wanna go get something?’ he suggested.

Her stomach straightaway reminded her of how little she’d consumed and she found herself nodding.

‘I know a great place just down the block from the Sheraton. It’s got a jukebox full of Vince Gill.’

Betty’s Diner was like a step back in time. Booths with tables sporting Formica tops, plastic ketchup and mustard bottles, black and white tiles on the floor and a Wurlitzer jukebox playing George Strait and Alan Jackson.

She’d spent the last hour smiling so much her mouth hurt. And her stomach had some kind of vendetta going on too. It was aching from laughing at Jared’s jokes and from consuming the loaded burger he’d ordered for her.

‘Honor, you’re not gonna be wastin’ that food are ya?’ he remarked, eyeing up her plate.

‘Did you see the size of the darn thing? Is that the sort of portion they have in the Deep South, or wherever it is you’re from?’

‘Alabama,’ he informed. ‘I’m from Wetumpka, Alabama.’

She smiled. ‘You’re so proud of that aren’t you?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’ He smiled back.

‘It’s nice. I wish I had that. Roots. A family, a place I’m attached to, people I’m tied to.’

He reached across the table and took her hand in his.

‘I’ll take you there. If you want to. But I can’t promise you won’t be beggin’ to come back after an hour with my mom, my little sister and brother. Not to mention my cousins and my boys from the farm.’

‘You’re making it sound like
The Waltons
.’

‘You could be Mary-Ellen.’

‘Stop it!’

He smothered another laugh as he picked up his coffee cup. He looked at her over the rim as he drank.

‘Jared, I don’t know … ’ she started.

‘Don’t say anything.’ He paused, his eyes on her. ‘Because I don’t know either.’

She smiled at him. This, despite being unusual, felt like the most natural situation in the world.

He watched her put the straw in her soda to her mouth and suck some up. She was just jaw-dropping beautiful and he couldn’t believe she was here with him.

He didn’t care what Buzz said. He didn’t care what anyone thought. Honor wasn’t a distraction, she was an inspiration.

‘Whatcha gonna do about Dan Steele?’

He’d tried not to but he couldn’t stop his teeth gritting and forming a snarl around the words. His heart was already thudding a rhythm that usually signaled trouble.

He saw her shoulders sag a little and for a second he regretted asking.

‘I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to process it. I mean in one night so much has happened I … ’ She pushed her soda cup away.

‘But you had no idea, right? And he turned up at your big moment and … ’

‘I haven’t thanked you for rescuing me when I was like a moose caught in the headlights.’

‘That wasn’t what I was angling for.’ He pushed his coffee cup away and sat back against the booth, raising his arms and putting his hands to the back of his head.

‘I don’t know what to do. Larry touched on it earlier and it hit a nerve. A raw nerve. And it shouldn’t be raw. He’s in the past, I just … ’

‘He’s a troublemaker,’ Jared interrupted gruffly.

‘People tell me that about you.’ She smiled.

‘And they’d be right. But not like him,’ he stated.

‘I know and him signing with Micro …  I don’t think for a minute it’s about me. He just saw an opportunity and he took it. The same with them. He’s a popular new face, so Mia says. It’s just circumstance.’

‘It’s bullshit.’

‘Yeah, that too,’ she responded, sighing.

‘I still want you on my tour.’

He didn’t know why he’d said that. He hadn’t been thinking about it until the words had come out of his mouth. He had Raintown but why should that matter? Who said you could only have one supporting artist? His tour was four months long and the thought of spending all that time away from Nashville; away from Honor …  he didn’t like it.

‘You never give up, do you?’ She laughed a little and prodded her burger with the fork.

‘I said I wouldn’t.’

‘You also said no pressure.’

‘Did I? Did I really say that?’ He shook his head.

‘I’ll think about it. I need to talk to Larry. I need to sort out how I feel about the ‘Dan Steele situation’. Shit, that’s going to have its own hashtag soon.’

‘Not before Honor and Jed are trendin’ …  not that I really know what trendin’ is. Apparently it’s a good thing.’

She laughed again and settled her eyes on him. When she smiled her eyes brightened and the scar on her face tightened until it all but disappeared. How had this night turned out like this? So right. So perfect. He reached his hands out across the table and turned the palms up, open. She placed her hands on his and he closed them up around hers.

‘I want you to know …  I’ve had the best night,’ he stated.

‘Me too.’

‘So …  are you comin’ on tour with me?’

‘Jared!’

‘Can’t blame a guy for tryin’.’