Page 21 of The Bachelor

Not ready for him to wake up and her to have to make morning-after conversation, she wanted to at least turn down the volume on the phone. Picking it up, she saw the picture that had popped up was Shane with a blonde. He had his arm around her and the name that was on the screen was “Sis.” Which wasn’t weird at all, because clearly he had a sister who was calling him. He had told her that he had two sisters in town. What was off was the woman in the picture was Jolene Hart, the country singer. Avery would recognize her anywhere, with her big blonde hair and wide smile.

The call ended and the picture disappeared and Avery suddenly doubted what she had seen. Maybe that hadn’t been Jolene Hart because come to think of it, the woman in the picture had been wearing jeans and a T-shirt—not a sequin in sight. Plus, Avery was still half-asleep, so she had to be wrong, because if she wasn’t, that would mean Shane’s sister was Jolene Hart and that was just crazy talk. A text message came in, buzzing, and making Avery jump in guilt that she had his phone in her hand. She glanced at Shane again. Still sleeping.

The text was from “Sis.”

Hey! Why aren’t you in the studio? I thought you were coming in today. Wanted to say hi and thank you for being cool with Chance last night. He said y’all had fun.

Another text arrived immediately after the first.

He said you left early and by yourself, so now your sister is worried about you since you’re so late. If you’re dead, let me know. Haha.

Avery dropped the phone back on the nightstand like it was on fire. Could it just be a coincidence that someone who looked like Jolene Hart was talking about a guy named Chance? The real-life Jolene Hart was engaged to Chance Rivers, and they were due to get married any day now. Shane had been at a bachelor party. Avery eased out of the bed, trying desperately not to make any noise.

Oh, Lordy, had she actually slept with Jolene Hart’s brother?

No. That was ludicrous.

Grabbing her dress off the floor, she pulled it on over her head without a bra and winced as she tiptoed across the room. Her girl bits were sore. She thought about what she had done with Shane and she paused, her cheeks burning. That had been some delicious stuff. Way better than anything she could have imagined. She now understood what she had always been told—there was a reason people were always trying to have sex. It felt amazing. No one was lying about that.

She had a feeling she was going to spend the next few days going over and over it again in her head, reliving the pleasure. He had done right by her, no question about that.

But if he was Jolene Hart’s brother, she was going to croak. She found her panties and stepped into them, remembering with both pleasure and mortification how he had ripped them off of her. Grabbing her purse, she went into the bathroom and pulled her phone out. It was simply a matter of doing a search on “Jolene Hart family” and there it was. Parents divorced. A sister, Elle, who did makeup and hair in Nashville. A brother, Shane, age 29.

Avery might have been able to convince herself that the man she’d met was just a liar assuming a persona for the night, except that there were several pictures of him, and yep. The man lying naked in the next room was a well-known music producer, the brother of country’s hottest female star, the future brother-in-law of Chance Rivers, songwriter extraordinaire. Not to mention that Chance was the man Avery thought was her half-brother. She was only two degrees of separation from a blood relative.

How had this happened? Of all the men in Nashville, the one who had stepped forward to save her butt was both rich and famous in the music industry. It was mortifying. Shane was going to think she had slept with him knowing exactly who he was, probably in some effort to further her career. It made her hot and dizzy with embarrassment. He would think she was just an idiot.

It also put a different spin on his own behavior. Was he lying to her so he could sleep with her without any expectations on her part?

As she splashed cold water on her burning cheeks, she reminded herself that Shane hadn’t told her anything about himself that was identifying. He had given her no last name, had mentioned his family and roots without any specifics and had flat-out avoided telling her what he did for a living. He had been the one who had approached her when he saw her in trouble. Maybe he had wanted to stay anonymous, but so what? It wasn’t a stretch to think he had young hopefuls throwing themselves at him on a regular basis because he was well-connected, successful, and good looking.

He hadn’t been hitting on her initially. He had been helping her.

She still didn’t think she could look the man in the face. He had seen, and licked, every inch of her. It was going to be awkward no matter what, and this made it ten times worse. Fanning herself, she left the bathroom as quietly as she could, and stepped into her boots. Shane had rolled onto his side away from her. He slept deeply and she felt a wave of tenderness towards him. She couldn’t just bolt without at least saying goodbye. It was the only polite thing to do when the man had made her first time sexy and satisfying.

No matter who he was, that was the truth, plain and simple.

His phone buzzed again and it was a tiny picture sent via text. If she closed one eye, she thought it was Jolene Hart sticking her tongue out. It said “Call me, idiot.” Avery felt a little star struck being one text removed from such a famous musician. Sure, she had come to Nashville to write songs, and it was a dream she intended to pursue. But it was only a dream. One that felt very far away. She was on step one of a five-year plan: get herself to Music City. Knowing that right there on the other end of that phone was someone who had made it was unnerving and awe inspiring. It made her feel like anything was possible.

It helped that Jolene was obviously just a normal person, worried about her brother no-showing.

On the desk across from the bed was a notepad and a pen. Avery scratched out a note to Shane before she changed her mind and put it on top of his phone. Then, as discreetly as she could, she left the room, making sure the door didn’t slam behind her.

Then in the way of women everywhere, she immediately texted her best friend back home, Kayla.

Ben cheated on me with 3 different girls and I jumped out of his truck and had sex with a total stranger

.

She was stepping on the elevator when Kayla texted back.

WTF??????? Call me.

On the elevator, give me a min.

Once in the lobby, she didn’t glance over at the front desk, afraid it would be the same man who had checked her and Shane in just a few hours earlier. It was nearly ten. They had only slept about four hours and she felt the effects of it, her thoughts a little fuzzy. She was having a hard time processing everything that had happened in the last twelve hours. It was such a joke that she had booked this hotel hoping Ben would propose to her or at least have sex with her. Now she would rather have her eyeballs removed with rusty spoons than sleep with Ben. The very thought of him was nauseating, which was bizarre given the sheer volume of years she had spent dating him.

It was like waking up one day and finding out your parents weren’t really your parents. Her whole foundation had shifted.

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