Page 200 of Sweet Temptation

“Wow. That’s harsh. Though possibly true.”

“Possibly. He probably knew me better than I knew myself at that point. So, he gave me a job. Brought me into his company while I was still in high school. He showed me the ropes, taught me everything he knew.”

“What about your parents? Your dad? Was he a role model, too?”

I considered that. Not like I didn’t know the answer. I was just never sure what to say to women when they asked about my family.

It wasn’t exactly a fairytale.

But I really had no reason not to tell her the truth. It wasn’t my fault my parents were so fucked-up.

“My mom was fine with me joining the military,” I told her. “She was fine with me working for my uncle. She didn’t really have a lot to say on the subject. Or if she did, she didn’t voice it. My dad… wasn’t really the role model type. He was there, and they raised me together. If you could call it that. But I don’t remember him ever being happy. He was an electrician, but I don’t think he liked it. I don’t remember a day he didn’t come home from work with a frown on his face, and sit himself in the front of the TV. My parents had a pretty gray existence.”

“Are you an only child?”

“I am, but that was probably a good thing. I didn’t like being home. There was never much to do there, and my parents hardly spoke to each other. Except when they were fighting. I always got along better with my uncle Rob. He’s my mom’s brother. Him and his wife were like second parents to me. They never had kids of their own, but they treated me like a son.”

“That’s amazing,” Summer said. “I’m glad you had that.”

“Yeah. Me, too.” I studied her. “Did you always want to be a musician?”

“For sure. I didn’t know what kind of musician until I was a teenager. I came to the DJ thing pretty early, but I’d grown up playing piano. My grandma played piano, and it was just the thing we did. Justice played, too. We’d do these little concerts in the living room for our parents.”

“Were you and him always close?”

“Of course,” she said simply. “He’s my baby brother.”

I left it at that. I wasn’t sure yet what the right time would be to mention to her that her baby brother had a coke problem—and a friend problem, in the form of a drug dealing biker—but this wasn’t it.

“So… you became DJ Summer as a teenager?”

“Pretty much. I’d already tried out a bunch of different instruments by then. I liked experimenting with the sounds I could get out of them more than actually playing them properly and learning exact songs. But I knew how to do that, too. By the time I was in high school, I was pretty advanced compared to the other kids in my music class. I was the lead in the school band, playing piano and making arrangements for our performances with the music teacher. At that point, I guess it went to my head. I had this incredible conviction that I was gonna be a famous musician.” She laughed a little. “When I performed with the school band, everything else but the music and the reaction of the audience faded away in my mind. You’d think it was Madison Square Garden or something.”

“You were a star already.”

“I wanted to be a star, but I knew as a DJ I probably wouldn’t get all the way there. How many DJs can you actually name?”

I blinked at her. “Who, me?”

“Exactly. We’re not exactly household names. But I had to go down my own path and follow my musical heart. I carved out a niche for myself. I have a style and a sound and a reputation, and I have my following. But I’m ready for the next stage of my career. I’m more than ready.”

“Well, it’ll be cool to see what you guys can do. See you take off as a band.” I wondered, as I said that, if I’d be around to see it. How long I was gonna be her bodyguard.

Or her lover.

“Yes, it will be.”

“I should, uh, get out of your hair here. Let you get some work done.” I got to my feet, but hesitated.

I looked at her there, relaxed in her composer’s chair, in her midnight-blue jumper; the vision of confidence. Gorgeous. “The zone” looked good on her.

Everything looked good on her.

“Thanks for playing me that song you’re working on. It’s hot as hell.”

“I thought you didn’t know anything about music,” she teased.

“I told you. I know what I like when I hear it.”

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