Page 37 of Ever With Me

Now that he’d played for more people than he could ever count, he rarely picked up the guitar if he didn’t have to.When did I stop loving what I do?

When Audrey’s sniffling and breathing deepened again, Brooks peeled her away and stood. He started back to his room, but what was the point? Insomnia had plagued him for years, so he wouldn’t be able to sleep now.

He headed out to the back deck. Cormac had been out there when he’d gone to bed, hanging out by the firepit. Maybe he was still there.

The seat Cormac had occupied was empty, though, and the last log on the fire had nearly burned through. Brooks found a small pile of wood near the pit and threw on another log, then settled into the chair.

The night air chilled his skin through his shirt and pajama pants. He should have grabbed a sweatshirt on his way out the door. Still, he let the cold seep in, leaning his head against the tall back of the chair. This sort of thing was what he’d come here for, after all. Peace and quiet. Time away.

He just hadn’t known when he’d agreed to come out here with Cormac how much peace and quiet he’d need.

His problems continued to grow, and he wasn’t sure how to stop the rolling snowball from becoming an avalanche. First, the legal issues with Mike, and the subsequent fallout with the label. Then the car crash.

. . . and now Madison Yardley.

He had to give it to her. She’d taken her shot and practicallyswishedwith victory.

And maybe he could have told her no. Maybe heshould havetold her no. What was one more scandal in the tabloids at this point?

Except he was so damn tired.

He’d spent years thinking that if he ignored what they printed about him, he could walk away from it, and it wouldn’t make a difference. In some ways, he enjoyed the reputation. The more people thought of him as a temperamental jerk, the less likely they were to mess with him.

Most of the whispers didn’t really bother him—though the stuff about Paulette had infuriated him. He’d considered legal action that time, but Darren had convinced him a drawn-out court case of he-said-she-said would only do more harm than good.

Maybe he should have dumped Darren a long time ago.

He sighed, letting his gaze wander over the stars above the treetops.

For whatever reason, he couldn’t get Madison’s expression out of his mind as she’d repeated back to him the stuff about Paulette.

He shouldn’t care what she thought. She was a stranger...no one to him.

Yet the words had bothered him to his core.

He took out his phone and dialed Maddie before he could overthink it.

“What?” She didn’t sound amused to hear from him.

He smiled, cradling the phone against his ear. “Is that any way to say hello?”

“Sorry, majesty. I just can’t seem to remember my manners around you.” She yawned. “You do realize it’s almost midnight?”

The log he’d thrown on the fire caught at last, and a bright burst of flame and warmth radiated from it. “Weren’t you the woman who was taking a shower at four in the morning the other day?”

“How do you know that’s not when I get up every morning?”

I just know.He could picture her as the type of person who stayed in bed as long as she could. But picturing her in bed wasn’t the best idea either. He hardened at the mental image, those tanned legs bare against soft sheets . . .

“Brooks?”

“What?”Shut that image down.It had been too long since he’d had sex, clearly. One semi-nude encounter with a beautiful woman, and he was suddenly horny as fuck.

“I said maybe I get up at four every morning.”

“I don’t buy it.”

“You know what? It doesn’t matter. What the hell do you want? I’m going to bed eventually here.”

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