Page 12 of Country Heat

Our eyes are locked on one another, like we can’t quite pull them away. My lips curl up into a smile at the craziness of all this and he smiles too.

“You should put that in a song,” I tell him with a flirty grin. “It’s a good line.”

“No, that one’s just for you,” he whispers as he takes my hand.

A warm shiver ripples through me at the feeling of having his soft strong hands around mine.

“But I do have a song I’d like to share with you,” he says as he takes me away from all these people. I glance back to make sure that Rachel is okay and she’s laughing at something Jason said. She notices me leaving and gives me an encouraging wink. I smile back at her.

“A new song…” I say as we head away from the party onto the quiet ranch. “Does this mean we’ll get to hear another amazing Cash Edwards album? I’ve been waiting for another album for years.”

“I haven’t felt creative in a while,” he says. “So, this was a very welcome surprise.”

“What changed?”

He stops and turns to me. I stop too, staring into his dreamy eyes as he takes my other hand. The music and chatting from the party are muted out here, blending in with the sounds of cricketsand the whispering of the wind. The only light is from the silvery moon, giving his eyes an ethereal glow.

“Meeting you,” he says. “It cracked me open. It changed everything. It’s only been three days, but half an album spilled out. You’re my muse, Lola. You’re so much more than that. I can’t stop thinking about you.”

I tilt my head as I study his face, trying to see if I’m being played.

There’s nothing but raw honesty on his face. Maybe a little bit of unhinged desperation.

I can tell it’s not a line. He’s not just feeding me what I want to hear to get in my pants. I can tell by the way he’s grasping my hands like they’re anchors keeping him from drifting away. I can tell by the tenderness in his voice and the captivation in his heated gaze.

My manager Karen would probably tell me I’m being naive. That I’m making myself an easy target for the smooth-talking players of the world, but she’s not here right now and anyway, I don’t care. Sometimes you have to take a chance in life, and that’s what I’m going to do tonight.

Cash is a good man. He’s not like that. I’ve never heard anything about him plowing through a ton of women. There are no pictures of him with young starlets on his arm. No reputation about him and groupies. I always wondered about that. Sometimes, late at night, I’d pretend that he was single because he was waiting for me. It was a fantasy, but right now…

It’s feeling like it was fate.

“I wrote a song for us,” he says, suddenly looking a little shy. “That we can sing together.”

I swallow hard, not quite believing my ears. “You did?”

His eyes sparkle as he nods. “It’s called Country Heat.”

“I want to hear it.”

“When?” he asks.

I spot the horse stables in the distance and start pulling him toward it. “Right now!”

CHAPTER FIVE

Cash

Lola slides the stable doors open, grabs my hand, and pulls me inside.

I’m in awe of her. I can’t get enough of this girl. The obsession is taking over. It’s like she’s branded herself into my bones. She’s seared herself into my soul. Her presence fills every empty corner of me, making me feel like I’m being consumed with her light.

“Look at all this,” she says, her lovely voice filled with excitement as she looks around at all of the horses in their stalls. The stables are top-notch, gorgeously constructed, and glowing from the string of lanterns strung down the main walkway. It’s beautiful in here.

The horses start standing up and sticking their big heads out to see who just came to visit. The joyous laugh and breathtaking smile on Lola’s face as she skips from horse to horse, saying hello and petting each one, makes my legs go weak.

This girl is unreal. She’s fucking perfect.

Another melody plays in my head, this one about a girl who is pure light. I file it away in my mind to go back to later, and try to focus on the moment right here and now.

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