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Leigh could barely pick up her feet as she walked down the poorly lit corridor to get to room one-seventy at the end of the building. She inserted the key into the knob, and twisted. The door stuck on the carpet when it swung inward, and she had to put her shoulder into it to get it the rest of the way open. It had been awhile since she’d stayed at this hotel, because Leo usually footed the bills for her trips now. In the four years since she’d been here, the place had definitely gone downhill.
The last time she’d been here had been to interview for jobs in case Leo didn’t hire her. The Nortell had been cheap, but clean then, run by a nice older lady who took pride in her establishment. That woman must be gone now, and the new owners obviously couldn’t care less. She could only imagine what Jase must be thinking right now.
“I’m sorry this place is such a pit,” she mumbled, as she fumbled to find the light switch on the floor lamp by the table. Jase held the door open until she found the switch.
“It’ll have to do,” he said gruffly, as he shut the door and walked over to put his duffle bag on the floor by the scarred up dresser.
“Unfortunately, I guess it will have to do, because of that convention in town.”
“Is this where you usually stay when you’re in town?” Jase asked, as he walked toward the bathroom.
“No,” Leigh replied, setting her bag down beside his. “I usually stay at the Hutton.” Which is where she should’ve made reservations regardless of who was paying for the trip, she thought, looking down at the suspicious brown stain on the formerly red, but now burgundy carpet.
“The Hutton? Isn’t that the high end hotel on the West End?” Jase asked loudly from behind the bathroom door.
“That’s the one,” Leigh replied, as she unpacked her suitcase and put her clothes into the left side of the dresser. She walked to the closet to hang the two shirts she brought on the rusty wire hangers there.
The bathroom door opened and Jase walked out then washed his hands at the vanity. When he turned around, he put his hands on his hips. “So, why did you pick this place this time? Is it that you think my new demo will suck, so Hearts Afire doesn’t want to invest four-hundred dollars for two nights at the Hutton in case I tank? Or do you think I’m a redneck and this is the kind of place I’d choose?”
Leigh didn’t miss the anger and insult in his tone, and she didn’t really blame him. If she was on his end, she’d probably be thinking the same thing. “Neither of those things,” she replied with a huffed breath. “Leo doesn’t even know we’re here. I’m paying out of my pocket for the room, and all the expenses for the new cut. I have no idea if I’ll be reimbursed, so I was being frugal.”
“Cheap,” Jase corrected as he walked over to jerk the zipper open on his duffle bag. He squatted down to rifle through it. “Well, I’m telling you now, I won’t be partaking of the donuts and sludge in that lobby in the morning. I’ll go down to the homeless shelter for breakfast first, because I wouldn’t doubt that coffee pot doubles as a washing machine for that old man’s drawers.” Leigh fought back the gag his words inspired. Jase pulled out a pair of shorts, and a clean t-shirt, then stood. One side of his mouth kicked up into a grin. “And if you’re planning to take a shower, you’ll need to clean the tub out first. Not only is there a thick soap ring, there’s a cockroach you could put a saddle on in there. Hell, if you do put a saddle on him, he’d probably get us to the studio faster than that rollerskate of a car you rented.”
Leigh shivered at that mental picture his words painted, and her eyes darted to the bathroom, glad to see the door closed so the monster couldn’t escape. She’d pee on herself before she went into that bathroom now.
Yeah, this was a bad situation, but Jase Sutter needed to be a little more understanding, and thankful. She was only trying to help him, and he was beginning to sound like Wade Lawson with his snarky comments. Enough so, that she was starting to second-guess her decision to be here with him right now. Their association was not starting out well at all.
Bending to jerk open the drawer, Leigh spat, “There won’t be any need for you to go to the homeless shelter.” She pulled out her sleep shorts and a tank top then kneed the drawer shut forcefully. Lifting her chin a notch, she faced him. “There’s a pancake house down the street by the studio, so you can buy us both breakfast.”
After a second when he didn’t reply, Leigh realized his gaze was fixed on the corner of the room. Her blood ran cold and with a shriek she ran to his side then turned to look up expecting to see the bathroom roach’s buddy in the corner. Instead she saw a daddy longlegs. Definitely not as bad, but still a bug.
“Oh, God we can’t stay here,” she moaned, grabbing Jase’s arm as if he’d save her from the bug horde.
“We can’t sleep in that car,” Jase said, looking down at her.
“I’ll call Bobby and see if he has a suggestion.”
“It’s after midnight,” Jase pointed out. “We’re going to have to stay here tonight at least.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said, mortified when her lower lip trembled. This hotel room was a personification of her life at the moment. Nasty, downtrodden and used up. Hopeless. Tears welled in her eyes, and she sucked in a breath.
Jase squeezed her shoulder then stepped away. “We’ll make do,” he said as he walked toward the double bed against the opposite wall. “As long as the bed is clean, it’ll be okay.” With a forceful yank, he stripped the comforter from the bed and threw it over the chair by the table, then walked back to the bed and yanked the sheet back. Leaning in he inspected the sheets, got closer and sniffed, then picked up a pillow to inspect it. “I think the sheets are clean enough.” He propped an arm on the bed and looked up at the ceiling, and a slow grin spread over his face. “Oh, that’s a nice touch.”
“What?” Leigh asked, walking closer to look inside the trayed-ceiling above the bed. “Good, Lord,” she said breathlessly. Obviously this place had gone further downhill than she thought. Mirrors on the ceiling were definitely a sign of the type of clientele this place catered to now.
“I think they must rent this place out by the hour now,” Jase said with a laugh.
Leigh shivered, and hugged herself. “An hour would be too long to stay here.”
“Well, we’re going to be here at least until the morning, so let’s make the best of it. But I’m definitely not sleeping on the floor now,” he said, stripping his shirt over his head. He tossed it toward his duffle bag and sat on the bed to toe off his boots. Leigh just stood there staring as he unbuttoned his jeans and slid the zipper down the track. She’d seen him in his underwear on her doorstep, but this was different. She was going to be sleeping with him, and as large as he was, in a double bed, there was going to have to be some spooning going on. The ice in her blood melted into a warm pool at the top of her thighs, as he quickly slid under the sheet and took the far side of the bed.
When he settled with his arm behind his head on the pillow he stared at her for a second, before he smiled and reached out to pat the other side of the bed. “C’mon baby, hurry up. I’m ready for my audition now, but I can’t tell you how long I’ll be good for tonight.”
Leigh’s eyes dropped to his hand, then skated up his muscled arm to his eyes. Her brain was tired, so she could’ve misunderstood him. “Your what?”
“My audition. That was your purpose for getting us a single room, wasn’t it?” he asked with a harsh laugh. “I’m a little tired, so you’ll have to cut me some slack if my performance is a little lackluster.”
Audition? His performance? When his meaning became clear, anger blinded her. She pointed her finger at the man who obviously thought he was God’s gift to women. He wasn’t the nice, well-mannered country boy she thought he was. He was ready to fuck her as payment for her helping him.
“I’ll tell you like I told Wade Lawson—I’m not in the market for a gigolo.” Her eyes raked over his chest to where the sheet covered him at his waist. “And if I was in the market, I’m sure I could get better for my money.” Leigh unfastened her jeans, and shoved them down over her hips. She slid off her tennis shoes, and stepped out of her jeans. “The only thing I want from you is your voice. If you want more than that you need to look elsewhere.”
“I find it hard to believe you didn’t have sex with him,” Jase said with a laugh. “Y’all dated what, six months?”
“We didn’t date at all. I babysat his ass for six months,” she grated as she stepped into her shorts. She turned her back and pulled her shirt over her head, then put on her t-shirt, unhooked her bra and pulled the straps out through the sleeves.
“Is that why he double-crossed you like you said?”
“That’s exactly why he did what he did,” she said with a huffed breath. Jerking back the sheet, Leigh slid into the bed and laid at the very edge of the mattress, before she turned her back to Jase Sutter. “Now, get to sleep,” she said punching her pillow. “If you sound like a tired bullfrog tomorrow, I’ll leave you here in Nashville and get my money back on your return ticket,” she mumbled into her pillow.
“Damn, Lady, you sure know how to put the pressure on a guy,” Jase said.
“You have no idea what pressure is, Sutter,” she replied in a slurred voice as sleep crept up on her. “Everything I have is riding on you tomorrow.”
“I won’t let you down, Leigh,” he promised, looking over at her wild, blonde hair spread over her pillow, wanting to sink his fingers into the mess. “Goodnight, and I’d say don’t let the bed bugs bite, but in this place that would probably be borrowing trouble we don’t need.”
“Nite,” she said on a soft breath, then her body stilled except for the even rise and fall of her breathing.
Jase laid there for a long time watching her sleep in the mirror over the bed, listening to the soft sounds she made in her sleep. He wondered if she knew she snored? It wasn’t a nasty snore, it was kind of cute with a little breathy whistle at the end. Everything about Leigh Anderson was cute. In the state he was in, that was a problem. Keeping his hands to himself, forgetting about how sweet her lips tasted when he kissed her for that brief second was going to be damned difficult.
But maybe not so much. I only want you for your voice.
At least now he knew where he stood with her professionally, and he felt better about his decision to come to Nashville with her. His methods of finding that out had been less than nice, but at least now he knew this was about his career, and that she was serious and above board in her motivations to help him. He had to know that because Jase was well aware of the sharks who swam in the waters of this business right beside those puffer fish who liked to blow smoke up your ass for their own enjoyment.
Leigh Anderson was neither of those species, thank God.
She wasn’t wasting his time, and she wasn’t going to these lengths to find herself a boyfriend. He looked over at her, not that she would need to. If Leigh blinked, any man in his right mind would jump. But she hadn’t blinked at him when he’d put the bait out there, and Jase was relieved, but disappointed too.
He’d almost wanted her to blink.
Yeah, that would’ve been an end to their professional association, but he would’ve definitely found some relief for his other problem. Because even as fucking tired as he was, his body practically buzzed with pent up frustrated energy that screamed for an outlet.
Her beautiful rear end, the same one he’d admired in those boy shorts she wore at her house, was almost touching his thigh. Almost. The four inches that separated his skin from hers was driving him insane. Her heat teased him, but he was denied the touch of her soft skin against his. Jase wondered if he turned over and pulled her against him if she’d knock him out?
It might be worth the black eye to find out, he thought, as he shoved his hand beneath the sheet to stroke his painful erection, thinking of the feel of her soft, sweet lips against his when he kissed her at his house. That brief moment had replayed in his mind many times since it happened, and it probably accounted for a good bit of his frustration.
In that moment, his intention had been to thank her for her help, but when his mouth touched hers it had felt like he’d kissed a twenty-thousand volt electric cable. His body and mind had short-circuited, gone haywire. Jase knew if he didn’t pull back, he would go with his instincts, which were telling him to suck her plush lower lip into his mouth, stick his tongue into her mouth to really taste the sweetness to be found there. The only reason he’d managed to stop himself was he knew that would start off their association on the wrong foot. What would really put their association on the wrong footing though, was if he didn’t get some damned sleep and sounded like crap tomorrow.
With a huffed breath, Jase dragged his hand back to his stomach and slammed his eyes shut. Numbers bored him, so he recited the multiplication tables in his mind to relax, until finally, darkness closed in on him and he drifted off.
A persistent tinkling sound dragged Jase out of the warm cocoon of the deepest sleep he’d had in years. He fought the weights on his eyelids to drag his eyes open, and realized two things. The first was that Leigh Anderson put out enough body heat while she slept to melt him into the sheets, and the second was the reason he was so aware of it. Her soft body was plastered to his side. Sometime in the night she had rolled over and they were twisted together like a pretzel in the center of the bed.
The third thing he realized when he was fully awake, was her leg was bent, which put the inside of her knee in direct contact with his morning wood. The intoxicating flowery scent of her wild, curly blonde hair spread over his jaw was all he smelled, so he turned his face aside, but his beard stubble dragged strands with him. Leigh stirred, rubbed her thigh against him like a sleepy kitten, and Jase groaned.
Pushing her thigh aside, Jase scooted toward the edge of the bed, but her warm body followed him and she mumbled a protest in her sleep. The tinkling sound continued, and Jase crawled over her to look down at her jeans, which seemed to be the source of the noise. Scrambling out of the bed he dug into the pocket and pulled out her cell phone, then pressed the connect button. “Hello?” he said, cringing at the croakiness in his voice.
“Who the hell are you, and where is my damned daughter?” a gruff male voice demanded.
This wasn’t the first time in his life Jase had heard those words, but the last time had been when he was a teenager. Even though he hadn’t done a damned thing, Jase felt like a naughty teenager right at that minute, and glanced at the door to make sure her father wasn’t standing there with a shotgun. “This is Jase Sutter, and Leigh is still sleeping.”
Leigh stirred, then sat straight up in the bed looking panicked. Jase saw her swallow hard, before she held out her hand for the phone, which he handed to her. “Leo, I, ah, was going to call you today. I was busy yesterday.”
Jase’s heart took a plunge to his toes then ricocheted back up to his throat. Leo? As in Leo Hart? The man wasn’t just her boss, he was her father! Oh good Lord, Jase might as well pack his suitcase and walk back to Dallas.
“No, I haven’t talked to Wade,” she said and flinched. Jase could hear Leo Hart yelling on the other end of the phone, and Leigh’s face got redder, her jaw tighter with every second she listened. “Yeah, he called, but I have nothing to say to him. It’s a waste of time, Leo,” she said angrily. “Wade signed with Twang already, and he’s hooked up with Glen Parsons. I don’t trust either one of them.” Leigh glanced at Jase then said, “I have another prospect though, and I’m in Nashville with him to get a demo.” She held the phone away from her ear while Leo Hart yelled more, then shook her head. “No, it’s on my nickel, Leo. I’m not asking you to put in a dime. I’ll talk to you when you get home on Wednesday, but I’ve got to get out of here.” Leigh hung up the phone and closed her eyes to press it to her forehead. With a deep sigh, she dropped her hand to the mattress and pinned him with angry blue eyes. “Do not ever answer my phone again,” she grated.
“Sorry, but it woke me up, and I thought it might be important,” Jase replied defensively. “And it’s almost seven-thirty. Weren’t we supposed to be at the studio at seven?”
Leigh lifted the phone, looked at the time and her eyes widened. “Crap, get dressed,” she said flying off of the bed to grab her jeans and shimmy into them. Her chest heaved as she grabbed her shirt to pull it over her head. When she yanked it down, he saw desperation and more than a little fear in her eyes. “We only have six hours today, and six tomorrow. It’ll take two to get set up, and two more to work out the kinks in the music, then four for the engineering.” She shoved a shaky hand through her hair, and swallowed hard. “If we go over, I’ll have to pay extra for the musicians, and probably for extra studio time.” Her hand shook even more violently as she tried to dial a number on her phone.
Jase took a step forward to grab her phone to disconnect the call. He sat the phone on the nightstand then put his hands on her shoulders, which were shaking as bad as her hands had been. Right then, he realized that she was a basket case, and unless she calmed down some, they wouldn’t accomplish a damned thing at the studio that day.
“You need to take a deep breath and pull yourself together, sweetheart. I’m really sorry for answering that call and starting our day this way. Just forget about it,” Jase said, pulling her to him to hug her. He rested his chin on top of her head and held her until the tremors wracking her body stopped. He pushed her back, angry that her father had treated her so badly. Family did not treat family the way that man had treated her. Hell, bosses shouldn’t treat their employees that way either. “Does your father always yell at you like that?”
“You have no idea,” she replied, shoving her hair away from her heart-shaped face. “Leo is all about business no matter who he’s talking to. I let him down, and am on his shit list right now. Daughter or not, he can do with or without me. Hearts Afire will go on without me, and that’s what I expect they’ll be doing as soon as I get back to Nashville.”
“Not if I can help it,” Jase growled, jerking her to him. He tipped up her chin to make her meet his eyes. “But I have another condition…”
“What?” she asked.
“If this turns out well, if you think there’s a chance it’ll fly, you’re leaving Hearts Afire, going out on your own, because I am not signing with that asshole.”
“I can’t do that,” she said, struggling to pull away from him.
“You can and you will, Leigh. You are good, have good instincts and connections, and you know it. You are putting your own money into this venture, so consider it seed money for your fresh start. You don’t need Leo Hart, even as your father, if he can’t treat you better.”
She finally stilled and looked up at him. After a thoughtful second, she let out a shuddering breath. “You really think I can do that?”
“No guts, no glory, baby,” he said with a grin. “I’ve been at this for seven years. If it doesn’t work out, I know a few barns where you could work shoveling a little shit with me.” Jase laughed. “But if it works out, then we can be up on that stage together, thumbing our noses at Leo Hart and Wade Lawson. What do you say? Partners?” he asked.
Since he’d met this woman, even when his mind held doubts, Jase had a feeling of rightness in his gut that his connection with this woman was fate at work. How could it not be, considering the strange circumstances that had brought them together? He might as well go with it, and try to help her at the same time too. What did he have to lose? If it didn’t work out, he wouldn’t be any worse off than he was before he met her. But maybe she’d be better off being away from Leo Hart, or maybe the man would wake up and see how hard she’d worked for him and make things right with her.
“I’m going to get fired anyway,” she replied with a shrug.
“Don’t let him have that satisfaction—quit first. Tell Leo Hart you’re tired of him treating you the way he does,” Jase suggested and her eyes flew up to his.
A fresh tremor rocked her. “Quit?”
“Yup, call him this afternoon and tell him you’re done.” He smiled and pushed her back from him. “Now, let’s get dressed and go make some magic happen at that studio.”