Would you spend ten days traveling the country with someone you despised if he promised to pay off your student loans?
Recent college graduate, Harper Leigh, can barely make ends meet working as the books editor for a new online entertainment magazine, Chatter. With $85,000 of student loan debt about to go into repayment, she has no idea how she’ll get by.
Just when she thinks things couldn’t get worse, Harper’s boss decides to embed her in the North American tour for the hot rock band, Always Rayne. Ten days on the road with the band for her to get an exclusive story. But Harper’s a homebody and the last thing she wants to do is go on the road with a rock band. And she definitely doesn’t want to spend ten days with the notorious bad boy and band front man, Nic Rayne.
When Nic proves to be too much for Harper to handle and she threatens to quit the assignment, Nic decides to sweeten the pot. If she stays with the tour for all ten days, he’ll pay off all of her student loan debt….but there’s one small catch.
Harper also has to sleep in his bed every night.
ALWAYS RAYNE ONLY 99c (until October 16th)
Brooke and I are wearing
those plastic backstage passes around our necks and when two really big body
guards standing at the backstage entrance see them they let us pass right
through the door.
As I glance around at all
the other people with backstage passes I notice they all look a lot more like
Brooke than I expected. All of the girls are wearing ultra-short, skin-tight
skirts with barely there tops.
The guys all look like
they just stepped out of the band themselves. They’re all young and hot and
they seem to know it.
There’s definitely no
shortage of arrogance in the room.
“I’m definitely going
after Leo,” Brooke whispers to me as we approach the band.
All three of the band
members are standing next to each other drinking beers and talking with a bevy
of blondes.
Maybe this isn’t the best
place for Brooke to be hanging out. She hasn’t been sober very long and I don’t
want her to fall into temptation. I have a feeling if Leo handed her a beer she
wouldn’t say no.
“I’m getting tired,” I say
and fake a big yawn.
“You are not going to wimp
out on me.” Brooke gives me a cold glare. “We’re not leaving here until we meet
Always Rayne. All of them.”
Nic Rayne looks like he’s
getting bored with the blondes. He’s glancing around the room rather than
paying attention to what the girls are saying.
As soon as Nic’s eyes land
on me I can see his expression change. His brows are furrowed and he looks
puzzled. I’m sure he’s wondering what someone who looks like me is doing
backstage.
Disappointment crosses
over the faces of the two girls vying for Nic’s attention when he walks away
from them and heads in my direction.
“You,” he points to me. At
least I think he’s pointing at me. When I look around and realize I’m standing
alone, I know he’s pointing at me.
Then I panic because I’m
standing alone. Where the hell is my roommate? The one who dragged me here in
the first place practically kicking and screaming. She completely abandoned me.
I also notice that one of Nic Rayne’s bandmates seems to have vanished just as
quickly.
It isn’t possible for
Brooke to hook up with someone that fast, is it?
This is Brooke we’re
talking about. Not only is it possible, it’s highly probable.
Nic Rayne is now glaring
at me. It’s like he can’t believe I didn’t jump as soon as he pointed to me. I
can already tell this guy is a piece of work. He’s probably used to getting any
girl he wants with the snap of his finger. Hell, he’s probably used to getting
anything he wants the second the demand comes out of this mouth.
I can see him let out an
exasperated breath and then head in my direction. I quickly scan the room to
see if I can spot an exit but by the time my eyes land on one, it’s too late.
Nic Rayne has already entered my personal space.
And he’s not just close to
me; he’s practically on top of me. And I don’t like it. He makes me extremely
uncomfortable. I’d rather be anywhere than standing next to Nic Rayne. I’d
rather be back in Economics class at the university and I hate Economics. It’s
the only class I ever got a C in.
“What’s up?” Nic says.
I’ve seen him in movies so
I knew he was tall and muscular. I guess it never occurred to me how tall and
muscular he really is. The guy is towering over me and I’m not that short. I’m
five feet six inches. Nic has got to be at least six inches taller than me.
“Did you see where my
friend went?”
He nods but doesn’t say
anything else.
“Okay. Would you mind
telling me where she went?”
“With Leo.”
I assume he means Leo
Donovan, his cousin and the guitar player in Always Rayne.
“Hey, Rayne.” Xander
Donovan, Nic’s other cousin, and the band’s drummer, places a hand on Nic’s
shoulder. “Pick the girl you want and let’s go. We’re all headed over to Troy.”
Troy is the trendiest club
in the city. I’ve heard a lot about it but haven’t been able to afford the
stiff cover charge and the fifteen dollar drinks.
“Come on,” Nic says and
turns to leave as if I’m supposed to follow him.
He takes a few steps
before he realizes that I’m not following him. Then he turns back around and
gives me an odd look. “Aren’t you coming?”
I shake my head.
“Why not?” He actually
looks puzzled.
“Do you want a list?”
His eyes narrow and then
he walks back over to me. He gets so close I can smell his masculine scent and
what’s left of his spicy cologne. “What’s the list?”
I gulp. I wasn’t actually
expecting him to ask for the list. I thought he’d just get disgusted and find
some other girl to go with him.
“Well, you’re not my type.
I don’t find you remotely attractive. Or particularly interesting. I don’t like
your music at all. And you don’t seem very smart. And I don’t sleep with guys I
don’t know. So, maybe you should just find some other girl to take to Troy.”
He’s doing his best to
bite back a grin. The smug asshole actually finds what I’ve said funny. I
didn’t think I could dislike him more but he’s really pushing my buttons.
“I’m not your type, huh?”
He leans in even closer. So close, I can feel his breath on my neck. “I’m everybody’s
type.”
I try to swallow but I
feel like there’s a golf ball stuck in my throat.
“You don’t find me
attractive, huh? Then why are you sweating?” He places his hand right over my
heart. “And your heart is beating a mile a minute. Maybe you should listen to
what your body wants instead of what your brain is telling you.”
I take a step back and try
to collect myself. I wipe my brow and realize I really am sweating. And he’s
right, my heart is racing. What the hell is going on?
“I’m not some groupie who’s
going to do whatever you want because you snapped your fingers.”
He looks me up and down.
“I can see that.”
I place my hands on my
hips. “What is that supposed to mean?”
He actually has the
audacity to laugh. “No one would ever mistake you for a groupie that’s for
sure.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Your clothes are like
some crazy mash-up between a hippie and a school librarian.”
I glance down at my
flowered skirt and strappy sandals. He has a point. I’m not exactly a fashion
whore like my roommate. Not that I have the money to update my wardrobe even if
I wanted to.
He steps closer again.
He’s got a habit of getting right into my personal space and it makes me
uncomfortable every time he does it. When I look into his deep brown eyes, I
have the feeling that he’s doing it just to get a rise out of me.
“What are you doing here?”
he asks. For the first time since we’ve met, he actually sounds sincere.
“I came with my roommate.
She won tickets from the radio station. She wanted to see you. And your
cousins.”
“I asked what you’re doing
here.”
“I guess I’m here for
moral support,” I stammer. And I have a press pass.”
I’m not sure why I tell
him that. I guess I feel like I need some kind of excuse to be here because I’m
definitely not here for the music.
“Why am I not surprised?
You look like a writer. Or a librarian.”
I dig around in my purse
and pull out my press pass. To my surprise, he grabs it from my hand. “Chatter.
Never heard of it.”
“It’s an online magazine.
A start up.”
He nods then hands me back
my credentials.
“Do you like it?”
“Like what?” I’m surprised
by the question.
“Writing. Working for a
magazine.”
I shrug. “I’ve never
thought about doing anything else. My parents named me Harper Leigh. I was kind
of destined to be a writer.”
He’s looking at me with a
blank stare. Maybe he really is as brainless as I think. And for some strange
reason that disappoints me.
“Harper Leigh,” I repeat.
“I spell my name differently but she was a writer.”
He’s still looking at me
with a blank expression.
“She won the Pulitzer
Prize.”
Then he smiles. “I know
who Harper Lee is. To Kill a Mocking Bird.
Won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. She was also good friends with Truman Capote. She
helped him with the research for In Cold
Blood.”
I can feel my jaw drop.
“I guess I’m smarter than
you think.” He leans in close again. “And I’m also a great actor apparently
because I had you fooled.”
I want to say something in
response but no words come out of my mouth.
“Rayne.” It’s Xander
again. “Come on. We’ve got to bounce.”
“Does everyone call you
Rayne?”
“Always.”
SIERRA also writes romance under the pen names Dakota Madison, Savannah Young and Ren Monterrey.
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