“Okay, I’ll go tomorrow night, but don’t push it. Hot girl summer sounds exhausting and annoying. I like my life, Clara. I don’t need a man. I have Cam.”

  Clara sighed dramatically. “Cam is your son. And you’re the best mom I know, but, Brielle, you have got to get a life. Cam is growing up. He’s going to start wanting to do things without you. When that happens, you’re gonna fall apart because you forgot how to be you. Find yourself. You are more than Cam’s mom.”

  I opened my mouth to argue that I was aware of that when a loud crash from the hallway outside our apartment got my attention. Standing back up, I walked to the door, not hearing anything Clara was saying. There were voices out there and more banging around.

  I debated on the safety of opening the door when a man yelled out, “Not this floor! We are supposed to start at the top!”

  My hand wrapped around the doorknob, and I opened the door slowly, peeking out into the rowdy hallway. My neighbors were not loud people. Mrs. Jo lived to the right of us, and she’d be celebrating her seventy-eighth birthday in ten days. I was going to make her a cake, like I always did. Damar and Jim lived across the hallway from me. They worked long hours and were rarely home. I probably wouldn’t see them until Mrs. Jo’s birthday.

  Brown eyes with thick, long lashes—which should have made his eyes appear feminine, but somehow did not—locked with mine, and I froze. The door was only halfway open, and Clara’s voice in my ear, calling my name, reminded me she was there.

  “Uh, yeah, sorry. There was noise outside in the hallway. Can I call you back?” I replied.

  “Noise? What kind of noise? Are you okay? Do I need to call the police?” she asked, her voice growing more panicked by the second.

  “No. It’s fine. Looks like maintenance or something. I’ll call you back,” I repeated, then ended the call before she could ask more questions.

  My curiosity was stronger than my appreciation for a man with great lashes, I realized, as I moved my gaze from his and took in the rest of the situation. A redheaded man with a matching beard stood, holding a ladder with a scowl on his face.

  “Why does it matter which floor we start on? This damn ladder is a bitch to carry up the stairs,” the red-haired man said.

  “It matters to the man writing our paycheck. I’ll carry the ladder. But these cans of paint aren’t much lighter,” Brown Eyes replied.

  “At least they aren’t fucking bulky,” the man said, dropping the ladder to the ground with a sigh of relief.

  “The crew putting down the hardwood flooring and marble tiles is up there now. We should have been there first. Come on,” Brown Eyes said, his voice laced with frustration. He glanced back at me. “Sorry if we disturbed you.”

  “I didn’t realize there were updates being done to the building,” I said, thinking that the owner should have sent out a memo to the residents. And who the heck was getting marble tiled flooring?

  “Just the penthouse floor at the moment. Once it is finished, the entry, elevators, and outdoor structure will be updated,” he told me.

  “Wow,” I muttered, wondering what had brought this on.

  Mr. Halston was almost eighty years old. He owned this apartment building along with four others in town, a few service stations, a grocery store or two, and the post office building. He never did updates, but this was a newer building and in the nicest part of town. I had chosen it so that Cam could attend the schools in this area. They were the best I could offer him.

  “New owner is turning this building into something real nice. Fancy and shit,” the red-haired guy informed me.

  “New owner?” I asked, confused. How did I not know the building had a new owner?

  “Yeah, Halston sold it. Fucking shocker. That old man holds on to everything,” the guy added.

  The door next to mine opened, and Mrs. Jo stepped out into the hallway, frowning. “What’s all the commotion out here? I can’t hear my show on the telly-vision,” she barked out, then looked over at me. “Brielle, honey, how are you? Did Cam get off to camp okay? I was gonna make you a cherry delight pie to cheer you up, but I forgot to go to the store today.”

  Both men started moving again toward the staircase. I glanced at them briefly, wondering who had bought the place and deciding I would Google it when I went back inside my apartment.

  “Looks like the top floor is getting a revamp,” I told her. “And I am fine. No need to worry about the pie. Without Cam here to help me eat it, I’d gain ten pounds,” I told her with a smile.

  She shook her head and pointed her finger at me. “You wouldn’t do such a thing. You’re too tiny as it is. Men like their women to have some meat on their bones. At least, they did in my day. Curves. We all wanted curves and chocolate. Life was good back then,” she mused, then turned and walked back into her apartment and closed the door.

  I had no doubt, tomorrow, I’d have a pie waiting on me when I got home from work.

  three

  dean

  “You could have bought a house,” Rush, my son, said as he stood inside my new penthouse.

  “I have a house,” I replied, reaching into the fridge to get out two beers.

  “It’s in LA. You could have bought one here.”

  I handed him the beer. “I live alone. I don’t need a damn house here. This place has three bedrooms, a sauna, Jacuzzi, and a view.”

  Rush chuckled. “Yeah, after you completely renovated it. Whatever, Dad.”

  “What? It’s a great building, and it needs some work. Gives me something to do. I got this place so I could be close to my family. The kids are growing up, and I want to be here for it, but I need a fucking life too. This is a project. It’ll keep me busy.”

  Rush smirked. “For now.”

  I walked over to the white leather sectional and sank down on it, then propped my feet up on the ottoman. “When this is finished, I’ll find a new project,” I replied.

  Rush took a long pull from his bottle, then leveled his gaze on me. “That’s not what I meant. Kiro will get bored and want to tour again, and then you’ll be back on the road.”

  That was always a possibility, but this time, I wasn’t so sure. Kiro seemed done. When he wasn’t living his rock-star life, he was in Rosemary Beach, visiting his daughter and granddaughter. Even if he did want to tour again, this was where I would be for now.

  I shrugged. “Who knows? We might do a few concerts here and there, but I think we might be done with the road.”

  “I’ve heard that before,” Rush drawled.

  I wasn’t going to argue. He’d seen it all in his lifetime. I wasn’t sure what the future held for Slacker Demon, but it no longer controlled me. The fame, women, music—it had all gotten old. I wanted more than that life.

  “Have you met your tenants?” Rush asked with an amused tone.

  I shook my head. “No.”

  I’d thought about it, then changed my mind. They’d eventually know I was living up here. I couldn’t keep that hidden long. Even with my private entrance and garage, they would see me.

  “You can’t hide the fact that you’re living up here. It’ll get out.”

  “I know.”

  “You should have bought a place in Rosemary Beach. They’re used to celebrities. You wouldn’t have been bothered.”

  Rush lived in Rosemary Beach and had since he was a kid. I’d bought him a house there and allowed his mother to live in it with his half-sister until Rush was old enough to decide if they stayed or went. It was a small, elite coastal town, and I was glad my grandkids were growing up there, but I didn’t want to be there. Not that close. I wanted to be a part of their lives, but not completely embedded. They needed their space, and I needed mine.

  “I like it here. Always have. It’s bigger than Rosemary Beach, but not too big. It’s also closer to the airport.”

  I started to say more when Rush’s phone rang, and he glanced down at it before answering.

  “Hey,” he said, standing back up and walking toward the table, where he had dropped his keys. “I’m at Dad’s new place, but I am leaving now. I’ll be there in thirty minutes. I love you.”

  I glanced over at him, already knowing that was his wife, Blaire. “Everything okay?”

  Rush paused at the door. “Yeah. Nate punched some kid at the country club.”

  I grinned. “What’d the kid do?”

  Rush shook his head. “Blaire said the kid called Lila Kate a name or some shit. I don’t know. I just have to go help her deal with it.”

  Lila Kate was Kiro’s granddaughter. The one he adored. Nate and Lila Kate were growing up together in Rosemary Beach, like family.

  I held up a hand to wave but didn’t get up. “Don’t be too hard on my grandson. He acts just like his father did.”

  Rush let out a short laugh. “Bye, Dad.”

  “Bye,” I called back and took another drink of my beer.

  The silence came once he was gone, and I sat there in it. This was new to me and uncomfortable at times—most of the time. I had never been alone much. My life had been filled with the guys in the band. I’d always lived with Kiro in the mansion we owned in Beverly Hills. When your life had been full of noise and people, you weren’t good with solitude.

  I spent the next ten minutes trying to balance my beer bottle on my knee. Once I achieved success with that, I stood up and walked over to the window. The pool here needed work. A complete overhaul. I had been meeting with a contractor about putting in a rock waterfall and slide, but maybe I should have it completely taken out and made bigger. Add more flash to it. Something my grandkids would enjoy.

  With that thought in mind, I decided to head down there. I grabbed a black baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses. If I kept my head down, this normally disguised me enough. I could get to the pool from my private elevator that led to my own garage, but it was a long-ass walk around the outside to the gate. So, instead, when I went out my door, I made my way to the main elevator in the building to use it for the first time since I had moved in.

  The fresh paint looked good along with the new mirrors in the elevator. Gave it some depth. The elevator didn’t stop at any of the other floors, and I sighed in relief when it came to the bottom floor and no one was waiting on the other side. It was harder to stay unnoticed if you were face-to-face with someone.

  I only passed some of the landscapers I’d hired, working on the palm trees I’d ordered to line the walkway toward the pool area. One of them noticed me and nodded, but said nothing. I lifted my chin in a silent greeting and continued until I was at the white gate that surrounded the pool. Stepping inside, I took in the facility. I’d seen it already once when I made an offer to purchase the building. I had known then that it was going to need work.

  The only upgrade that I had made so far was replacing the cheap plastic loungers with teak loungers that had built-in cupholders on the armrests and cushioning to lie on. I didn’t make eye contact with anyone as I looked over the recliners not in use. My gaze, however, betrayed me when it came across a smooth, round, tanned ass, barely covered by a hot-pink bikini. I took in the legs, slim ankles, and dainty feet before letting my gaze move up over the bare back. Twice, I had to give in and look at the ass again before making my way up to see dark brown hair piled on top of her head.

  A kid screamed and splashed water in my direction, interrupting me as I was memorizing the view for my spank bank. It drew my attention away from the woman, but only long enough for me to take off my sunglasses and dry them. When I shifted my gaze back to her, she was no longer on her stomach, but was sitting up and gathering her things. Her cell phone was pressed to her ear as she smiled, listening to whoever she was talking to.

  She stood up and pushed her sunglasses back up onto her head as she began searching for something, and a smile slowly stretched across my face. It was her. The office girl from last week. The one at the college. Her name was … Brielle.

  I stood there, watching her behind my dark sunglasses, waiting until the moment she noticed me. The conversation she was having on the phone had all of her attention. She began walking toward the gate to leave, not once glancing in my direction. I took a step back, blocking her path. She stopped then and lifted her gaze to mine. Annoyance clear in her frown.

  It took her a moment. My sunglasses and baseball cap worked well if someone wasn’t looking for me or expecting me. However, I had hopes she would remember me enough from last week to see past the semi-disguise. I saw it in her eyes when it dawned on her who I was.

  A myriad of emotions flashed across her face before settling on what I would call unsure and confused. Her eyes cut to look over the rest of the residents in the pool area to see if anyone was looking in this direction before swinging back to me.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked me.

  “What are you doing here?” I replied.

  With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, she said through clenched teeth, “I live here.”

  Then, I laughed. I couldn’t help it. I had already deduced she was probably a resident, but there was always a chance she was visiting someone and using the pool here. Knowing she lived in my building was too fucking funny.

  “Do you find that amusing?” she asked, then tilted her head to the side and glared up at me. “You don’t live here. Why are you—” Then, she stopped, and her eyes widened. That full bottom lip of hers dropped down as a gasp came out of her. “No,” she breathed, then closed her eyes tightly and muttered something under her breath that I didn’t quite catch.

  I watched her, completely entertained by her reaction. “I’m going to assume you figured out on your own why I’m here,” I drawled, crossing my arms over my chest, unable to stop smirking.

  “You,” she said. “You bought this place?”

  I nodded.

  “Why? Don’t you have a …” She paused and glanced around again, then whispered, “A mansion in Beverly Hills or something?”

  She knew where I lived. I was impressed.

  “If you know that, then you probably know I have a son who lives in Rosemary Beach. Grandkids too.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Yes, but this isn’t Rosemary Beach.”

  “How do you like the pool?” I asked her instead. “Needs a makeover, don’t you think?”

  She stared at me, saying nothing. I would admit, I had been bored before coming down here and finding her. I enjoyed seeing her annoyance with me. She was interesting, and although I was done fucking women her age, that didn’t mean I couldn’t talk to her.

  “The pool is fine as it is,” she said.

  “But you like the new lounge chairs,” I said, knowing she would be lying if she said no.

  “Yes, I do like those,” she acknowledged, but the sour look on her face made it clear she hated to say so.

  “How’s Cam?” I asked her, surprised that I had remembered the name of the poor guy she controlled with her magic vagina.

  “He’s fine,” she snapped. “I need to go,” she added, then stepped around me to leave.

  Just like that, she was going to walk away. Had a female ever just walked away from me when I was talking to her?

  My gaze followed her as she left, and when she glanced back at me before opening the gate, I winked. Brielle had just shown a small crack in her annoyed attitude by looking back. She wasn’t completely immune to me. Even if she wished like hell she were.

  four

  brielle

  Slamming my door with more force than necessary, I tossed my bag down on the floor and growled in frustration. He was an asshole, a jerk, and he just kept showing up in my life and reminding me of all those things. What had I done wrong for the cosmos to drop him not only into my building, but also as the new owner of my freaking building?

  This did not matter. I would rarely see him. I doubted he was going to just walk through the place. He had obviously been trying to hide his identity down at the pool. As if people wouldn’t notice a man wearing ripped jeans and black snakeskin boots by a pool in Florida during the summer. Not to mention, his unbuttoned black shirt that was showing off his tattoos. He was going to stand out.

  “God help me if Clara finds out,” I mumbled aloud.

  She would never leave.

  A knock on my door interrupted my thoughts, and I turned back around to walk over and answer it. I expected it to be Mrs. Jo since I knew Clara wasn’t coming over and Mrs. Jo was the only other person who visited me. Mostly to drop off something she had baked that I didn’t need to eat.

  The brown-eyed construction worker I had passed a few times while he was working outside the past week was standing there. He smiled at me, and his eyes dropped to my chest. I pulled my cover-up, which had fallen open, closed. His eyes snapped back up to my face when he realized he’d been caught.

  “Uh, I was just letting you know we are working on your floor this week. Painting, some hammering, but not too much. Shouldn’t be that noisy.”

  Another annoyance, compliments of the new landlord. Although a fresh coat of paint wouldn’t hurt. New light fixtures would also be nice. Maybe new paint on the doors too.

  I gave him a nod. “Thanks for letting me know,” I replied.

  He cleared his throat, then shuffled his feet nervously. “Yeah, uh, and I was wondering … I mean, I’ve noticed you because you’re hard not to notice. I mean, that is, I … would you like to have dinner with me sometime? Or maybe drinks? Coffee? I’m Gavin, by the way.”

  Oh. Wow. He was asking me out. Okay, um … did I want to go out with him? He was attractive. He had a good job, it seemed.