Instead, Hannah was waiting for a reply and he knew his answer would have irreversible consequences.

  “Lead the way.”

  EIGHT

  Well, this was certainly not her smartest move, but here she was in her bedroom with Will Sutherland.

  Hallie had always told her that one day Hannah’s bold mouth would get her into trouble. Part of her would love to get into trouble with Will, but then there was that damn common sense that always ruined her fun.

  Her inner turmoil had been bouncing all around since meeting Will face-to-face the very first time. Why did she have to battle with herself? Why couldn’t she make up her mind and stick to it?

  Because the devil on her shoulder was all too tempting, but the angel on the other shoulder wouldn’t keep quiet.

  “What’s with the dress you’re wearing?” Will asked.

  She turned and couldn’t help but laugh. He remained in the doorway, as if stepping inside would be literally crossing the point of no return.

  “Hallie and I were trying to figure out the perfect outfit for the shoot when Gram called and I just ran over like this.”

  The way his eyes traveled over her body did nothing to help her remain calm. She wished like hell he’d replace that stare with his hands. What she wouldn’t give to have a different relationship with Will. This whole working-together thing was really getting in the way of what she truly wanted.

  Hannah certainly wasn’t in to flings. She couldn’t afford flings in this media-driven world she lived in. Everything she did ended up in the tabloids or online. Having an affair with Will Sutherland would ultimately screw her career all up. With the timing—of her signing with Elite and then getting involved with him—it would most definitely have people talking and wondering if the sexual relationship was what got her to move labels after being with Cheating Hearts for over ten years. They’d all be talking about Will and there’d be no room left for the new image and sound she’s sacrificed so much to create.

  Not only that, but Mags had also tried to control her every move for years. She was done with being controlled. Yet, if Hannah got intimately involved with Will, that would put him even deeper into her life than anyone had been before. She couldn’t afford anyone who wasn’t family to be so close to her both personally and professionally.

  So, no. Absolutely no sex.

  But that didn’t stop her from continually wanting the hell out of him.

  “Wear something else.”

  Hannah jerked at his commanding tone. “Excuse me?”

  “You’re not wearing that for the photo shoot.”

  Why did his demands get her so irritated? Why did she let him annoy her and turn her on at the same time? How was that even possible?

  There was way too much tension rolling through her.

  “This is the exact dress I’m wearing,” she told him, though she still had no idea what she wanted to have on in the photos.

  Now he did take a step into the room. Those blue eyes were locked onto hers as he moved closer.

  “No, you’re not,” he repeated. “It’s too sexy and not the look we’re going for.”

  “Sexy?”

  A muscle in his jaw clenched as he stopped about a foot away. Hannah waited for him to say something, to do something. She was so charged up, she wished like hell he would make the first move so when they crossed this line, the guilt wouldn’t be on her.

  When.

  Yes, there would be a when. This wasn’t a question of if anymore. Even after the speech she’d literally just given herself, she couldn’t ignore the inevitable.

  Everything was going to get complicated and there wasn’t much Hannah could do to stop it.

  Oh, she could say no. She could walk away and have a conversation over the phone after she and her sister zeroed in on the details. This whole photo-shoot strategy should be between Hannah and her manager, with maybe a few ideas from her producer.

  Right now, though, she was giving Will total control. She’d never done that willingly before, but she found herself wanted to relinquish everything to him.

  The irony was not lost on her that she’d hated being controlled by Mags, but she welcomed Will’s perspective.

  “You know damn well what you look like, Hannah. Don’t go fishing for compliments.”

  “Compliments come to me all the time,” she responded. “So does criticism. It’s all part of the life I live.”

  Hannah pulled in a breath, tipped her head, and studied Will’s features. That strong jawline, those deep blue eyes framed by dark lashes, and that mouth she was dying to taste...

  “I never took you for doling out compliments to your artists,” she added. “But you called me sexy, so I’m taking that to mean you find me attractive.”

  There. She’d placed that kernel of obvious attraction between them—now to see what he did with it.

  “Do you want me to find you attractive?”

  Oh, he was going to make this difficult. He was going to make her be the one to cross the line. Fine, but when she crossed it, she was pulling him with her.

  “I want respect above all else,” she told him honestly. “And maybe I do want to know what you think of me on a personal level.”

  His eyes darkened as he raked his gaze over her. Why wouldn’t he just do something already? Did she need to send up a flare to get his attention? Write him an invitation?

  “Your fans’ compliments aren’t enough?” he asked, his voice low and gravelly.

  “I’m talking about what you think.”

  He took another step toward her, but Hannah refused to move back. She wanted to feel him, she wanted to challenge him, to make him face this with her and stop the silent battle. If they didn’t get this out in the open, the want and curiosity would drive her absolutely mad.

  “What I think is that I won’t keep doing these games anymore.” One more step. “I think I’m done with being pulled in all directions.” Another step. “And I’m done with the flirting.”

  Hannah swallowed and lifted her eyes to meet his. “Flirting?”

  “You flirt with everyone,” Will stated. “The audience when you’re on stage, which I understand is part of the show. But you flirted with Cash the second he got here and you flirt with me every chance you get.”

  “I’m myself around you,” she told him. “And I was myself around Cash. We have a natural chemistry. Isn’t that what you want with your artists? Especially two who are going to be touring together?”

  Will’s lips quirked into a naughty grin and he took a step back...the total opposite of what she wanted him to do.

  “Then I guess you aren’t flirting with me,” he countered. “My mistake.”

  Somehow she’d screwed this up, but maybe that was for the best. She should cool it, focus on her career and not obsess over getting Will naked and in her bed.

  But he was already in her bedroom and her mind was spinning, her heart beating faster than usual. She didn’t want to waste this chance.

  She hadn’t gotten this far in life without taking risks.

  Hell, signing with Elite had been risky enough. But now she was seriously considering doing much more with Will than just working together on great music.

  Ugh. She needed her guitar and her notebook. She hadn’t had this much inspiration in years. Will inspired so many emotions inside her and she needed a place to channel all of that. If it weren’t for her music, she didn’t know what she’d do with everything she was feeling.

  “I need to get to the studio,” she told him. “Um...we can do this whole clothing thing later.”

  “What?” he asked, his eyebrows drawn in.

  Wanting, waiting, needing...

  The lyrics were practically writing themselves in her head. She had to get this down on paper and work on the chords.

  “I’ll be in the studio.”

  Hannah eased around him and left her bedroom. She couldn’t get to the studio fast enough. The words just kept flowing. At first she wondered about the tempo, but this had to be catchy, fast, and peppy. She didn’t want a slow ballad—she’d written enough of those and kept them hidden.

  No, this had to be almost reckless, pretty much like her emotions were right now. This was what had been missing from her secret songs. She’d needed something fun and relatable...and she didn’t know a single person who hadn’t wanted someone without knowing how to go about it.

  For every relationship, there was always that season of need and ache. There was that sweet spot between the initial meet and that first kiss. And it was that first kiss she planned on writing about, planned on singing and performing.

  She couldn’t wait for it all to come together.

  Hannah stepped into the recording part of her studio and sank onto the floor next to her guitar stand. She took the guitar and hit that first chord. Then tried another. She sang a couple lines, trying to find that perfect beat, the perfect sound that would make this special song stand out.

  She reached for the notebook and pencil on the small table she kept by her guitar.

  After jotting down what she wanted for the chorus, she was playing around with the first verse, but not finding the right opening. Did she want to blast right in or start slow and go in for the big buildup...just like how a first kiss felt?

  “That’s it,” she muttered.

  “What inspired you?”

  Hannah jerked around to Will standing in the doorway. He was leaning against the frame as if he’d been there a while. She’d been so absorbed in her music, in her thoughts, that she hadn’t heard him...and she hadn’t thought he’d follow her.

  “We were discussing clothes,” he went on.

  Hannah laughed. “No, we weren’t. We hadn’t gotten that far yet.”

  She closed her book and eased it to her side before placing her guitar back in the stand. When she came to her feet, she adjusted the tight dress, but stood in place as Will stepped into the room.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you wrote music?”

  Hannah pursed her lips, unsure how to approach the subject. Writing her own music was her ultimate dream. When she switched labels, she’d planned on having several good pieces to offer and discuss. She wanted to be taken seriously as a songwriter, but she’d never performed her own work before. She’d been afraid to take the next step.

  “It’s something I was going to discuss with you later,” she admitted.

  “Why not now?” he asked.

  Hannah shrugged. “I’m not ready.”

  Will stopped and seemed to be studying her... She didn’t like this. She didn’t like this one-on-one scrutiny. She should be used to being under a microscope, and she was to a point, but now she was alone with Will and discussing her lyrics, her dreams. That was a hell of a lot of exposure and vulnerability.

  “I’m here now and I’m ready,” he countered. “Let’s see what you have.”

  Hannah’s nerves jumbled. She would have to show him at some point, but now that the moment had presented itself, she wasn’t so sure about what she had to offer. What if he hated her stuff? What if he told her he didn’t believe any of it would work? Giving someone a book of your deepest thoughts and asking them to like it was scary as hell.

  She could perform in front of thousands of people on a stage by herself for hours, but she couldn’t bring herself to hand over a little notebook to the man who was supposed to help her in every aspect of her career.

  When she remained silent, Will moved around her and snatched the notebook off the floor, where she’d left it. She reached for it, but he stepped away.

  He held the notebook at his side and eased closer to her.

  “We all have to expose ourselves at some point,” he told her with that low, calm voice. “Everyone has secret thoughts, secrets wants.”

  She shivered at his tone, knowing he wouldn’t make fun, but that didn’t mean he would like what he saw. And the most recent work she was just jotting down was clearly about him.

  Hannah closed her eyes. “I’m not ready, Will.”

  “Are we talking about the music?”

  She opened her eyes to see he’d moved in even closer. She could make out the navy flecks in his blue eyes. His warm breath brushed over her face, sending even more tingles through her.

  “What else would we be talking about?” she murmured.

  He kept his eyes on her as he shifted to put the notebook between them. The second he opened to that first page, Hannah closed her eyes once again... She couldn’t look. If she saw any type of negative reaction, she would be crushed. She loved each of the pieces she’d written and she desperately wanted others to love them, as well.

  Even Hallie hadn’t seen the lyrics.

  Hannah bit her bottom lip and glanced down at her feet, then to the glass window into the sound room. She looked anywhere but at Will.

  Pages flipped one after another and then stopped. Will’s deep intake of breath practically echoed.

  “You’re very passionate.”

  Hannah forced herself to focus on him, then she darted her gaze down to the page where he’d stopped.

  “I’ve always been passionate about my work,” she told him.

  He tapped the page. “This is more than work. This is the passion inside of you for someone that has nothing to do with music. Writing the lyrics is just your therapy.”

  Busted.

  “They are,” she agreed.

  Will closed the book and dropped it to the floor, then he stepped so close his body brushed hers, and Hannah held her breath.

  “Who was this last bit about?” he asked, his eyes darting to her lips. “Who inspired you to want and need so much that you had to rush in here to get your thoughts onto paper?”

  Hannah couldn’t stand it another second.

  “You know damn well who.”

  And then she kissed him.

  NINE

  Nothing much surprised Will, but Hannah initiating this kiss sure as hell did. Writing about it, thinking about it, and daydreaming about it were totally different than actually acting on it.

  But he was damn glad she had.

  Finally.

  Since she’d initiated this, Will decided to take charge. There had been too much desire built up inside of him and the anticipation had threatened to overcome him on multiple occasions. The second he’d seen Hannah’s lyrics, he’d known exactly how she’d been feeling. She’d managed to capture the thoughts, the feelings, the need, so perfectly.

  Will framed her face and tipped her head, needing better access to that mouth he’d been tempted by more and more.

  Hannah let out a soft moan and all that did was make Will want even more. He wanted to know exactly how to pleasure her, what her desires were, her fantasies.

  He wanted every damn thing.

  Will moved his hands to her hips and jerked her against him, bringing their bodies flush together...but it was still not enough. Even with this form-fitting dress she wore, he wanted it gone.

  Hannah reached for the hem of his shirt and the second her fingertips slid beneath and found his bare skin, Will took that silent invitation and ran with it.

  He eased back and jerked the shirt over his head, then looked to her for any sign of hesitation. But those expressive eyes were full of desire. He wasn’t going to worry about the consequences right now. They were both adults and nobody else had to know.

  Hannah offered a naughty grin as she reached for the top of her dress and started easing it down her body...and holy hell, she had nothing on beneath.

  There she stood, completely bare and even more breathtaking than he’d imagined...and he’d been doing a hell of a lot of imagining.

  “You can stand here like this and you were afraid to show me your music?” he asked.

  Hannah shrugged. “This is different. Physical is all on the surface. Those lyrics, those were in my heart.”

  Her heart. That was something he couldn’t allow himself to get involved with.

  “I’m not looking for anything more than the physical,” she went on, obviously picking up on his tension. “I want you, Will. It’s simple.”

  Simple. Nothing about Hannah had been simple since he’d met her. But he did want her, and all the reasons to deny either one of them had long since fled his mind. Prolonging the inevitable would only make them both miserable.

  When she reached for the button of his jeans, Will sucked in a deep breath. Her touch seemed so delicate, yet so bold and commanding. She was quite the mix of contradictions and every part of her turned him on. There was no fighting this and he didn’t know why he thought he could.

  “Will?” she asked. “You with me?”

  The way she continued to stare at him, completely exposed, pulled at something deep inside of him. Between the songs and her willingness to cross this line with him, there was some bond they’d already formed that he couldn’t delve too far into right now. Letting his mind get involved was a mistake.

  Damn the work and damn the consequences.

  Will didn’t answer with words—instead he quickly undressed and wasted no time in reaching for her. Hannah melted into his embrace as she arched against him. Together they made it to the rug on the floor and Will carefully laid her down beneath him.

  Her hair was spread all around her and Will remained up on his knees so he could stare down at her. Right now he wasn’t her producer and she wasn’t a superstar. They had taken everything down to the basics. He had no idea what would happen after, but he only cared about now.

  Hannah reached for him. “Stop thinking,” she murmured. “We both need this and anything we do, it stays right here.”

  “Between us,” he agreed.

  Hannah nodded and lifted her knees on either side of his hips. “That’s all I want.”

  So why was he still waiting? There was no reason for more talk and there was no reason to worry. It was sex, plain and simple, just like she’d said.