“So, don’t you dare stand there and accuse me of wanting to profit off everything you’re going through, when I only care about you surviving this. Don’t you dare think, for one minute, that you love the music more than I do, just because I can’t carry a tune. The only difference between you and me is that you were born with a once-in-a-generation talent to make music, and I was born with the brains to make sure that music gets heard.”
Damn.
My gaze dropped to her lips. I wanted to back her against the wall and sink into her mouth to see if all that passion had an outlet. Hell, I wanted to be the outlet. My fingers curled at the idea of sinking them into her hair, and my pulse kicked up a notch like I’d started running again. There was a palpable hum of energy between us.
This was dangerous.
Sex was a need I fulfilled. It was an itch to scratch, a thirst to quench, or a way to pass the time while feeling really damned good. It was another source of the oblivion I was always chasing. But the person I was having it with never mattered.
I’d never wanted someone more than I wanted the act.
Until now.
“Do you understand?” she questioned, her eyes bright with purpose. God, they really were gorgeous.
“I understand.”
“Good. Now go shower. You’re all sweaty.”
“You like it.”
She scoffed and spun on her heels to stride down the hall, not swaying her hips like most women did around me, because she honestly didn’t care if I found her attractive or not.
Which only served to make her more attractive.
Shit.
I headed straight for the shower. We had to get out of this apartment, and not just because I needed to know I could look at booze and not drink it. Sure, that was part of it. I couldn’t be sure of my power to resist until I was tempted, right? The city was too much, and I knew it. We needed to get somewhere far enough from civilization to keep me from fucking up but close enough to build my resiliency.
Mostly, we had to get somewhere I could find enough space to kill whatever this…chemistry was between us. The close confines of the past two and a half weeks were going straight to my dick, and I didn’t fuck the women on staff. I wasn’t supposed to be fucking anyone right now, according to the rehab protocols. No new dependencies—including people.
The idea came as I was drying off after my shower.
It was perfect. More than enough room to get some distance but enough opportunity to ease me back into the real world…if that could be considered the real world. But it was better than hiding up here in the penthouse.
I made all the arrangements with a single phone call, then packed two suitcases…and one guitar—my first acoustic. Just in case.
After I carried it all downstairs, I walked out onto the deck to see Zoe pacing back and forth, actively arguing with someone on her phone. Her feet were bare.
“You can’t rush it, and don’t even start with me about deadlines. You can push it and get shit, or you can wait and get gold. Either way, if you don’t ease up off his neck, you’re going to suffocate him.” She saw me and stilled. “They’re the highest-grossing rock band in the world, and have been for the last two years, Harvey. Trust me, the anticipation of a new album is only going to work in their favor.” She held my gaze as she battled with him.
Harvey. She was having it out with Harvey because I wouldn’t pick up my phone. She was taking his hits for me. Shit, my chest was tight and heavy again. I didn’t want to like her, and I definitely didn’t want whatever this melty feeling was in the pit of my stomach.
“Go ahead and call Ben. He’s going to say the same thing. You need to give Nixon some space, or I’m going to accidentally throw his phone in the dishwasher.” She hung up.
My eyebrows rose. On a smoking-hot scale of one to ten, that was an eleven. Yeah, we had to go. Now. Right now.
“Pack your shit,” I said.
Her jaw dropped. “Wait…what?”
“Pack. Your. Shit.” A corner of my mouth lifted in an irrepressible smile.
“You’re seriously going to fire me after I just went toe-to-toe with one of the best producers in the world for you?” Her voice pitched to a