Page 1 of Hope and Country

1

RILEY

Our eyes met. Something passed between us. Attraction. Recognition. Yearning. Maybe a mix of all three. And much more. I brought the tumbler to my lips, relishing the burning sensation of whiskey as it slid down my throat.

A gear shifted inside me.

And my heart did one of its moves. The one where it got all bothered and excited.

I fastened my grip around the glass in my hand.

The woman pushed her long, curled blonde hair over one shoulder, giving me a perfect view of her lickable, slim neck. Lickable? Was that even a word? I pushed the thought away. I was a man on a mission.

The vampiric side of me, the one I didn’t know existed until now, emerged in full strength.

I blinked.

The temptation to bite the soft flesh of her neck multiplied by the second.

The woman smiled, and all my restraints broke loose. They caught fire and burned to ashes in the dark night.

I gave her a subtle nod as I continued staring, hoping for a slight hint of encouragement from her.

Her red-painted lips pursed as she mouthed a “Hey” my way.

Smoothing my moist hand over the dark fabric of my trousers, I made a beeline for her, my steps light and focused, not allowing the sea of people to break our eye contact. The air around us heated up. We were outdoors, but it felt as if someone had cranked the thermostat up. Slowly, I raked my fingers through my brown hair, gelled for tonight, doing my best to not mess it up. No one in the business needed to know how unruly my heart was behaving. Or the tremble that had started in my fingers. The flickers of excitement that burned in my core.

A server passed me. I discarded my tumbler before grabbing two champagne flutes from his tray.

In two long strides, I reached the woman in the red lace dress. Her smile spread to her eyes when I offered her the bubbly alcohol.

“To a great night and even greater company,” I said as we clinked our glasses. “I’m Riley.” I held out my hand for her to shake. Our palms met, and her warmth sent tingles of electricity through me, lighting me up and heating my insides like no woman had ever done before. I felt I’d combust from her touch alone.

“I’m Devon.”

I lifted our joined hands to my lips and kissed her.

Her soft chuckle resonated through me. “I can already tell you’re a gentleman.”

“My mama taught me well. So, what brings you here, Devon? I’ve never seen you at one of these country music parties before.”

“Oh, you go to these a lot? This is my first time. It’s quite intimidating. A friend of mine invited me, but she’s running late.”

I followed her gaze across the rooftop bar. Country music stars counted for more than half of the patrons here, and all together they had won enough awards to fill an entire room. Woven through them were music producers, managers, movie stars, and their dates. Yeah, I guess the crowd could be quite impressive from an outsider’s point of view.

My man, Carter Hills, waved at me when my eyes drifted to him. I raised my glass in his direction. Carter was not only my biggest protégé but also one of my best friends. Over the years, we rose to the top of this industry together, our friendship growing stronger with each album. We had each other’s backs. Always.

“All these people, they aren’t as intimidating as they look once you get to know them. Most of them are pretty great actually. Down to earth. And genuinely nice. Don’t let their success make you nervous. Looking great is part of their job description. But there’s much more to them. Well, to some of them at least.”

The woman snickered and clutched my elbow, balancing her weight on her four-inch nude stilettos.

“You seem like the kind of man who knows a lot about the country music scene, am I right?”

I took another sip of my drink and shrugged, my eyes trained on her face, enjoying the tilt of her red lips. “You could say that. I’ve been around these folks my entire life, but an active part of their world for almost a decade.”

Devon’s gray-blue eyes flared. “You’re a country singer? Ohmygod, I’m sorry if I didn’t recognize you.” A flush crept along her neck and cheeks. The same neck I was still dying to feast on.

“No. I’m not. Believe me, you don’t want to hear me sing. It may burst your eardrums. No kidding.”