The Price of Love (Rockin' Country Book 2)
Read The Price of Love (Rockin' Country Book 2) Online
Authors: Laramie Briscoe
Tags: #Romance, #rock music, #country music, #love, #singing
Book #2 in the Rockin’ Country Series
By Laramie Briscoe
Copyright © 2014 Laramie Briscoe
Kindle Edition
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted downloaded, distributed, stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without express permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, or any events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.
Edited by:
Lindsay Gray Hopper
Cover Art by: Kari Ayasha,
Cover to Cover Designs
Proofread by: Dawn Bourgeois
Formatting: Paul Salvette,
BB ebooks
Photography by: MHPhotography & Custom Stock Photos
Cover Models: Jack & Ashley Edmund
Heaven Hill Series
Meant To Be
Out of Darkness
Losing Control
Worth The Battle
Dirty Little Secret
Rockin’ Country Series
Only The Beginning
One Day at a Time
The Price of Love
Love & marriage is not always easy. It takes work, compromise, and a whole lot of forgiveness. Luckily for me, I have a husband who excels in all of those things and more. He’s one of the reasons I do this. If it wasn’t for him, I probably never would have pursued it. Thank you, Michael! You’re my kinda bad boy, but you’ve definitely got the tattoos and piercings!
Wife
Husband
Superstar entertainers
Two people completely in love
Harmony and Reaper thought life would be easier once they sealed the deal. Stage personas put to the side, settling into marriage should have allowed them to be Hannah and Garrett to the world at large.
Boy, were they ever wrong!
Pressure from record companies, fans, and the people surrounding them put their brand-new union under the strain of the entertainment machine. Long nights apart, quick meetings in hotel rooms, and new faces on the music scene were not what either of them thought they would have to contend with.
When love is strong, emotions go haywire, and frustration is at an all-time high, everyone’s true colors are revealed.
Hannah and Garrett have a decision to make—is fame worth the price of love?
Sneak Peek of Rockin’ Country #3
* * *
T
wo weeks. Two long weeks. That was how long it had been since Hannah had seen Garrett in person. Sitting downtown at her favorite restaurant on McGavock with her mom, she was trying desperately to stay involved in the conversation they were having, but it was becoming harder and harder to keep her mind from wandering.
“Hannah,” Elizabeth Stewart snapped her fingers. “Are you even paying attention to me?”
“Sorry, Mom, I zoned out there for a minute,” she apologized, looking down at her barely eaten sushi. What was normally her favorite meal when she was home just didn’t hold the appeal that it usually did. “I didn’t sleep very well last night.”
“Miss your husband?”
Hannah’s face burned hot. How did she tell her mom that memories of the two of them together kept her up at night? Those little snippets of conversation here and there along with nightly talks over Skype and FaceTime weren’t getting the job done anymore. She needed to feel his arms around her, needed to feel his lips against hers, really wanted to smell the spice of his cologne. She missed it all.
“Yeah, I do,” she sighed, twirling her wedding ring on her finger with her thumb. Recording had amped up for both of them, and this was the longest stretch they had been apart.
“Well I guess it’s a good thing he just got here, huh?” Her mom shrugged nonchalantly as she took a sip from her wine glass.
“What?” Hannah understood the words that were spoken, but her brain couldn’t comprehend them. Garrett was thousands of miles away on the opposite coast. There was no way he was walking into a restaurant in Nashville.
“Look behind you.” Liz pointed behind Hannah’s shoulder.
Still unsure of what was going on, Hannah turned around in her seat and a squeal ripped free from her mouth as she saw Garrett making his way into the restaurant. Not even caring who saw, she launched herself into his arms, squeezing him tightly around the waist. She felt her feet leave the ground as he tightened his arms around her and bent his knees to pick her up.
“You’re really here?” she questioned in his ear, almost like she didn’t believe he would have made a special trip for her. She ran her hands through his hair, over the slight beard that covered his face. She even caressed the earrings in his ears, delighting as she felt the coolness of the metal. It was another reminder that this wasn’t a dream—he was here with her, holding her in his arms.
He pulled back so that he could look her in the eyes. “I’m really here.”
“How?”
“Why don’t we go sit with your mom?” He gently pushed her towards the table her mom sat at.
“Nice to finally see you again in person, Garrett. I thought that from now on all of our conversations would be conducted over a cell phone line,” Liz laughed as she stood up and gave him a hug.
“Me too.”
“Wait? The two of you have been talking to one another?” Hannah asked as she sat back in her chair, her mouth hanging open in surprise.
“You could say that.” Liz smiled, a conspiratory look in her eyes.
Garrett’s arm went around her shoulder as he sat closer to her, pulling her as close to his side as he could with the arms of two chairs separating them. “I thought she was lying about you missing me, because when I talked to you, you seem fine, but then I realized how sad I was and figured you were just as sad. So I flew out to see you. I missed the hell outta you.”
“But how did you even get his number?” Hannah questioned. She was very careful with all of his information. The last thing either one of them needed was for people who shouldn’t to get hold of their private conversations.
“Shell may have had something to do with it.” Liz winked.
Shell was another person who missed someone terribly. “Please tell me that Jared came with you to see her.” Like her and Garrett, Shell and Jared Skyped, texted, and FaceTimed, but it wasn’t the same as seeing a loved one in person.
“He was on his way to check into a hotel for the night. Something about them having ‘time to themselves’.” He used air quotes with his fingers, a mischievous smile on his face. He knew exactly what Jared wanted to do with their time to themselves.
Hannah played with her chopsticks. “She tells me how much she loves him every single time I talk to her about him. I’m glad he came to see her.”
“Do you want to order something?” A waiter asked Garrett as he came over to the table.
“Are we gonna be here long enough? I’m about to starve.” His belly picked that moment to growl loudly.
The ladies laughed and Hannah put her hand on his. “I think we’ll stick around for you.”
“You know what I like, order me something.” He indicated for her to speak to the waiter.
“With whatever she orders, I’ll take whatever beer you have on tap.”
Hannah quickly ordered, and the waiter promised to have it out as soon as possible.
“So what have you two ladies been doing today?” he asked as he looked between the two of them, situating himself so that he had Hannah next to him, his arm lazily slung over the back of her chair.
“We’re having lunch and then we’re shopping.”
“You don’t have to do that now,” Liz protested.
“No, Mom, I want to! Garrett can come with us.” She grinned as she bumped his side.
“I’m sure he doesn’t want to do that.”
“I have a sister,” he deadpanned. “I do lots that I don’t want to do, but I daresay it would be a pleasure to go with the two of you.”
Hannah pursed her lips and looked at her mom, shaking her head. “He’s a charmer and he can’t even help it. I can see that you’re falling for it too.” She shook her finger in her mom’s direction.
“He is very good,” Liz laughed. “I can see now why you were missing him and why you married him.”
* * *
“What do you think of this?” Hannah asked Garrett as he stood in the middle of one of her favorite boutiques. She held up in front of her a sundress that was a bright yellow color.
Glancing around, he noticed that Liz was on the other side of the store. He approached Hannah with a smile lifting up the corners of his mouth.
“What?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.
He reached in and traced where the vee of the neck would lie on her chest, running his finger along the exposed skin there. “Looks like it might be a little low-cut.”
“Oh yeah, I’ll wear a tank top underneath it.” She licked her lips, looking down at his finger.
Leaning in so that his mouth was even with her ear, he said, “You wouldn’t have to do that with me. You wouldn’t even have to wear
unmentionables
with it.”