Page 23

Dressed in a crisp black jacket, rich slate tie, and a white button-down capped by cuff-links on his wrists, he was much more serious. But no less sexy. Especially when I thought about all the gorgeous ink coating his carved muscles beneath all that tailored cloth.

Jesus, did I love a man with tattoos.

Get a grip, you promised yourself, no more bad boys! Besides, this guy isn't just out of your league— he's on a whole other planet!Bach Devine was rich and successful and everything I was not. I planned to work hard so I could achievesomesemblance of success, but he'd been born into this life.

His confidence dripped off of him. It slid down his slow smile, his tongue catching the final drops so that his voice retained that velvety cockiness. "Glad you both could make it."

Violet sat down across from him, slapping her purse onto the table. From the depths of it, she removed a heavy stack of papers. "Sit," she said, waving at me.

Realizing I'd been hovering like a moron at the end of the room, I rushed to settle into a chair. Before I could take the one beside Violet, Bach pulled out the seat right next to him. Wordlessly, he patted the cushion.

Bach was tipping me into a cyclone of confusing emotions. When I sat carefully in the chair, I swear, the leftover heat of his hand swam right up my thighs. "Is it hot in here?" I asked, laughing nervously.

Both of them stared at me. "Uh, I can crank the AC," Violet said. She started to stand; I flapped a hand at her to say never mind. Squinting dubiously, she fanned out the paperwork in front of me and Bach. "Right. Amina, let me walk you through all of this."

She began turning the papers, gliding her finger over the printed words. I nodded along, as if I was really following. It occurred to me that I should have brought a lawyer.

And where would I even find one? How would I PAY them?It was a useless hindsight.

Bach pierced me with his stare. "Are you following?" he asked.

"Yeah. Completely." I meant to lean closer and read the paragraph Violet was tapping. Simultaneously, Bach bent in the same direction. Our heads clonked together. I grabbed my forehead, wincing in pain and humiliation. "Sorry!"

"It's fine," he said, briefly rubbing where we'd bumped. Eyeing me, Bach smiled with one side of his mouth. "Probably not the last time we'll bang our heads together."

Violet groaned at his joke. "Focus you two, please."

Except I couldn't. I wanted to—this was fucking important—but Bach had jostled me around inside. My brain was rocketing around from our impact. More than that, I was hyper-aware of his every tiny breath.

When Violet flipped to the last page of the mountain-stack, handing me a pen, I froze. Were we already at the end? Had I zoned out that bad?

"Well?" she asked, wiggling the pen side to side. "Does it sound like a good deal?"

Licking my lips, I reached for the contract. "Let me just... do another quick scan of it."

Bach's hand rested on my wrist, freezing me. "Here. I'll break it down for you." His voice was silky, it invaded my ears until I heard nothing but him. "I'm going to make you famous, Amina. A star."

A star.My heart jumped.

"In exchange," he said, and I swear, he stroked my wrist. "You're agreeing to let us use your music—your image—in any way we see fit. You'll have long, hard days where we work closely together. You might even hate me by the end of it. But it'll all be worth it. Every bit of struggle will be worth it."

Is he talking to me... or himself?Gently, I pulled my hand from his and picked up the pen. It was heavy in my fingers.

This is what I want.

What I always wanted.

And now...

I can finally have it.

My past failures couldn't haunt me if I proved them untrue.

One by one, I looked between them both. Violet was waiting with her lips in a knotted scrunch. Bach was hiding his hands in his lap, but his shoulders looked stiff. With deliberate movements, I clicked the pen, exposing the tip.

I’d never signed my name so quickly before.