What do you do when you have to go where you aren’t wanted?

Bring a gift.

Too bad I had no idea what to get a famous, rich country princess who already had everything except, of course, for me not to show up.

I could have turned down the job, I guess. But come on. Five hundred G’s times two. Credit on an entire album, an album that would be heavily promoted and probably rock the country charts?

I couldn’t pass that up.

Plus, I wanted to see her again.

She was grouchy. Bossy. Kinda self-righteous.

Oh, and she clearly hated men as of late.

Aerie was also gorgeous, talented, and I had a hunch beneath that crunchy exterior of hers was a center made entirely of creamy, smooth ganache.

My stomach growled at the thought of ganache. I was starving.

I was currently driving a rental that was provided by the label. Byron Ryan wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted Aerie to take me home and he wanted some songs STAT.

After only getting to spend a few days in sunny L.A., I got back on Ten’s plane for Tennessee, the place Aerie had so longingly called home.

I really wasn’t even sure she knew I was coming. At least not this fast… I hoped someone told her. No one would give me her number to call and tell her myself. Hell, they wouldn’t even give me her actual address.

I didn’t even know the plane was going to Tennessee until the pilot told me before takeoff.

The second I landed, I was greeted with a set of keys to a black Tahoe with windows tinted so dark I wondered if it would feel like nighttime inside.

PS: It was dim in here for sure.

The second I got into the rental, my phone beeped with the address so I could plug it into the GPS. I sat there and looked around for a while, wondering how the hell they knew to text at the exact right moment.

Was I working for a music label or the mafia?

Fa-reeaak-yyyy.

So here I was. Driving my mafia-qualified SUV down some back road in the mountains of Tennessee. I just hoped the GPS signal held. If it didn’t, I’d probably be lost for days.

My stomach rumbled again, and I grimaced. Remembering the protein bar I had in the pocket of my duffle, I reached over into the passenger seat to grab the bag and fish around.

I glanced away from the empty, hick-style street for like ten seconds. Twenty tops.

A loud sound filled the air and made me jolt upright. The SUV sagged crookedly, and suddenly, I felt I was in some old rap video the way the truck was bobbing around on the road.

“Plot twist!” I yelled.

Slowing down, I didn’t bother to pull to the side. I highly doubted anyone else was going to happen along on this road, so I just stopped right in the center.

Leaving the car running and the driver’s door open, I jumped out and stared down at the flat tire. Shoving a hand through my hair, I gazed off in the direction from which I came, wondering what in the hell I’d hit that would blow out my tire like that.

It was probably bones. From the dead body of the man who last drove this road.

Where the fuck am I anyway?

The sun was already beginning to sink low in the sky. The temperature was cooler than I expected it to be in the South, so without any hesitation, I went to work changing the flat.

It only took me about thirty minutes, maybe a little more, to get the job done. My fingers were stiff from the cold, and the sky was definitely darker than it was when I started. As I was packing up the tools, a sound, familiar yet not one I would think to hear right then, caught my attention.

Pausing, I cocked my head to the side as I wiped my greasy hands on the front of my T-shirt.

I heard it again.

Quickly, I finished up and closed the back of the Tahoe and turned toward the sound. It was off to the side, not on the road, but off toward some bushes about thirty yards away.

Walking toward it, I fully expected to see it dart away. I mean, my presence here wasn’t exactly normal either.

Maybe that’s why it didn’t move. Because we were both in a foreign, unexpected place.

The closer I got, the quieter it became, and when I finally crouched down and looked into the shrubs, it was there, hunkered and shaking.

“Hey there, little dude.” I kept my voice low. I stood back up, did a full three-sixty, looking for any nearby houses or anything I might have missed.

Nothing.

Nothing but open space and a single road that wasn’t even paved. A chilled wind kicked up, pressing against my bare arms. My skin prickled with bumps.

I glanced back down at the bush and shrugged. “Finders keepers.”

Then I slowly crouched back down and reached for my discovery.

As I walked back to the SUV, I grinned. Guess I wouldn’t be going to Aerie’s without a gift after all.