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Lyric wandered the empty halls of the small brick building. It was late, nearly 2 am, and most of the employees had gone home ages ago. She could hear voices on the other side of the wall, the group was recording.

“Howie wouldn’t let you go back to the hotel?” Vic asked. Lyric turned at the voice, she hadn’t expected to run into anyone.

“He likes for me to be here, in case he needs anything,” she explained with a smile. “Plus I like to be here too. I love how goofy they all get.”

“Yes, they do like to fool around when they’re recording,” Vic agreed. “But then most artists do – it helps relieve some of the tension. Recording is very serious business.”

“Um, yeah,” Lyric said with a smile, dodging Nick as Alex chased him down the hallway with a large pillow. “Very serious indeed.”

Vic laughed, taking her arm and pulling her out of the way as the pair came running back towards them, Alex swinging the pillow wildly. Nick ducked and Alex hit her in the face.

“Shit! Sorry Ricky…” Alex grabbed her and hugged her, then ran off in hot pursuit.

“Are you ok?” Vic asked, reaching out to straighten her hair.

“Yeah, I’m used to the monkey business.”

“Let’s go outside where it’s quiet. It’s a beautiful night.” Vic led the way out a side door. It was still quite warm outside, the crickets chirped loudly in the flower beds outside the building. “Have you ever been to Nashville before?”

Lyric shook her head. “It’s very pretty here, I like it,” she said.

“I’m glad you like it,” Vic said, pulling her into his arms. “And I’m glad you’re here.” He lowered his head and captured her lips. Lyric shuddered when his fingertips brushed her cheek. After a long moment, she broke off the kiss and stepped back out of his arms.

“Is something wrong?” Vic asked, his eyes shining in the moonlight.

“No…it’s just moving too fast,” she said, walking to a nearby bench and sitting down. She’d only met Vic three days before. He had been really forward with her, wanting to hug and kiss before she was ready for that – plus he was already pressing her to come home with him.

“I’m sorry,” he said, sitting down next to her. “I just think you’re amazing and I want to get to know you so much better,” he admitted.

“I’m not the type of girl who goes home with a guy on the first date,” she said softly. “To be completely honest with you, Vic, I don’t intend on sleeping with anyone until after I’m married.”

“That is admirable, Lyric. You are in the vast minority, especially in the music industry.”

“Yes, I know. But I made a promise to my mama and I fully intend on keeping that promise.”

“I understand. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t have fun, does it? I’d love to show you around Nashville tomorrow, if your boss will let you have some time off.”

“I think that can be arranged,” she said. Vic kissed her again, stroking her hair and whispering sweet nothings in her ear. When she pulled away a little, he backed off and led her back inside. As they approached the studio, he pulled her into his arms again. “Just one more…I can’t resist you, you’re so damn beautiful.”

Lyric allowed him to kiss her, responding to the insistence of his lips. He backed her against the wall, pressing his body against hers. Lyric could feel his desire, hard against her belly. It didn’t disgust her, but didn’t cause her to feel weak in the knees either.

Howie came around the corner and stopped short, surprised at seeing Lyric in a serious lip lock with their producer. He pushed back the sudden surge of anger he felt, watching the man put his hands all over Lyric’s lush body. He knew he had no right to keep Lyric from seeing someone - but wished he had warned her about Vic before they’d arrived, the man was a known womanizer. He stepped back into the darkened hallway behind him and started singing lyrics from a song they were recording.

“…kissing and touching with my hands all over your booty….mmm, I want your PDA… Hey Vic? You around?” he yelled, giving the couple time to separate before he appeared. “We need you in the studio, dude.”

In the SUV on the way back to the hotel, Howie broached the subject with Lyric. “You like him?” he asked.

“Who?” Lyric asked sleepily. She was leaning against Alex, who had a protective arm around her.

“Vic. He seems to be paying a lot of attention to you since we got here – dinner last night, lunch this afternoon...”

“Yeah, he seems like a nice guy. Why?” Lyric was suddenly alert, she wondered if Howie had seen them together that evening.

“It’s just that…” He stopped, unsure of how to explain it Lyric, who was more than a little naïve about the sexual nature of music industry relationships. “He’s got a reputation, Lyric, and I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“You mean he’s a player?”

Nick snorted loudly. “He’s a bigger player than Alex!”

“Hey, I resemble that remark!” Alex said, kicking Nick in the shin.

“What’s the big deal? He’s cute, he’s nice to me, and for once I get to hang out with a guy who isn’t one of ya’ll.”

“You mean you’re tired of us already?” Brian feigned indignation.

“No, of course not. But I can’t date any of you and I…well…,” Lyric stuttered, unable to voice her real thoughts.

“Have sexual itches you need to scratch?” Alex piped in, causing Lyric to blush wildly.

“Just so you understand what he’s after,” Howie said, ignoring Lyric’s discomfort.

“We already had that discussion this evening, thank you very much, big brother,” Lyric said sarcastically. “He knows nothing is going to come of this, and he still wants to hang out with me,” Lyric informed them. She understood they all had her best interest at heart, but that didn’t make this any easier on her.

“Vic’s the eternal optimist then,” Alex laughed. “Coz really all he wants is in her pants.”

“Don’t burst her bubble, man,” Nick said. “Let her believe that Vic really likes her for her sweet personality and intelligence – and not for those huge ta-ta’s she’s always flaunting.”

“I hate ya’ll,” Lyric said, pulling out of Alex’s embrace and turning to look out the window. Despite her best efforts, tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Aw, honey, we were just teasing,” Alex said, trying to hug her. She shrugged him off, turning away so no one could see her cry. When they pulled up to the hotel, she jumped out and ran up to her room, not waiting for the others.

Lyric knew it was Howie when there was a soft knock on her door. She checked the peephole, just to make sure, and then opened it.

“Ricky, I’m so sorry…” Lyric turned away from him, preferring to look at the view of the parking lot outside her window.

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. She could feel his warm breath on her ear, a shudder ran down her spine. “I shouldn’t have said anything in front of the fellas, it was really stupid of me. I apologize, sweetheart.”

Lyric didn’t say anything, just reached up and angrily wiped away the tears.

“I saw him kissing you and I was…jealous,” he admitted softly.

“Why in the world would you be jealous?” she whispered.

“I don’t know, Ricky. I feel so possessive of you and I have no right to…”

Lyric turned in his arms, looked up into his eyes. He was completely serious, there was no mocking smirk on his handsome face. She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his, her hands on his chest.

With a groan, Howie deepened the kiss, tightening his arms around her until her body was molded to his. With a shock of recognition, Lyric realized that he desired her – and that she wanted him too. Vic’s kisses hadn’t set her blood to boiling like Howie was doing to her now.

Howie let his hands roam over her body, enjoying the feel of her curves that he had only dreamed about from afar. Lyric buried her hands in his hair, pulling his head down to deepen the kiss. She startled when his tongue touched hers, breaking the spell.

Reluctantly, Howie pushed her gently away. “We can’t do this, Ricky. It would be too…complicated.” He’d been telling himself that from day one, desperately trying to ignore the sexual pull between them.

“You’re right,” she whispered, willing her voice not to break. He stroked her face with his fingertips, looking deep into her eyes. He hated the pain he saw in them, praying he wasn’t the one who had put it there.

He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, then let their cheeks touch for a long moment. “I’m sorry,” he whispered in her ear, the words so soft that Lyric thought she might have imagined them.

Lyric turned away from Howie so he couldn’t see the agony in her face. She heard the door click softly as he left. She collapsed on the bed and cried herself to sleep.

The next day at the studio, she pointedly ignored Vic and stayed inside the studio with the fellas so she didn’t have to talk to him.

“Hey baby, what’s up? Did I do something wrong?” he asked, finally able to catch her alone as she left the women’s bathroom. When she didn’t respond and kept walking, he followed her back into the control booth. “Come on, honey – tell me what’s going down.”

She turned and confronted him. “I understand that all you want from me is sex, and that you’ll do anything or say anything to get it.” Lyric was her usual blunt self, she saw no reason to sugarcoat the truth.

“Who told you that?” he asked, feigning indignation.

“My family in there,” she said, indicating the four men in the next room - who were watching with interest how this played out. “They’re trying to keep me safe from a known player. Are you a player, Vic? Is that all you wanted from me?” she asked. Lyric was surprised to see Vic actually squirm a little under her intense scrutiny.

“Yes, I admit it – I want to have sex with you…and every beautiful girl I meet.”

Lyric slapped him across the face. “That’s for all the girls you’ve played.” She walked back into the studio with her head held high.

“She showed you, dude,” Nick said into the microphone, a smirk on his face.