She gave him a gentle nudge toward the pads he’d put on the floor of the boat. “Lie down.”

Intrigued by the sexy glimmer in her eye, he did as he was told. Never let it be said that he couldn’t be trained.

Still kneeling, Kara took her shirt off and then her shorts before she stretched out next to him, wearing only her bra and panties. “We’re going to celebrate our engagement.”

He turned on his side to face her and put his arm around her. “That’s the best idea you’ve ever had.”

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Still processing the phone call he’d received right before leaving the studio, Evan turned the motorcycle into the pharmacy parking lot at one o’clock as planned. He stashed the bike under the stairs and sat to wait for Grace.

Running his fingers through his hair, Evan tried to stop his mind from repeatedly racing through the conversation he’d had with Buddy Longstreet. The king of country music had called him to celebrate the freeing of his album from the Starlight Records bankruptcy proceedings. Buddy had plans for him—big plans that were in sharp conflict with the plans Evan had been making for himself lately.

After the tremendous amount of time and attention he’d poured into the studio—not to mention the huge investment Ned Saunders had made to get the place off the ground—how in the world would Evan walk away from that to pursue the performing and recording career he’d once thought he wanted?

And then he thought of Josh Harrelson, the sound engineer he’d wooed to Gansett and Island Breeze Records with the promise of a steady paycheck. Didn’t he owe it to Josh to follow through on the plans they’d made?

Finally, he thought of Grace and their amazing life together, which would be totally turned upside down if he went out on tour for God only knew how long. To hear Buddy talk, he’d be on tour for the rest of his natural life if things went according to the grand plan. And things mostly went according to Buddy’s plans. He was a star maker. There was no denying that.

At one time, not all that long ago, Evan had wanted the kind of stardom Buddy had promised him today. He wanted the big time, and nothing else would do. But now he knew a different kind of life, a simpler life that suited him far more than life as a performer ever had.

Never once, in all the gigs he’d played on Gansett Island with Owen and on his own, had Evan ever experienced the crippling stage fright that plagued him at almost every other venue he’d played. The stage fright was one of the reasons he’d been secretly relieved to hear that his record had been taken down by Starlight’s bankruptcy.