RUINED - The Price of Play: Everhide Rockstar Romance Series Book 2 Read online

  About Tania Joyce

  Tania Joyce is an author of contemporary and new adult romance novels. Her stories thread romance, drama and passion into beautiful locations ranging from the dazzling lights and glitter of New York, to the rural countryside of the Hunter Valley.

  She’s widely traveled, has a diverse background in the corporate world and has a love for sparkles, shoes and shiraz.

  Tania draws on her real-life experiences and combines them with her very vivid imagination to form the foundation of her novels. She likes to write about strong-minded, career-oriented heroes and heroines that go through drama-filled hell, have steamy encounters and risk everything as they endeavor to find their happy-ever-after.

  Tania shuffles the hours in her day between part-time work, family life and writing. One day she hopes to find balance!

  Visit: www.taniajoyce.com

  RUINED – The Price of Play by Tania Joyce

  Published by Gatwick Enterprises 2019

  Brisbane, Australia.

  Copyright © Tania Joyce 2019

  All content and lyrics original works by Tania Joyce

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organizations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

  RUINED – The Price of Play

  Everhide Rockstar Romance – Book 2

  EPUB format: ISBN: 978-0-6482543-4-8

  Mobi format: ISBN: 978-0-6482543-5-5

  Paperback: ISBN: 978-0-6482543-6-2

  Cover design by DesignRans

  Edited by Lauren Clarke

  Tania Joyce: www.taniajoyce.com

  To report a typographical error, please visit http://taniajoyce.com/contact-form

  Visit www.taniajoyce.com to read more about her books and to buy books online. You will also find features, author interviews and news of her author events.

  Keywords and subjects

  New adult romance, young adult romance, teen romance, contemporary romance, rockstar romance, rock star romance, slow burn romance, enemies to lovers romance, accidental baby, secret baby, celebrity romance, music romance, angst romance, on stage, music, lyrics, bands, life on the road, touring, life in the limelight

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  About Tania Joyce

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  NEXT IN SERIES

  THANK YOU

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  RUINED – The Price of Play

  Everhide Rockstar Romance Series

  Book 2

  by

  Tania Joyce

  For the lovers of truth and kindness.

  WARNING

  This book covers sensitive issues (baby-related).

  If you’re after a sweet romance, this book may not be for you.

  There is a very emotional journey before the Happy Ever After.

  Grab your tissues.

  Chapter 1

  Kara Knight could think of a hundred other places she’d rather be than in Hunter Collins’s opulent five-bedroom penthouse in New York, celebrating the engagement of her rock star royalty friends, Gemma Lonsdale and Kyle McIntyre. Getting a Brazilian wax, having teeth pulled, or being hung upside down from the top of the Empire State Building sounded like better options. Anywhere was better than here.

  While it thrilled her that Gemma and Kyle were getting married, it was hard to keep her cheery face in place. Being dumped two months ago had seen her own dreams become unzipped.

  She snatched another champagne from the dining table, knocked it back, and let the bubbles glide down her throat. It didn’t deaden the pain.

  In the crowded living room, forty of the happy couple’s friends, work colleagues, and entourage jostled each other. Music blared through the sound system. There was laughter. Dancing. Cheer. None of it lightened her mood.

  Dodging the flailing arms, Kara weaved her way through the dancers and headed for the balcony. Drawn to the table overflowing with gifts tied with colorful satin ribbons, she stopped in her tracks. The ache inside her heart flared. Damn it. How did she get love so wrong?

  Dreams of a family didn’t matter anymore. Today’s doctor visit proved it. The prognosis was worse than she’d thought. Children would never be an option.

  A party popper exploded, raining confetti into the air, and the hoots and hollers from the crowd jarred her from her thoughts. She rolled her shoulders back and took a deep breath. I’m done. I will not feel like crap anymore.

  She’d cried enough tears over her ex, been angry long enough about the fate she’d been dealt, cursed enough to make the devil blush. Instead of a sparkling diamond ring, she got a broken heart. Instead of a healthy body, she got bits that didn’t work.

  So be it.

  For the rest of the night, she wouldn’t think about her troubles. Time to have fun.

  Taking a step back from the gift table, she collided against someone’s chest. Male. Tall. Smelled of citrus and spice. Rather than moving away, he nudged closer. He held out a bottle of Bollinger to one side of her, a champagne flute to the other. She was trapped in his pungent embrace.

  “Whatcha doing Kaaaara?” Hunter’s voice hovered too close to her ear.

  “Ergh!” she groaned. “Get off me.”

  Of course, he didn’t. He wrapped his arms around her, and placed his chin on her shoulder, his wavy brown hair tickling her skin. “What’s got you down in the dumps? It’s my solemn duty as host to ensure everyone is having a good time.”

  Shrugging out of his hold, she turned to face him and stared square into his azure eyes. Eyes that belonged to a wolf on the prowl. “I’m fine . . . It’s just been a rough day.”

  “Here. Have a refill.” He poured champagne into her flute, spilling some onto the floor.

  “Thanks . . . for that.” Sarcasm rolled in her tone as she rushed forward to gulp mouthfuls from her overflowing glass.

  Hunter downed his champagne, then a deep furrow formed between his long, straight brows. “You’re not still upset over Conrad, are you?”

  “Upset?” She jerked her head back. If only it was that simple. After four years with Conrad, she’d thought he was about to propose, not toss her aside like last
year’s must-have coat. But Hunter didn’t need to know how much she’d been hurt, or how today’s doctor visit had gone. “What makes you think something’s wrong?”

  “Hmm . . . let me see.” He tossed his hair, sending confetti strands onto the floor. “You’re staring vacantly at the gifts. Drinking alone. Being unsociable. And . . . you’re usually having a sling-fest with me about something—drinking, girls, being an asshole. Need I go on?”

  Since Kara had started supplying clothes for Everhide—Gemma, Kyle and Hunter’s rock band—cutting down Hunter’s ego had become a specialized sport. But she wasn’t in the mood for games tonight. “I can’t be bothered to waste my breath on you this evening.”

  “Ha! That’s the spirit.” He hooked his arm around her shoulders. “You know”—he nudged his hip into hers—“the best way to get over your ex is to sleep with someone else.”

  She laughed at the ridiculous notion. Who had time to go on dates and meet someone new? The mass of orders from the September fashion week had her working overtime at Conrad’s Fashion House. Her family had her tied up with must-be-seen-at social events for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. “Why? Are you offering your services?”

  “God no. Don’t be stupid.” Underneath the soft glow from the fairy lights, his expression changed from a hell-no grimace to one of smoldering sexiness that should have been illegal. “Unless . . . you want me to? I’d make you forget about Conrad in a second.”

  She blushed at the twinkle in his gaze. The way Hunter’s voice rumbled deep in his throat, like a purring wild cat, had her believe he could make her forget her own name.

  With a reputation that made Justin Bieber look like a saint, Hunter was so wrong in so many ways. She didn’t have enough fingers to count them. Rock star god-like sex symbols did not sleep with someone like her. At twenty-four years old, she was a nobody. Not his type.

  Shaking her finger at him, she took a step back and her backside hit the table. “Just because I’m single doesn’t mean I’d sleep with you. Regardless of how good looking you are.” She winced, her fluster getting the better of her.

  An irresistible smile spread across his mouth. “You think I’m good-looking.”

  Kara groaned. She’d been flippant, not blind. “I shouldn’t have opened my big mouth. You know you are. But I don’t like you as a person. You’re arrogant, egotistical, and an asshole.”

  “True. And you’re nothing but a privileged, daddy’s little princess. Drag you away from some gala event, did we?”

  Her mouth gaped and her hand shot to clutch her strand of pearls. While she was missing a gala night at the MET, she’d rather be here. And just because she was born and bred on the Upper East Side, into one of New York’s most well-respected families, didn’t mean she was a daddy’s girl. Her older sister Naomi wore that crown, and her overbearing, control freak of a father continually told her so. “Is that how you see me?”

  “Pretty much,” Hunter said matter-of-factly. “Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t fuck you.”

  Heat flooded her cheeks. He’d what? Since when? Him wanting to sleep with her was absurd. “No, you wouldn’t. If you’re offering, thanks, but no thanks.”

  She went to step around him, but he blocked her path. “Are you sure about that?” His playful tone caught her off guard. Oh shit! He was serious. He scanned her up and down, paused at her double D-sized cleavage, before his gaze returned to her face. “You’re attractive enough, in an above-average sort of way.”

  Greaaat. She didn’t think she’d rank that high on his scale.

  “And you’re tall,” he said. “I like tall. I would do things to you I bet Conrad never did.”

  Butterflies flitted in her belly. What was wrong with her? His sexually-fueled banter never affected her. She shouldn’t play his game, but when it came to Hunter, she couldn’t resist ribbing him. Tilting her chin a fraction, she threw him a challenging glare. “Like what?”

  He placed his bottle and glass down onto the table beside her. Slid his hands around her waist and drew his body flush with hers. Against all her instincts, she let him. His champagne breath made her head spin. His voice lowered to a gravelly whisper. “It would involve my tongue. Between your legs. And that’s just for starters.”

  Her eyes fluttered closed and her thighs clenched. With her mind hammering like a needle on an industrial sewing machine, she swayed. “What makes you think I’d like that?”

  A sly smirk curled across his lips. “All girls like that.”

  She wasn’t all girls, but he had a point. This conversation was getting out of hand. Reining in the jump in her pulse, she pushed against his chest. “Keep dreaming, Hunt. It’s. Not. Going. To. Happen.”

  She shoved past him. With her head reeling, she mingled with the crowd.

  “Hey.” Gemma caught her on the arm. Kyle was glued to her side. “Are you okay?”

  “Absolutely.” The lie curdled in Kara’s stomach as she bent to give her best friend a hug. Gemma, even in her heels, barely reached above Kara’s shoulders. “Hunt’s just being his usual charming self.”

  “Oh no. That bad, huh?” Gemma grimaced, slipping out of Kara’s hold and back into Kyle’s clutch.

  “I find it’s best to ignore him.” Kara flicked her long ponytail over her shoulder and glanced past Kyle. Hunter stood by his new grand piano a few feet away, talking to the members of their backup band. His eyes pierced through the soft lighting like bright blue LEDs. Warmth flooded her cheeks, and when he winked at her, it took all her strength to look away. Giving herself a mental slap, she turned back to Gemma.

  “It’s your night. We’re here to celebrate.” Kara knocked back the last few mouthfuls of champagne and thumbed toward the kitchen. “I’m going to get another drink and some water. Can I get you guys anything?”

  “No-pe. Thanks.” Concern filled Gemma’s eyes and she rubbed Kara’s arm. “Is there something else bothering you? You haven’t been yourself tonight.”

  There was no way Kara would dump the news she got today onto Gemma and turn tonight into a tear-fest. She wiggled her finger in front of Gemma’s face. “Don’t go all motherly on me just because you’re getting married.”

  “Never.” Gemma gave a there’s-no-chance-of-that-ever-happening laugh and pointed toward the kitchen. “Go get that drink and promise me you’ll have some fun.”

  “Well . . . ” Kara arched her eyebrow, sneaking a glimpse of Hunter watching her. “Who knows? The night is young. I’ll see what I can do.”

  Turning on her pumps, Kara headed into the kitchen. The tangy spice of buffalo wings filled the air. Plates of their remains lay on the counter next to empty mini noddle boxes, used glassware, and bottles of alcohol. She put her flute down and grabbed a water from the fridge. When she closed the door, her heart slammed against her ribs.

  Hunter stood in front of her with the Bollinger held toward her. “Another top-up?”

  “Sure.” She waved to her glass on the counter, cracked her water open and took a sip. “Are you following me?”

  “Maybe.” Deep dimples highlighted his chiseled cheekbones. He placed the bottle on the counter beside her and stepped in close, leaving only a foot between them.

  “Why?” Narrowing her eyes into button-hole slits, she held his gaze.

  He let out a long, slow breath and brushed his hands down her arms. “Well . . . it’s a party. I’ve had a few drinks. I’m in the mood for fun. So before we head back on tour tomorrow, and before some new swanky uptown country-club douchebag snaps you up, I think we should take advantage of this opportunity.”

  The reminder she was single was like a punch to the gut. And a reminder he was nothing but trouble.

  “With opportunity comes risk, Hunt. And with you”—she patted the side of his face—“the risk is too high. I don’t feel like catching an STD today.”

  “FYI, I have no STDs.” He tugged on the cuffs of his navy dress jacket. “But if you’re content to continue pining and masturbating over Conr
ad, that’s fine by me.”

  She jabbed her finger against his chest. “You know nothing about me or my problems.”

  “Don’t want to either.” He captured her hand and kissed her palm. She flinched when the touch of his lips sent warmth charging across her skin. His eyes glimmered and a mischievous smile played across his mouth. “But I could make you forget them for a while.”

  She twisted her hand free. “Maybe you have too many issues of your own. Are you upset that Kyle and Gem are engaged?” Did he have lingering feelings for Gemma, even though it had been over eighteen months since they broke up? “You’re the one who broke her heart, sleeping with Amie, and now she’s marrying your best friend.”

  Hurt flashed in his eyes, but within a blink it disappeared. “Let’s not dwell on my fuck-ups. I have no unresolved feelings for Gem. You know that. Gem and Kyle deserve to be together. We’ve all moved on.”

  “Good.” She was only teasing him but maybe she’d hit a sore spot.

  With him standing so close, her body temperature simmered. She fanned her face and rolled her water bottle over her cheek and neck. “Do you think you can turn the heat down?” It was mid-fall outside but felt like summer inside.

  Hunter stared straight at her.

  “What?” She drew her head back.

  “I’m trying hard not to be envious of those droplets slipping toward your chest.”

  “Envious, hey?” She skimmed one of her long, manicured nails slowly down her neck, then squeezed her arms together.

  His eyes darkened as he glanced over her, like he wanted to rip every thread of clothing from her body with his teeth. Her nipples hardened so much she thought they’d burst from her bra. “Hmm. Kara. If you tease, you’ll end up in trouble.” He grabbed the champagne and knocked back a mouthful.

  His long throat, smoothly shaven, and his chiseled jawline moved with every swallow. Thick veins pulsed rhythmically in his neck. Visions of running her tongue over his hot skin and tasting the champagne on his lips flashed through her mind.