Playing Hard : BWWM Rockstar Romance

By Terri Lane

It's only a fake romance, it can never be real. Even if it does start to feel like there's something there... 

James is a rock star, a player with the whole world at his feet. Thea is a sweet R and B starlet who's trying to get started. Nothing about them matches, there's no way they should work.

At least, that's what they think.

Their managers arrange for them to 'be together' for a while, just to help boost their reputations. Neither of them like the plan, but they have to see if it'll work.

And it does. A little too well.

When real feelings get in the way, the whole mess threatens to implode. Their close proximity and undeniable chemistry make it challenging to keep apart even if they both know that someone will end up with a broken heart.

Standalone Romance Stories With No Cliffhanger!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Terri Lane
• Release date: Feb 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386613763

Book preview

Playing Hard

Chapter 1

James

W hat the hell are you talking about? I exclaimed loudly as I banged my fist down on my manager’s desk. Brian, we are killing it at the moment. People love Playing Hard.

Yes, they do. He folded his arms across his chest which was a clear indicator that he was about to say something pissy, something that would really irritate me. He’d been the manager of my band for almost seven years, I knew his tells by now. And a part of what they love is your story. Yes, the music sells itself and the tour ticket sales are doing well, but you could do more. They love seeing Liam settling down, watching Clint get together with that model...what’s his name? Bex, Ben, or something like that. Anyway, that’s awesome. But you... He shook his head at me, proving just how disappointed he was in me. But, James, you’re still exactly the same as you were when Playing Hard first got big. You party too hard, you make idiotic displays of yourself at awards ceremonies, you’re constantly seen with a different woman on your arm...

Yeah, I interrupted sharply. My life is fucking amazing. I have it all. I don’t want to change. It was a dream come true. Brian was obviously just jealous, and why wouldn’t he be?

The other boys in the band are...

I don’t give a shit about the others in the band. I narrowed my eyebrows at him, really starting to lose my patience. They can do whatever the fuck they want, I want to do my own thing.

If I was being totally honest with myself, it did get to me that the others had moved on with their lives, that they didn’t seem to care about the after parties and the rock star fun anymore, but I wasn’t going to admit that to Brian. That was my business only. Anyway, they were the ones losing out, not me!

It doesn’t matter what you want, James. You are in the public eye, you have to act in a certain way. Your fans have grown up now, it’s time for you to do the same. Brian’s patient tone only wound me up more.

They like me because I’m a bad boy. The long dark hair, the dark eyes, the dark attitude. I flung my hands above my head in dismay. "I am Playing Hard because I do play hard. Everyone knows that the lead singer is the main attraction of any band anyway, and that’s me." As if to prove my point, I lifted my top up slightly to show off my abs. It was my signature move at gigs and it caused the loudest screams ever. Brian knew that. He got paid because of that.

James, I’m serious.

Urgh, I really needed a drink. I didn’t usually start at ten o clock in the morning, but I didn’t usually have to deal with this shit so early either. What do you want me to do, Brian? What can I do to make this meeting come to end in an instant?

I was hoping you’d ask that. The smug smile that spread across his face as he shoved his glasses further up his nose made my heart race faster. "Because I actually do have a really good idea. Of course, you’ll have to stop all the excessive partying too..."

I need to party, half my life is partying.

Essential, work related partying is fine. You do need to be seen for promotional reasons, but not too much.

Urgh, whatever, Brian. I had absolutely no intention of going along with that, but whatever. There was no point in hashing out something that we were never going to agree on. This was how we worked: he told me to do something, I did the opposite. No point in switching up the formula.

I have arranged a romance between you and that up and coming R and B singer, Thea. I’m sure you’ve heard of her. He pulled a magazine out of his desk drawer and showed me the image of a girl in a knee length dress. She was classically beautiful, with chocolaty colored skin and big brown eyes. Her dark hair fell down her back in a nice enough way and I could tell that she had some pretty awesome curves.

She was cute, definitely not my type.

A fake romance? Are you serious? We don’t do that sort of thing.

"We do that sort of thing all the time. Everything we do for you guys is managed well. This is just a short-term arrangement where