Free Country Love (A Billionaire BWWM Romance) by Mia Caldwell Page A

relief. "It's a real
sausage factory around here, if you don't mind my saying so."

 
    "I've heard
way worse, Leo."

 
    "And you're
gonna. These boys? They're a handful."

 
    I flashed to
Tanner's lips and hoped the sallow airport lighting would hide my blush.
"So I hear," I demurred.

 
    "Now, don't
get me wrong now," Leo hedged, holding up palms as big as dinner plates.   "Mr. Brock is the best boss I've
ever had. As far as celebrities go, he's a different breed." He smiled,
showing blazing white teeth. "Can't say I care for his music though. I'm
more of a jazz fan."

 
    I laughed.
"You sound like my Daddy," I said.

 
    "Gee
thanks," Leo grumbled, reaching down to grab my suitcases. "She says
I sound like her daddy..." he said to himself, shaking his head as he
lifted all three of my heavy suitcases as easily as if they were packed with
powder puffs. "Showing up here, all of twelve years old, big shot photographer..."

 
    "You sound
like my Daddy again," I called to him. "Talkin' to yourself so I can
hear you."

 
    Leo chuckled and
opened the van door for me. "I'm gonna be taking you right to the venue. The
boys are all set up for a secret show to kick off the tour."

 
    We chatted
amiably on the ride from the airport, but the closer we got to the center of
town, the more my heart jackhammered in my chest.

 
    When I told Tanner
it wouldn't work, it was because I thought there would be no way I would ever
see him again.

 
    And here I was,
about to see him again.

 
    Only problem was,
so were about five hundred other people in what Leo was calling an
"intimate gathering."

 
    I couldn't pin
down how that made me feel, so I tried to talk myself out of my feelings. This is strictly business; I'm going to be
working this whole time. I informed myself. But the tingling excitement
would not let go.

 
    But the time Leo
pulled up to the venue, I had worked myself up in to a sweaty dither. My head
was bobbing around on my neck, trying to look everywhere at once.

 
    "Lemme
introduce you to the boys," Leo told me as he led us across the dusty
parking lot to a huge tour bus behind the building.

 
    As I stepped on
to the bus, I pulled my camera from my back and clutched it close. If I was
behind the lens, I was working and if I was working then I could have a prayer
of keeping my cool.

 
    Four white guys
were lounging in the bus, as normal as anything. No reason for me to be as
jumpy as a scalded cat. But no sign of Tanner and that meant that he was all I
could think of. I missed the introductions entirely, laughed when it seemed
appropriate and all the while my mind and body screamed out in unison. Tanner, Tanner, where the fuck is Tanner?

 
    We tromped into
the VIP section of the venue, a converted barn by the looks of it. When we were
all seated, I leaned over to the longhaired guy on my right and finally gave
voice to my obsession.

 
    "Is Tanner
coming?" I asked anxiously. I felt like I was ready to jump out of my
skin.

 
    "Yeah, he'll
be here." The guitarist shot me a knowing grin and I flushed figuring he
must hear women asking the same question all of the time. I wanted to protest,
that I was different, that I wasn't just another girl who wanted to get at what
Tanner Brock had in his pants, but before I could, the chatter in the place
died down at once.

 
    Electricity
crackled in the air, and my own hair stood up from excitement...or fear...I
wasn't exactly sure. It was like everyone in the club was as one, one single
organism holding its breath in anticipation.

 
    A long shadow
moved across the stage. A tall, broad shouldered man striding across, his
guitar slung over his back, nothing more....

 
    That was all it
took to make the room explode.

 
    I exploded too. I
couldn't help it. I whooped and hollered and shouted his name as he gripped the
mic and stared out into the crowd. The longer he was silent, the louder we
cheered and when the cameras zoomed to project the