Chapter 32
Cinderella
? Price of Fame- Paloma Faith
Liam
After my shift, I head over to the Ridge. Cade’s there restocking the liquor when I slide onto the stool across the bar. It’s a weird role reversal I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to.
“What brings you in here so early?” he asks.
I've never been the guy to open up to people.
I prefer to remain on the opposite side of such interactions, but Cade has experience with this long-distance stuff, and I could use a sounding board.
I still remember how it was back when Paige lived in Canada.
He was like a lost puppy until she finally moved here permanently.
I still take some credit for encouraging the relationship in those early days.
“How’d you do it, man?” I ask.
Cade stops what he’s doing and leans across from me in that old familiar position. “Do what?”
“Long distance. How the hell did you live without her for so long?”
He blows out a long breath and shakes his head.
“Fuck, that feels like a lifetime ago. It was hard as hell, I can tell you that much, but we talked every day. Planned movie nights and fell asleep on the phone most nights. Every spare moment I had, I found some way to connect with her, even if it was just sending her a package, or a quick text to let her know I was thinking of her.”
“Did you ever think about giving up?”
He snorts derisively. “Fuck no. Paige was worth every goddamn sacrifice, and I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. Ruby’s only been gone for what…a day? You already having doubts?”
“No. That’s the crazy part. I’m in this. One hundred percent. It’s just…”
“You think she’s gonna change her mind?”
I slide a hand through my hair and grimace. “Yeah. I guess I’m afraid she’ll realize she can do better.”
Cade chuckles. “You’re a Grade A dumbass if you don’t know she’s been madly in love with you for years.
She dropped everything to play at my wedding because you asked.
Do you really think she would’ve offered to be a live-in nanny for anyone else?
She’s Ruby Lynn Hayes, for fuck’s sake. She’s a millionaire—”
“Billionaire, actually.”
“Exactly. No way she’d be slumming it as a live-in nanny for anyone else. She did it because it was you. To be close to you. To take care of you.”
Fuck. Why did it take Cade fucking Brooks pointing it out for it to finally sink in? He’s right. I am a dumbass. I’ve spent months projecting my insecurities onto our relationship—letting my fears complicate something that should be so simple.
There’s no room for doubt if we’re going to make this work. I have to be all in, or let her go, and there’s no hell worse than the thought of living without her.
It’s time to cast aside my insecurities. I’m not like my father, and I can’t allow those haunted memories to ruin the future that's within my grasp if I could only release the anchor that’s keeping me tethered to the past.
Cade gives me a knowing smirk. “I see you’ve finally figured it out. Drink?”
“Thanks, but I think I’m gonna head home.”
Ruby: You sent me tacos.
Liam: I did.
Ruby: Gloria’s doesn’t do delivery.
Liam: She does for me.
Ruby sends a selfie in the bath.
Liam: Move the bubbles.
Ruby: I’d much rather move my hand. Give me something to work with, Grumpy.
Liam: You want pictures?
Liam: Or my voice.
Ruby: I want your mouth and your cock but I’ll settle for whatever I can get.
My phone vibrates beside me on the weight bench. I swipe to answer on the first ring, already hard from the thought of Ruby taking care of herself in the bath.
“Liam…” Her voice is breathy and strained.
“Is my little whore touching herself without permission?”
“Y-yes. Please.”
“Please what? Tell me what you need.”
“Tell me what to do,” she whines.
“Mmm. Is that what you want, baby? Do you like it when I tell you what to do?”
“Yes.”
“Dirty girl. Turn on the video and put your phone where I can see you.”
I can hear movement through the phone, then her face comes into view.
Her shoulders are glistening with water and a few stray bubbles.
Her hair is pulled up in a messy bun, and her cheeks are flushed in the most adorable shade of pink.
She’s only been gone for twenty-four hours, but it feels like a lifetime.
“That’s it. Fuck, you’re so goddamn sexy, baby. It’s torture not being able to touch you. Lay back and slip that hand between your thighs for me. Imagine it’s my hand. ”
The water sloshes, and Ruby's beautiful, teardrop-shaped breasts float to the surface. I’d make a deal with the devil to be there with her right now.
I lean back against the incline bench and wrap my fist around my already hard cock. “Good. Circle your clit nice and slow. Play with that pretty little jewel for me.”
Her lips part on a sigh as she complies with my command. I jerk my cock roughly, keeping my eyes locked on the screen.
“More,” she pleads.
“You’ll take what I give you and only come when I say so. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“Yes. Please.”
She has no idea what this does to me, knowing every moan and whimper is just for me. I might be the one making demands, but she’s got me right where she wants me. “Are you wet for me?”
“Uh huh.”
“Good. Slip two fingers into that sweet pussy. Move them in and out, but keep stroking your clit with your other hand.”
Her breasts push together as both hands work in tandem to drive her closer to the brink of orgasm. Each movement causes her face to contort in pleasure. Her chest heaves with each stuttered inhale, and her head is thrown back against the side of the tub.
“Eyes on me, baby. Watch what you do to me.”
She glances at the phone with glassy eyes and parted lips. “Oh, shit. That’s so fucking hot.”
“Add another finger, baby. Imagine my cock stretching you wide. Fucking you so good you’ll feel me for a week.”
“Oh God.”
“Mmm. That’s not my name.”
“Fuck. Liam.” I’ll never get over the sound of my name on her lips. Especially not what she says it like that, all needy and desperate.
“Do you need to come, baby? Are you ready to let go for me?”
“Y-yes. Please. Can I come? Oh fuck. Let me come.”
My muscles flex and my jaw clenches as I pick up the pace. I’m right on the edge with her. One word from her perfect fucking mouth and I’ll unravel at the seams. “How does it feel?”
“Full. I need to come. P-please.”
“Say my name.” I grunt out the command. “Say it and come with me.”
Her back arches, and she cries out my name as I groan out my release alongside her, spilling all over my chest and abs.
She sits up and stares into the phone, still catching her breath. “I miss you,” she murmurs.
I wipe my chest with one of the gym towels and toss it into the hamper near the door. “Mmm. I bet you do.”
“Stop, I’m serious. I feel like I’m missing a piece of my heart.”
“Well, you have my entire heart to make up for it. I love you.”
“I love you, too. I should finish up here and get to bed. I have to be at the studio in the morning. Tell Aiden I miss him. Maybe we can FaceTime tomorrow.”
“Ok. Goodnight, Goldie.”
“‘Night.”
Ruby
We arrive at the recording studio on Music Row bright and early.
Abby introduces me to an up-and-coming producer named Heaven, and the audio engineer I’ll be working with to create my new sound for the single.
I’m sticking to my country roots, but we’re adding a little pop flavor to it.
Call it a crossover if you want—I’m just doing what feels right for me and the song.
Heaven plays the backing track she recorded with my touring band earlier in the week, with my scratch vocal I captured on some cheap equipment back in Oak Ridge. My heart leaps.
“We’ll add your guitar and vocals today and go from there, but I think we have a solid foundation to work with,” Heaven says.
I glance at Abby, with her dark auburn hair braided to one side and her brown eyes alight with excitement.
“It’s amazing,” she says. “I knew it would be.”
We start by overlaying my acoustic guitar with the near-perfect backing track. Once we have a clean take, it’s time for the more polished vocals. The entire recording takes a full twelve hours, but by the end of the day, we have a finished single and a release plan.
“Are you sure you want to do this without a label?” Abby asks.
“Positive. I have to do this for myself. Whatever happens next, I’ll always have this.”
She pulls me in for a side hug as we step out onto the sidewalk under the harsh city lights. Traffic is still crazy this time of night, and it makes me miss the peace and quiet of Oak Ridge.
“Drinks?”
I scrunch up my face. “Rain check? Honestly, I’m exhausted. Besides, we have to be back at it again tomorrow to work on the rest of the album.”
“Ok. I’ll see you in the morning.”
The next few days pass in a flurry of excitement and activity. Liam and I text back and forth throughout the day, and we call each other every night before bed. I miss home more than I ever thought possible.
It’s so different from the first time I left.
Ten years ago, I was chasing something new and unknown.
This time, I’m building something for myself—something I can be proud of.
The endgame isn’t fame or fortune, it’s happiness and contentment.
Liam told me to show the world who I am, and that’s what I plan to do.
I keep myself tucked away in the penthouse when I’m not at the studio, so I haven’t had to deal with any unwanted attention. Truth be told, I’m not sure anybody even realizes I’m back in town yet. It’s a small miracle.
Five days after the initial recording session, I share a teaser video for the new single, Bad Bitch Scorned, to my social media.
It’s raw footage of me dragging an old guitar down a dead-end road in Nashville in a pair of faux leopard skin bell-bottoms and a pleather vest with ties up the front.
It ends on a close-up of me smashing a guitar and setting it on fire.