Bring on the Night - Love in Nashville Book 1 (ebook)

She's the head of a major country music record label. She's worked hard to get where she is. She demands the best of herself—and of everyone around her.

He's the label's biggest star—and the biggest pain in the a** she ever met. It's not that he's one of those arrogant musicians; to be fair, he's not a bad guy. In fact, he's a great guy.

It's just that he irritates the life out of her.

Why?

Because, although she can see his charms, she's not one of those women who's going to fall for them.

Sure, he's hot. Sure, he's sweet. What woman wouldn't fall for him? She's managed to avoid it for all the years they’ve worked together, but something is changing.

What she doesn't know is that he's finally decided he doesn't want to wait any longer to make her his girl.

Matt will melt your heart as he makes his play for tough girl, Autumn.

Pick up your copy of this sweet and steamy first book in the new “Love in Nashville” series from SJ McCoy.

Chapter One


Summer hugged Autumn tight, and Autumn made a face at Carter over her shoulder.

“It's been so wonderful to see you. I wish you’d come up here more often.”

"You know I come when I can,” Autumn said. “And besides, you could always come and see me."

Summer smiled. "It isn't as easy for us. Not with the baby and everything."

"That's why I get here as often as I can."

"I know. I'm not complaining; it's just that I miss you so much," Summer said with a sad smile.

"I miss you, too, sis. I'll figure out when I can get back up here soon." Autumn turned and smiled at Carter. "It was good to see you, too, big guy."

Carter gave her that bashful smile of his. He was such a good guy, and Autumn was glad that Summer had found him. They were so happy together, and although the life they’d made up here in Montana wouldn't suit her, she could see that it was ideal for them.

"It was great to see you. And you know that I'm with Summer; I hope you can get back up again soon. Even though I know it's not fair that the onus is on you to come here. Maybe one of these weekends we'll ask my parents to have Penny, and we’ll come down to Nashville to visit you."

Autumn grinned at him. "You really are the sweetest guy on earth, aren't you? I know how much the idea of coming to Nashville appeals to you. I know you'd rather go have a tooth pulled than spend a weekend in the city."

He gave her his bashful grin again. "I'm not going to lie. It's not my idea of fun, but you know how important family is to me, and you're family. And besides, you shouldn't have to be the one doing all the running."

Autumn smiled at him. "I don’t mind. I should go."
Summer laughed. "Okay, I know how good you are at long goodbyes. We'll head out and leave you to it."
Carter frowned. "I know it's nearly time, but I hate to leave you here to wait by yourself."

Autumn laughed. "You're hardly leaving me at the bus station. This is a private airport. The jet guys will be here soon.”

“If you’re sure.” Carter still didn’t look happy.

“She is.” Summer gave her a knowing smile. “She just wants us to go now.”

“Thanks again, guys." Autumn hugged them both and then stepped back. "I know you're both better at goodbyes than I am, but I just want to get out of here." She shrugged at Summer. "You know I always need a little transition time. I need to shut down the me that I've been with you guys and get my work head back on."

Carter raised an eyebrow at that. But she knew that Summer understood.

"It's true." Summer smiled at her husband. "We're lucky that she's prepared to be her relaxed and happy self with us. I don't think you'd deal too well with the work version of Autumn."

Carter nodded. "We all need a hard, outer shell to deal with the working world sometimes, right, Autumn?"
Autumn laughed. "I sure as hell do, especially considering the people I work with."

Summer gave her a hard stare. "Speaking of the people you work with, how’s Matt?"

Autumn returned the stare. "Okay, I'm going to use that as my cue to leave. Just hearing that asshole’s name has shaken me out of my warm and fuzzy relaxed self and sets me back into work bitch mode." She picked up her bag and started to walk away.

Summer laughed as she made her retreat. "One day, you're going to have to admit that you like him."

"Whatever you say, little sis. As far as I'm concerned, hell will freeze over before that day ever comes," Autumn called over her shoulder. She turned back when she reached the automatic doors and smiled at the sight of them still standing there watching her. They were such a perfect couple. Summer was so dainty and so pretty, she made Carter look even bigger than he was. If she didn't know them, she might assume that he was a bodyguard rather than her husband. Actually, that wasn't true. Everything about him, every move he made, showed just how much he loved her. Autumn was truly happy for them.

They waved, and Summer blew her a kiss. She blew one back and then turned and went through the doors as fast as she could. Carter didn’t know how close he’d been to the truth when he’d talked about her needing a hard shell for work. Without it, she felt too soft – but no, there were no tears pricking behind her eyes because she was leaving.
She hadn’t been joking about needing transition time either. She’d told them that the jet would be here to collect her at four o’clock. The truth was, the pilots had called her to tell her that they should be landing around four-thirty.

She made her way over to the sofas in front of the big windows that overlooked the runway. Once she’d made herself and her bag comfortable, she pulled out her phone and checked the flight tracker app. She wasn’t surprised to see that they were scheduled to land right on time.

She blew out a sigh. The other thing she hadn’t told Summer and Carter was that Matt was on the plane. He’d been in Seattle for the weekend while she was here. She was convinced he’d only gone so that they could fly back to Nashville together. At first, he’d joked about tagging along with her for the weekend, but there was no way she was going to let him do that. The man was a pain in her ass.
Her job as head of McAdam Records meant that she had to work closely with him—considering that he was one of the label’s biggest stars. And she worked all the hours that God sent, so Matt was a constant, infuriating presence in her life.

As if to prove her point, her phone buzzed with an incoming text. She shook her head when she saw Matt's name appear on the display. How the hell was he texting when they were still in the air? She scowled. He'd better be on that damned plane. She wasn't relishing the thought of spending the next few hours cooped up in the jet with him, but even that was preferable to figuring out how to get him back to Nashville if he wasn't on it. She opened the text, dreading what she might be about to read.

Hey baby girl! Can't wait to see you!

Hope you don't mind I asked the guys to get you first.
I'll see you in Seattle :-)

Autumn blew out a sigh of sheer aggravation. He had a nerve! What in the hell did he think he was playing at? It would take them a good few hours to get back to Nashville from here. If she first had to fly to Seattle, she probably wouldn't be home before midnight. She scowled as she tapped out a reply

I do mind!

What are you playing at?

You're supposed to be on the damned plane.
I should just go on home without you.

She rolled her eyes when her phone rang, and his name popped up on the screen. He was no doubt going to try to sweet-talk her. Any other man on earth would have taken the hint by now that she just wasn’t interested.

“What?!” she answered.

"Hey, baby girl!"

"Don't you baby girl me! What in hell's name do you think you're playing at? You're supposed to be on the plane. We're supposed to be going straight back to Nashville."

"I know, I know. But there's a lot going on here, and I thought you'd enjoy a night in the Emerald City."

"A night?! What are you talking about? It's bad enough that I'm going to have to come there to get you before I go back to Nashville. There's no way I'm spending the night."

"But we'll have so much fun. You work too hard. Come on, when was the last time you just kicked back and let your hair down?"

"All freaking weekend! That's what I came here to Montana for. Now I'm ready to go home and get back to work, and so should you be."

"Don't be mad at me. It'll be fun, you'll see."

"You are out of your freaking mind! I'm not spending the night in Seattle. You'd better be ready when the plane touches down. I'm not even going to get off. You'd better hustle your ass out of the airport and on to the plane. Don't give me a reason to really lose my temper with you."

"Or else what?"

Autumn gritted her teeth. The man was infuriating. She could hear the smile in his voice. He thought he was being cute—or something. Whenever she got mad at him, he thought he could win her over. Why hadn't he learned in all the years that they'd been working together that all he did was piss her off, big time! "You aren't going to find out or else what, because you are going to be ready to leave when the plane touches down."

"No, I'm not." He sounded a little less full of himself now.

"Why not? Is there a problem?"

"Not a problem … So much as …"

"Oh, for God's sake, Matt! Can you just tell me what’s going on, please?"

"It's a good thing, really. You won't be so mad at me when you understand."

"I'll be the judge of how mad I'm going to be and how good or bad I think it is—if you ever tell me just what it is. Come on, spit it out. What the hell is going on?"

"Well, you know how Reggie has been talking about going home?"

"Yes." Autumn frowned. Matt was contracted as a solo artist, but his band had been with him for a long time. The drummer, Reggie, was a few years older than the other guys. He'd left his wife and two little kids at home in Alabama to go on the road for Matt's first big tour a few years ago. He was always taking off for a few days whenever he could to go and see them. Recently, he'd been talking about throwing in the towel and going home to them.

"Well, this weekend he decided to do more than just talk about it. He texted me yesterday to say that he left. He's home in Alabama, and he’s not coming back."

"Awesome!" Autumn got to her feet and started to pace. Her mind was racing. "That's all the more reason you need to be ready when I get there. We need to haul ass back to Nashville, and in the morning, we need to bring in all the drummers we know and start auditioning so that we can replace him."

"There's no need. That's what I'm trying to tell you. I knew you wouldn't be happy, so I fixed it myself. Do you remember Weston? He used to work with Shawnee, but he …"

"Of course, I remember him! He's amazing. But he took off, went to work in Central America, Panama or somewhere."

"That’s right. And if you'd let me finish, what I was about to tell you is that I've been in touch with him for a little while, and he's on his way back to the States. In fact, his plane lands at ten o'clock tonight here in Seattle. I figured we could kill two birds with one stone. If we stay here, we can meet with him in the morning."

Autumn blew out a sigh. She could see the logic of it, even if she didn't want to. Trying to find a new drummer in Nashville would take up far too much of both their time this week. Weston was one of the best, not only in terms of talent, but also, he was a great guy with a great work ethic.
She could hear the smirk in Matt's voice when he spoke again. "So, what do you say, baby girl? Want to spend the night with me in Seattle?"

She wanted to say no. Wanted to tell Matt to bring Weston to Nashville, and they could work out the details there. But she was pragmatic if nothing else. She was already on her way to Seattle. Matt was already there. They may as well take care of business. "I'll meet with West with you in the morning. Just tell me when and where. And make it as early as you can. I'm going to have to rearrange my morning schedule; I don't want to have to rearrange my afternoon, too. Text me when you have the meeting set up. I need to go. I'm going to have to find myself a hotel room."
"Aww, don't be like that. Don't dismiss me like I'm just some pain in the ass."

"You're not just some pain in the ass. You're the biggest pain in the ass I ever met!"

He chuckled. "Well, at least I made an impression. I'm special. You just admitted it."

Autumn pursed her lips to try to keep in her smile. He was infuriating, but he usually managed to wear her down and make her smile.

"And besides, I knew you'd be mad at me, so I already booked you a room."

She was torn between feeling grateful that he'd taken care of that detail and feeling angry that he was so presumptuous that he knew in advance that she would fall in with his plans.

"You're not going to bite my head off?"

She sighed. "No. There's no point. I'm still mad at you. But …"

"But you can't stay mad at your best friend, especially when he's about to buy you dinner, right?"

"You're not …" Autumn began, but then she stopped herself. Could she really deny either of his statements? If he wanted to buy her dinner, she may as well let him. They both had to eat. And as for him being her best friend, well, he might be. She chewed the inside of her lip as she mulled that one over. She didn't really have time for friends. At least, not people who weren't already part of her working world. She probably spent more time with him than with anyone else. He was a royal pain in the ass, but she had to admit that he was a good guy.

The line was quiet for a few moments while he waited for her to continue. She didn’t.

“I’m not what?’ he asked eventually.

She sighed.

“Okay, I’ll take your silence as agreement.” The smile was back in his voice. “Of course, I’m about to buy you dinner, and we both know I’m your best friend.”

“So, you’re meeting me when the plane lands?”

“You betcha. There’s this great little Vietnamese place …”

“Yeah. I’ll see it when I get there. I need to start rearranging my morning. You’d better have an iced caramel macchiato waiting for me when I land.”

“You got it, boss lady.”

Autumn set her phone down in her lap and stared out at the mountains for a few moments. This was the way it went. Plans changed. Schedules got rearranged. It made for an interesting life.