Sweet Temptation: A Players Rockstar Romance (Players, Book 3)

world tour without her, while she was home on mommy duty.
“I’m so sorry I missed it, babe. Was it fun?”
“It was so fun. Everyone loved it.”
“Of course they did. Where’s Ashley?”
“He came and went. With Xander.”
“Seriously? I missed your song and my band?”
“Well, Brody’s still here,” she offered.
I glanced over at him. Elle’s manager was now also my manager, and while I knew Brody would appreciate that I’d put in an appearance, even late, I would’ve actually liked to be here with the members of my new band—the Players. This party was supposed to be one of many public appearances that Ash, Xander and I would be making together before we went into the studio next year to record our first album.
Looking around, though, I could see why they’d ditched this event as quickly as they’d arrived. Wasn’t really their scene. My boys were rock ’n’ roll, and this party was not.
I sighed and focused on Elle. Long, platinum-blonde hair and short silver dress. Slick makeup. Fabulous manicure. She’d brought her A game tonight, as usual. She’d had baby Emma only five months ago, and other than the increase in breast size, you’d never know it.
This woman put the rock into rock star mommy.
“I don’t even have the will to tell you how good you look right now,” I informed her. “Please don’t make me.”
“Uh… okay?” She smirked, perusing my curve-skimming sapphire-blue cocktail dress. “You look incredible yourself.”
I smoothed my hair. “I feel incredibly off my game.”
“Well, the waitress is right there. We’ll get you a drink.”
“I don’t think this is something alcohol can fix. Erase, maybe.”
“Uh-oh.” Now she looked concerned. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m just having a bad day. Pull up a martini and let me regale you with—”
Elle screamed, cutting me off. She grabbed a menu off our table and slammed it on my back. Several times. Heat flared briefly behind me… and that was it.
I didn’t even have time to scream.
The smell of burnt hair wafted through the air. “Holy shit,” Elle panted, like she’d just run into a burning building and carried me out on her back.
I glanced behind me. A few people I didn’t know were sitting around a hightop table, staring at me, their mouths dangling open. A candle burned innocently on the table.
And now, people all around us were staring. Brody and Jessa were gaping.
“What happened?” Brody demanded.
Flynn suddenly loomed over us, sweating, like he’d just sprint across the room. “You alright?”
I blinked at Elle’s bodyguard. “Did my hair just catch on fire?”
“What?” Jessa said. I supposed she and Brody had missed the entirety of the spectacle.
“You’re okay,” Elle told me, which didn’t really answer my question.
“Of course it did,” I said. “My hair just caught on fire. Because this is exactly the kind of day that my hair would catch on fire.”
“It’s out now.” Elle took my hand and gave me a reassuring squeeze.
A waitress had appeared next to us, staring. “Are you okay?”
I blinked at her. “I’m just wonderful. How are you?”
“Uh… okay. Can I get you anything? It’s on the house.”
“Thanks.” I plucked a martini off the tray she was holding and took a swig. Probably not what she meant, but fuck it.
“Ladies’ room,” Elle ordered. “Now.” Then she tugged me away from the table. Brody had his mouth open, like he was about to say something, but we vanished too fast.
Flynn came with us, of course.
Apparently, word that a woman had just caught on fire spread fast in a high-end restaurant. Because a security guy, a bartender, and a managerial type all intercepted us on the way to the washrooms, asking if I was okay and offering food and drink on the house. I declined politely, but finally agreed to let the manager, who’d cornered us in the hallway, bring out a complimentary platter of crab cakes for our table.
I didn’t even like crab cakes.
“See?” Elle said, tugging me into the ladies’ room. Inside was an elegant sitting room, which we at least had to ourselves, for now. “Your day is looking up. You just got free crab cakes.” She drew me over to the mirrored wall, where I took a close look at my hair.
“My day is almost over,” I pointed out. “It’s after eleven. Can I go home now?”
“Since when are you ever home before midnight?”
“Since I’m having a shitty day, and decided to throw a cheer-myself-up party at my place?”
“Ah.”
I pawed at the back of my dark hair, trying to find the burnt part. I’d worn it loose and wavy around my shoulders tonight, and somehow it looked just fine. “How bad is it? Do I need to artfully shave my head now?”
“It’s not bad. You just started smoking… I don’t even know if the flame actually caught.”
“Well, thank you for beating me with a menu and saving my life.”
“I panicked. Sorry if I whacked you a bit hard.”
I sighed and took another swig of the martini, which I still had in-hand. “I feel cursed, Elle. I swear, someone is sticking pins in a tiny little Summer doll today.”
“You would make an amazing doll,” she offered. “I see branded products in your future, DJ Summer.”
“Thanks,” I said, halfheartedly, where normally I would’ve eaten that up. “You know that feeling when a day is going all wrong? Like maybe you should’ve just gone back to bed and slept through ’til the next day, because everything was so fucked?”
"Sure.” Elle sat down on one of the upholstered chairs. “For me, that was pretty much every day for about a year after Jesse broke up with me.”
“Well, shit.” I turned to her, leaning on the counter behind me and setting the drink down.
She shrugged. “I’m just saying. One day isn’t bad.”
“Oh, it’s pretty bad.” I didn’t mean to make light of her past heartbreak, but at least that was in the past. “First of all, it started at like two in the morning. After my show last night, someone stole my wardrobe right out from under Sledge.”
“What! How?”
“What do you mean,