Official Site of Author Sarah Grimm
MIDNIGHT HEAT
Midnight Series book 2
work in progress

She was the only woman who ever rocked his world.

Black Phoenix bassist Dominic Price made a mistake three years ago when he walked out on Rebecca without a backward glance.  A mistake he plans to rectify.  But first he has to convince her to open her heart to him again.

The unconscious man wheeled into Dr. Rebecca Dahlman’s ER was sexy—unforgettably sexy—and injured.  This wasn’t just any patient in need of medical help. He was the only man she’d ever loved—the one who still haunted her dreams.

One touch of his calloused hands reignites their passion.  Can they rekindle their trust as easily, or will her fears cause her to lose him again…this time to a man bent on revenge?


Chapter One

Dominic Price was fantasizing about another man’s woman. Not just any woman. No, the one on his mind was the wife of the sorry bloke sitting not four feet away, his gaze on the mobile phone near his feet as if he could will the bleedin’ thing to light up.

He was on the twelfth day straight of his imprisonment in the basement recording studio. Nerves were frayed, tempers short, and the ability to string notes together into a proper melody, long gone. If it were up to him, they’d have thrown in the towel hours ago.

It wasn’t up to him.

Pushing his long black hair out of his face, he stacked his hands atop his head and eased out a breath. He had his best friend and band mate, the same sorry bloke not four feet away, to thank for the situation they were in. They all needed a break. At least 24 hours away from each other. Typically they only put in six days before time off but with Isabeau gone…

It was as if after getting married six months ago, Noah lost the ability to relax without his wife.

Across the room, Alex continued the conversation about the state of the song they’d worked on for days. “All we need to do it crank it up a notch. Boost the bass. We don’t want the same slow emotional vomit that everyone else does.”

“Emotional vomit?” Nick asked, and slid a look at Noah just as Alex decided to show them all what he meant by pounding out a faster rhythm on his drums. At a volume designed to make even the most stoic man lose his temper.

Not that Noah seemed to notice.

His relaxed, quiet nature, combined with his ability to make things happen made Noah a natural leader. He was the decision maker, the peace keeper, the one who dealt with Alex’s youth and energy better than any of them. Until three days ago when he’d gone from unnaturally quiet to unnaturally quiet and irritable.

Dom dropped his hands into his lap and shook his head. Everything had gone to shit this past week, and he couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that things were only going to get worse.

Nick laughed and adopted Alex’s tempo.

Noah glanced down at the mobile phone near his feet and frowned.

Dominic returned to his fantasy.

All he needed was a woman. Just one woman and this whole bloody mess would go away. Specifically, a five foot three inch, ebony-haired composer, with pale grey eyes and a smile that could melt an iceberg. In his fantasy she returned from her trip to New York City two days ahead of schedule, putting a smile back on Noah’s face. An end to this madness before everyone went bat-shit crazy.

“Alex,” Noah finally commented. “Enough!”

There it was; the uncharacteristic irritability.

The drumming stopped. The room fell silent.

The mobile phone at Noah’s feet lit up.

Noah snatched the phone off the floor and growled into it. “You’re late.”

“Sorry about that. Traffic was worse than I anticipated.”

All eyes snapped to the stairs, locked on the petite woman standing at the base of them in jeans and a black leather jacket. Mobile phone against her ear, she stared at her husband, an intimate smile on her face.

“Isa,” Noah sighed as he dropped both his phone and his guitar onto the couch before surging to his feet. Across the room in two strides, he bent at the knees, tucked his shoulder beneath Isabeau and straightened. His arm over the back of her thighs to hold her in place, he disappeared up the stairs, her startled laughter trailing behind them.

Unbelievable.

Dominic shook his head. He grabbed the guitar before it could slide to the floor. Had he known tonight was the night fantasies would be brought to fruition, he would have dreamed up a woman of his own. One who hadn’t become like a sister to him. A woman with lush, feminine curves, hair the color of fire, and eyes like the finest Irish whiskey.

Don’t go there, mate.

To keep from veering down a path that only led to regret, Dominic launched from the chair and carried both Noah’s guitar and his bass across the room. He placed them in their respective stands. “Looks like we’re finally out of here.”

“Thank God,” Alex declared as he propped his sticks atop the snare drum and stood. “Now I can go on my date.”

“You have a date with Alison tonight?”

“Hell no.”

“You just said—”

“Alison was three dates ago,” Nick supplied as he placed his own guitar in its stand.

“Who’s the new bird?”

“Tonight’s date or the two since Alison?”

Dom’s eyebrow went up. He glanced at Alex who threw him a cocksure grin. Day or night it seemed Alex was either just returning from or heading out on a date. Never, it seemed, with the same woman more than once. At twenty-three, Alex was younger than Dominic by seventeen years. Still, even at Alex’s age, when Dominic had more than his share of women, he’d never been so adverse to repeating.

Dominic shook his head.

“Jealous?” Alex asked.

“Not hardly.”

Alex laughed as he slid his arms in his jacket. “Noah is a real pain when Isabeau’s not around.”

“He has been a bit touchy,” Nick agreed.

More than a bit.

“Shit.” Alex stopped at the base of the stairs. “She’s going on tour with us, isn’t she? I don’t think I can take him if she doesn’t. Dom, she’s going, right?”

No way would Noah leave his wife behind while they went on tour. “Yeah, she’s going.”

“Don’t worry,” Nick replied. “He’ll relax by then. They’ve only been married six months, they’re still newlyweds. In another year, he won’t freak out every time she’s not within shouting distance.”

“I just don’t get it.” Alex delivered his revelation while heading up the stairs. “How the hell could you want the same woman over and over so much you’d give up the chance of ever being with another?”

Nick followed on his heels. “If you had someone look at you the way Izzy looks at Noah, you’d figure it out real quick.”

“Nah, it’s too much fun moving on. Who wants familiarity when you can have diversity?”

Dominic didn’t reply as he followed them. Alex would figure it out one day: that one night stands didn’t hold a candle to the comfort of the right woman. He could only hope that Alex figured it out a lot sooner than he had, before he learned the hardest loss of all. Before he found himself alone; empty and aching. Unable to move forward and ticked off about it. Feeling sorry for himself and ticked off about it.

So bloody envious of his best mate’s relationship he could barely stomach it.

There it was. The cold hard truth he’d spent months denying. Suddenly he couldn’t move, could barely catch his breath as he stood there, eyes narrowed against the brutal memories.

Becca.

As a rock musician, Dominic met a lot of women—most of them at the height of Black Phoenix’s success. None of them ever affected him the way Rebecca Dahlman did. Only she had ever looked at him the way Isabeau looked at Noah. Only she brought him the peace so clearly evident in his closest friend whenever his wife was by his side.

Only she made him ache with regret.

Damn it, the past was a place he didn’t want to visit tonight. Reliving the pain and loss didn’t change anything. He’d hurt Becca too much to ever hope he would have a chance to make up for past mistakes. He couldn’t have her. Deep down in his gut he knew that. But it didn’t ease the frustration. It didn’t lessen the gnawing ache inside of him.

Desperate, he took the steps two at a time. Where the hell were Noah’s keys? Why couldn’t he ever put them in the same place more than once? He spotted Isabeau’s keys on the table in the entryway, but he didn’t want that heavy brick she drove. He needed Noah’s convertible. Dom needed to outrun the memories nipping at his heals. Needed the wind in his hair, the rush of adrenaline as he raced down the freeway. Away from the memories closing in on him.

If only he hadn’t walked away. Panicked at the realization that a woman could affect him both physically and emotionally. But the feelings she stirred in him had been so new and terrifying that he’d run.

All the way back to London.

Only to discover that just because she wasn’t with him physically didn’t mean he’d been able to let go. The memory of her stayed with him—sunk its teeth into him so deeply that to this day he couldn’t look at another woman without thinking of her.

He had no one to blame but himself. He’d fucked up. For nearly three years he’d lived with that knowledge. He’d gotten used to the ache that was with him everyday. The ache that had only grown since being back in the states, living out of Noah and Isabeau’s guest room, surrounded by their happiness, an easy love that he couldn’t imagine but spent his life secretly craving.

Dom scrubbed his hands over his face. If only he could go back. If only she would give him the chance to explain.

If only he could locate Noah’s keys so he could get the hell out of here.

Combined laughter drifted out of the master suite and his gut clenched. Desperate for an escape, he hastened his search. God, he needed to get away. Anywhere was better than here, alone in the dark while his two best friends made love one floor away. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d shared love making and laughter with a woman.

Red hair spread over white sheets.
Whispers of encouragement.
A sigh of pleasure. “I love you, Dominic.”

Fuck. Yeah, he could.

Snatching the SUV keys off the entry table, he rushed out the door.