Side B: Summer Hate
by Skye McDonald

Summer. Nashville. 1996.
It starts as a power struggle.

BRIAN

I do three things really well: run my nightclub, race my car, and... well. You can guess the third.
My club is packed, my reputation is untouchable, and my life runs exactly the way I want it to. I’ve sworn off marriage until thirty-five, and I don’t take orders from anyone. Especially not some PR consultant sent in to clean up my image.
But then Emerson walks into my office.
She's sharp, stubborn, and entirely unimpressed by my attitude. From our first clash of wills, one thing is dangerously obvious. She's going to destroy me, or own my heart.
I just don't know which will happen first.

EMERSON

I didn't cross an ocean to be intimidated by a nightclub owner with a massive ego.
I know how to survive on my own, and I know how to do my job. In Nashville, I’m finally building something that feels like home. Friends. Stability. A future that’s mine.
But then there’s Brian Greene. My boss. My biggest obstacle. The one man capable of making me furious and breathless with just one look. Sparks fly every time we're alone together.

Loving him would be reckless. Staying away from him might be impossible.

And if we get this wrong, I won’t just lose my job.

I’ll lose everything I’ve worked so hard to build.