My job had taken me into the city. I’d taken myself into a bar afterward. I’d only gone there for a drink, but then I saw her, sitting on that stage, singing her heart out, her words sad and sorrowful, her voice beautiful and calling to me. I wanted to know more about her right then and there. And after that night, I took her back to my hotel. We’d both become lost in pleasure, and then she left, no goodbye, no last name or phone number given to me so I could find her again. Now, three months later, after trying to figure out where she was, all but being a stalker, I was still nowhere close to finding out who Adele was. But that would change, because I was headed back to the city for work. My plan was simple. Scour the city, go to every bar, and find her—because leaving without making her mine was not an option.

I’d needed a job and found myself applying at Lyrics, an intimate jazz bar in the heart of the city. My goal was simple—earn enough money so my ailing father didn’t have to worry about anything. What hadn’t been in my plans was instantly being attracted to Bishop, my new boss and the resident bartender. The attraction was insane, and the chemistry was off the charts between us. And the obsession he threw my way should have frightened me, but instead, it made me want him even more. He was protective, making me feel as if I were the only woman in the world for him. And after a heated night of passionate abandon, I realized he ruined me for all other men. It was the single most incredible experience of my life. He said—vowed—he’d never let me go, that I was meant to be his… that it was meant to be between us. And when I all but snuck out of his bed while he still slept, doing the Walk of Shame, I worried things could never work between us. What I knew for certain was the one-night stand I just had with my boss was something I wanted to experience over and over again. Because I realized I’d already fallen in love with Bishop. But life was full of conflict, and mine especially was chaos. Sometimes that was too much for anyone to take on, even for a man who said I was meant to be his.