Jam Sessions.
In September 2020, I published Love on Repeat, a light-hearted romance following Yael and Royal. In their story, we meet, Rosé Marie, a singer and friend of Royal. When I published Love on Repeat, I knew I wanted to write a story about her. However, it took nearly a year to get to know her, and her hero. After much thought and planning, their story is finally in the works.
SYNOPSIS:
Ayla Peters and Kendrix Davis were at the height of their careers. At a time that should’ve been considered the highlight of their lives, they were fighting battles with no end in sight.
Ayla Peters, better known as Rosé Marie, was on the verge of burnout. The music career that she worked so hard to establish, left her questioning who she was and stifled her creative process. With her album’s deadline swiftly approaching, Ayla takes a trip to a secluded island to reset. While there, she meets an unlikely acquaintance, and a source for inspiration–in more ways than one.
With a fresh Grammy under his belt, songwriter, Kendrix Davis should’ve felt invincible. Instead, he was dealing with the unbearable loss of his greatest supporter. Unsure of what to do next, Kendrix embarks on a journey to find himself. During his sabbatical, he finds a muse, and a friend.
Their love for music brought them together.
The undeniable chemistry they shared made working together a breeze.
When the lines of their business relationship start to blur, Ayla and Kendrix must accept the inevitable; they were the missing piece in each other’s life.
Ayla
Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.
For the past ten minutes, all I’d done was stare at Kendrix as he mumbled words and strummed his guitar. Heat coursed my veins as my eyes roved over him. The intense focus on his handsome face as he tried to come up with lyrics was stirring. Between his raspy vocals and the soulful melody he kept playing, it was safe to say, I was swooning.
After listening to a few of Kendrix’s demos, I played unreleased music for him. Then, helped me decide which songs I should re-record because I hated feeling like I was wasting music. The songs that didn’t make previous projects could be used for an EP or my next album. Several hours later, we fell into a comfortable silence that eventually led to him messing around with his guitar. I didn’t want to disrupt him, so I sat quietly, soaking in his creative process. It was like I wasn’t even here.
Kendrix looked up briefly, finding my eyes on him.
“What’s your vision for this next album?” he asked, catching me off guard.
Great question.
My album was the last thing on my mind. I wished I was the guitar in his arms, being caressed dotingly.
Clearing my throat, I quickly came up with an answer. “Uh. I want to tap into my sensual side. With the last album, I kind of touched on it, but I was too afraid to take it all the way there.”
I wanted to push myself musically, but didn’t know where to start. Aside from suffering from burnout, I had no direction for this upcoming project. Everyone was so eager to get back to work that we missed the most important part of the process.
“Sensual like how?” he pressed, still strumming that damn Spanish guitar.
“Like… CrazySexyCool, Janet, Voodoo, Urban Hang Suite to name a few.”
“We can make that happen.”
We.
My heart skipped a beat.
“You know I’m not supposed to be working on my album, technically.”
“I know, but to think you won’t work on it would be delusional of us, no?” He smirked. “Plus, we’ve already picked out four old songs to re-record, and Love’s Voodoo just needs to be mixed and mastered. We might as well do what we can while we’re here.”
“Fine,” I conceded.
He nodded, then went back to playing.
While watching him play, my mind raced. Kendrix plucked the strings until he landed on the chord he liked best, he zoned out and let the music move him. I loved watching him play. For a few moments, I sat and took him in. His biceps constricted as he held the guitar tighter, making my belly roll. The wrinkle in his brow made me wonder what he was thinking about. I wouldn’t dare interrupt him, though. Minutes later, I grabbed my guitar and joined in. His eyes met mine, fire danced in his coffee-brown orbs, making me shudder a breath.
Luckily, he looked away first. A smile played on my lips as I refocused my attention to the music. He switched the keys from G minor to E minor. I closed my eyes, stopped thinking, and allowed myself to feel the music. When I opened my eyes again, Kendrix was staring at me with his bottom lip clenched between his teeth. My belly flipped, and goosebumps dotted my skin as I forced myself to look away. Looking down at my Gibson, I gave in to our harmonious music, and hummed along. Kendrix joined in making this moment all the more… intense. God, I loved his voice.
It was rough, yet sexy.
Soothing and soulful.
I looked at him once more and shook my head. His eyes were closed and his eyebrows furrowed as fingers moved swiftly over the fretboard. I stopped humming long enough to expel a sigh.
I could do this with him all night.