Exposed (The Alpha Stranger) Book 2 Read Online Free PDF Page A

see you at 10:00 p.m.”
     
    I kiss my lover on the neck. It is not a sexual kiss. It’s an affectionate kiss. I lusted after this man for so long. But right now, so help me, I am totally in love with him. We arrive at the Beverly Hills Hotel. I hand the valet my car ticket. The valet pulls up with my Honda. The handsome stranger tips the valet a hundred-dollar bill. And like that, the handsome stranger has made that young valet’s night.
     
    “Get a good night’s sleep. Call in late at work if you have to,” my lover advises. Oh boy, work is the last thing on my mind right now. All I can think about is my music. I feel reborn. I look up at my anonymous lover and try to think of the perfect thing to say to him. First he opened my legs, then he opened my mind, now he has opened my soul. I kiss him on the lips and say, “Thank you.”
     
    “You’re welcome,” the handsome stranger says with a genuine kindness that just makes me melt.
     
    I get into my car and head back to my apartment. I turn down the windows and turn up the radio. The cool west LA air hits me in the face while I listen to some alternative rock music. Life could not be better for me. By the time I get back at my apartment, I am too amped up to get too get sleep. It doesn’t take too long for my roommate to let me know she doesn’t appreciate my surplus of energy.
     
    “Carrie. What the fuck?! It’s 2:00 a.m.?!” my roommate says as she storms out of her bedroom.

    “I’m sorry. I just had the best night of my life.”
     
    “Oh wow. He must be fucking you well if you’re dancing around the living room at this hour.”
     
    “It’s more than that!” I say as I jump up and down. “I performed at the Arrow Bar in Santa Monica. It was just one song. But I did it!”
     
    “I’m happy for you really. But I gotta be up in like five hours to get to work. And you need to get to work as well. You don’t want lose your job.”
     
    Deb is right. I hop into the shower and then I brush my teeth. By the time I get to bed it’s almost 3:00 a.m. My body is still energized with music ideas flying around my head. I reach under my bed and pull out my dusty old keyboard. I find some earplugs and begin to play some of my old songs. As I play, the time continues to pass. 3:30. 4:00. Before I know it, 5:00 a.m. rolls around.
     
    Damn, I’ll just call in sick, sleep in and work on my music for my next set at the Arrow Bar. As the first hints of dawn break through the darkness, I lay my head down on my pillow. Before I fall asleep, one final thought passes into my head - this is the life I want. I want to play music late at night, sleep in and then write my own music during the day. I want to be a musician.
     
    ***
     
    For the first time in years, I am well rested. I hop out of bed at around noon, go to the Coffee Bean and grab some overpriced coffee. Then I check my cell phone messages. Uh Oh. My boss just left four messages on my phone. I forgot to call in sick. To be honest, I completely forgot that I had a day job.
     
    I call the office manager and tell her that I’m sick. She isn’t buying it. She says, “Enjoy your day off and make sure to get back into the office tomorrow.” Perhaps it was not a good idea to call when she could obviously hear me walking down the street. As I hang up the phone, I have mentally quit working for a living. My anonymous lover has rekindled my passion for music. Perhaps I am being delusional but life is too short to play it safe.
     
    I get back into my apartment and bring the keyboard out into the living room. Even though I have a book of original songs in my head, none of them have been written in the past five years. And frankly, all of them sound like rejected Fiona Apple songs. I want to compose something new. I want to see if my recent life experiences can spark new lyrics.
     
    So I sit in front of my keyboard and begin to play. It takes a few minutes for me to come up with some song ideas. I know right