My Soul To Keep (Soul Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

stern line I usually keep my mouth in with strangers contorts into a grin. “Come on. You spout some Jenny-from-the-Block shit and expect me not to mock you just a little?”
    “We aren’t all born piano prodigies who get to do exactly what we want from the time we’re children. Some of us have to do it all and see what sticks.”
    “Oh, is that what you’d call it?” Her audacity, her ignorance of my actual life, and her nerve sends heat crawling up my neck and loosens my lips. “Having no friends your age? Working around the clock? Being on the road more than two hundred days a year? Does that sound like the easy way up to you?”
    I’ve shocked myself with that tirade. I rarely talk about my life before I emancipated from my parents. Certainly not to strangers. Even a hot, adorable stranger who stands only as high as my collarbone and has a voice that sounds like it’s been sitting out melting in the sun.
    She bites her bottom lip, and as much as her assumptions irritate the hell out of me, that gesture manages to distract me. I’m struggling to remember what she did to annoy me in the first place.
    “Look, I’m sorry.” She lays the invoice on the piano and slides her hand into the pockets of her cargo shorts. “I don’t know you. All I have is what I see from the outside and read in tabloids. I wouldn’t want anyone to judge me by that.”
    “You wanna make it up to me?”
    At least my parents taught me to exploit every opportunity. Sadly, I was the opportunity. Still, lesson learned.
    “Depends.” Kai gives me a cautious, considering look. “What did you have in mind?”
    “Sing for me.”
    “Sing?” Uncertainty takes over her face, and for a moment, I think she’s going to turn and run. “Just sing? Like right here? Right now?”
    “Unless you’re scared, of course.” I deliberately keep my eyes glued to my fingers picking out a scale on the piano.
    “Did you learn that in Reverse Psychology for Dummies ?”
    My mouth pulls into an involuntary grin even though I don’t look up from the keys.
    “I’m just thinking anyone who wants to do it all,” I finally glance back at her, my fingers still playing the scale, “Should be able to sing in front of one guy.”
    She rolls her eyes, but her mouth starts tugging up at the edges just a little. She takes a step closer, leaning her hip against the piano.
    “What should I sing?”
    Her smell surrounds me. Something fruity and sweet, but not one of those scents girls wear that scratches your throat and burns your nose.
    My fingers traverse the keys in a basic scale before I look up at her, prepared to be underwhelmed by the pipes hiding in that lovely throat.
    “Sing this scale and hold the last note for me as long as you can.” I pick out a basic scale I’ve heard Grady do with dozens of students over the years.
    She closes her eyes, draws a deep breath, and duplicates the notes I just played with her husky voice. She holds the final note for a few seconds, and then her breath wanes, causing the note to fade away.
    “Your tone is great.”
    Sliding her hands into her pockets, she rocks back on her heels, faking nonchalance.
    “I bet you say that to all the singers.”
    “Then you really don’t know me.” I hold up a finger. “And you didn’t let me finish.”
    She offers a quick nod, her posture deliberately casual. But I can tell she’s nervous about my opinion. Believe me—I’ve lived enough of my life looking for affirmation, so I recognize the need right away.
    “Your breathing is off. Not by much. I can tell you know how to breathe, but you aren’t executing. Your notes aren’t supported well enough.”
    Even though she’s standing and I’m seated on the piano bench, she’s only a few inches above me. I reach up, my fingers hovering over her throat, but not quite touching.
    “Too much energy here.”
    I envy the slim fingers she rubs against the smooth skin of her neck. My fingers float over her abdomen, and I lock my