how?”
“Well, he’d just heard her sing. Duh. He knew how she sounded. Now he wants to lure her to New York so some mysterious partners of his can hear her sing too? I don’t buy it.”
“Do you hear yourself?”
“What? I’m concerned. She’s my friend, and normally big club owners from the city don’t go slumming it in small towns looking for talent. There’s plenty of it right under their noses. It’s New York. Every waitress in the city is a singer, and every waiter is an actor. What does this guy need our singer for?”
“I wouldn’t call this exactly slumming. It’s pretty nice here.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I heard what you said. I don’t even think you know what you mean. What you mean is, you can’t stand the thought of losing her.”
“I never had her.”
“And that was your first mistake. I don’t get why you never just told her how you felt and asked her out. You’ve known her forever. It never came up between the two of you?”
“What did I just explain to you? She’s diamonds. I’m charcoal.”
“And she’s gone, and you’re still here by yourself if you don’t get over it and tell her how you feel.”
“And what, beg her not to take a job she deserves so she can sing at Colette’s for a free steak dinner once a week?”
“No, just don’t let her make a big decision like this without knowing all the facts.”
“The fact is, this life can’t compete with what Armani can do for her. I want her to have everything, even if I can’t give it to her.”
Chapter Four
Spec ks of silver on the stage floor glittered in the spotlight that shone on Claudia from some distant point across the room. Next to her, the sleek black grand piano seemed like a living thing, softly murmuring the first strains of her chosen song under the expert fingers of the club’s entertainment director.
At a cluster of tables a few feet away, Jacob Larsen sat with his partners, a group of three men and two women whom he’d introduced to Claudia in rapid succession right after she’d arrived for the audition. If anyone had asked her to recall their names now, she would have failed that quiz miserably. All she knew was they were each impeccably dressed, polite but serious, and scrutinizing her as though the fate of the world hinged on their decision whether or not to hire her to sing at Eclipse.
She clutched the microphone, mostly to keep her hands from shaking. She’d never been this nervous performing before anyone. Even when she was ten and had entered the school talent show and sung a cappella for the first time, her palms hadn’t been this sweaty.
Relying on all the tricks of the performance trade, she psyched herself up by imagining her audience naked. That worked until she got to Jacob, whom she decided would look entirely too good in nothing but tighty whities. Banishing the sexy image of the man who could end up being her boss, she swallowed hard and started to sing.
The wide smile of the piano player gave her confidence a boost, and she managed to nail the song despite the butterflies that gave her voice an uncharacteristic treble. Enthusiastic applause from the audience belayed their earlier stoic expressions, and she sighed in relief that she hadn’t fainted from the stress. Could she do this four nights a week to a much larger crowd? Could she do it without Love Notes? Could she do it without Owen?
Jacob climbed onto the stage, his hand outstretched to take hers. “That was amazing, even better than when you sang with your band.”
“Thanks…” She eyed the partners cautiously. One of the men gave her a thumbs-up. Another was already talking on his cell phone, and one of the women had left. The remaining man and woman were whispering to each other, but at least they were smiling. “How do you think they feel about it?”
Jacob smirked, the sparkle in his eyes making the slightly predatory expression seem charming. “The decision was made halfway
Delilah Hunt, Erin O'Riordan, Pepper Anthony, Ashlynn Monroe, Melissa Hosack, Angelina Rain
Kevin D. Mitnick, William L. Simon