Crazy in Love. Crystal B. Bright

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СКАЧАТЬ Ervin long enough to know what that meant.

      “This is Tony Waters.” Truman pulled his short friend forward and pushed Ervin back. “He plays the fiddle.”

      “Nice to meet you, ma’am.” Tony presented a wide grin.

      As though he wanted to skip the rough treatment, Charlie offered his hand to Shauna. “Charlie Vaughan. Bass. How are you doing?”

      She nodded and smiled politely as she shook his hand.

      Charlie’s mouth hung open. “Your skin is so soft.” He slid his free hand over hers. “Do you have kids?”

      Truman pulled Charlie’s hands from Shauna’s. “We should get started.”

      He cleared his throat, adjusted his baseball cap, and glanced at Sully, the last member of the Sliders who hadn’t introduced himself.

      “Sully?” Truman elbowed his now tight-lipped buddy.

      “Yeah, we should get started.” Sully brushed past Truman, shot a harsh look to Shauna, and disappeared into the recording booth.

      “That’s Sully Parrish.” Ervin spoke to Shauna as he strolled to the studio with his drum kit. “Don’t pay him no mind. I think he was dropped on his head as a baby.”

      From the way Shauna’s jaw flexed, Truman could tell it did bother her. She didn’t have to be so sensitive. She didn’t know Sully. She didn’t know any of them.

      When the rest of the band disappeared into the soundproof booth, Truman stepped closer to Shauna. With each step, his heart pounded harder and harder.

      What the hell was going on with him? His mind needed to be on his son, his band, and his music, in that order. With the exception of his music, he needed to keep his emotions in check.

      “Sully’s just nervous.” Truman sat his case on the floor.

      Shauna spoke as though she didn’t hear him. “Let’s go over your song list.”

      “My what?”

      Shauna sauntered to the couch and eased down on it, curling her legs under her and looking poised like a cat. His hand itched like he wanted to pet her, stroke her from her wavy hair down her long back and to that sweet ass.

      As soon as that thought entered his mind, he snapped his attention back to her face. As long as he stared in her eyes, he would be fine.

      “I want to see the list of songs you’re planning for the album. Or do you and your band fly by the seat of your pants on these things?”

      More like a ferocious cat. Forget petting. Maybe he needed to hold her down, pin her wrist back, and—Christ, he had to stop. He had been around sexy women before. Shauna had him thinking and feeling in a way he hadn’t in a long time.

      “I don’t understand why I need to show you my set list.” He maintained his position but kept his stare fixed on the woman who seemed a lot more confident and sure of herself than the last time he’d seen her.

      “It’s not a set list. This isn’t a show.” Shauna rolled her eyes like she didn’t enjoy dealing with amateurs.

      That notion boiled Truman’s blood. He stomped closer to her.

      “Your album should tell a story, set a stage.” She ran her hand over her hair. “You should start off with a bang to get people interested, then ease them in with some mid-tempo tunes, then bring them down with some slower songs, then finish it even stronger. Think of your favorite albums that you love listening to from start to finish. Think about the stories they tell.”

      He didn’t. Instead he wanted to question her experience. What made her such an expert when she had to be a few years younger than him?

      “How long have you been producing?” Truman glared at her, daring for her to break.

      “I’ve never produced an album or even a song. You guys would be my first.” Shauna barreled on. “But let me tell you about my seven albums I’ve put out, in particular, my first one. I was given a list of songs to sing by the label. Since I was new with no hits, they wanted to make sure I had some winners on the CD. They got some hack songwriter with one or two big hits to his or her credit to write most of the songs. The rest were covers. My manager thought, at the time, that was the best way to introduce me. You do have a manager, right?”

      Truman kept his mouth closed but gave her one solid nod in response.

      His slow response must have answered some other questions in her head. “Are you the lead singer and the band’s manager?”

      He kept his stare on her but his mouth closed. When Shauna sighed, Truman felt his stomach twinge.

      “I may be new at owning a studio, but this is not my first time recording. If you let me, I can help you avoid some of the pitfalls I experienced.” She held up her hand to him.

      “We’re supposed to be partners in this, right?” He folded his arms. “Why don’t you make sure we sound good, and I’ll take care of everything else?”

      She ran her tongue over her teeth. He could almost hear her counting to ten in her head. His mother would be so disappointed in his combative behavior.

      “Fine. Don’t listen to me. I’m not your manager.” She stood. “I’m not even your friend.”

      Craig stepped into the tense room. “So how is my dream team working out?”

      No one spoke until Truman broke the ice.

      “No disrespect to either one of you, but I have to get in there with my band and we need to tune up and rehearse.” He shook Craig’s hand, tipped his hat to Shauna, and walked toward the recording booth. The drama wouldn’t help him sing any better.

      “Before you do that, I have an idea.” Craig held up his phone and smiled.

      * * * *

      Shauna had a sinking suspicion what Craig wanted to do. She kept her stare on him until he approached the duo.

      “I plan on going to New York tomorrow to the Universe office to personally play a song from you guys.” Craig pointed to Truman and the band in the studio. “So you all need to do a great job on recording one song that’s an example of your style.”

      Truman nodded. “Sounds doable. We’ve been playing our songs for years, so we have them down pat.”

      Shauna had no idea Craig had planned on going to the Universe office. She knew the reason. He would make a plea to keep Charisma so that they would have distribution. If Craig planned on going tomorrow, Shauna would have to make a trip later that day. Time to act like a boss.

      “Truman, you were right about something when you were in my office. A month to get your album out does not give you a lot of time to promote yourselves. So I have a plan.” He patted the couch seat cushion next to Shauna. “Have a seat.”

      Truman split his attention between Shauna and her manager. Even she didn’t know what Craig had planned.

      Truman СКАЧАТЬ