Crazy in Love. Crystal B. Bright

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ have the studio until nine so we have some time. What I want to do won’t take long at all, but it’ll have mega impact on you and Shauna.” He patted the back of the couch this time. “Sit. Please.”

      Truman huffed but finally sat down next to Shauna. Good to see that Truman didn’t want to be a part of this dog and pony show either. The way he kept his gaze cast down, he made it obvious that he barely wanted to even look at her. Seeing that hurt her a lot more than she thought it would. She barely knew this man. Why should it concern her that he didn’t want to look at her?

      He leaned back, though, like he didn’t want to get near her. The supple leather squeaked under his weight. That worked for her. He hadn’t exactly been Mr. Charming.

      “Shauna Stellar still has about two million followers on her Instagram account.” Craig took a few steps back. “So what I’ll do is snap some shots of you with her and caption it that Shauna is working hard in the studio with Truman Woodley and the Sliders. You guys do have an Instagram account, right?”

      Before Truman could answer, Craig took a picture of him.

      “Um, I don’t know. Tony normally handles our social media accounts.” Truman looked into the recording booth.

      “How am I supposed to tag you if you—never mind.” Craig snapped another picture. “No. This isn’t good. Truman, hand Shauna something. Your music. Yeah. That’ll look good.”

      Shauna tried hard not to smile at her manager’s antics. The man knew the best ways to work around any obstacles.

      When she peered at Truman, he glared at her for a moment, then turned to Craig before he finally pulled out his music and handed it to Shauna. When she reached for it, Craig took a series of pictures.

      “Good. Really good. You two need to be a bit closer together.” Craig waved his hand to them. “Scoot in closer.”

      Shauna felt heat licking her cheeks. “Craig, I think you have the pictures you need. We really should get back to work.” She started to scoot to the edge to go to the boards next to the sound engineer.

      “No.” Craig shook his head. “This will be even better. Trust me.”

      “Famous last words, right?” Truman chuckled like he wanted to make Shauna feel better.

      It didn’t work. Shauna shifted. “If you want working shots, I think you have it. We’re losing valuable studio time.”

      “Shauna.”

      The sternness in Craig’s voice stiffened Shauna’s spine. She couldn’t believe after ten years, she still responded to Craig’s disappointed tone. She felt childish, but still buckled to his demands.

      With great reluctance, she curved her back to ease her backside closer to Truman while still leaving a comfortable distance between the two of them. She left her leg under her behind, which allowed her knee to jut forward, creating another barrier.

      Shauna waited a beat before bringing her gaze up. When she found him staring back at her, her body flooded with emotions. Embarrassed heat filled her face and neck. Her hands trembled so much that she had to set his music down and press her palms onto her thighs. Her knee bounced and she wished it didn’t.

      “Truman, lean forward, drape your arm across the back of the couch, and act like you’re asking Shauna a question.” Craig crouched down, preparing to take this picture.

      Truman cleared his throat first. When he placed his arm across the back of the couch, Shauna felt like she had stopped breathing. Since she caught his outdoorsy scent again, she knew that couldn’t be true. With his long arm, his hand almost reached her shoulder.

      Craig pointed to her first. “Shauna, pick up the music again.” Then he directed his attention to Truman. “Move in closer.”

      Truman adjusted his baseball cap on his head first and exhaled before he finally moved. He sat so close to her now, his face a few feet away from hers; she noticed the brown, short hairs over his cheeks from not shaving. She also noticed a small scar by his lip, and immediately wanted to ask him about it.

      Truman placed his other hand on his knee closest to Shauna. Even there, she felt the heat from his skin.

      This had to end soon. If it didn’t, she would be crawling out of her skin. Not since her disastrous relationship with Raheem had Shauna been this close to a man. Despite their disagreement earlier, none of that mattered now that Truman had her cornered, hot and bothered.

      “I guess I should really ask you a question now that I’m here.” Truman’s low voice rumbled through her body. He waited until Shauna regained eye contact with him before he continued. “Is this going to work?”

      Shauna blinked. “What?”

      “Us. This arrangement. Will it work?”

      Shauna didn’t know how to answer. She came to the studio determined to set boundaries and be the boss of this situation. All of that changed as soon as Truman got close to her and she looked into his eyes.

      “I think I got it.” Craig peered over his glasses at his screen. “Now I’ll change the filter. Do the picture in black and white.” He admired his work. “Oh, that’s perfect.” He turned the phone around to show Shauna and Truman. “Look. The dynamic duo.”

      Shauna stared at the small screen. What she saw didn’t look like a music producer and her artist. She saw a man and a woman in dark lighting trying to find each other.

      Truman must have seen something different. Without a word, he got up from the couch and grabbed his guitar but left the music.

      “Your fans are going to love this.” Craig looked so satisfied as he posted the picture.

      Shauna, finally able to breathe again, tried wrapping her head around what happened. If she planned on taking this job seriously, she needed to keep her distance from Truman Woodley.

      “Why did you do that?” Shauna shook her head.

      “What? You mean get you his music?” Craig winked.

      She should have appreciated the gesture, but it reminded her very quickly that even as an adult, she needed someone to help her navigate through basic interactions. She wanted to solve this dilemma on her own.

      “I had that handled.” Now feeling her power, she managed to stand and go to the boards next to their sound engineer, Hank.

      “Yes, that’s what I saw. Not him walking away with the music, but him wanting to turn it over to you as soon as you asked.” Craig shoved his phone into his pocket. “And that picture, my dear, is going to push doubt from people’s minds.”

      “Doubts about what? Me wanting to get back in the studio and work again?” Shauna had hoped her fans understood that she would want to get back into the swing of things again after getting out of Peaceful Acres.

      Craig leaned forward. “No, that you’re still a desirable woman who still is the Princess of Love Ballads. The bad breakup with Raheem didn’t kill your sex appeal.”

      The thought that Shauna had kept in the back of her mind now came forward. It became real with Craig’s words. СКАЧАТЬ