Crazy in Love. Crystal B. Bright

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СКАЧАТЬ hold on to a man?

      Despite what Craig thought about his picture, she didn’t see Truman fawning over her. He saw a man forced to interact with her, just like with Raheem. Would she never break that cycle?

      Chapter 5

      “You’re right, Sull. Let’s get out of here.” Truman stomped back into the studio with his guitar case in his hand.

      The confusion riddling his body had his head spinning. He hadn’t felt this out of sorts since high school when he dated the head cheerleader. Shauna couldn’t be described as a perky cheerleader. She hadn’t encouraged him. If anything, she got him thinking about other things like how good she smelled when he sat close to her on the couch, and how he could feel the heat coming from her body. Was she actually staring at his mouth at one point? Did she want to kiss him? Did he want to kiss her?

      Oh, hell.

      He threw the case down and went over to Ervin’s drum set to tear it down. He hadn’t gone to a recording studio. He’d stepped into a circus complete with a ringleader. Craig pushed them together like a meddling mother. As much as Truman wanted to hate the treatment, the close proximity got them to stop bickering about music and actually look at each other. He had to admit, the stripped down and vulnerable version of Shauna looked as appealing as the glammed-up one.

      “What’s going on?” Confusion covered Charlie’s face.

      “She said something stupid, didn’t she?” Sully rested his forearm on the neck of his guitar as he watched Truman pack his things together.

      “Will you shut up, idiot?” Ervin threw his drumstick at the back of Sully’s head. “What’s the deal, Tru? Why you want to split?”

      Truman couldn’t explain his feelings. It didn’t make sense. One moment, he came into this situation preparing to be professional and accommodating. Then he found himself bickering with the woman who could jumpstart his career. By the end, he became mesmerized by her eyes and floral scent. He still remembered how her lips parted as she stared at him. Those full lips.

      “Do we have to pay for studio time? Is that coming out of our money?” Tony pulled his notepad from his back pocket and wrote some calculations in it. As long as it kept him quiet, Truman felt content to let the man scribble away.

      “This is a joke, man.” Truman scratched his head. He turned to the guys. “I said pack it up, fellas, and let’s roll.”

      “You don’t have to tell me twice.” Sully unhooked his guitar from the amplifier.

      When Truman heard the pop it made after Sully disconnected it, he equated the sound with quitting and failure. He’d never quit at anything, but staying there and working with Shauna had him nervous that he would do something foolish…like think with “Little Truman” again.

      “Wait.” Ervin held up his hands. “This is our dream, guys. I’m not sure what happened. You know I always have your back, Tru. But I’m not willing to pack it in over nothing.”

      Truman kept his face straight. “She—” He couldn’t finish what he wanted to say.

      What could he say? She looked incredible without a stitch of makeup on her face? Her body had his fingers tingling because he wanted to touch her? Or that he loved the idea that she stared at his lips for a while?

      Ervin put his hand on Truman’s shoulder. “Like coach said, walk it off.” He smiled.

      When Truman looked through the glass into the control room, he found Shauna sitting at the control board next to a large man he hadn’t seen before.

      Truman’s stomach tied in a knot knowing how much valuable studio time they wasted because he couldn’t control his emotions. Shauna Stellar was just a woman. He had to treat recording their album as a job. As Ervin suggested, he did need to cool down.

      “Let’s take five and regroup.” Truman’s suggestion should have been geared to himself instead of his band.

      Once the guys left the studio, he went inside the control booth.

      “Hey.” He approached Shauna.

      “Truman Woodley,” she began, “this is Hank, the sound engineer. He’ll be here with us while we record.”

      “Nice to meet you.” Truman put out his hand, but Hank kept his attention on the boards for a while before he finally acknowledged him and shook his hand with his meaty one.

      “The guys and I are going to take a quick five before we start, okay?” He jutted his thumb over his shoulder.

      She nodded again.

      He turned but then her statement stopped him. “I like your songs.”

      Truman returned his attention to her. “You looked at them already?”

      Shauna spun in her seat to face him. “Did you write all of these?”

      “Except for the one called ‘Beer and More Beer.’ Ervin wrote that after a hard night of partying.” He snickered, distinctly remembering when Ervin sang the hook to him after vomiting his guts out.

      “I have some suggestions on changes if you don’t—”

      Truman cut her off. “I do. I wrote every word for a reason. No changes are needed.”

      Before the situation turned sour again, Truman walked out. He needed some space and a second to figure out how this woman got into his head so quickly.

      * * * *

      How could a man who managed to penetrate her soul from one look get so defensive about words? In her career, Shauna tweaked words to songs she’d been given all the time. As long as people bought the songs, what did it matter that she changed some of the lyrics?

      As Shauna read the lyrics to each of Truman’s songs, she got an understanding of the man underneath the worn out baseball cap. One song talked about meeting that special woman. He had another song that detailed the perfect day, complete with an impromptu baseball game with his friends, drinking beer by a swimming hole, and ending it with his woman by his side. Then he had a song that talked about someone special to him.

      After Raheem dumped her, and her public meltdown, men looked at her as damaged goods. Even Craig echoed those sentiments with his latest Instagram picture. The idea plagued her thoughts, even during her stay at Peaceful Acres. She could never get over that stigma. Truman probably thought the same thing when he bolted from her after taking the picture.

      It used to offend her when she would be in the pages of men’s magazine as a woman they saw as hot and sexy. She worked hard to be more than just a pretty face. Now she would pay any money she had left to be seen as desirable.

      She shuffled the songs around, arranging them into an order she thought would work for the album. She had to admit that Truman had some great music. Maybe she could convince Craig to scrap the duet idea. At least not for this album, and especially not with her.

      She took a deep breath and caught the strong cigarette scent coming from the control room. She found Hank sitting in a swirl of smoke.

      “There’s no smoking in here, ever.” СКАЧАТЬ