Crazy in Love. Crystal B. Bright

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СКАЧАТЬ The scent smelled awful. Even if she never sung another note for the rest of her life, the smoke hurt her throat.

      “I’ve always smoked.” Hank managed to speak while keeping the cigarette pinched between his lips on the side. “It helps me work.” The burly man with the bushy beard didn’t bother looking her way when he spoke, just like how he treated Truman.

      “It doesn’t help me work and I own this business. Put it out.” She didn’t want to throw her trump card down but this man forced her to do it. If he didn’t straighten up, she would boot his behind out of the whole production.

      Hank snickered at her and dropped the lit cigarette into his cup of coffee.

      “Now find some fans and clear out the stench in this room.” She stood at the doorway. “It’s bad enough the place smells like pot. I guess my mother just let anyone come in to record.”

      Hank walked by Shauna as he peered down at her. “You got that right.”

      No one would intimidate her. At least not in her studio. She sat outside of the control booth and waited for Hank to come back with a fan. Glancing at her watch, a staggered sigh forced its way from her mouth when it hit her how much studio time they’d lost. How in the world would she have a song ready for the record label in a few hours?

      Her heart pounded. She blinked several times to regain clarity on her blurred vision.

      Come on. Don’t do this. Keep it together.

      She exhaled, shook her head, and tried focusing on the lyrics to the song called “Reeling” she wanted the group to start working on once they finished their break. Looking at the music, it looked like a nice mid-tempo piece that would put the group on the map. She still couldn’t hear the music.

      After springing from the couch, she sauntered into the recording studio where the group left their instruments. She stared at the piano in the corner of the room. It looked more daunting than when she’d taken her first step outside of Peaceful Acres.

      Why did the idea of playing the piano again scare her? She started playing at the age of four. Some days touching the keys gave her more comfort than talking to her mother. Being an only child, the piano often became the sibling she wished she had.

      Shortly after taking a seat, Shauna put both hands on the keys, looked at the music, and started playing. Her fingers tripped over some of the notes. She cursed under her breath and tried the song again. Each time she got better and better.

      Her shoulders relaxed as her fingers moved over the instrument. The knot that had formed in her stomach before she sat down disappeared the longer she played. She’d reach nirvana without chanting.

      When she opened her mouth to sing, she saw Truman standing at the doorway into the recording studio. Her hands froze over the keys as she stared at him. She swallowed as she tried getting a handle on what must have been going through his mind to hear her butchering his song.

      She cleared her throat as she stood. “I think this song should be the one we work on first.” She attempted to sound professional as she handed him his original copies back. “This one has chart appeal and the right tempo.”

      Truman took the sheets from her as she walked by him.

      “You sounded good over there.” He spoke to her in a soothing voice as she made it to the doorway.

      Shauna turned to him. She kept her face straight in case he didn’t mean what he’d said.

      “That’s kind of how I envisioned the song sounding.” He sat the music on a stand, crouched down, and picked up his guitar again. “Good to see we’re on the same page.” He cleared his throat. “At least for this song.”

      She would take that small step for now. “We’ve lost a lot of studio time.” As much as she wanted to smile and thank him, she didn’t want to get sucked into his nice-guy routine until she knew his angle.

      He hung his guitar strap on his shoulder. “Break time is over. Are you ready?”

      Her mouth went dry. She clasped her hands together to hide her fear. “Let’s do this.”

      The rest of the band bounded back to the room, excited and exuberant at three in the morning. They must have gotten a lot of sleep.

      “Let’s rock ‘n roll.” Ervin retrieved his drumsticks from the floor and made his way behind his modest drum set.

      “Guys, we’re doing ‘Reeling’ first. Let’s do a couple of practice runs before we lay the track.” Truman’s commanding nature had his band falling in line.

      Shauna took that as her cue to go into the control room. To hear the music better, she turned off the loud fan as she sat with Hank at the boards.

      “Let’s take it from the top, boys.” Truman nodded with each tap Ervin made on his drumsticks.

      “Before you start, gentlemen, do you need anything in there?” Shauna hated to interrupt the flow, but she wanted to hear perfection. “Some artists like candles burning, pictures of loved ones, stuffed animals.” She loved burning blackberry-scented candles.

      “Lady, we’re in a recording studio, not a slumber party.” Sully sneered at her through the glass separating them.

      She gritted her teeth. Sully wouldn’t break her.

      “You know, I’ve always wanted pictures of the kids in front of me when I played.” Charlie reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He set it up on a nearby easel and smiled as he stared at it.

      Truman patted his pocket but didn’t retrieve anything. Maybe he had a picture of a girlfriend or wife he wanted to view but didn’t in front of Shauna. Now she couldn’t stop staring at his pants for a different reason.

      “Fine. I don’t care if you want the whole family in the recording studio. We need to play.” Sully strummed an angry chord on his guitar.

      “Then tell me about the song you’re about to sing.” She spread her hand over the lyrics.

      “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Sully groaned and leaned his head back.

      She could feel his frustration rising through the control booth glass. She had a job to do and she knew what worked.

      “Tell me what ‘Reeling’ is about.” Shauna directed her attention to Truman.

      “If it gets us recording faster.” Truman slung his guitar behind him.

      Even angry Truman looked good. His brown eyes narrowed, his chest pumped up, and his lips looked tight. Not exactly kissable but definitely interesting. He started to get a morning stubble around his goatee. That made him even hotter.

      “The song is about when you first meet that special person. It’s when you get the butterflies in your belly and loss of appetite. And when you finally get to kiss that person for the first time, you’re just in heaven. You’re reeling.”

      Shauna hadn’t noticed her mouth had hung open as she listened to him until Hank coughed. “Is this song about someone in your life now?” She attempted to make the question sound as innocent but professional as possible, but below the СКАЧАТЬ