Girl on Tour (Kylie Ryans) by Caisey Quinn Read Free Book Online

lucky for you, you know that’s not true. They just wanna be in your shoes.
    Kylie sucked in a breath to sing her final solo. When you fall back down, on that unforgivin’ ground, that’s okay. ‘Cause if there’s one thing you’ve learned along the way, it’s how to pick yourself back up. You didn’t get here on luck .
    The three of them sang the final chorus and another string of Lily’s Oooh oooh oohoos. When the song ended, Kylie took a deep breath. Her ears were filled with applause. Thank God. She smiled and glanced over at Mia and Lily. They’d written and sang together now, and even if they didn’t like each other very much, she respected the hell out of both of them.

“H ow’s that pretty little girlfriend of yours?” Rose asked Trace as she touched up his makeup. He couldn’t help but grin. He’d just seen Kylie’s latest post on her tour blog. There was video link of her and the two girls she was on tour with singing a song they’d written together. He’d been so damn proud watching her he’d nearly burst. They didn’t get to talk much with their busy schedules, but he checked in with her blog every day, hoping for a picture of her beautiful face. God, he missed that face.
    “Too good for me, Rose. Too good for me.”
    The woman guffawed and slapped him lightly on the shoulder. “Nah, you’re not so bad.”
    Trace gave her his best wounded puppy expression. “Then how come you never would give me the time of day?” He winked at the woman, who was well into her fifties, maybe older. Though she dyed her hair and wore enough makeup that, from a distance, you wouldn’t guess she was a day over thirty or so.
    “Now, darlin’, you know I’d be happy to use you for your body, but I’m a happily married woman.” She shrugged.
    Trace laughed out loud. Rose always was good for a laugh. “My loss, sweetheart.” He jumped out of the chair, momentarily distracted by the teasing. Today he and Gretchen had their promotional photo shoot for the tour. They’d be in a bar, play-acting like they were drinking and throwing punches. Except Gretchen would probably actually be drinking and he might actually punch someone before the day was over.
    He sauntered into Whiskey Jacks like it wasn’t the absolute last place he wanted to be. Even though it was. The label had rented the private room out for the day so it was empty save for himself, Pauly, a photographer, and a bunch of assistants. Most of who were probably useless.
    “Okay, let’s get some lights over by the pool table. We’ll do a few shots there.” A man dressed in black with a nasally voice that was already grating on his nerves was giving orders. “And somebody line some shots up on the bar. And grab a few bottles and set them in the background.”
    Trace took advantage of the rare moment of free time to text Kylie good morning and that he’d seen her video and loved the song. Before he had a chance to see if she’d texted back, Nasally Voice Dude turned to him. “Okay, Mr. Corbin, let’s get a few of you alone while we wait for Gretchen.”
    Great. Day one of this shit and they were already “waiting” for Gretchen. Professionalism was not her strong suit. Not that he was necessarily one to talk.
    “Sure thing.” Trace stepped over to the spot by the pool table where the photographer indicated. Someone handed him a pool stick, and for a moment he just wanted to be a regular guy. Shooting some pool on a Friday night with the guys after a long week of busting his hump wherever he worked. He could practically see Kylie sauntering over and challenging him to a game of pool. She’d probably kick his ass at that too. His girl was full of surprises.
    “Mr. Corbin, can you lean down and pretend to line up a shot?”
    Trace glanced down at the table. “Uh, I could, but there’s no cue ball.” He stepped around and checked each pocket, but the cue ball was nowhere to be seen.
    “Okay, forget the cue ball. Just lean down and pose