Next Song I Sing (NEXT TIME AROUND) by Donna McDonald Read Free Book Online

full of genuine pleasure when she looked at her friends. With Max’s irreverent comment still fresh in his memory, he found himself wondering if Chloe would taste like bliss. He watched Chloe pick up her mai tai and take a sip. It was the first time he could remember being envious of a glass. He was most definitely in trouble.
    “You have an amazing voice. Do you sing professionally?” Jasper asked, excited to see the drink actually quivering in her hand at his comment. Was he making her nervous? The thought of her being that aware thrilled him.
    “No. I’m not professional. Haven’t sung in years actually—I just love it. I used to sing in college,” Chloe explained. “Well, we all three did.”
    “I guess you majored in music though,” Jasper stated, completing the logical leap for someone with a talent as large as hers.
    “No, I majored in accounting,” Chloe said on a laugh, steadier now. “I like to eat so I picked a profession that I thought would be the most likely to make sure I always did.”
    “Chloe is just as good at accounting as she is at singing,” Taylor told Jasper, liking the disbelieving lift of his eyebrows as he took in the startling information. “I’m trying to hire her to work in my business.”
    Chloe made a face at Taylor, who just laughed.
    Ignoring the friendly banter, Jasper studied Chloe’s gaze for answers. Why wouldn’t someone who sang like her want to do it for a living? Max was right about the crowd she drew. Even now most of the customers in the lounge were waiting and hoping. He could tell because their gazes, like his, just kept coming back to her.
    “I’m sure accounting pays well, but wouldn’t you like to be a professional singer?” Jasper asked, already thinking of several people he knew in the business whom he could nudge to give a listen.
    Chloe laughed in disbelief, and Jasper shifted in his chair as his body tightened again. His intense reaction to her every utterance almost embarrassed him.
    “Me? A professional singer? Jasper, if you really want to be my fairy godfather, I’d like to be skinny, blonde, and tan,” Chloe said sincerely, smiling at Jasper’s frown.
    “Why in the world would you want any of that?” he asked, incredulous at the request. “Maybe you don’t have a sense of how well you sing, but surely you know how incredibly beautiful you are?”
    Emma and Taylor stopped laughing to stare at their friend, who was staring at Jasper Wade in stunned surprise. His tone hadn’t even been flattering, just matter-of-fact, but his gaze on Chloe was another matter. It would have raised any woman’s temperature to be on the receiving end of that direct I-know-just-how-to-convince-you gaze.
    “I have some friends in the business who would love to find someone like you,” Jasper said slowly, tearing his gaze from Chloe’s to let her absorb the implication that he was willing to use his connections for her.
    He realized all three women were hanging on his every word, but it was the sincere interest in what he was saying that caught him up. They all seemed genuinely surprised. It was a female reaction he wasn’t used to from women.
    “You have friends in the business? You actually mean that, don’t you?” Chloe demanded softly, fighting not to laugh at Jasper’s unbelievable offer. Her mind was still whirling on all the other incredible things he had said before it.
    “Of course, I mean it. Why would I say it otherwise?” Jasper demanded, letting loose a short laugh, a bit indignant at the question but trying not to show it.
    Chloe laughed again, but more softly and simply shook her head.
    “It must be the mai tais working on me again. I think I need some air, Jasper. Would you like to talk a short walk with me to make sure I don’t get lost?” she asked, holding his gaze with hers. “There’s something I’d like to ask you about privately anyway.”
    Jasper looked at Chloe’s face and saw she was serious. “Sure. I guess that