Playing For Keeps by Dani Weston Read Free Book Online

wanted to be there. Until I caught the way Jimmy was looking at me. Dark eyes under long lashes. Intensity. I squirmed in my chair and looked away. Bastard. Throwing me off my game, just because he could.
    In a brief lull of silence, Duncan and Jimmy Keats exchanged a glance. Duncan stood and went to the door to the studio.
    “Let’s hear a song, okay?”
    We filed through the interview room with our instruments. I stood to the left of Bea, watching Jimmy Keats fiddle with buttons on the soundboard, waiting for Kaitlin’s nod to Bea to count us in. I had a sudden vision of opening my mouth to sing, but no sound coming out. That man over the soundboard, whatever his real name was, unsettled me and I didn’t like it. I cleared my throat.
    “Ready when you are,” Duncan said. I pulled my guitar strap over my shoulder and placed my fingers on the board. And that was when my mind and body settled down.
    It was incredible how much the guitar felt like a part of my body. Like a missing limb I was born without. I’d heard about these kinds of auditions being nerve-wracking but, considering how often I’d played in front of people before and how little I could pretend this whole thing meant to me, the experience finally felt right. Easy. I worried more about Bea. She’d cleared her throat four or five times now. I hoped her voice lessons had been worth it.
    I moved my fingers up the strings, not making a sound, as I considered our song. Then Bea counted off behind us and I launched into the music.
    My right hand plucked across the strings while my left fingers moved like a blur, forming rhythm, yes, but also melody. I had no patience for staid chords on the bass guitar. I wanted to show these guys what this instrument could really do. We’d chosen a classic song, channeling southern rock, just like Local Jackson showed me how. My body moved in time to the sounds, I sang the words automatically, but I was lost in the sound of our music, in the lilt of my voice, in the power that came with singing softer, then louder. When we were done and my muscles stilled, I felt deflated. I pushed my hair away from my face and looked at the window separating the studio rooms.
    Jimmy Keats bent over a mic. “Do you dance?”
    Bea and Kaitlin laughed nervously, but I scowled. An impromptu dance felt so out of place after what we just did, so I boldly said, “Yeah, we dance.”
    This time it was Jimmy Keats’ turn to laugh. “I believe you. Go ahead and pack up. Duncan and I will talk and we’ll call you with our thoughts, later.”
    I dropped my guitar back in my case and fastened the latches. So that was it. I’ll call you later . L.A. code for Sorry, not good enough .
    A little like If I don’t forget about you.
    In that moment, I stopped thinking it was my ranting about World Wonder that would ruin our chances and instead worried it was the way I’d been flippant with Jimmy at the end of the night we spent together. Shit. Bea was going to hate me when she learned every wrong thing I’d done.
    “How do you think we did?” Bea asked, once we’d been shown out of the skyscraper by the guy in the vest. Her nerves made her voice shaky and uncertain. I gave her a bear hug.
    “Brilliant as always.” I smiled at Kaitlin, lounging against the wall in silence. I didn’t think she held the same level of hope that Bea did. “You are too cool for this crap, you know that? Way too awesome.”
    “Oh, wow. I get it.” She laughed. “You think that was it? Not even a thank you?” Her eyes welled up with unexpected tears. I wiped them away for her with the back of my sleeve.
    “Hey, come on, Bea,” I said softly. “Remember when we founded Ladies? We said it was just for fun.”
    “I just wanted an outlet for my non-classical music,” Kaitlin said.
    “I just wanted to keep in practice,” I added. “Pay homage to my roots. And have an excuse to spend lots of time with you.” Bea gave me a tiny smile through her tears, her eyes