Sing to Me by Michelle Pennington Read Free Book Online Page A

throw your a rms around me instead . ”
    “I think I can manage that.” I smiled, completely entranced by the devilish smile on his lips as he came towards me. My heart thundered even as the tension I’d been enduring all week relaxed. I’d been so frustrated having only a few minutes to see him in choir every day or catch him in the hall. My mom had grounded me for breaking curfew, saying she wanted to make sure I remembered from now on. So, t his was the first time I’d been alone with him since our epic goodnight ki ss on Monday when he’d taken me home.
    Colby’s arms came around me and he held me like he asked nothing more from life. I was almost startled by how right it felt to have my head pressed into his shoulder, his warmth and scent surrounding me, the rise and fall of his chest as he took a deep, satisfied breath.
    “Co- yeee !”
    Abby jumped around our legs and pulled at Colby’s shirt. He let his arms drop away, his fingers sliding down my arms as if he was reluctant to let go. But he smiled at his little sister and lifted her up in his arms like she didn’t weigh anything. After lugging her around all night, I knew differently.
    We went inside and I closed the door behind us as Colby went towards the stairs with her. He was tickling her and teasing her, saying, “ You’ re supposed to be in bed so I can have some alone time with your beautiful babysitter.”
    I blushed and felt a smile pulling at the corners of my mouth as he looked back at me over his shoulder. “The spider was under her bed so we had to get r id of it first, ” I explained.
    “ Pidur ,” Abby told him. She continued to say it as we went upstairs , her voice almost shrill with excitement . When Colby put her down she ran over and lay down on the floor to look under the bed like she expected it to still be there.
    “Was there a spider under your bed? Well, it’s a good thing Rylie got rid of it for you. Now you can go right to sleep like a good girl.”
    I stood in the doorway as Colby scooped her up and dumped her on her bed, making her giggle as she bounced on her mattress. Then he pulled her covers up, gave her Teddy, and ruffled her golden curls before pressing a kiss to her forehead.
    “Now, you wait right there while I go get my guitar, ok?”
    “K !” s he said in a happy little voice, sounding anything but sleepy.
    Colby , paus ed on the way to his room to say , “I’ll put her to sleep. It’ll be faster that way. I don’t know how much time we’ve got before my dad and Marcy get home.”
    With a thrill of excitement, I said, “I’ll go pick up then so I don’t have anything else to do. And, um, I’ll put this away while I’m at it. ” I waved the ladle I was still carrying around and started downstairs.
    I w ashed the ladle, w iped down Abby’s high chair , and swept up the animal crackers she’d thrown on the floor earlier. Everything in good shape there, I turned out the light and went to wait in the living room. There were only a few toys to pick up and put away in the ott oman that opened up for storage before I was able to sit and wait for Colby to come down. The only lights on in the house were the lamp on the table next to the couc h and the light over the stairs that cast a faint, romantic glow over everything.
    I could see the darkened doorway to Abby’s room from where I sat , and in the quiet house, I could just catch the song Colby was playing for Abby. The distant strains drifted down to me, and I could n’t stand not hearing it better . I tiptoed up the stairs and hovered next to the door where Abby would n’t see me, but where I could easily hear Colby’s voice. He was singing “Love Me Tender,” which surprised me until I listened to the words and realized how perfect it was as a lullaby.
    Colby’s voice was so pure, even sin ging as soft as he was , that I was entranced and strained to catch every quiet note and gentle inflection. It was so achingly perfect and sincere that I