Next Song I Sing (NEXT TIME AROUND) (5 page)

Chloe looked at Taylor as Emma dragged her out the door. “What happened to her? Emma was always manipulative in a nice way, but now she’s bossy like you.”

Taylor hooked an arm through Chloe’s other arm, lending her support at convincing their reluctant friend to leave dressed as she was. “This is what happens when you leave Emma and me alone together for five years. I gave her a Napoleon complex. Never move away again.”

Chloe told herself it was the mai tai she’d guzzled that had her laughing so loudly at Emma’s frown and Taylor’s eye rolling. Whatever the reason, it was drawing everyone’s attention to the three of them as they walked down the hall.

Chloe thought it really was a bit like their college days.

Chapter 5

Max was sitting at the bar when he saw them come in and take a table near the piano. He smiled into his coke. He’d known she’d be back when their eyes made contact two weeks ago. The tug between them had been too strong to ignore.

“Sam, whatever those three ladies are having to start, put their drinks on my tab,” Max said, watching the bartender smile back at him. “Just don’t tell my brother I’m flirting with guests. I got that lecture at lunch. Once a day is enough.”

Sam walked to the table, took their order, and pointed at Max.

Max smiled into his coke again when the blonde he’d wanted to meet stood and walked to the bar. She slid up onto the stool next to him in a cloud of the most heavenly scent Max had ever inhaled. He turned his head to meet her laughing gaze. It was like looking at the ocean on a sunny day.

“I was here on business a couple weeks ago and heard you playing the piano. Thank you for the drink,” Taylor said, leaning on the bar. “My name’s Taylor. And you are?”

“Max. I saw you in a business suit then. That dress looks like you might be here for a different reason this time,” he said on a laugh. “And you’re welcome for the drink.”

“You’re very observant, Max. I’m here with my friends. We’re celebrating because our friend Chloe is moving back to California. I’d really like it if you would let us use your piano for a little while tonight,” Taylor said, smiling. “The three of us used to sing together in college.”

Max smiled as Taylor smiled back. “We could probably work a deal. How about one kiss from each of you and I keep all tips tonight?”

Taylor laughed at his attempt to flirt with her, but wasn’t offended. He was good-looking, even though up close she could now see he was a much younger guy. “I agree to the tips and to my kiss. I can’t speak for my friends and who they kiss.”

Max sat up straighter and held her gaze until she looked away first. His heart thumped hard to think she might be flustered. “Tough deal, but I’ll take it. Piano is all yours for an hour. Who plays?”

“Don’t you like surprises, Max?” Taylor asked, smiling at him.

Max smiled for real this time. “Yes. I’ve already had one tonight. The woman of my dreams walked back into my life wearing a blue halter dress.”

Taylor laughed as she slid off the stool. “I bet that charm of yours works well for you, Max. Thanks for loaning us the piano, Cutie.”

Max watched her walk back to the table. “Cutie?” he asked, looking at Sam and wondering why that term sounded so odd rolling off her tongue.

Sam snickered. “That’s called a polite shut down, Romeo. What did you say to her?”

“Nothing out of line. I was being nice,” Max said in his defense. “I paid her a compliment.”

Sam snickered again. “She’s not interested, Cutie. Want something stronger in your coke to dull the pain?”

“Bite me,” Max said cheerfully. “You know I don’t drink anymore.”

He looked back at the two blondes who were visibly dragging the seemingly reluctant busty brunette to the piano. Taylor sat at the piano and played a few chords, obviously getting a feel for the instrument, even though Max could have told her it was in perfect tune. The shorter, curvier blonde ran back to the table and came rushing back to push a full glass of liquid courage into the brunette’s hand, making her laugh. The game was easy to see, and fun to watch, Max thought.

They were all three beautiful in their own way, but his gaze kept lingering on just the one. Even in the blue halter dress, Taylor was still perfectly in control of herself. Her short hair was tucked neatly behind her ears. Her earrings swung from her lobes, but not too much. Her confidence in herself was so real Max felt like he could touch it.

Her gaze also ignored his and with little effort. Damn his luck anyway, Max thought, grinning. Jasper had been right. They were there to enjoy each other’s company, not on the prowl.

Still—that didn’t mean the game was over. Max was sure he would figure out a way to get Taylor to give him a real chance eventually. He listened to her pick out a few chords, laugh, and count as the other two followed along. He was enchanted with Taylor and her obvious enjoyment of her friends.

But what happened next was nothing short of magical.

***

“Okay nothing peppy yet. Wait. I got it. Here’s a nice warm up song, Chloe,” Taylor said excitedly, starting on the first chords of “You Send Me.” It was a song perfectly suited to Chloe’s range.

Chloe took another sip of her rapidly diminishing drink and set the glass on the piano, only to laugh as Emma motioned to the bartender for another one. She’d had more alcohol today than she’d had in a couple of years combined.

“I’m full up on liquid courage,” Chloe said, patting Emma’s shoulder. “Thanks. Okay, start over, Taylor. If I’m going to do this, let’s do it right.”

Chloe hummed a little to get a feel for the key and the tone. Then she let the first notes go. Around her, activity stopped, drinks lowered, and Emma and Taylor started smiling.

The sweetest notes of the song rolled off her tongue and filled the room, while the music vibrated inside her, more thrilling than anything else she had felt in a long time.

Her laughter slid out between verses. God, she’d forgotten the sheer pleasure of her own voice.

***

“Well, what about that?” Max asked, looking at Sam, who held a liquor bottle in his hand like a man struck dumb.

Max looked back at the singing woman and wished his brother could see her now. The brunette glittered, and her face was transformed with the joy she was obviously feeling. If Jasper had liked her at lunch, he’d be literally stunned seeing her like this.

“Sam,” Max said. “Call Jasper. Tell him I said there’s something in the lounge that needs his immediate attention. He stared at that woman all through lunch.”

“Isn’t Rayonna arriving tonight?” Sam asked, because Jasper’s viper ex made sure everyone in the hotel knew her damn schedule and that she still stayed in their boss’s suite when she was in town.

“Yes. She is. So hurry. This might just save him,” Max said, making Sam snicker. “Seriously, that singer is the first real woman Jasper has liked in years. Call him. Lie if you have to, but just get him here.”

Sam turned away and picked up the phone just as the last notes fell off. There was mild applause from some of the other customers, and the woman who was singing laughed and blushed.

***

“Chloe! That was wonderful. You’re still as good as ever,” Emma said, laughing and hugging her. “Do another one.”

Taylor met Max’s interested gaze across the room. “Let me think. How about this?” She launched into “I Need You,” which Emma and Chloe picked up without a beat.

***

Max was flabbergasted. There was no other term for it. They were really, really good together. By the time the song ended, people from the lobby were wandering in, and some of the café diners were heading their way to check it out.

“How the hell am I going to follow these three?” Max asked a widely grinning Sam as they went into a third song.

“If you can’t follow them, you might want to join them and pretend you’re a group. Maybe you can talk them into staying,” Sam said with a laugh and shrug, heading down the bar.

When Sam came back to his end, Max rapped on the bar. “Get Dreama to come over and wait tables. I saw she was on shift in the dining room. She loves it over here anyway.”

“Suddenly you care about this place? What’s up? You bucking for Jasper’s job?” Sam asked.

“Let’s not get crazy now,” Max said, pretending to be insulted.

Jasper walked in and his eyes went directly, unerringly to the woman who had introduced herself as Chloe Zanders that afternoon. She was wearing a two-piece sequined dress, a diamond ring winking from her revealed navel, and matching earrings that sparkled when they caught the light.

Jasper was without words and looked at Max, who patted the stool beside him.

“Jasper needs a drink, Sam. Two fingers,” Max said, making Sam grin again.

Sam’s eye travelled between Jasper and the women. He shook his head at his own misfortune, knowing exactly which one Jasper favored. Sam and Jasper had been roommates in college.

“Well, I was going to be mad at you Maximillan, but seeing her dressed up was worth the walk here,” Jasper finally managed to say.

“Yeah, they’re all dressed up, but just wait a moment,” Max told him. “You’re in for a hell of a surprise.”

***

Taylor watched Jasper Wade come in, see Chloe, and almost fall onto the bar stool. It was so incredibly sweet that she had to study the piano keys to keep from laughing. Think, she ordered herself. What song would most destroy the man’s composure? She played the first notes of “Tell Him.”

Chloe let the song build inside her, let the melody transport her up and out of herself, and then she saw him. He was sitting beside Max the piano player at the bar, his gaze on her, heat in his eyes.

She didn’t even consider fighting the urge to sing to him.

Later, Chloe heard Taylor and Emma joining in, and her voice lifted with theirs in harmony, the words poignant as she sang them to him. When her voice drifted off, and the last notes had been sung, there were a few moments of absolute silence, and then the applause and hooting from everyone was shocking in the quiet room.

Chloe burst out laughing, her face lit with a pleasure she had forgotten she could feel. Why had she ever given this up? It boggled the mind.

She hugged and kissed Emma, then slid down on the piano bench to hug and kiss Taylor.

“This is the best night of my life,” Chloe told them. “Thanks for talking me into this.”

***

At the bar the two men sat, stunned still, while Sam stood equally stunned behind the bar.

Max cleared his throat and spoke first. “Well, you were right, bro. They’re not on the prowl. They’re here for each other. But I’m still going to date the tall blonde with the short hair.”

“No, you’re not,” Sam said behind them, setting Jasper’s drink down. “The woman called him ‘Cutie’.”

Jasper smiled and laughed. “Cutie? That’s a polite shut down Maximillan. She’s not interested.”

“Really? Maybe I should go for the busty brunette with the pipes then. She looks more friendly anyway. We could use a singer around here. Look at the crowd she brought in. All the tables are full now,” Max said, laughing at his brother’s glare. “You either talk to her or I will, Jasper. And yes, that’s more than a threat. She sang to you and I wasn’t the only man here disappointed. Even Sam has been sighing. You don’t take her up on her interest, somebody will.”

“Rayonna is here,” Jasper said, frowning. “And she’s in my suite already.”

“You can’t be that dumb. You’d actually trade a chance with that amazing woman,” he said, pointing to Chloe, “for that skinny yardstick you married
and divorced
? You don’t even like Rayonna.”

“What do you suggest I do? She’s here already,” Jasper asked, running an agitated hand through his hair.

“Tell Rayonna something has come up and stay down here with a real woman,” Max said fiercely. “I have two beds. Stay in my room tonight. Just don’t let the brunette see you with your ex or it’s over before you get started. Trust me on this, Jasper.”

“You don’t know everything there is to know about women,” Jasper said fiercely.

Max looked away from his brother when Taylor stopped in front of them.

“Thanks for the piano loan, Max. Maybe we can use it again later?” she suggested, trying to feel him out about whether or not they were interfering in his work.

“Absolutely. If you three don’t sing again, I probably won’t see a penny in tips tonight. Your friend has some fantastic voice,” Max said sincerely.

Taylor smiled at him genuinely. He seemed mostly a nice guy, just young and still full of games. But she had to admit Max was certainly charming in his own way.

“I owe you and need to pay my debt. Lean down here please.”

Max had to lean out and down quite a bit, but it gave him a nice view of what her halter was covering.

Taylor stood on her toes, put both hands on Max’s face, and kissed him softly on the mouth. “Thanks. Really. It was important for Chloe to sing again.”

She patted his cheek, and then turned to Jasper. Max licked his lips and tried not to be obvious about it. Or about how badly he now wanted another taste of her.