After her father's tragic passing, Nora Davis is forced behind the scenes, nothing more than a stepping stone for others in their journey to stardom. When an opportunity presents itself, Nora, trapped under her stepmother's heel, takes it as her cha...
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Felicity's unreleased single blasted through Nora's headphones. She frowned and leaned back against the large oak tree in the courtyard. The bark dug into her sweater and the wind nipped at her cheeks.
It was uncomfortable, but at least there wasn't any snow on the ground. The sun was out this morning and warmed the ground enough that only patches here and there remained. The rest had seeped deep into the ground. She didn't mind this weather. The cold often sapped away her exhaustion and helped her think.
Or in this case, listen.
The melody was off and the chords didn't quite flow as well as she'd hoped. She bit her bottom lip and tapped her slim fingers against her leg. She could add another instrumental layer to the track and give it a touch more weight, but she also didn't want to drown out the lyrics. This song was a power song—the words along with the delayed bass strategically thrown throughout were what gave it the extra oomph. She had less than two days to put the final touches on the piece, but maybe she could convince Felicity to hop in the studio once more and re-record the chorus if she tweaked the words—
Something poked hard on her head and she jumped, half-turning to find Eli Leonger staring at her with a glint in his eyes and a peculiar tilt to his lips. Nora's focus shot to them. It was such a delicate little gesture and yet she focused on it hard. His lips appeared almost softer than her own—definitely softer as hers were always chapped—and for some reason, she wanted to reach up and feel them. To trace the edges of his smile.
And wasn't that a weird, creepy thought?
"...are you out here?" he asked.
She'd been too busy staring at his lips like some crazy stalker to hear the first half of the question. "What?"
Eli tilted his head, his eyes narrowing. His dark hair flopped to the side—chaotic and unruly as ever—as he frowned at her. "You okay?"
She mimicked his expression, tilting her own head, "Are you okay?"
"I'm not the one daydreaming outside in the middle of winter."
She snorted. "I'm not—" Well, she was daydreaming a little. About his lips no less. But she'd chuck herself into a boiling pot of lava before she told him that. "I'm just thinking."
He shook his head as if saying, "what am I going to do with you?" and threw an arm over her shoulder. "Let's go think somewhere warm," he said.
Nora let him drag her over to a waiting black SUV. Only when the door was open and Ian Leonger peered out did she dig her heels in. "Wait—"
"Get in the car."
"Where are we going?" She asked. She needed to come up with something fast—there was no way she could waste time hanging out with the Leongers—despite that she would love every second of it. But she had to fix Felicity's showcase piece and start drafting Sneezy's latest ballad. At this rate, she hardly had time to even look at a restroom let alone use it. And she sure as hell could not kill a couple of hours with Eli.
