Perfect Rhythm

by Jae

  She lay still and listened to Holly’s even breaths, enjoying their closeness and the feel of Holly’s bare skin against hers.

  Flashes of last night replayed through her mind: Holly bending down to kiss her breast, her breathy moan when Leo had kissed the nape of her neck, the look of wonder on her face as she brought Leo pleasure. God, what a night. She couldn’t stop smiling. Not because she’d had great sex—okay, not just because she’d had great sex—but because they had managed to make it a good experience for them both.

  Holly murmured something incomprehensible in her sleep. Leo thought it might have been her name.

  She couldn’t resist rolling over to watch her sleep, careful not to dislodge Holly’s arm around her in the process.

  Streaks of morning sunlight bathed Holly’s face in a golden hue and glinted off her auburn hair, which was tousled from the many times Leo had run her hands through it last night. One hand rested beneath her chin, and her face was relaxed in deep slumber.

  The sheet had slipped down to her waist some time during the night, and now Leo drank in the curves of her body and the glow of her skin.

  As if sensing her attention, Holly mumbled something and tightened her hold on Leo.

  With a hum, Leo cuddled closer and kept watching her face from just inches away.

  Finally, Holly blinked open her eyes. A smile curled her lips as their gazes connected. Without saying anything, she trailed her fingers along Leo’s jaw and to the corner of her mouth. Her fingertips rested there as she bridged the few inches of space between them and kissed her, caressing Leo’s lips with her own.

  “Good morning,” she whispered when the kiss ended. She yawned and stretched like a lazy cat. Her soft skin brushed along Leo’s in a sensual slide.

  Leo struggled to bite back a moan. Her “good morning” came out much raspier than intended. Get a grip. She’d woken up next to Holly several times by now, but never naked. Never after a night of lovemaking. “Is this okay?” She nodded down at their entwined bodies. “The naked cuddling, I mean.”

  “Very okay.” Holly splayed her fingers across Leo’s back as if soaking up the feeling of her skin and let out a contented sigh. “I could stay like this all day.”

  Very aware of the leg between her own, Leo cuddled closer. “Hmm, me too. Anything else you’d like to do today?” She ran a finger up Holly’s side, enjoying the goose bumps that rose beneath her touch. “Maybe something a little more…” Her voice dropped a register. “…active?”

  “How about some Xbox?”

  Leo paused with her finger near the edge of Holly’s breast and stared at her. “Xbox?” she echoed.

  Her eyes half-closed and a peaceful expression on her face, Holly nodded. “Meg sent me a game that I think you might like.”

  With Holly’s naked body pressed against hers, she could barely think of anything but how amazing last night had been.

  Yeah, it was amazing, but it didn’t change who Holly is. She’s still ace. A surge of love tightened Leo’s throat. My ace.

  “But if you’re not in the mood…” Holly added.

  Leo burst out laughing.

  Holly opened her eyes more fully and gave her a puzzled look. “What’s so funny about video games?”

  “Nothing.” Leo trailed her fingers through Holly’s tousled hair. “Just thinking about how much I love you.”

  Holly went still against her, and a slow smile brought out her dimples. “I love you too.” She kissed her tenderly. Then her smile turned into a challenging grin. “But that doesn’t explain why you were laughing.” She dug her fingers into Leo’s bare side, tickling her. “Tell me!”

  They laughed and wrestled playfully. The sheet tightened around their calves, chaining them to each other.

  Leo squirmed and halfheartedly tried to get away. “Sex,” she cried out breathlessly. “Sex and video games.”

  Holly stopped. The tickling turned into absentminded caresses. “Huh?”

  “That’s what made me laugh—the way our brains are wired. You were thinking about video games, and I was thinking about making love.”

  “Oh.” Holly blinked once; then she slapped her own forehead and laughed too. Finally, she sobered, placed one palm along Leo’s face, and looked into her eyes. “Well, if you want to, we can—”

  Leo interrupted her with a soft kiss. “I appreciate the offer.” She kissed her again, this time a little more deeply, just enough to show her that she was still desired. “But I’ll need my energy to kick your ass at Xbox.”

  They looked into each other’s eyes, and a silent understanding passed between them.

  “Later,” Holly said, her voice a little hoarse. “First, I need more cuddle time.”

  With twin sighs, they settled back into each other’s arms.

  Leo’s eyes drifted closed. Sex and video games, she thought with a smile. It would make for a cool song title.

  A week later, Leo leaned back on the couch and playfully wiggled her toes against Holly’s thighs as she tried another chord progression for the chorus she was working on.

  Without looking up from her novel, Holly started a one-handed foot massage that had Leo sigh in contentment and put down her guitar to enjoy it more fully.

  Holly looked up. “Hey, why did you stop playing? That song was starting to sound really nice.” She hummed the chorus in the adorably off-key way that always made Leo smile.

  “I love you.” Saying those three words had never come easily to Leo, and she wasn’t using them lightly now either, but with Holly she found herself thinking it—and saying it—at the most surprising times.

  A glow from within lit up Holly’s face, transforming her features from cute to breathtaking. Her gaze went soft. “I love you too.” She tugged on Leo’s big toe, and the tender smile grew into a teasing grin. “Even if there’s a hole in your sock.”

  Leo craned her neck to see it. “There is?”

  “Mm-hm.” Holly tickled the bit of skin peeking out through the hole.

  Leo’s foot twitched. “Yeah, well, musical geniuses work better with some ventilation.”

  “Oh yeah?” Holly tickled a path up Leo’s leg and found the sensitive spot behind her knee.

  Leo giggled and squirmed but didn’t withdraw. It was so wonderful to see how comfortable Holly had become with these little playful touches.

  “Why are you even wearing socks in the middle of summer?” Holly asked. “You’d think you were the one with the ugly crooked toes.”

  “Hey, I love your crooked toes.”

  They looked at each other, knowing Leo was talking about much more than Holly’s toes.

  The ringing of a phone from the kitchen interrupted the moment.

  “Leontyne?” Her mother called from the same direction. “That’s yours. It’s your manager calling—again.”

  “On a Sunday?” Holly muttered. “Doesn’t he keep normal office hours? I’m beginning to really dislike that man.”

  Just as Leo was about to get up from her comfy spot next to Holly, her mother entered the living room and held out the ringing phone to her. “Me too,” she said to Holly. “He’d do anything to get Leontyne back to New York. Sometimes, I wonder if he was the one who told the paparazzi where to find her.”

  Leo’s stomach churned. Saul wouldn’t do that…would he? In the past, she never would have doubted him, but now she no longer had that kind of trust. Yeah. And that should tell you it’s time for a change.

  “I wouldn’t put it past him,” Holly muttered. At the mention of Leo returning to New York, her face had gone carefully blank.

  By now, Leo knew that look: Holly put it on whenever she didn’t want to broadcast her feelings. It was probably something she had learned as a nurse. She put a hand on Holly’s knee and rubbed gently. “Don’t worry. I think this time he’s calling because of something else.�
��

  But she knew Holly would continue to worry. She did too whenever she thought about her inevitable return to New York. At some point, she wouldn’t be able to postpone it anymore. But that day wouldn’t be today.

  She let the call go to voice mail, even though she was eager to find out what Saul thought of the two songs she had recorded on her laptop and then sent to him.

  “You could have taken the call,” Holly said. “I have to get going anyway. I’m running low on clean clothes because I spent all week playing video games with a certain someone, so I need to do some laundry before we meet for dinner at Mom’s.”

  They grinned at each other; then Leo shook her head and said, “Nah, that’s fine. I’ll call him back later.”

  Holly got up from the couch and bent to kiss Leo goodbye.

  “You can kiss me anytime,” Leo said before their lips were about to meet, “but just to let you know, I fully intend to walk you to your car.”

  Holly smiled and kissed her anyway.

  It had been a nice surprise how comfortable she was with public displays of affection.

  When they pulled apart, Holly hugged Leo’s mom goodbye. “You’re coming to dinner too, right?”

  “If you’re sure that the two of you wouldn’t rather be alone…”

  “Alone?” Holly laughed. “My mom, my brothers, their wives, and their four kids will be there. Maybe a cousin or two or one of my brothers’ friends too. My mom will be glad to have someone her age to help her reign over the chaos.”

  Leo’s mother smiled. “Then I’ll gladly come. Tell Beth I’ll bring an apple pie.”

  “Will do,” Holly said. “Thank you.”

  Leo took her hand and walked her to the Jeep.

  Holly unlocked it and opened the driver’s side door but didn’t get in immediately. Instead, they stood facing each other, their fingers tightly entangled.

  Every time they separated, even if just for a few hours, Leo was more reluctant to let her go. They really had to figure out what to do about the future, because one thing Leo knew for sure: whatever happened in her life, she wanted to share it with Holly.

  One of their neighbors walked past and waved to them. “Hi, Holly. Morning, Leontyne. How’s your mom?”

  How amazing. If someone recognized her on the street in New York, they usually started jumping up and down, screaming hysterically, or they rooted around for a piece of paper for her to sign. She sometimes encountered fans here in Fair Oaks too, but most of the people in town didn’t make a big deal of her presence.

  “She’s hanging in there, keeping busy making apple pies,” Leo answered.

  “We’ll start harvesting our Jonagold next week. I’ll have Jack bring her a basket. They’re great for pies.” The neighbor waved again and walked on.

  Holly smiled. “You’re still not used to it, are you?”

  “Hmm?” Leo turned her gaze from where she had stared after the neighbor.

  “You’re used to people going gaga over your very presence. Do you miss it?” Holly asked softly.

  Leo didn’t have to think about it. “Not at all. As a teenager, I used to daydream about being famous, the fans going crazy when I climb out of my limousine in some fancy designer dress or something…” She gave a self-deprecating smile.

  “That’s so not you,” Holly said.

  “No, it isn’t. But I didn’t know that back then.”

  “Well…” Holly lifted up on her tiptoes and gave her another sweet kiss. “You won’t need a designer dress to have dinner with my family. But putting on a different pair of socks before you come over might be a good idea, musical genius.”

  Chuckling, Leo watched her climb behind the wheel of the Jeep. Neither let go of the other’s hand.

  They smiled at each other for several seconds. Then their hands slid apart, and Holly closed the driver’s side door.

  Leo stood in the driveway and waved until the Jeep disappeared down the street.

  “So, dinner with your in-laws,” her mother said when Leo returned to the living room. “Are you nervous?”

  It hadn’t occurred to Leo that she had reason to be, but now that her mother said it, something started to flutter in her stomach. “Um, you think I should be? It’s no big deal, right? Holly’s had dinner with us dozens of times.”

  “That’s hardly the same. Holly had dinner with your father and me several times a week before you came home. But Beth hasn’t had much of a chance to get to know the woman who’s in love with her daughter.”

  “Beth has known me since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.”

  “She knew you back then, when you were a little girl and then a teenager, but she doesn’t know the woman you’ve become. It would only be natural if she was a bit skeptical. What woman would like her daughter to date a rock star?”

  “Pop star,” Leo mumbled.

  “You know what I mean. If I were her, I’d want to know what your intentions are.”

  Leo gulped and plopped down onto the couch. That sounded as if she might be in for a maternal interrogation. “Gee, thanks, Mom. Now I am nervous.”

  Her mother laughed. “I’m sure it’ll be a lovely dinner.”

  The cell phone rang again, and Saul’s name flashed across the display.

  “I’ll get started on that apple pie.” Her mother left the living room.

  Once she was alone, Leo accepted the call and skipped the usual pleasantries. “What did you think?”

  “Um, I assume you mean the songs you sent me?”

  “Yes, what else? Come on, Saul. Don’t make me wait.” She bounced on the couch once. “What did you think?”

  He cleared his throat. “They’re good.”

  “Really?” She sank against the back of the sofa. Somehow, she had expected him to talk her out of trying something new—or, rather, into returning to her old style—no matter how good the songs might be.

  “Yeah. I mean…technically. But, Jenna, they’re not what we’re looking for.”

  She should have known there was a but involved. Leo gritted her teeth. “We?”

  “Well, the label. They want something…flashier.”

  “To hell with what they want. What about what I want?”

  “What do you want?” He sounded as if he was just humoring her.

  Leo struggled not to raise her voice. “I want to let my music speak for itself. No more high-tech shows, costumes that barely cover a thing, or music videos that would make a sex worker blush!”

  “Jenna, please. You know that’s not enough nowadays, especially not with the younger crowd. Good voices are a dime a dozen. If you want to be successful, you’ve got to deliver the full package. You know what they say: sex sells.”

  A sudden calm came over her. “You know what? Sex is overrated. And so is money. I made enough to last me a lifetime. If I’m not at the top of the charts all the time, I can live with that. I want to go back to making music, Saul. Real music.”

  “But the label execs won’t—”

  The calm dissipated like fog under the burning sun. She jumped up. “Enough! You work for me, not for the label!”

  Saul breathed in and out audibly, as if she were a child trying his patience. “Yes, I do. Which is why I’m trying to save your career.”

  “Who says my career needs saving?”

  “I do. The label does. And the producers of A Star is Born do. They know a sinking star when they see one.”

  “Sinking star? Oh, come on! I’m sick and tired of that you’re-on-the-brink-of-losing-everything routine! You pull that shit every time I’m not doing what you want.” She had avoided dealing with her dissatisfaction long enough. Now she was done with keeping the status quo out of fear or indecisiveness.

  “What I want?” Saul huffed. “I’m doing what’s best for you!”

  “And yo
u think you know what that is, without even asking me?”

  “Of course I do! I’ve been your manager for a dozen years, and your career only took off once you hired me! With my help, you achieved everything you dreamed of—and now you’re destroying all that hard work!”

  Leo took a deep breath so she wouldn’t yell at him. “You’re right. I achieved my dream, and I’m grateful for your help. But you know what? Now that I’m living it, my dream is feeling more and more like a nightmare. I hung in there for a long time, thinking it might change, that it was just stress. But if my time back in Fair Oaks has taught me one thing, it’s that I’ve got to face the truth. It’s time to make new dreams.”

  “New dreams. Yeah. You’ll have to, because the old ones are slipping through your fingers.” His tone cut like steel. “The producers of A Star is Born just told me they hired someone else to be a judge on the show.”

  Maybe he thought the shock of hearing that would be the slap in the face that would make her see reason, but it wasn’t even a blip on Leo’s emotional radar. “That was your dream, not mine. I was never eager to tell a couple of wannabes that they can’t sing to save their lives.” If she wanted off-key singing, Holly could do it much cuter.

  “Do you have any idea what ratings that show—?”

  Long-pent-up anger bubbled up inside of her. “Fuck the ratings! From now on, I’m doing what I want.”

  “You’ll regret it. When the label drops you like a hot potato and your fans forget who you even are, you’ll wish you’d stuck with it.”

  “Maybe.” Leo gave a one-shouldered shrug with the phone still pressed to her ear. “But then at least it will have been my choice. I can’t go on like this, Saul. Either I start making my own decisions, or I’ll retire on the spot.”

  “At thirty-two?” He snorted. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “No, you know what’s ridiculous? You talking to me as if you were footing my paycheck, not the other way around. I’m done with how you are running my career. Either you support me in this, or we go our separate ways.”

  He sucked in a breath. “You can’t just—”