by Rhonda Helms
My body relaxed a touch more.
“I liked that one song where the bass line was echoed by the keyboard, back and forth like a duel,” he said. “Haven’t heard it on the radio before.”
My throat tightened for a second and my cheeks burned hot in a strange flush of pleasure. I knew exactly which one he was talking about.
It was my song.
This week I’d done something I hadn’t dared try before. I slipped in one of my own compositions, a piece I’d worked on for weeks in my spare time. I’d loaded up another dance song just in case I needed to change it out due to poor crowd reception. But no one had seemed put off—they’d simply shifted their dance around the tempo and continued the musical foreplay on the floor.
The guy shoved off the wall and gave me a friendly nod. I noticed the well-worn Converse on his feet, and for some reason that made me smile. I had a pair of Chucks, too, stashed in my closet, in a neat row beside my other shoes. “I’d better head back in before my friends think I got my ass kicked in the alley or something,” he said with a laugh.
I licked my lips. Sweat dribbled down my back, tickling my skin. “Uh, I have to also. Thanks again for the beer,” I added.
He gave me that slow, wide grin again that flashed his bright teeth. Something about that smile made my breath hitch in my throat. Justin was right—this guy was really hot. Hot and unnerving. I didn’t know what to make of him at all.
He turned around to leave.
“What’s your name again?” I said to his back, embarrassed I had to ask but needing to know.
He paused his step and looked over his shoulder. “It’s Daniel. See you in class on Monday, Casey.” He stepped back into the dark, swallowed whole in the pitch-black early September night.
I took my half-empty glass and made my way back to my DJ booth. For the rest of the night, it took all my willpower to not look over at him with his group of friends by the bar.
In spite of my better judgment, I couldn’t get him out of my mind.
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2015 by Rhonda Helms
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
eISBN-13: 978-1-61773-123-5 eISBN-10: 1-61773-123-4 First Kensington Electronic Edition: August 2015
ISBN: 978-1-6177-3123-5