Page 70 of Love Out Loud

I awaken to sunlight streaming through a crack in my curtains and music coming from somewhere outside my bedroom. In that daze between dreaming and fully awake, I roll over and try to snuggle Lark closer to me, only she’s not there. And then it registers that what I’m hearing isn’t music playing. It’s Lark singing. I lie still and listen for a while. It’s mostly humming, but the melody is clear. It’s a song about summer love from her lead role that year in college. No wonder I was dreaming about being there with her.

There’s no questioning it anymore. After a week and a half of having her in my bed, I’m sure of it. I want to wake up to Lark’s beautiful voice every day for the rest of my life.

I emerge from my bed and quietly open the door to lean against the doorframe and watch her. She’s already dressed, and from this angle, I can just see the outline of her perfect ass where it meets the curve of her back as she wiggles to the beat of her song.

Something clatters on the counter, and she laughs quietly at herself before leaving the bathroom. That’s when she notices me, and as soon as she does, her cheeks turn a gorgeous pink that matches the airy blouse she’s tucked into her jeans.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you,” she says with a shy smile.

I shake my head, unable to take my eyes off her. “I haven’t heard you sing in a long time.”

She shrugs a shoulder and averts her gaze. “I haven’t really felt like singing in a long time.”

My heart breaks and soars in equal measure. I had thought that I hadn’t heard her sing because why would she spontaneously break into song over the phone? But to hear that my Songbird hasn’t been singing at all is devastating. And yet the knowledge that I’ve had a part in making her want to sing again blooms in my chest.

I push off the doorframe and close the distance between us. One hand lands on her hip, and I use the other to thread through her hair, still warm from her curling iron.

“I make you want to sing,” I practically whisper as she tilts her head up and leans into me.

A breathy laugh escapes between her lips, and I know before she even says anything that she’s going to give me shit. “That’s a bit presumptuous. There could be a lot of reasons why I want to sing.”

I shake my head and tighten my grip on her hair. “Mm-mmm. Admit it—it’s me.”

“Such an ego.” She smirks. “I don’t know how you carry that thing around with you.”

“It’s heavier than you are,” I say before I quickly swoop in to pick her up and throw her over my shoulder.

She shrieks in surprise. “Lennon, oh my god. Put me down!”

I take a few steps toward my bedroom. “Not until you tell me how happy I make you.”

“This is a ridiculous display of toxic masculinity,” she protests, even though her voice is edged with laughter. “Your need for me to fawn over you speaks volumes.” She squeals again as I toss her onto the bed. “I just did my hair!”

“And I’m going to mess it up if you don’t do as I say.” I wink.

She props herself up on her elbows to look up at me as I stand over her. I palm my hard-on over the fabric of my boxers as I watch her eyes go dark and her teeth nab her bottom lip.

“In that case, I’m definitely not going to stroke your ego.” Her hooded gaze drops to where my hand is working against myself. “But I might be persuaded to stroke something else.”

I can’t help the laugh that falls out of me. “And you think I’m ridiculous? What kind of a line was that?”

She just shrugs and reaches up to grab my shirt and pull me on top of her so we’re a tangle of limbs and teeth and tongues.

***

I gape at him, my mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. And that’s how I feel—completely out of my element. Floundering. I can’t believe he had the audacity to suggest I’m nothing more than his intern. After a weekend away at his lakeside cabin where we did little more than fuck and drink wine, no less.

But if I’m being honest with myself, the person I’m angriest at is myself. For thinking this could ever be anything more than a fling. For daring to hope his feelings had grown in time with mine. For falling for Marcus despite the ground rules we set out for this tryst at the beginning.

I’ve known Lark for my entire life. Or at least, for all the years that have mattered. But she still continues to surprise me, and this audiobook is no different. I’ve read Sizzling Secrets. Jessica handed a copy to almost everyone she knew before she published it and begged us all for reviews. Acutely aware of how hard it is to be a struggling artist looking for some traction, I read through it and tossed a quick review on a couple of sites just to pay it forward. Turns out she didn’t need any of us as the thing topped the charts within a week of its release, but it still felt like I had done a good deed.

The book was fine. Not my favorite genre, but I could see why people would like it. It would have probably been forgettable for me if not for being written by an acquaintance. But listening to Lark and Silas becoming these characters has brought this book to life. Sometimes I’ll be so engrossed in their performances that I’ll have to go back through and make sure I edited out all of the mistakes. When I’m making a list of pickups for each chapter, I have to listen through at least twice to be sure I caught everything because Lark’s performance is so distracting.

She and Silas have undeniable chemistry. A few weeks ago, their clear star quality was making me antsy, like I was being torn apart with envy for the connection they had, and I maybe even wished I had been more interested in being onstage in my younger years to have had a shot at throwing my hat in the ring just to be the one in that booth with her. Shit, a few weeks ago, her sultry voice moaning about cocks and tattoos had me crawling out of my skin. But now that Lark and I are together, it’s almost as if we are back in our little impenetrable bubble from high school. It’s her and me. Silas’s narration can be as sensual as he wants, but it doesn’t matter. She’s mine.

But they are sexy. Incredibly so. It’s no wonder Noah and Jessica asked them both back for the next book. In fact, if this audiobook does as well as Noah has projected, it would be bad business if they hadn’t. And I’ve started to dare to hope that it might mean she will stay here with me. It seems like all but a done deal. She’s having fun. She loves the sunshine. She’s always loved me. Why wouldn’t she jump at the opportunity?

When I left Michigan after high school, I never intended to settle here. I wanted to travel, and I chose to work freelance gigs so I could do them from anywhere. But traveling alone didn’t really appeal to me, and no woman I spent any time with stuck. Before I knew it, undergrad in LA turned into half my life here, and my quest to find someone turned into a parade of lovely women who all seemed to be missing something.