Page 38 of Finding Emotion

Probably Erin, Damon thought, biting back a sigh. Then his attention shifted as Skylar tugged on his arm.

“Come on, we’ll take the limo,” she said.

Damon’s feet fumbled to catch up as she dragged him to the elevator. Suites and limos. Skylar was a lot looser with her label’s funding than he was, but even the thought made him feel like a reverse snob. It wasn’t like he himself wasn’t enjoying the benefits.

He made a note to ask Jimmy about how they could share expenses, though he knew the man was too flustered to handle it at the moment when he joined them on the elevator more subdued than usual.

Skylar nodded at whatever Damon’s manager was saying and tried not to offend the poor idiot, which wasn’t her speed at all. She scowled down at her lap, wondering what the deal was. The only explanation she could come up with was that Damon seemed to kind of like the guy. Which made her scowl deepen. She was already being considerate of his feelings or some shit. Look what him giving her a couple of orgasms could do.

Mind-blowing, combustible orgasms, but still. It wasn’t like Damon had invented the G-spot, for fuck’s sake.

“Can you shut up for a while?” she snapped.

Jimmy’s eyes widened.

Skylar’s fingers tapped against her leg, needing something to let the nerves out as she bit her lip to keep the stupid apology inside. Something was really wrong with her.

Mandy shifted forward in the chair she’d taken. “Skylar can’t create with so much going on.” Her eyes shifted to where Damon continued to sing, as if he didn’t see anything around him.

Skylar was just grateful her manager had come up with an excuse. She’d wanted to listen more closely to Damon’s song. Which was weird, since she didn’t like his type of pansy-ass music, though she’d always recognized his talent. His voice had this way of wrapping around a person, and she understood why his fans always wet their panties over him.

Damon stopped again mid-song, frowning as his fingers twitched over the guitar strings.

Skylar set down her notebook and shoved to her feet. Fuck it, she wasn’t working on anything and might as well stop pretending. “Something bothering you?” she asked.

“I probably just need to take a break,” he said, but he continued moving through the chords silently. His hands looked bigger with a guitar in them. During the tour, he’d focused on singing, but he’d started out as second guitar in his first band. Skylar might actually get embarrassed if Damon found out she used to follow his career so closely. He’d always been a few steps ahead of her, and she’d skimmed through Wikipedia on her phone to remind herself of some of the earlier details. She really hadn’t heard a thing Jimmy had said to her, but it served the manager right, flirting with his client’s girl.

Well, fake girl. And technically she’d started it, flirting with him on the plane to try to annoy Damon after his scalp massage.

The notes played in her head as her eyes followed Damon’s fingers, even though he didn’t pluck them out. “No, the third and fourth chords are good as is. No need to switch them.”

Damon paused, studying her over the gleaming, black beauty of a guitar he held. “I didn’t realize you were paying that close attention.”

Skylar shrugged. “I’ve got an ear for it.”

“Most of the time it sounds fine, but something’s missing when the chorus repeats at the end.” He played the third chord a different way, letting the notes linger as he tried it out.

“Nah, an inversion will make it too soft.” She snorted. “The lyrics are soft enough.”

“Don’t judge. Not everyone wants to shout their words like you.”

“Not the volume, sweet face. I was talking about the message.” Skylar sighed. “Like you needed to add another love song to your repertoire.”

“It’s for my sister,” Damon admitted even as he played with the chord again.

“I met Erin last night. Nice and all, but she’d prefer a song about her creaming her husband’s face.”

Damon choked, forgetting about the damn chord. “My God, Skylar. That’s my sister.”

“Yep,” she laughed. He was adorable when he acted all shocked.

He waved her off. “Let me concentrate. I need to get this right.”

Skylar sank down next to him, closing her eyes as she listened to Damon walk through it again. The ballad was catchy, but she agreed when he paused in the same spot again. She snapped her fingers, opening her eyes to grin up at him. “Try adding a bend.”

Damon studied her, but began again. Skylar hummed along with him, but paused as he got closer. The switch in pitch tugged the music forward, and Damon played it all the way through to the end.

“Maybe,” Damon acknowledged, turning to the music to make a note. His fingers tapped the pen as he seemed to run it through in his mind again. “Yeah, maybe.” He mumbled as he made another note.

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