Page 67 of The Romance Library

‘Yeah, thanks. Not bad.’

‘Did you read?’

‘No.’ She sighed. ‘I tried, but I couldn’t.’

‘Oh,’ I said, my voice filled with disappointment. ‘I suppose it’s not realistic for it to just happen overnight. Maybe we could try again?’

‘You mean, reading to me?’

‘Yes. If you think it will help?’

‘I’d love that, thanks!’

‘You’re welcome. So, we’ve only got five days until this talent show.’

‘Yeah. I still can’t think of anything.’

‘I had an idea. Maybe I can play the piano and you can sing?’ I said casually, waiting for her response.

‘I’m not… I’m not sure I’m good enough to sing in public.’

‘You’ve got to be joking! I heard you singing. This morning. Your voice is incredible!’

‘Really?’ She frowned.

‘Yes! I mean, that was you singing in the shower, right? You didn’t have the radio on?’

‘Yeah, that was me.’

‘Well, then, like I said. Your voice is great. I think that’s what we should do.’

‘I don’t know…’ She winced a little.

‘We don’t have much time and I can’t think of anything else. Come on. We can’t be any worse than the performances we suffered through on Monday night.’

‘True.’

‘So do we have a deal?’

‘Yeah,’ she sighed.

‘Good. First rehearsal tonight.’

22

Jess

The day flew by, but it was productive. My pitch was shaping up well. Although getting trapped in the basement last night wasn’t ideal, I was glad I went to do another site visit. It had really helped to visualise the layout and how the library could look once it was built.

I’d sent off my ideas to Cecil, who was going to pass it on to an architect so he could do some sketches for me to include in my presentation.

Even though the presentation was weeks away and I still had a lot to do, part of me wished I could just get it over with so I’d be away from Theo and temptation.

When we’d first met, I couldn’t stand him. And that hatred had only intensified when I’d discovered he was my competitor. But the more time we spent together, the harder it was becoming not to like him.

It was difficult last night after he read to me. But then this morning when he said he’d read to me again and that he thought my voice was incredible, you could’ve knocked me over with a feather.

I used to sing a lot in the school choir. It gave me an excuse to get out of the house, so maybe all those years of practice helped. There were much better singers than me, though, and although I liked belting out a tune in the shower or around my bedsit, I’d never been interested in pursuing it professionally. The idea of performing in front of anyone made me break out into a cold sweat.

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