Page 45 of Rush

“We are,” he said distractedly while thumbing through the user’s manual. “But this will help us memorize the song.” He looked up with a grin. “Make it look truly authentic.”

Nora glanced over at Sophie who was sitting on the couch watching Linc with rapped interest while he hooked the machine up.

“What song are we going to sing?” Nora asked, inching closer, curious in spite of herself.

“I was thinking Eye of the Tiger. I want something upbeat and inspirational for the kids.”

Nora nodded. “That’s a good choice and most everyone knows it.”

Linc nodded back. “That was my thought too.”

She inched a little closer and pointed to the lyric screen. “Does it have the song on there?”

“It should. This sucker is preprogramed with over twenty-five thousand songs, but if not, I can download it from the app.”

He handed her a microphone. “Ready to give it a try?”

Linc cued up the song. “I’ll sing the first verse and chorus and you can come in on the second.”

“Okay.” She threw Sophie an apprehensive smile and a thumbs up on the down low, making the little girl giggle.

The music started and as soon as words flashed on the screen, Linc started to sing. “Risin’ up, back on the street…”

Linc had a pretty decent voice and was able to hold a tune. And what he lacked in actual technique, he made up for in enthusiasm. A true entertainer. Sophie was getting into it too, clapping along.

Her part was coming up. Linc sang the last line of the chorus, stretching out the wordtigerbefore pointing his mic at her, cuing her turn.

She stared at the screen, waiting for the next line to pop up and as soon as it did, she started singing. She was a bit choppy and hesitant at first but with only Linc and Sophie as heraudience, by the chorus she was really getting into it. She belted out the lyrics and when she got to the end, she looked back at Linc, a smile on her face, expecting him to pick up the next line. He didn’t. The instrumental music played on while he just stood there, staring at her.

She frowned. “Everything okay?”

Shaking his head as though clearing his thoughts, he said, “New plan. Lip syncing is now in the trash. We’re picking a different song and you’ll be the lead singer.”

It took a few seconds for his words to sink in but when they did, she sputtered, “What!”

He just gave her a goofy grin, nodding.

“But it’s you who the people are paying to see, not me.”

“Believe me, after hearing your voice they’ll be happy I’m only singing backup.”

“Pretending to sing is one thing. I don’t know if I can sing for real in front of so many people.” She gnawed on her bottom lip. A bad habit she had when nervous or indecisive that her mother had never gotten her to break.

Linc stepped over to her, his thumb going straight to her lower lip and gently tugging it from her teeth. “You can.” He cupped her face, tilting her head back. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course.”

“Then trust me on this. You’re gonna bring down the house.” He kissed the tip of her nose then wrapped an arm around her leading her closer to the karaoke machine. “We just need to pick the perfect song.”

An hour later, Nora belted out her rendition of Katy Perry’sRoarwhile Linc came in at the chorus, using his deep baritone to complement her higher pitched voice. The song was an excellent choice and fit the message Linc was trying to sell. It even had the phraseeye of the tigerin it which made him happy. And if Sophie was any indication—jumping around, clapping, and dancing along—the kids were going to love it.

“Where’d you learn to sing like that anyway?” Linc’s voice drifted through the dark to her as she lay, wrapped around him.

“Natural talent, I guess,” she mumbled.

His arm tightened a fraction at her back. “You’ve never had a lesson?”

“No. But my grandma on my mom’s side was a lounge singer.” She got up on an elbow. If they were going to have a conversation, she didn’t want to have it with his chest. “As the story goes, my grandfather went to the club every night just to hear her sing. He said she had the voice of an angel. It took him two months to finally work up the nerve to ask her for a date.”

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