Page 6 of Another Postcard

Sasha winked at Kristi and laughed. “It’s not like I showed off the goods. For the most part.” She grinned and snapped her violin case shut then glanced back at us over her shoulder. “I was sitting on top of a piano and there was a violin in . . . a strategic position.”

The room exploded with laughter.

“He spent hours trying to negotiate with the magazine not to print the more risqué photos and censor your interview, Sasha.” Noah’s dry voice interrupted our mirth, drawing all of our heads in his direction. I hadn’t realized he’d come into the room. As usual, he looked veryGQ, impeccably dressed in a custom suit with his blond locks in an artfully, messy style. I vaguely wondered if the guy owned a pair of ratty, holey jeans. Or. Jeans at all, for that matter.

“You know I love you, Sasha.” He crossed his arms over his chest, his muscles flexing sexily, and frowned. “But do you think you could try just a little bit not to antagonize our fucking producer? I have to negotiate our contracts with this guy.”

“What’s the fun in that?” she asked sassily as she strode to the door. “Do you think you could tryjust a little bitto relax? Or one of these days, I’m going to stick a can of WD-40 up your ass.” She stepped into the hall but before she shut the door, she called, “That’ll be easy compared to removing the stick from Cooper’s.”

Noah rolled his eyes and shook his head, but one corner of his mouth tipped up as though he was fighting a smirk. Then his focus turned to me and his smile turned genuine. “Brooklynn, I want to run something by you.”

“Sure.” I rested on my stool and waited while he dragged another one over to me and sat.

“I think you should sing Sheryl’s part in ‘Sanity’ on the album.”

My mouth dropped open. “Sanity” was the powerhouse song. The single everyone expected to hit #1 on the charts. It wasn’t a duet, but the female vocals were still a large part of the song, and I couldn’t believe Noah was asking me to step on Sheryl that way. “No way, Noah. That’s Sheryl’s part, she earned it,” I snapped, jumping up from my seat and shoving my hands into my back pockets while I paced.

Noah looked taken aback by my reaction at first, then realization dawned on his face. “I’m sorry, Brooklynn. I should have told you first, Sheryl is the one who came to me with the idea.”

I shook my head, still opposed to the idea, even if I supposedly had Sheryl’s blessing.

“Fuck,” Levi interjected. “Why didn’t I think of that? Brooklynn, this song is perfect for you.”

Kristi, Simon, and Matteo all murmured their agreement, reminding me that they were all still in the room.No pressure, Brooklynn. None. At. All.

I stopped wearing a path in the carpet and looked around at their encouraging faces. “Let me think about it,” I hedged, uncomfortable continuing the discussion in front of everyone. More than anything, I needed to talk to Sheryl.

Noah nodded and patted my knee before standing.

“Hands to yourself, Andersen,” Levi growled, and I rolled my eyes.

Noah ignored him. “I want you to start working on it with Levi tomorrow, so think fast.”

Huffing, I muttered, “Gee, thanks.”

Noah chuckled as he walked over to Matteo and started a discussion.

“Seriously, baby.” I jumped at the sound of Levi’s husky voice and the feel of his soft lips brushing the shell of my ear. He was standing right behind me, and I bumped into him.Where the hell did he come from?

“You would bring so much to this song. Together, it would be fucking mind-blowing.” His lips moved from my ear to kiss a spot just below it, and I shivered. He chuckled darkly and the sound slid over my skin right to my panties, making them damp.

“Let me take you out.” His sudden subject change threw me for a second, but I quickly course-corrected.

“No.”

“I’m not giving up.”

I suppressed a smile and, looking over my shoulder, I rolled my eyes instead. “Somehow, I don’t doubt that’s true.”

“Are you sure, Sheryl?” I asked one more time.

Her sigh was loud and clear over the phone. “Is this really about me, Brooklynn?”

“What?” I frowned and slumped down in my over-stuffed, plush blue sofa chair. The normally relaxing seat didn’t keep me from squirming uncomfortably, pretty sure of where Sheryl was about to take the conversation.

“I’m starting to wonder if it’s not me you’re really worried about. You’re afraid to sing it with Levi, aren’t you?”

“Um—” I wanted to deny it, but what was the point? Sheryl had some kind of magical friendship Spidey sense and always seemed to know what I wasn’t saying.

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