Page 156 of Hope & Harmony

This was why I loved her and why she drove me nuts.

Luckily, love was the stronger emotion.

“G-good luck,” I whispered.

Marco shot me a mischievous grin. “We’re going to have fun tonight.”

CHAPTER 3

MARCO

Karaoke?

They had to be fucking with me.

I expected our next stop to be a club, not some direct-from-Tokyo karaoke bar. If not for the pretty little mama I was trying to entice from her cocoon, I would have gone back to my hotel room for the night. Karaoke wasnotmy vibe.

“Aren’t you guys tired of making music?” I asked Adam, TSC’s guitarist.

“Nope. Earlier was work, this is for fun. But lemme tell you a secret, Money Guy: all of it’s fun.” He slung his arm around his fly-as-hell wife, Adelaide. I’d met her earlier in the week when I sat in during another artist’s recording session. She worked at Ocean Studios as a producer but not for her husband’s band. I guessed work and pleasure didn’t mix.

I cocked a brow. “Were you told to talk me into investing?”

He chuckled. “Nah. I couldn’t give a shit where you sink your money. I mean, it would be cool to have the option of recording out in California from time to time.”

“There are plenty of studios in Cali,” I pointed out.

“Not like Ocean.” Adam winked at his wife. “I’m a loyal guy.”

She squeezed his cheeks. “Like a sexy golden retriever.”

He wagged his brows at me. “Did you hear that? My wife thinks I’m sexy.”

She let go of his face to tug on his hand. “Come on, sexy. It’s our turn to sing.”

He put on a hat and a pair of sunglasses and followed her to the stage. Not like anyone who was looking couldn’t tell who he was, but the crowd was buzzed, happy, and very New York. They weren’t bothering this band. They were out for their own good time.

While the two of them got their song on, I slid down the bench to have a chat with pretty Selena. She was flipping through the songbook and sipping a girly pink drink.

I peered over her shoulder at the book. “Are you going to sing?”

Her head jerked up, brown eyes wide and alarmed. “I-I…yes.”

“Really? You strike me as too shy to get up on stage in front of everyone.”

She shrugged.

I tapped her shoulder. “You give this thing a workout around me. Might want to switch up which shoulder you shrug so they don’t become off balance.” I poked my finger at a song. “I dare you to sing this.”

She tilted her head my way. “And i-i-if I do?”

“You want something in return?”

She nodded eagerly.

“Hmmm.” I tapped my chin. “You sing that, I’ll sing the song of your choosing.”

Her eyes narrowed. “P-p-promise?”

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