Page 62 of Hope & Harmony

“Uh…yeah, I do. I thought we were on the same page with that.”

“I’m offering you something unique. We take two talented young singers. One rocker, one classical. We bring them together and put them into a genre where they can both shine. Soft pop rock.”

“I’m not interested. Besides, Blaire Cavileri would never lower herself to sing with me.”

Sarah shrugs. “Don’t be so sure. She’s young and hungry, just like you are.”

I let my gaze wander over to Blaire, who is talking to the older gentleman in the tweed blazer. God, just looking at her turns me on. Not a great thing if I have to sing with her. Jamie’s busy setting up the karaoke machine while soft rock music plays over the loudspeaker.

“I don’t know, Sarah.” I run my hand up and down the neck of my guitar. “Rock and roll is who I am.”

She rolls her eyes. “Who you are is a man with an extraordinary amount of talent who hasn’t quite found his place yet. Consider the possibility that it’s not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

I shake my head. “I can’t consider that. It’s been my dream forever.”

Sarah runs her hands through her hair and takes a deep breath in. “It can still be your dream. It can still be your goal. But there’s nothing wrong with taking a diverging path sometimes.”

I sigh. “Fine. I’ll sing ‘Mellow’ with her.”

“You know the song?”

“Of course I do. Besides, karaoke machines have words, Sarah.”

“Great,” she says. “Let me go tell Jamie it’s on, and once everything is set up, he’ll introduce the two of you.”

“All right.”

As Sarah walks toward the stage to talk to Jamie, I glance over to Blaire once more.

That guy she’s with? The older one?

He’s fuckingglaringat me.

CHAPTER 4

BLAIRE

“It’s just one song, Professor.”

He frowns. “I’ve told you time and again, Blaire, you can call me Corbett now.”

“And I’ve told you time and again that it doesn’t feel right to me.”

He looks back over at Gunnar. “You can’t possibly be thinking about this collaboration.”

I shake my head. “I don’t know. I mean, I’ve already committed to the young artist program at Opera Livingston.”

“It wouldn’t look good for you to back out of that.”

“I have no intention of doing so. But Sarah says she can work around my schedule.”

He sighs and casts his gaze to the ground. “You’re so naïve, Blaire. Do you have any idea how much work goes into cutting a whole album?”

“I minored in music business,” I remind him. “I?—”

He puts his finger over my lip. “That’s all theory. This is practice. You’ll have to learn a whole new repertoire. There will be rehearsals. Then studio time. And then more recordings. This will take time you won’t have. Time you should be devotingto lessons and coachings. To molding yourself into the singer you’re meant to be.”

“But Sarah says?—”

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