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CADENCE
Lyrical Interludes Book 3
BY CLAIRE DAVON

BLURB

CADENCE
Lyrical Interludes Book 3
BY CLAIRE DAVON

Excerpt

Her wounded expression had kept him from sleeping. She hadn’t been like a woman used to luring men into her bed with a crook of her finger. She was perfect, the all-American female.

It didn’t make sense. A piece had to be missing—something he wasn’t privy to. Nothing in her background online matched this haunted woman.

He focused on Jess, belatedly aware she was speaking.

“Got it.” She gave him a tremulous smile that wavered on the verge of sadness. “Can we be friends? I think you’re interesting.”

Her response hit him low in the solar plexus. Another woman would have been furious and refused to have anything to do with him. Or tossed him out on his ear and yelled at him for being an idiot.

Jess asked to be his friend.

“I’d like that.” He would not say more. He could not.

She stared down. Her hair swept forward, covering her face. “Thanks.”

He blinked. “For what?”

“Someone else would have slept with me and waited until the morning to tell me we had no future.” By the continued downward slant of her head, the effort cost her.

Her words shot through him like a blow.

“It wouldn’t have been the first time. Now I expect nothing and get that back in return. I’m not after true love, Kai, but I bet that’s your MO. You are not the casual type.”

The idea that anyone took this woman for granted filled him with quiet hatred.

He motioned her over to the couch and sat next to her. With his index finger he lifted her chin. The widening of her pupils betrayed her attraction, although she kept her face neutral.

“You’re right. I don’t indulge in sex on a whim.” When he said it like that, he sounded like a jerk.

“Yeah, I got that.”

Damn it. She should have been glib and offhand, not wounded. Her careful expression suggested how much his rebuff had hurt her.

Kai leaned down and almost kissed her. He wanted to—so much. The way her eyes widened and breath caught suggested that she wouldn’t refuse him. He shouldn’t. He couldn’t. If he did so, without being able to give her more, he was a tease, or worse.

“You’re beautiful, Jess,” he said. “Don’t let anyone treat you without care. That includes yourself. You are worth more than that.”

Those fantastic eyes were huge in her face. He cursed under his breath again.

“Any man would be honored that you were interested in him.” He forced himself to move to the far side of the couch. “Myself included. However, you and I need to work together, and a physical relationship will muddy the waters. Neither of us can afford that. I’ll take you up on that offer of friendship. I will warn you I take those ties to heart as well.”

Never mind that he might be responsible for her demise at the label, if he didn’t like what he discovered on tour. The burden lay heavy on his shoulders. He’d done that dirty deed, as the owner of Apposite, but this was Jess, and that made it different.

“I guess there’s nothing informal about Kai Halara. Despite the shirt.”

“No.” He selected a bagel. “I think that there isn’t much that’s laid-back about Jessica Baker either.”

What might have been a tiny smile lurked around the edges of her mouth. “Guess we’re both right. You have a deal, Mr. Halara.”

The idea of what kind of arrangements they could come to left him unable to speak. Or move, for fear of betraying the tightness across his zipper.

He cleared his throat. He needed to say something—anything. “Part of the reason I invited you out was to learn more about you.” He hoped his voice sounded normal, but he doubted it. “The more I have a feel for your personality, the more I can help design a professional stage show. And…” He wished she were five years older and in a different profession. Or he was, and he could give a woman like her what she deserved. What she needed, in the most primal way. All of it, deep inside her… “As long as I keep my paws to myself. It’s better that way.”

“Better for who?”

“Jessica…”

She nodded and leaned in toward him. “I got it. I’ve just never been around anyone like you.”

“Nor I you,” he admitted.

She made a short, dismissive, cutting gesture. Kai started in surprise at the quick movement.

“Blondes? We’re a dime a dozen.”

She is insecure. Most artists were, or pretended to be, but Jess truly didn’t understand the impact she had on men.

“Not blondes like you.”

“Oh yes, like me. Country is littered with brown-eyed blonde female singers. I’m nothing special.”

He grasped her shoulders. She met his gaze with such wounded intensity it took all his training and willpower not to drag her across his lap and kiss her senseless.

The continued tightening of his body told him he’d better get under control and fast. “Never say that. Everyone is unique in their own way. We all have the ability to become greater than we are.”

He didn’t resist when she placed her hands on his forearms.

“Is that speech part of your philosophy?” Her tone was acerbic with a hint of sarcastic disbelief.

“Yes. But it’s also fact. You bring so much light to this world. Embrace your gift. You are a rare and wonderful human being and have a lot to offer if you believe in your talent.”

She let out a breath and made a laugh that didn’t sound like it held much humor. “I do, but the general public does not. Besides, you don’t know me or what makes me tick.”

“You have a way with words. Your songs have shades of meaning that takes them out of the ordinary. That doesn’t come from nowhere.”

“My mediocre numbers suggest whatever I put there isn’t resonating.”

Jess stayed where she was, and he fought to remind himself why he had to keep away.

“That’s their loss, not yours. As for the rest, intimacy is not measured in time. It’s the depth of the connection.”

When she moved her fingers over his skin, Kai couldn’t help his harsh exhalation of breath at her caress.

“But…” Her tone was surprised at his muffled gasp. “You’re not attracted to me.”

He longed to kiss her with a force that stunned him. “I said it wasn’t a good idea. Jessica, you would have to be blind or stupid not to comprehend I find you attractive. I’m asking you as a new friend to move away. Please.”

If she didn’t do as he asked, he wasn’t sure how long he could hold on to his control. Her lips trembled, and he had never wanted to throw caution to the winds so much. He could imagine the taste of her, the press of her flesh to his, and the soft fall of her hair over his body.

If she didn’t break off contact, he couldn’t say what he would do next.

Jess moved back from him and rose, clearing the crumb-dotted plates and dirty knives, busying herself with anything but him.

“I’ll meet you in the office tomorrow, to help with your promos.”

She gave him a lost glance that almost took his feet out from under him.

“Sure. Yeah. Tomorrow.”

About Author Claire Davon…

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Links to Claire’s websites, blogs, books, #ad etc.:

Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Cadence-Lyrical-Interludes-Claire-Davon/dp/1509256822

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Special Giveaway: Claire will gift one paperback of Reprise, the first book in the Lyrical Interludes series (U.S. Only; If winner is outside the U.S., she will gift an ebook instead) to one lucky reader who comments on her Karen’s Killer Book Bench blog. Good Luck!

Happy Reading!

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Thanks, Claire, for sharing your book with us!

Don’t miss the chance to read this book!