the producers.”
All at once, she curved to sit sideways, her whole focus on me. “And…?”
“And they want those new songs by the end of January.”
“Holy crap.”
“I know,” I admitted. The advanced timeline had caught me off guard. It was a lot of work, but I wanted to do it and I really wanted…
“What do you need me to do?”
The open offer had me grinning wider. “Sing with me on it.”
“Ian…”
“Trust me?” I asked her. She glanced to the side and then back at me. “Just sing with me on it. Let me record it, and if you really hate it, I won’t use it.” But no way she could hate it if she would listen to herself uncritically without the voice of that woman in her head. “Help me pick the best tracks.”
As she chewed her lower lip, I had to resist the urge to push. That she would sing with me at all was a big deal. The first time, I had to tease her into it, and getting her to record that piece for Archie had been a break through. But I wanted everything for her. Music might be my dream, but Frankie was every bit a part of that dream.
“I trust you,” she told me, and a grin pulled at the corners of my mouth. “I just don’t want to torpedo your chances.”
“Not possible,” I promised and brushed a kiss to her lips. “You’re my muse, and everything I do is so much better because you’re here. You singing with me? That’s icing on the cake.”
She laughed. “You make it hard to say no.”
“Then don’t say no.”
Head back, she stared at the ceiling for a long moment. “If I hate it, you won’t use it?”
“You have my word.” And my word to do everything in my power to convince her that she was exactly what my music needed.
“Fine,” she said with a groan. I nearly spilled our food with the force of my kiss as I captured her lips and savored her agreement.
“You won’t regret it,” I promised her.
“Let’s hope so,” she whispered under her breath, but I let that go. For now.
I had enough faith in her for both of us…for now.
By the time the guys began to descend the stairs, I’d grabbed my guitar and we were working our way through one of the songs I wanted to use. I only had about half of the lyrics written, but “Green-Eyed Girl” wasn’t hard to verbalize. It encapsulated every complicated feeling I had for my girl—our girl—and I caught sight of Jake on the stairs, pausing to sit as she joined me in the second line.
His grin mirrored my own.
He didn’t continue down to join us until we paused for me to grab a pencil and add a couple of new lines.
“Baby Girl,” Jake said as he leaned over the couch to kiss her good morning, “that was awesome.”
A startled laugh escaped her and she flushed, but the pleasure in her eyes just made me smile. When she threw a look at me for not warning her, I just shook my head.
“You sing like an angel,” I repeated. I’d say it over and over again if I had to.
“A sexy as fuck angel,” Jake agreed. “Do it again…and do you want more coffee?”
“Water for me,” I told him, and Jake nodded as he headed for the kitchen.
Archie and Coop weren’t far behind.
The biggest win of the morning?
She kept practicing with me as the guys filtered into the living room to join us with their breakfasts and coffee. The red tint to her cheeks faded only some, but she pressed on, and the guys? They soaked up every note right alongside me.
Music was my thing with Frankie, but I’d share this part of her, too. Right now, I’d share it with these guys because they believed in her every bit as much as I did.
If I had my way, I’d share it with the world.
Christmas Eve was a blast. We’d gone out in the afternoon for some skiing, more for fun than anything else. Frankie loved it, and I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed it. Coop and Frankie still fumbled some, but they were never short on laughter or teasing.
We headed back before it got dark, and everyone changed into the pjs Archie had left out for us.
“Dude, it’s a good thing I like you,” Jake called from his room. “This has got to be the corniest thing we’ve ever done.”
“We have matching tattoos,” Frankie countered from