Chapter 10

10

TREY

I t’s amazing, what I’m witnessing. The more Electra sings, the more she lets go.

Her voice is stunning – rich and clear, able to glide from a dark growl to a soaring crystal clear chime. All the while, each word, each syllable is completely infused with emotion and soul.

She's arranged the songs to build in intensity, each one more heartfelt than the last. The first take of each song is excellent, but the second ones are where she really lets fly.

Somehow, in the midst of her creative release, she manages to keep her lips barely touching the bottom microphone, and perfectly centered under the top one. Even as her hips sway slightly to the beat, her mouth stays perfectly in place.

I don't think she's even aware of the way her hands drift in the air, moving slightly to the offbeat, almost like a slow belly dancer.

She's a goddess.

I'm not biased. Her songs are better than anything I've heard in years. Kind of a sultry soul infused classic rock with a bit of ambient keyboards to keep everything light and airy. It's impossible to describe how it feels completely new and yet achingly familiar at the same time.

At the end of the fourth song, I save the file and open the next one, while she sips her lemon water. "Do you want to take a break before the last song?" I ask through the intercom mic.

"Only for a second." She turns away from me, rolling her shoulders and circling her arms, then touching her toes, which gives me a glorious view of her perky ass.

I check out the massive soundboard beside the computer, so that I'm not overtly staring at her. After a few moments, she waves her hand to catch my attention. "Ready?"

She looks into my eyes with an intensity that makes a hot flame lick slowly up my spine. "Yeah. Ready."

I start the track and lean back, wanting to study her every move, yet not so hard that she feels self-conscious.

As soon as she starts to sing, there's no fear of that. Her gaze locks on mine as her lips open wide and the song pours out of her like water from a pitcher. It's as if a valve has released some deep pressure inside her, and she's surrendered to it, letting the music freely flow through her.

Wow, these lyrics. This isn't just a love song. It's about the whole concept of love. How it's been twisted and manipulated to sell things over the years. How it's been used for dramatic effect in music since the dawn of time. How it's been a product, a tease, a concept, a dream.

And how ultimately no one will ever understand it, not even she.

Electra's eyes smile as her beautiful lips open for the last line of the chorus. "I don't have to understand the laws of gravity to know that I'm falling…falling…at the perfect speed, at the perfect time."

My fists resist the urge to clutch my heart. I already knew I was falling for her hard and fast, but her intensity, her yearning for love, and her bravery to sing it all out loud has me surging over the line.

I'm in love with her. I think I was ever since I first saw her holding that ice cube to her lip.

It's hard to keep my face neutral as she sings to me. No, not to me. Through me.

Somehow right here in the middle of this song about the search for love, I almost burst into laughter…because I've already found it.

I'm going to love and care for Electra until the end of time.

As the final note rings out, I realize I'm staring at her open-mouthed. The music fades away, and I hit the stop button.

Her lovely eyes are wide and expectant as she bites her lip, looking at me hopefully.

I simply lift my arms and shake my head helplessly. "Goosebumps."

She breaks into a grin as I continue. "Baby, that was the most soulful…poetic…and the way your voice swooped down into that low crunch!…I don't know how to say it in words, other than it was stunning."

"Wow. Um. Thank you." She pushes her hair back and shakes out her neck. "Do you think we should get another take?"

I hold out my hands. "I mean, we're already here and set up. Why not do another version, just to be safe?"

"I was thinking I could try softer and smokier. But then I was also thinking about doing it with sort of a breathy, melancholy vibe."

I pick up my phone and show her the time. "It's at least another half hour before I can paint. Do it ten different ways if you want, or until you get tired."

She bounces on the balls of her feet, her excitement building. "Cool. Let me know if this gets boring for you."

"Oh, baby, never." I save the last version and make new tracks for the next take. "Ready?"

She gives me two thumbs up, then I wait for her to get into position and watch her take a slow, deep breath before I start the music.

It's incredible to watch her do the same song again, but this time channeling the smoky vocals of an old jazz club. Then again, bringing an airy, breathy, almost desperate heart-wrenching flavor to the sound.

Electra sings it again. And again. And again. Twisting and looping styles and playing with the sounds differently each time.

"Okay, last one," she says. "I'm going to do it the same as the first one." She grins, blowing me a kiss. "But I feel much looser now. See?" She waves her arms around like floppy spaghetti as she twists and spins.

"Sounds great."

Her final take is even better than the first one. I wish I knew more about music so that I could explain it to her. Yet mere words can't capture the magic in her singing.

Once she finishes, I hit save, then rip off my headphones and rush into the studio. She has barely pulled hers off by the time I grab her in an enormous bear hug. "That was the one, for sure. You are so fucking talented," I rasp, clutching her to me. "I'm never ever going to pressure you to share your songs with the world. That's your business. But I guarantee if you did, that would be an instant hit. And I'm so grateful and honored that you shared all of this with me."

Electra looks up at me, her eyes filling with tears and her bottom lip wobbling. "It's good?"

"Baby, I'd be falling head over heels for you even if your only talents in this world were looking cute and making me laugh. But this music inside you… You're stunning."

Her head dips, hiding her face in my chest. "Thank you," she murmurs. "I'm glad. I had no idea what you were going to think."

"I have a lot of thoughts. From the subject matter to the melody to the amazing girl who just poured everything out of her heart. Extremely positive thoughts. They're just all tangled up at the moment." Stroking her back, I cuddle her against me. "That must've taken a lot out of you. How do you feel?"

"Super amped up," she laughs. "Seriously. I feel like I could lift a bus or something."

"I"m not surprised. How about you sit there and drink your lemon water and calm down, while I slap on this last coat of paint, okay?"

"Sure."

I get to work, and Electra barely stays still for one minute before jumping up and fussing around the studio, taking plastic off of things and dragging equipment back into position. Once we're tidied up, she checks her phone. "It's getting late. Is there anything else to do?"

"Just a final cleanup. The wall hanging can probably go back in place late tomorrow morning."

Electra stands in front of me, reaching her hands up to link her fingers around the back of my neck as she bounces lightly on her toes. "The hooks for that wall hanging are pretty darned high. I don't think I could reach by myself." Her eyelashes flutter as she smiles seductively. "Do you think maybe you should…you know…stay over?"

My palm slips under her shirt to caress the small of her back. "You don't have to make excuses, Electra. If you want me to sleep in your bed tonight and hold you all night long so that you can really relax after getting that out of your system, just say so."

She nods eagerly, then stops and shakes her head vigorously from side to side. "I don't want to relax. I want…you."

My lips brush the tip of her nose. "Baby, you can have me for as long as you want to keep me."

Her fingers walk up my chest. "Is it weird that we're starting this…whatever-it-is…with me asking you to keep a secret?"

"No, I don't think so."

She links my hand with hers. "And here I don't know any of your secrets."

"As far as secrets go, mine is pretty tame," I breathe, my lips brushing her ear. "My dad doesn't know that I sometimes do electrical jobs for another company. Dad only does electrical, but Marty McGee is a contractor who oversees a huge variety of jobs. I don't think Dad's jealous exactly that he sometimes loses work because he specializes in one thing, but he draws a very strict line. I'm pretty sure Dad would see it as a total betrayal if he knew I was getting a bit of extra work elsewhere. So he can't find out, because he'd probably want to kill me."

"Naughty boy," she smirks.

"Yes. Terribly naughty. But you're the one inviting a strange man into your bed."

Her grin is a ray of light as she squeezes me. "True. So let's go already."

"I love when you boss me around."

I scrub the flecks of paint from my hands in the kitchen, then follow her upstairs to the far corner of the house. Her bedroom is quite large, with its own adjoining bathroom. "Nice. It's kind of like your own hotel suite."

"Yeah. It's my sanctuary when there are a ton of strangers in the house." She looks around, then grabs a few things from a drawer. "Back in a sec."

I turn on the bedside lamp, then switch off the overhead light before stripping down to my boxer briefs and slipping into Electra's bed. Looking around the room, her things are as eclectic as she is. Books and art supplies, and interesting photographs. Sculptures. A row of hats hanging from nails in the wall. A desk with two laptops and a stack of notebooks.

The rest of the house is curated specifically to look like a musician's paradise. To impress outsiders. To be photographed. Electra's space is a cozy, creative escape from all that.

A tiny, dark whisper of doubt lances through me.

Am I just an escape for her from the "appropriate" suitors her parents are trying to set her up with who suit their own needs?

Is there any chance Electra sees this as just a weekend fling?