“No.” Craig shook his head. “This will be even better. Trust me.”
“Famous last words, right?” Truman chuckled like he wanted to make Shauna feel better.
It didn’t work. Shauna shifted. “If you want working shots, I think you have it. We’re losing valuable studio time.”
“Shauna.”
The sternness in Craig’s voice stiffened Shauna’s spine. She couldn’t believe after ten years, she still responded to Craig’s disappointed tone. She felt childish, but still buckled to his demands.
With great reluctance, she curved her back to ease her backside closer to Truman while still leaving a comfortable distance between the two of them. She left her leg under her behind, which allowed her knee to jut forward, creating another barrier.
Shauna waited a beat before bringing her gaze up. When she found him staring back at her, her body flooded with emotions. Embarrassed heat filled her face and neck. Her hands trembled so much that she had to set his music down and press her palms onto her thighs. Her knee bounced and she wished it didn’t.
“Truman, lean forward, drape your arm across the back of the couch, and act like you’re asking Shauna a question.” Craig crouched down, preparing to take this picture.
Truman cleared his throat first. When he placed his arm across the back of the couch, Shauna felt like she had stopped breathing. Since she caught his outdoorsy scent again, she knew that couldn’t be true. With his long arm, his hand almost reached her shoulder.
Craig pointed to her first. “Shauna, pick up the music again.” Then he directed his attention to Truman. “Move in closer.”
Truman adjusted his baseball cap on his head first and exhaled before he finally moved. He sat so close to her now, his face a few feet away from hers; she noticed the brown, short hairs over his cheeks from not shaving. She also noticed a small scar by his lip, and immediately wanted to ask him about it.
Truman placed his other hand on his knee closest to Shauna. Even there, she felt the heat from his skin.
This had to end soon. If it didn’t, she would be crawling out of her skin. Not since her disastrous relationship with Raheem had Shauna been this close to a man. Despite their disagreement earlier, none of that mattered now that Truman had her cornered, hot and bothered.
“I guess I should really ask you a question now that I’m here.” Truman’s low voice rumbled through her body. He waited until Shauna regained eye contact with him before he continued. “Is this going to work?”
Shauna blinked. “What?”
“Us. This arrangement. Will it work?”
Shauna didn’t know how to answer. She came to the studio determined to set boundaries and be the boss of this situation. All of that changed as soon as Truman got close to her and she looked into his eyes.
“I think I got it.” Craig peered over his glasses at his screen. “Now I’ll change the filter. Do the picture in black and white.” He admired his work. “Oh, that’s perfect.” He turned the phone around to show Shauna and Truman. “Look. The dynamic duo.”
Shauna stared at the small screen. What she saw didn’t look like a music producer and her artist. She saw a man and a woman in dark lighting trying to find each other.
Truman must have seen something different. Without a word, he got up from the couch and grabbed his guitar but left the music.
“Your fans are going to love this.” Craig looked so satisfied as he posted the picture.
Shauna, finally able to breathe again, tried wrapping her head around what happened. If she planned on taking this job seriously, she needed to keep her distance from Truman Woodley.
“Why did you do that?” Shauna shook her head.
“What? You mean get you his music?” Craig winked.
She should have appreciated the gesture, but it reminded her very quickly that even as an adult, she needed someone to help her navigate through basic interactions. She wanted to solve this dilemma on her own.
“I had that handled.” Now feeling her power, she managed to stand and go to the boards next to their sound engineer, Hank.
“Yes, that’s what I saw. Not him walking away with the music, but him wanting to turn it over to you as soon as you asked.” Craig shoved his phone into his pocket. “And that picture, my dear, is going to push doubt from people’s minds.”
“Doubts about what? Me wanting to get back in the studio and work again?” Shauna had hoped her fans understood that she would want to get back into the swing of things again after getting out of Peaceful Acres.
Craig leaned forward. “No, that you’re still a desirable woman who still is the Princess of Love Ballads. The bad breakup with Raheem didn’t kill your sex appeal.”
The thought that Shauna had kept in the back of her mind now came forward. It became real with Craig’s words. Not only had Raheem embarrassed her by the way he had broken up with her, but her image as a sexy yet untouchable siren became shattered. How could she sing about love when she couldn’t hold on to a man?
Despite what Craig thought about his picture, she didn’t see Truman fawning over her. He saw a man forced to interact with her, just like with Raheem. Would she never break that cycle?
Chapter 5
“You’re right, Sull. Let’s get out of here.” Truman stomped back into the studio with his guitar case in his hand.
The confusion riddling his body had his head spinning. He hadn’t felt this out of sorts since high school when he dated the head cheerleader. Shauna couldn’t be described as a perky cheerleader. She hadn’t encouraged him. If anything, she got him thinking about other things like how good she smelled when he sat close to her on the couch, and how he could feel the heat coming from her body. Was she actually staring at his mouth at one point? Did she want to kiss him? Did he want to kiss her?
Oh, hell.
He threw the case down and went over to Ervin’s drum set to tear it down. He hadn’t gone to a recording studio. He’d stepped into a circus complete with a ringleader. Craig pushed them together like a meddling mother. As much as Truman wanted to hate the treatment, the close proximity got them to stop bickering about music and actually look at each other. He had to admit, the stripped down and vulnerable version of Shauna looked as appealing as the glammed-up one.
“What’s going on?” Confusion covered Charlie’s face.
“She said something stupid, didn’t she?” Sully rested his forearm on the neck of his guitar as he watched Truman pack his things together.
“Will you shut up, idiot?” Ervin threw his drumstick at the back of Sully’s head. “What’s the deal, Tru? Why you want to split?”
Truman couldn’t explain his feelings. It didn’t make sense. One moment, he came into this situation preparing to be professional and accommodating. Then he found himself bickering with the woman who could jumpstart his career. By the end, he became mesmerized by her eyes and floral scent. He still remembered how her lips parted as she stared at him. Those full lips.
“Do we have to pay for studio time? Is that coming out of our money?” Tony pulled his notepad from his back pocket and wrote some calculations in it. As long as it kept him quiet, Truman felt content to let the man scribble away.
“This is a joke, man.” Truman scratched his head. He turned to the guys. “I said pack it up, fellas, and let’s roll.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Sully unhooked his