In Your Dreams (Falling #4)(47)

“Your tag was out,” she says.

I nod, and my head hardly moves. Her hand falls from my neck, and milliseconds go by—but feel as if they drag on for minutes—while I watch every opportunity to make a mistake slip through my fingers. I hold my breath and let it go, exhaling the moment she steps away from me, but not without giving into the craving and watching her ass set a new tempo inside my chest in my very favorite dress ever made.

The elevator ride is short and crowded—thank god. When we reach the top floor, I guide her to the right through a small hallway while the others in our car turn left to go to the restaurant attached to the club.

The lights are on and the only people on the floor are wait staff and bartenders who work there. It looks like a vacant loft space, except for the occasional round, white-leather seat placed sporadically throughout the room. The mood is coming soon, but first, I need to get set up.

“You must be Casey?” says a tall blonde walking toward me with an earpiece and a clipboard. Her legs are the second best set in the room, but I can tell Murphy disagrees. She hangs back a few steps, stopping at one of the leather seats to sit and tug her dress lower. I catch her insecurities out of the corner of my eye.

“That’s me. Are you Kendra?” I reach my hand out and take her palm when she nods yes and smiles. Kendra is John Maxwell’s daughter. She’s off limits. And she’s intimidating as hell. I could tell Murphy all of this, but making girls jealous is about number seventeen on my list of flaws, so I keep her in the dark for now.

“You should have everything here you said you needed. I think the guys brought over your board and equipment this afternoon?” She’s all business, but still Murphy watches with pressed lips. I bet she doesn’t even know the face she’s making.

“It looks right,” I say, stepping over to the booth and walking around, my finger touching the key pieces and seeing how everything connects.

“Great, well, do your thing—whatever you need to get ready. Doors open in an hour,” she says.

I nod and watch her walk away, not even really looking at her, but knowing Murphy is looking at me. I glance back at her to see her eyes dart away from me toward Kendra. She’s still making the same face, though, so I pull my phone from my pocket and take her picture. The flash gets her attention, and she jerks her head toward me again.

“Did you?” she points at me with question.

I wave my finger and gesture for her to come. She smooths out her skirt when she stands and walks, with a little extra sway, over to me. Her eyebrows raised, I hold my phone out for her to see.

“Casey!” she says, glaring at the picture of her pouting on the sofa. “I wasn’t ready for that picture,” she protests.

“I know,” I smirk, taking it from her and zooming in on her face. “I wanted to catch this face…right here,” I say, tilting it back toward her to see. Her eyes narrow and her mouth tightens. She glances up at me and shakes her head, her eyes squinting even more, like an angry bully.

“Come on, let me show you the board,” I say, tilting my head to the right and urging her to follow. I slide my phone back in my pocket and turn to take her hand to help her up the few small steps. Once her fingers hit my palm, my thumb falls over the top, and when the time comes to let go, I don’t. I feel her fingers become still, and without thinking, I run my thumb slowly over each knuckle. Her eyes flash up to mine the second I do.

“That’s Kendra Maxwell,” I say, no longer wanting to torture her. “She’s the boss’s daughter. She writes my check.”

Murphy nods a response, as if what I said is just new and interesting information, but she also sucks in her lip, and I notice how the corners of her mouth rise with the grin she’s trying to hide. I won’t tease her. But I sure as shit won’t forget seeing her get jealous.

I slide out one of the stools for her to sit on while I test out everything and correct a few connections. I don’t really like letting others set up for me, but when they’re willing to pay five grand just so I can do what I probably would have done for free, I let them set up whatever shit they want.

I play through a few beats, looking for the right ones, then line up my lists on my laptop, getting every drop and sound bite ready to go. I get so lost in my work for a while, I can tell Murphy is growing bored, her phone in her hand as she concentrates on one of those mindless games dropping boxes and jewels in a line on her screen. I wave a hand to get her attention, and she startles.

“Sorry, I’m good. I was just waiting, staying out of your hair,” she smiles.

I give in to temptation and stare at her small, perfect mouth. Her top lip curls just enough to show her teeth, and there are these small freckles that line her cheeks and nose. Her eyes catch a few of the lights being tested, and reflect the purples and blues. If I could paint like my father, I’d need a canvas right now. Her head leans to the side to break my trance. I notice, but I don’t care—I keep staring. I smile and eventually call her over to me, pleased to see the pink on her cheeks.

“I wanted to show you how it all works,” I say.

“All right,” she says, her eyes scanning over the equipment. I watch her take it all in, and she catches me staring again. I don’t care. I grin like a fool.

“I have all of my songs and clips here,” I say, clicking through layers upon layers of sound. “This is called the DAW.”