Rock Star: The Contest (Book 2 of a Bad Boy Romance) Read Online Free

to be there this morning? The coordinator wasn’t exactly happy that you didn’t show up.”
    “No one told me.”
    “Anyway, I covered for you. I said you had an urgent emergency and had to leave pronto.”
    “Emergency?”
    “Uh,” he nodded, continuing looking around, picking up napkins and tossing them back down.
    “What kind?”
    “Something to do with…” He muttered and I never caught the last word.
    “What?”
    “All right, I said you had irritable bowel syndrome and if you didn’t get to the toilet fast, they were going to be mopping up yesterday’s lunch.”
    My eyes bulged.
    “You are kidding, right?”
    “No. But they bought it.”
    “Oh my god, could this day get any worse?”
    “Worse? Darlin’, you are going to be co-writing with me, it just got better.”
    I excused myself, to which he made another crack about was I visiting the bathroom?

    * * *
    T hat afternoon Luke and I went over a song he had written that we would be singing together. I told him that I hadn’t been able to write in the last few days. I wasn’t sure what was causing the block but if it didn’t sort itself out soon, I wouldn’t be in the contest long.
    “You need a little fun. That’s all.”
    “And you’re an expert at that?”
    “C’mon, let’s get out of this stuffy old apartment. It’s giving me vertigo.”
    I hadn’t a clue what he meant. He was so off-the-wall in his conversations. One moment he would be highly focused on singing, then he was like a dog that had seen a squirrel.
    “So what are some of the good places around this town?”
    “You are standing in it. I don’t know where you are from but this is about the extent of the fun in this town. A coffee shop that hosts the Dancing Jelly Babies every Friday night.”
    “The dancing who?”
    “Forget it.”
    We jumped in my truck and I took him out to Rice Lake. It was just beyond the outskirts of Lakeside. I didn’t really like the idea of taking him up to where I had spent time with Chase. I could see him looking around the floor at all the empty coffee cups, half-eaten muffins and papers that were rolling around the truck.
    “So where are you from?”
    “Kentucky. Born and raised.”
    “Farmer?”
    “Third generation.”
    I would never have guessed, I thought as he put his boots out the window and tapped the mirror with his foot.
    “So how did you get into this?” I asked.
    “I love farming but singing is my passion. We have a karaoke bar in my town and someone sent in a video of me one night when I was singing.”
    “Seems people have a knack of doing stuff like that.”
    We pulled into a parking spot just in front of the lake. In the middle was a huge fountain that sprayed water in the air. It was just for appearances, but definitely unique. Rice Lake was at one time going to merge with Lakeside. It would have brought more business and tourists to the area, but for whatever reason they decided against it.
    After we jumped out, Luke hopped up onto the hood of the truck, nearly putting a large dent in it. Not that it mattered. It was a heap of junk and it would be the first thing I would replace if I won this contest.
    The water was busy today. There were boats and kayaks that were going around the fountain. All of them looked brand-new. It seemed I was surrounded by people with money but had very little myself. A Jet Ski whizzed past kicking up water that nearly covered us. Further down the lake I could see about ten people swimming in the water. Others bobbed along with kids. Flocks of geese were driven in all directions. There seemed to be no one watching over the safety of people. If someone had trouble swimming, there were no lifeguards on duty to save them.
    “They don’t have any lakes where I am. It’s all fields for miles.”
    “Are you serious?”
    He nodded.
    Along the banks were tiny little cottages. Most were dilapidated, only a few looked modern. The air was fresh and despite the season, today was unusually warm.