Rock Idol (Reality With a Twist Series) Read Online Free Page B

them.”
    Fawn
breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks Ember.”
    “You
really should get some help, Fawn. Maybe after this season you can check
yourself into a clinic.”
    Fawn
shook her head. “Everything’s going to be great, Ember. You’ll see.”
    Ember
suspected that even Fawn knew she was lying.

    Someone
knocked on Ember’s dressing room door. It was twenty minutes before the start
of the show and a bad time for interruptions. Hans had finally finished
applying her makeup but couldn’t decide what to do about her hair.
    At
the sound of the knock, Hans threw up his hands in despair. “What is it now? Do
they not know that there is an artist at work in here?”
    He
stormed across the room to the door and flung it open. “What do you want?”
    Rick
Rogers stood in the hallway with a single red rose in his hands and the same
terrible striped shirt that he had worn in last week’s competition. “I, um,
need to speak to Ember for a minute.”
    “And
I need sixty more minutes to finish creating perfection.” He glanced at the
rose in Rick’s hands and grinned. “But you probably think her perfection comes
naturally. You may have three minutes and then I shall play God by once again
creating angelic beauty with these two hands.”
    Hans
stepped out of the dressing room and closed the door behind Rick.
    Ember
stood up. “What’s on your mind?”
    Rick
crossed the room to join her. “I wanted to bring you this and to thank you
again. You really helped me pull out all the stops last week. And I,” he handed
her the rose, “thank you.”
    “You
didn’t have to bring me flowers,” Ember said. In truth she was slightly
uncomfortable that he had done so.
    “It’s
just one rose,” Rick told her.
    But
it was a red rose, Ember noted, red for love and passion.
    “Well,
I’m sure you’re going to do even better this week,” she told him.
    “I
hope so,” Rick said. “I’ve worked hard, but the competition is fierce. It’s
good to know you’re pulling for me.”
    Where
was Hans ? He needed to
get back here and end this awkward conversation. “Would you like another piece
of advice?” Ember asked.
    “Of
course,” Rick told her. “I’ll do anything you tell me.”
    “Lose
that shirt,” she said. “It makes you look—”
    “This
shirt?” Rick interrupted. “I can’t do that. It’s half my luck!”
    The
bad half , Ember wanted
to say, but what came out was something else entirely. “What’s the other half?”
    “This,”
Rick whispered.
    He
leaned close and kissed her—his lips pressing gently against hers, warm and
tender.
    Taken
completely off guard, Ember shocked herself. She didn’t pull away. She didn’t
slap him. She just stood there for a moment while his tongue flicked feather
light against her lips and his strong hands gripped her waist, pulling her up
against him. Then to her utter horror, her mouth opened to him and her tongue
started out to play.
    A
knock sounded on the dressing room door, startling Ember into stepping back
from Rick and breaking the embrace. She was breathing hard and her heart was
racing—but whether with passion or simple fear of discovery she wasn’t
completely certain.
    The
door opened and Hans reentered the room. “I cannot give you another minute.
Even God, Himself, must have some time in which to work His miracles.”
    Rick
pulled himself back together. “I’ll be singing for you tonight,” he whispered,
then turned and hurried from the room.
    Hans
watched him go, admiring his backside until the door closed behind him. “It is
such a shame that boy is straight.”
    Then
he turned back to Ember. “Sit down, dear. We only have fifteen minutes to
finish making you radiant.”
    Ember
sat down in her chair, her mind a jumble of confused thoughts and sensations.
Why had she just stood there? And why was her heart still racing?
    “You’ve
dropped your rose,” Hans noted. He stooped down, picked it up, and handed it to
her. “And is that a smudge on