Sassy Ever After: Dragon Sass (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Free

mortified, fighting the feeling.
    Stuart was at the ranch? And she’d been waiting here for him all night? She was going to wring his neck when she got home. And then… well, then she’d probably make him sleep it off on her couch, because she wouldn’t want him to drive home in his condition. They could talk in the morning. Whatever Stuart wanted from her—and she knew it likely involved what little money she had left—could wait until then.
    “Booty call?” Jules snorted. “The nineties called, they want their outdated slang back.”
    Kai’s mouth twitched again but before he could say anything, Aric was nudging her.
    “Jules, you’re up.”
    She hadn’t heard the D.J. call her name. Barb had insisted she put her name in to sing tonight—to offset some of the less-talented and very drunk karaoke going on. Jules had agreed, but she had been far down on the list and figured Stuart would show up long before she actually had to get on stage.
    “Jules, go!” Barb showed up behind her, grabbing her by the shoulders and steering her toward the stage. “Don’t keep them waiting!”
    “You’re evil,” Jules hissed under her breath, glaring at Barb over her shoulder as the older woman pushed her toward the stage steps.
    “Sing for him,” Barb said, looking thoroughly pleased with herself.
    Sing for him? Jules almost laughed out loud. What was this, the middle ages? Should she curtsy and offer to take off his armor, too? Not that the thought of stripping Kai of his, er… armor, was an unappealing metaphor.
    But she really didn’t have time for this. Stuart was waiting.
    “Don’t be shy.” The D.J. smiled as he handed her the microphone and pointed at the teleprompter. He wasn’t Aric’s regular guy and she didn’t know him. He obviously thought she needed instruction. “The words are all there, and you already know the song, right? You’ll do fine. Just have fun.”
    Jules sighed and took the mic, looking out at the crowd. The lights on the stage made it hard to see anyone past the first few rows, which was fine with her. She couldn’t see Barb or Aric—or the sexy, insufferable Kai. So she’d sing the Adele song she’d chosen and then get the hell out of there. After all, she liked singing. She sang to the horses all the time, strange as that sounded.
    The music started, a soft, slow plucking guitar, and she frowned, looking at the D.J. and then at the screen, where the first words were displayed. Her stomach dropped when she saw  this wasn’t the heartbreaking Adele lament she’d chosen. This was a very sappy, romantic seventies song. She knew it—thank God—mostly because her mother had played it a lot. It had been her parent’s “song,” the one they’d fallen in love to, the one they’d first danced to at their wedding.
    She couldn’t sing this song. There was no way.
    “Ahem.” Jules covered the mic and leaned over to talk to the D.J. “This isn’t my song… I mean…”
    “Go on,” he mouthed, rotating his finger to fast-forward her. “Sing.”
    Goddamnit.
    Jules took a deep breath, looking out at the expectant crowd. She didn’t have a choice.
    “The first time ever I saw your face…”
    The crowd applauded immediately, whooping and hollering as soon as she uttered the first few notes. It was an incredibly slow song, full of emotion, and she couldn’t have hurried it along if she tried. The music took her over instantly and she found herself transported by the words, and the audience went with her. The entire bar, which had been lively and rocking just moments before, was now almost silent.
    Everyone was watching her, which normally would have been uncomfortable, but when she was singing, it didn’t matter. She closed her eyes and there was no shame or embarrassment or fear. The rest of the world went away and it was just her and the music. She gave everything in the moment, with each breath.
    The words cracked her open. It was the song her parents had fallen in love