Jace (Kings of Country 1)

Jace looked at Krystal then, really looked at her. There weren’t many musicians he admired like Krystal. She was the real deal, what singers and songwriters should strive to be. And he’d impressed her. He’d impressed her? “Did I?” he asked, disbelieving. “Knock your socks off?”

She shook her head but didn’t say a word.

“I did.” He sat a little straighter, more than a little pleased.

“Don’t let it go to your head,” Krystal teased. “Besides, I’m not wearing socks.” She smiled at him. “You keep singing like that and you’re going to do just fine.” She blew out her breath. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

One minute, he was feeling pretty damn proud of himself. The next, he was drowning in the heat of those green, green eyes.

“Let’s go,” Hank said.

He slid his earphones back on, the swell of the music flooding his ears. She liked what she heard. And this time, he didn’t close his eyes. He watched her. “I remember you, standing in the sun, smiling at me, and suddenly my world caught fire. Blinding, beautiful fire.”

She blinked, green eyes flashing before she closed her eyes to sing, “I remember you, taking my hand, holding me close, and suddenly my world caught fire. Blinding, beautiful fire.” Her voice—damn, her voice. It reached inside and grabbed hold of him.

“You were everything. My breath, my home, my night, my day. Didn’t care what people said. Didn’t need a thing but you,” he paused a beat. “Till the flames inside burned too hot, and you tried to run from the heat.”

“You were everything. My hope, my fear, my night, my day. Didn’t know my heart was gone. Didn’t know you took it all.” The words gutted him. “And your words, your lies, your promises were the sweetest pain of all.”

The chorus was together. Her gaze met his then, locked together as the words hung in the air between them.

“Love isn’t love when the flames burn it down. There’s no hiding or forgiveness from the damage that it’s done. When the smoke clears away, you’ll still find me searching here. Searching for the ashes of my heart.”

He was lost in her green-eyed gaze by the time they’d finished the second verse. And the chorus, together… Singing with her was more than he could ever have anticipated.

Her lyrics were powerful and real. He knew what it was to love someone and suffer betrayal. The anger and pain took some of the joy out of life. If he thought about Nikki and Ben too long, the pain made it hard to breathe. How many times had he replayed that night, over and over, wishing he could go back and change it? Not that he could bring back his wife or baby boy. They were gone and it was his fault.

The crackle in his headphones brought him back to the here and now. Now, opposite Krystal, studying him closely. There was a new respect on her face. An appreciation for him. Not him, his voice. But it was a start.

“That was incredible,” Emmy Lou said from the booth, and sniffled.

“Are you crying?” Krystal asked, all smiles.

“She is,” Hank King answered. “A lot.”

Emmy Lou sniffed. “You two were—”

“Perfect,” her daddy said. “Damn it all. You two are gonna make things hard.” He sighed. “We’re gonna make a copy of it and send it to Wheelhouse. Baby girl, this is your song. The two of you, together, were meant to sing this song. Any fool listening would recognize that.”

Jace watched Krystal’s expression as her father was talking. She lit up from the inside, so damn happy he couldn’t help but smile, too. A few things were certain. Krystal loved and respected her father. She was damn talented and damn gorgeous. And Jace was going to have to be real careful about keeping his feelings in check. If Krystal King knew what he thought about her, she’d either slap his face or, worse, invite him to bed.

Chapter 4

“You’re good.” Krystal hugged her sister close. “So good I almost believed the whole sore throat thing.”

Emmy Lou hugged her back, hard. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Uh-huh. Sister-girl, you still can’t lie to save your life.” She pressed a kiss against her cheek. “And I love you for it.” She stared into emerald eyes that matched her own. “Thank you.” Her voice wobbled just enough to tell her twin all the things she’d never be able to put into words. She prided herself on powerful lyrics, but speaking from the heart—one-on-one emoting—was way outside her comfort zone. Even with her twin.

“It’s your song.” Emmy’s long, perfectly curled locks bounced with the slight shake of her head. “No one could do it justice.” Her gaze darted to Jace. “But he sure came close. Guess Daddy knew what he was doing when he picked him, huh?”

Krystal nodded, doing her best not to ogle the impressive specimen of a man with the voice of an angel. If an angel was big and ripped and sexy as hell. The thick tattoos covering the inside of his left arm and snaking up under his sleeve only added to the bad-boy thing. “He usually does.” Which was one of the reasons he was who he was. Between his talent, never-fail instincts, and business savvy, her daddy knew a good thing when he saw one.

The only exception to that? Her momma. If her daddy had one weakness, it was his unfailing loyalty. In most people, that would be considered a good thing. But she knew better. Her daddy stayed married because he took every vow and promise he made as gospel. Her daddy always said a man was only as good as his word. He lived by that—whether it made sense or not.

“No point,” her daddy was saying now. “It’s something CiCi and I started when the kids were young and I was on the road. If we’re under the same roof, we sit down for a meal. A home-cooked meal at that. We always have more than we need.”

Her daddy also believed in having an open door—meaning he’d just invited Jace back to their place for dinner.