Sisters in Bloom (Love in Bloom: Snow Sisters #2), Contemporary Romance by Melissa Foster

angry she’d been when he’d suggested it, and that feather of guilt created another nagging itch.
    “Kaylie, you know you can do anything you try to do,” Danica said, her eyes on her drink.
    Write? I should write songs? Maybe I can write songs . “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try.” Kaylie yawned, and then covered her mouth in embarrassment. “I’m so sorry.”
    “Do we bore you?” Marie teased.
    “I’m so tired all the time,” Kaylie answered.
    “I was hoping for karaoke tonight.” Chelsea stuck out her lower lip.
    Kaylie’s eyes lit up. “Really?” She looked around the bar, and her pulse picked up speed. She pushed out her chair and stood. “Who else is up for it?”
    “Me!” Marie jumped up and pulled Chelsea along with her.
    “I can’t be left behind, but only if we sing something I know,” Camille said, pushing herself up to her feet. “Come on, Danica. You have to do it, too.”
    Danica shook her head. “Kaylie’s got the voice. I’ve got the…advice.”
    Kaylie pulled Danica to her feet. “Oh no, you’re not. Come on.” Kaylie walked behind the girls, who were swaying on their sky-high heels, laughing as they climbed the stairs to center stage.
    The bartender had known Kaylie and Danica for years, and he never turned down Kaylie when it came to singing. He flipped on the karaoke machine, and a hush took over the room.
    The music started quietly, and then grew louder as the girls sang Taylor Swift’s “Love Story,” off-key, missing words and giggling as they leaned on one another, with Kaylie in the center of the group, perfectly pitched and never missing a beat. She belted out the words with perfection, pointing at one handsome man after another, like she was singing directly to them. Her cheeks hurt from smiling, as her vocal cords vibrated and the words sailed from her mouth like a gift. One by one, the other girls fell into fits of laughter, leaving Kaylie alone on the center of the stage, her dress climbing to the middle of her thigh, her belly arcing out beneath her breasts, singing as if her life depended on it. 
    The music ended and she put her hands out to her sides and curtsied, enjoying the rush of the moment like a crack addict finishing a rock. God, she missed the thrill of an audience and the rush of feeling the beat of the music through the vibrations of the floor. The way her lungs burned with every deep note and tickled with the high ones. This, the stage, the thrill, was oxygen to Kaylie. How could she give this up?

    Chapter Thirteen
    Chaz’s head throbbed when the alarm went off at one thirty a.m. He lay on his back staring at the ceiling, his arm spread across Kaylie’s side of the bed, trying to put together the pieces of the night before. Why on earth was he up at one thirty? Hawaii. Red-eye. Shit . Why did he feel like his blissful existence had turned to chaos in the span of twenty-four hours? It wasn’t chaos, was it? Kaylie sure didn’t seem to act like it when she left the evening before, but then again, she didn’t know about Lea. Chaz realized that he hadn’t even touched the tip of chaos yet. Kaylie hadn’t called…and Lea awaited.
    He dragged himself to the bathroom, forgoing his razor, and stepped into a cold shower to shake off the fog from his brain. As the cold water beat down on his shoulders, he thought about the day ahead. Hours on an airplane and facing Lea Carmichael. He really was in hell. He dressed quickly in jeans and a button-down shirt, and then went to the living room to find his cell phone and see if Kaylie had texted him back.
    There were no bars on his cell phone, so he headed for his office, but quickly realized he couldn’t call Kaylie at one thirty in the morning. Max came out of the hall bathroom fully dressed and much too peppy for so early in the morning.
    “Hey there, sleepy. I wondered if I was going to have to drag your butt out of bed.”
    Chaz scrubbed his face with his hand. “Thanks for taking me home last