Read Outmatched in October (Spring River Valley Book 10) for Free Online

It’s a good life. You’ll have all day to do whatever you want and two sets a night when you work. Three full days off and all the benefits the corporation gives all of our employees.”
    “I know. It all sounds great. I’ll give it serious thought. I promise.” Checking the time, Claudia rose. “I’ve got a long ride back home to think about it, so I’d better get going.”
    “You don’t have to go. You could stay for a day or two, see the place when it’s full, meet the rest of the employees, get a feel for the night life here. I have a suite you can stay in upstairs in this building.”
    That was the first easy choice he’d given her. “No, thanks. I need to consider all this at home. I’ll be back on the eighteenth to sing, and I’ll have a final answer for you soon.”
    He rose too, his expression clearly masking disappointment. Could he already see this choice was too hard for her? Anyone else would have jumped at the opportunity and been dancing in the street. Claudia felt like someone had dropped a lead weight on her back.
    “I feel like if you leave, I won’t see you again.”
    “You will. I promise I’ll be back. I just have a lot to do to prepare for this.”
    “If there’s anything I can help with…”
    “I’ll let you know.”
    Quick, determined strides carried Claudia out of the club. If she left the city right now, she could make it back home at a reasonable time and call Owen. It bothered her that his reaction would be the deciding factor in her decision, but if she finally found the courage to tell him how she felt, maybe she’d have a better handle on what she really wanted or needed to do. If he didn’t want her, the best thing for her would be to move on and make a new life for herself. Jacob was right. She didn’t have to live in the city to work there. She could find another small town and have the quiet life she loved, paid for by the glamorous job she’d spent her childhood daydreaming about. All she needed was the right incentive, and only Owen could give her that.
     
    * * * *
     
    “You didn’t have to reschedule rehearsal on my account,” Claudia said when she arrived at Love Notes on Wednesday evening. This time Owen had texted her rather than showing up in person mostly because he wasn’t sure what he would say to her face-to-face. He was desperate to know how her audition in New York had gone, but he would have rather died than hear her say she was taking the job, so he’d avoided the issue by sending a text and scheduling an audition of his own.
    Fortunately Taylor had already arrived, sparing Owen any awkward moments alone with Claudia. “It wasn’t really on your account. This was the best night for our guest.”
    Claudia eyed him, but Taylor interrupted her inevitable question with a congratulatory hug. “Hey, sweetheart, how did your big audition go?”
    Her smile seemed somewhat brittle to Owen, but he kept his curiosity in check and busied himself arranging sheet music next to Taylor’s keyboard while his bandmates took off their coats and made themselves comfortable.
    “It was good. They said they liked me. I think one of the partners only spoke Italian, so I can’t be sure, but he said ‘bellisima’ and I think that’s good.”
    Taylor laughed. “Definitely good. When do you start?”
    “Oh…” She looked at Owen , and he pretended not to notice. “I haven’t made any final decisions yet.”
    Good, Owen thought, but he said nothing. The part of him that knew once she had a taste of the good life in the city she’d never want to come back to the Valley warred with the part of him that didn’t want to stand in the way of the success she deserved. When he caught Taylor eyeing him strangely he wondered if he might have made his derisive comment out loud. If he had, Claudia gave no sign that she noticed.
    He was spared having to make any further explanations when the door opened , and his guest for the evening walked in. All eyes shifted to