Read Online Flesh & Bone - a contemporary romance: The Minstrel Series #2 by Lee Strauss, Elle Strauss - Free Book Online Page A

sparkled when she spoke of him and something tweaked. Sebastian surprised himself by thinking that the girl was pretty. Not just cute, but pretty , in a very wholesome, natural way.
    “Just close your eyes and pretend I’m not here. Pretend you’re at the Blue Note.”
    “Okay.” She closed her eyes and a few seconds later began to sing. Her voice was clear as crystal and pure. No showcasing, no showing off. Just straight, honest, beautiful vocals. The lyrics moved him as strongly as the night he’d first heard them, but today, sitting this close to Eva Baumann, he couldn’t take his eyes off her soft, moist lips. He wouldn’t mind checking those out.
    Idiot. He was glad she had her eyes closed. He could only imagine the blush that would spread across her face if she could read his mind right now.
    She strummed the last note and opened her eyes. Sebastian broke into applause, filling the room with the sound of his appreciation.
    “Do you realize how good you are?” Her face flattened with surprise and Sebastian believed that she truly didn’t. He inhaled in shock, not used to seeing true humility.
    “Thank you,” she said. Her eyes flickered to movement over his shoulder and Sebastian turned in time to see Herr Baumann about to leave. The large man nodded at Eva but narrowed his eyes when his gaze landed on Sebastian.
    Her father was bristly, but Sebastian liked how he so obviously cared for his daughter. The man didn’t have to worry about Sebastian. Sure, Eva was sweet and pretty, but he wasn’t interested in her in a physical way. Despite her alluring lips, she wasn’t his type, and besides his breakup with Yvonne still stung too much.
    Eva sat statue still, waiting for his next move. Sebastian understood his current popularity could be intimidating. He searched for a way to break the ice. “Nice place here.” Her eyes followed his gaze and he winced a little. There was nothing special about this room, not esthetically anyway. “I mean, it’s good work that you and your family do. Have you lived in the Neustadt long?”
    “Since I was thirteen,” she answered. “So, seven years.”
    That made her twenty. He would’ve guessed that she was younger, maybe seventeen or eighteen. It was hard to believe she was only three years younger than he was. Must be the lack of makeup and her petite stature.
    “Nice.” He waited for her to ask him a question. When it was obvious none was forthcoming, he asked another of his own. “Do you have another song?” He wanted to know if she was prolific. Did she take songwriting seriously, or was she just lucky with one good song?
    “I’m working on a new one right now.”
    “Let me hear it.”
    “Oh. It’s not really ready.”
    Well, at least that meant she wrote seriously. “Play me a finished one then.”
    She held his gaze. “I will if you will.”
    Wow, he hadn’t expected that. Maybe the girl had some gumption after all. “You’re on. But first, you know what? I’d really like to see your Duncan Africa. Is it possible for you to let me try it?”
    Eva’s green eyes flashed with a moment of anxiety, but then she nodded and handed Sebastian the guitar to put away. She reached for the cane hanging on the back of her chair—Sebastian hadn’t noticed it before—and pushed herself upright. She limped ahead of him and he followed her through a door that led to a hallway and up a set of winding cement steps. He found himself jerking an arm outward, afraid that she might fall, but kept his hands to himself.
    It was a slow climb, but they arrive at the next floor, and Eva opened the wooden door to their flat. It wasn’t big. A living room faced the street and connected to a small kitchen that overlooked a quaint, overgrown courtyard. The flat was tidy, but lived in.
    “No one’s home?” he asked. It surprised him since the door was unlocked.
    “Mama’s in the kitchen downstairs cleaning up. Papa had a meeting. Gabriele, that’s my sister, she’s in