Read Online The Farther I Fall by Lisa Nicholas - Free Book Online Page B

you’re the new one?” Before Gwen could bristle, she added, “The new tour manager?” Her green eyes glinted with amusement. “Lucas has told me about you.”
    â€œI shudder to think.” Gwen returned the smile. She wished she had changed into something sharper than jeans and a T-shirt and done more with her hair.
    â€œNot at all. He was quite complimentary.” Maggie looked Gwen up and down and released her hand. “Not without reason, I see.”
    Gwen returned the appraisal: Maggie made the olive green hoodie she wore look like it came off a runway, perfectly following her curves and unzipped enough to show some cleavage, and those blue jeans made everything Gwen had ever owned look like it belonged in a rubbish bin. The pictures of her days with Altered Oblivion did nothing for her—back then she’d been dark-haired and dressed in black. She’d completely reinvented herself since then. “I’m hoping you can tell me some good stories,” Gwen said.
    Maggie laughed. “I think we’re going to get along just fine, Ms. Tennison.”
    â€œAh, no. If you’re Maggie, I’m Gwen.” She picked up Maggie’s bags before the bellhop could. “Let’s get you settled in. I’m sure you’ll want to rest for tonight.”
    â€œI’m sure you have far more important things to do than babysit me.” Maggie reached to take her bags back. “I know how this goes. Even now there are three people waiting for you to come and save the day, aren’t there?”
    Gwen chuckled. “Well. Maybe two. It’s early yet. The third will come later.”
    â€œGo.” Maggie winked. “I can take care of myself. If I get bored, I can always go harass Lucas.”
    Gwen smiled, and hoped it didn’t look tight and wrong. “Well then. I’ll leave you to it. Lucas has my mobile number. Call if you need anything.”
    She beat the other crew members to the venue, but only just. Cathy came walking up from the opposite side of the street as she was opening the stage door.
    â€œHiya,” she said. Her long brown ponytail swayed behind her as she jogged to catch up. “Ready for tonight?”
    â€œAre we ever?” Gwen smiled.
    â€œWe will be. We always are.”
    ***
    The first show in D.C. was spectacular. Gwen walked into the green room afterward with a sense of accomplished tiredness—something she’d grown to enjoy. Exhausted, but exhilarated at the same time. The usual rush of chaos and noise in the green room enveloped her, and she only wanted to find something to drink and sit down for an hour or so.
    Lucas was already sprawled over one of the couches, taking up seating room for three. Or, well, two, Gwen amended. Maggie sat with Lucas’s head pillowed in her lap. They’d been amazing onstage. The set list for the night had been changed around to include some duets, a few old Altered Oblivion numbers, and a few numbers designed to showcase Maggie’s substantial talent. Gwen never thought she would hear a crowd at a rock concert cheer Bizet, but with Lucas’s instrumentals and Maggie’s vocals, it fit right into the rest of the show. Now she was leaning down to whisper something to Lucas, who laughed and reached up to tug at her long, perfectly wavy hair.
    â€œSergeant Tennison,” came a familiar voice from behind her. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
    Gwen turned around, smiling. Lee Wheeler, more casual than the first time she’d seen him—in a dark gray sports jacket worn over a rumpled black T-shirt and well-worn jeans—held out one of the two bottles of lager he carried. “If you keep calling me Sergeant Tennison, I’m going to start calling you Mr. Wheeler.”
    â€œAnything but that.” Lee smiled. It was discombobulating to see Lucas’s sharp, strong features on a clean-shaven face, and not surrounded by a mad fall