"Roberts, Nora - Once More With Feeling" - читать интересную книгу автора (Roberts Nora)

They had been created for the spotlights . She knew she'd sparkle on
stage. It felt odd wearing blood red and silver sequins in Wayne's
5rightly lit, elegant room with mirrors tossing her image back at her
from all angles. But then, she remembered, it was an odd business.

Raven stared at the woman in the mirrors and listened with half an ear
to Wayne's mumbling as he tucked and adjusted. Her mind could not help
but wander. Six years before, she'd been a terrified kid with an album
shooting off the top of the charts and a whirlwind concert tour to
face. It had all happened so fast: the typical overnight success not
counting the years she had struggled in smoke choked dives. Still,
she'd been young to make a name for herself and determined to prove she
wasn't a one-shot fluke. The romance with Brand Carstairs, while she
had still been fresh, hot news, hadn't hurt hex career. For a brief
time it had made her the crown princess of popular music. For more
than six months their faces appeared on every magazine cover,
dominating the newsstands.

They'd laughed about it, Raven remembered , laughed at the silly,
predictable headlines: "Raven and Brand Plan Love Nest"; "Williams and
Carstairs Make Their Own Music."

Brand had complained about his billing. They had ignored the constant
flare and flash of cameras because they had been happy and saw little
else but each other. Then, when he had gone, the pictures and
headlines had continued for a long time-the cold, cruel words that
flashed the intimacies of private hurts for the public eye. Raven no
longer looked at them.

Over the months and years, she had grown from the crown princess to a
respected performer and celebrity in her own right. That's what's
important, she reminded herself. Her career, her life. She'd learned
about priorities the hard way.

Raven slipped into the glistening black jumpsuit and found it fit like
a second skin. Even her quiet breathing sent sequins flashing.

Light streaked out from it at the slightest movement. It was, she
decided after a critical survey, blisteringly sexy.

"I'd better not gain a quarter of an ounce before the tour," she
remarked, turning to view her slim, sleek profile. Thoughtfully, she
gathered her hair in her hand and tossed it behind her back.

"Wayne..." He was kneeling at her feet, adjusting the hem. His answer
was a grunt. "Wayne, I don't know if I have the nerve to wear this
thing."

"This thing," he said mildly as he rose to pluck at the sleeve, "is
fantastic."