Free Beautiful Music by Paige Bennett

 
    “Good day to all you Monday morning commuters. This is Mike Randall at WJRX, your source for up to the minute news and traffic information. It’s a typical slow morning on the Ramborough Throughway, and...”
    Jack Harris punched the button, abruptly turning off the radio. The announcer’s energetic delivery was setting his teeth on edge, especially since he had come again to a halt on the parking lot that was that aforementioned throughway. He glanced at the car clock and swore. He was now more than twenty minutes late for his meeting with the owners of the high-rise office tower his company was building.
    Knowing it was fruitless, he nonetheless leaned on his horn. “Fucking get a move on!” he yelled to no one but himself. His blood pressure was rising, and he felt the beginnings of a headache that he knew would bloom into a full blown brain crusher if he had to spend much more time in this traffic jam. Hoping to find some music to maybe lose himself in, he punched the radio back on.
    “…and on the entertainment front, YouTube sensation Nyree Grant, following the triumphant release of her first album, is doing a ten city concert tour and will be appearing in our own fair city during May and June at The Crystal Lounge on Duke Avenue.
    “You may recall the amazing story of her meteoric rise when impresario Oscar Santori discovered her on YouTube...”
    Jack remembered the singer all right. He’d heard her first when a friend had forwarded a link to her video on YouTube. There she’d been, all five foot eight of curvy African America beauty. And that voice! It had washed over him, making his pulse race and his breathing get rapid. It was the first time he could say for sure that he’d experienced lust at first sight.
    Since then, she had factored in more than one licentious dream, often leaving him breathless and spent upon wakening.
    He was excited to know she’d be in his town soon. What an opportunity. He’d been working nearly non-stop for months now, and he was due for a little bit of R&R. After all, he was the boss. If he couldn’t delegate some responsibilities to his team and get himself a night off, then something was wrong.
    He made a mental note to have his assistant get him a ticket for Nyree’s opening night. Damn it all, he was going to meet his dream woman, if it was the last thing he did.
     
    ****
     
    This was the night Nyree had waited for ever since Oscar had stumbled upon her video on YouTube and dragged her into the limelight—a live audience gathered just for her!
    The video had been a spur of the moment lark made on a dare from her best friend Sherice after the two of them had spent an evening finishing off a bottle or two of Chardonnay.
    “You know you’ve got a freaky amazing voice. Show the world girlfriend!”
    That’s all it took. Nyree had belted out the old blue’s standard and, well, the rest was history now. She was well on her way to having the career she had dreamed of since she’d hit puberty.
    If only other aspects of her life were as easy to bring to fruition. For, as attractive as Nyree knew herself to be, she hadn’t had a lot of luck in the romance department. Oh sure, she’d dated—a lot, in fact. But she hadn’t found that perfect someone who stirred the kind of passion she knew resided deep inside of her.
    She pushed through the curtain that sealed off the entrance to the dressing room area of the club and made her way to the stage where the piano and upright bass players were already setting up. They’d be joined by a guitarist to round out the little trio—a perfect accompaniment to Nyree’s pure sultry voice.
    Nyree spotted the man the moment she stepped up to the microphone, and a rush of pure animal desire swept through her curvaceous body. He was just her type: tall, nicely built, seasoned a little by life. His eyes connected with hers and a slow knowing smile appeared on his face. It was as if he could sense the turmoil of passion that he had