Free The Winner Takes It All (Love in L.A. Book 3) by Audrey Harte Page A

flew open as he escaped into the bathroom.
    “Hey! No fair, that is cheating,” she called as he laughed and closed the bathroom door. Just then her phone alarm started ringing. She reached for her phone to turn it off and saw that she had an unread text message.
     
    Alex: Since I haven’t heard from you, yet, I’m assuming things are going well. Crossing my fingers and toes for you! Kill ‘em dead like I know you can! Love you
     
    She smiled and texted him back.
     
    Annie: Thanks for the message. Love you, too. :) New York is great so far! Can’t wait to see more of it.
     
    She did some warm-ups and sang through her next audition piece. Casey didn’t take long in the shower, and as soon as he was done, she jumped in to take her turn. He told her that he was skipping breakfast and going to meet up with the guys to run through their number. By the time she got out of the shower, he was just brushing his teeth and getting ready to leave. As she was wrapping a towel around herself, he wiped his mouth and hands and then came over and circled his arms around her in a big hug, resting his chin on her head. Her arms automatically slid around his waist as she snuggled close to him. They stood like that for a minute, just holding each other.
    Finally Casey kissed her head and gently pushed back from her, but put his hands on either side of her face and raised her lips up to his. He gave her a soft, tender kiss, then looked down into her eyes and smiled, his green eyes twinkling at her.
    “You make me so happy, princess.”
    Annie couldn’t help beaming up at him. “Likewise, mister. Break a leg today. I know you’re going to be ridiculously awesome out there.”
    “Of course I will. I’ve got my number one good luck charm here with me. Can’t lose.” He winked at her, kissed her nose and gently chucked her chin with his finger. “I’ll see you later?”
    Annie nodded and leaned up on her tippytoes to give him another kiss and hugged him hard. Then she let him turn to leave and swatted his backside. “Go get ‘em, tiger.”
    Erin joined her for breakfast before they wandered over to the auditorium and found seats towards center front. They had checked the schedule and seen that the dance groups were going first, but the vocalists wouldn’t be called until the end of the day. Casey’s crew was performing third, but they were nowhere to be seen, so she figured they were still finishing up their last minute rehearsal.
    Twisting in her seat, Annie took a good look around, getting to see the vast array of talented performers waiting for their chance to prove that they were worth a five million dollar Vegas contract. She smiled warmly at a little girl with curly brown pigtails, wearing a white lace dress, who was sitting in between an attractive couple immediately behind her.
    “Hi there,” Annie said to the little girl. “What’s your name?”
    The little girl smiled, but then turned her face in, looking extremely bashful. The couple laughed and the father patted the little girl’s knee.
    “This is Lara, and she is very shy at the moment, but usually very outgoing otherwise,” he said with a wink.
    “Aw, that’s okay. How old is she?”
    “Just turned five this month.”
    “Wow, big girl!” Erin said as she grinned at Lara.
    Annie smiled and waved at the little girl. “Hi Lara, my name is Annie, and this is my friend, Erin. We’re both here to sing. What about you?”
    The little girl peeked up at them, making both Annie and Erin sigh and giggle about how cute she was. After hiding her face in her dad’s side for another minute, Lara finally ventured another peek at them and then nodded shyly. “Yes, I am going to sing Somewhere Out There , ‘cuz it’s my favorite song, and it makes my mommy cry, but she says that they are happy tears. So that’s what I’m going to sing.”
    “Oh, I love that song!” Annie exclaimed as she flashed Lara a brilliant smile, making the little girl blush and giggle