Once Upon a Sure Thing (Heartbreakers #2)

I shudder. That sounds like a terrible punishment.

“Say you’re sorry, Aunt Ally. I don’t want us banished. Get down on your hands and knees if you have to,” Chloe advises in a desperate plea.

I bat my eyes at Samantha. “I promise not to stuff my face into the dessert.”

Samantha smiles and nods crisply. “Good. You all deserve a treat now.” She doles out chocolate peanut butter balls to each of us, and I moan in pleasure as one melts on my tongue.

As we put the finishing touches on the bread pudding, I find myself humming the audition tune.

Mackenzie cocks her head. “Hey, Ally. What’s that you’re singing?”

I don’t answer right away. I shoot her an impish little grin then wiggle my eyebrows.

“Want to hear something cool?”

Mackenzie and Sam say yes.

I take a deep breath and decide to tell them my good news. I know these ladies well. They’re practically family. “You know how Miller finally decided to have auditions to find a new Garfunkel to his Simon?”

They both nod.

I grin, ready to burst. “I submitted an audition, and he went crazy for it.”

Mackenzie’s eyes flicker like a switch has flipped on. “Oh my God, you must be Honey Lavender!”

“Shh,” I say, even though the guys aren’t here. I nod too, pleased that my nom de plume has traveled all the way to Mackenzie’s ears.

“He can’t stop telling Campbell how psyched he is to hear her sing in person,” Mackenzie says.

That intel thrills me. “Here’s my plan,” I say, then give them the details of what I’ve been cooking up.

Samantha squeals. “I can’t wait to hear how it all goes down.”

Later at the party, Miller tugs me aside, a wicked grin on his face. Butterflies take off in a pod race across my entire being. “I found someone amazing to sing with me. She’s going to come in to meet with me on Monday.”

“That’s great,” I say, giving my best cool-and-calm-while-I’m-dancing-inside reaction.

“Any chance you can come to the audition, listen to us, and give me some feedback? I’d love your opinion, and it’ll be in your studio.”

A cough bursts from my throat. My skin flames red hot. Since I haven’t yet learned how to clone myself, or spirit-clone myself, for that matter, I give a quick shrug. “I’d love to, but I’m busy then.”

He furrows his brow. “But I didn’t give you a time.”

Oops.

I swallow down a gotcha stone, but then call on my best warrior princess confidence. “I know, silly kitten. I’m busy all day Monday. I have to work on a Casey Stern novel, and the publisher wants me to record at the in-house studios.”

He heaves a sigh but then smiles brightly. “I’ll ask Miles to join Campbell and me, since he’s in town.”

He strolls over to his younger brother, and all my nerves crawl up my throat and threaten to throttle me. Now I have to perform my “ta-da, it’s me” routine in front of Miller and his two brothers.

I could use a spirit clone for sure.





Chapter 6





Ally



A little makeup is all a cloned girl needs.

Okay, maybe a wig too. Definitely some sexy clothes.

Fortunately, my brother’s wife, Macy, is a genius when it comes to makeup and va-va-voom outfits. She’s a makeup artist extraordinaire, and now she’s my secret weapon since she’s giving me smoldering eyes and pouty lips. The blonde glam wig is perfection too, with its vixen style and bangs that make my eyes a little mysterious as I peek out from under the hair.

But Chloe keeps shaking her head as she gets ready for school on Monday, making peanut butter toast. “Aunt Ally, I don’t know how you think you’re going to trick Miller.”

From my perch at the kitchen counter, I hold up a finger to correct her. “I’m not trying to trick him. I’m trying to get him to see me in a new light.”

She shoots me a questioning look. “But he likes your light.”

I shake my head as Macy dips into her bag for more makeup. “He likes my light as a friend. I want him to see me as a singer that can match his style.”

Chloe shrugs. “I think he likes you for you.”

Oh, to be eleven again.

Wait. That sounds awful. Eleven was rough. So was twelve, thirteen, fourteen, and all ages through to seventeen.

“I know he does, but I want him to see me as someone he can sing with.”

As she slings her backpack on her shoulder, Chloe looks me over from head to toe. “So, it’s like a costume.”

I smile, glad that she gets what I’m doing. “Yes! I’m playing a role. I want Miller to see who I can be, and that I’m not only the type of woman who can sing ‘Amazing Grace,’ but I can also sing ‘Need You Now’ with him, and tunes like ‘Love Me Like Crazy.’”

“Good luck, but don’t forget Dr. Jane says sometimes you just need to be yourself,” Chloe says as she reaches for the door handle. “Bye, Aunt Macy.”

“Wait,” I call out, then turn to Macy. “I need to walk her to the bus stop on the corner. Be right back.”

“Of course. Go.”

I pop up, grab a jacket and a scarf, and head down three flights of stairs to take Chloe to the bus stop. Her bus arrives quickly, and I give her a peck on the cheek.

“Bye, Aunt Ally,” Chloe says, and it hurts my heart the littlest bit that we’re both aunts to her. Yes, Macy has been a part of her life, but I’m the one she lives with, and I take care of her. I’ve effectively become her mother. Yet at the end of the day, I’m still Aunt Ally to her, and the woman doing my mascara is her aunt too.

And she’s my niece.

My niece who I adore.

Even though I love her like a daughter.

“Love you, Monkey. Have an amazing day.”

Once she’s on the bus, I scurry out of the chilly December air and back to my apartment, where Macy puts the finishing touches on my new look. Like I’m a science fair exhibit, she gestures to me. “Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Honey Lavender, the sultriest of torch singers.”

I unzip my sweatshirt and toss it to the floor as she guides me to the full-length mirror in my bedroom. I do look like a woman who fits the name.

The push-up bra Macy told me to wear has lifted the girls higher, while the scoop-neck blouse reveals the curves of said ta-tas. My makeup makes me look all kinds of foxy, with kohl-lined eyes and thick lashes that go on for miles. My red lipstick could stop a truck.

“Damn,” I say with a whistle.

“Damn, indeed. And on that note, I need to get my butt back to Brooklyn,” Macy says, as she turns around and picks up her makeup bag. “Kirby has to go to work, and I have a newborn to take care of.”

“Thanks for coming out here to transform me.”

She winks. “You look perfectly sexy and sinful.”

She rushes out, and seconds later my phone buzzes with a text from her.



Macy: By the way, you absolutely look like Honey von Trapp.





Ally: Ha! But it’s Honey Lavender.





Macy:You do know that sounds like a pen name? You should use that to narrate romance novels.





Ally: I’m trying. But today, I’m trying the costume look.





Macy: Meow, Honey. You should save that get-up for Halloween and go as a sexy . . . anything :)





Ally: Why thank you…I’ve been looking for an “anything” costume.





Macy: Also, I’m soooooo sorry we’re moving. I feel terrible since it’s all our fault that you’re ditching your Keds for the vamp look.





Ally: Stop! Stop! It’s not your fault! This is a huge opportunity for Kirby in Boston, and I will be just fine without the regular sweet-as-pie Zimmerman duo videos.





Macy: You will? arches skeptical brow





Ally: I promise. That’s why I’m Honey Von Trapping it today. To find the next thing that’ll give me little extra pocket money. And because I want to.





Macy: With your pipes and now your smoldering eyes, you’re irresistibly sexy and sinful, and I know you’ll sound like a million bucks. But maybe try to remember whether you’re Honey Von Trapp or Honey Lavender, ya know :)?





Ally: By the way, I picked Lavender for you. Since you insisted on giving me the lavender streak in the first place.