“Are you OK?” JD questioned, looking worried, and she hurried to assure him that she was fine.
“I’m in the 5thCircle Guardians MC, along with Lauren’s uncle,” I told him. “We’re providing protection for her until this guy is caught.”
He studied me for a moment or two, his frown deepening by the minute. Just when I thought we were going to have a problem with him, he relaxed his expression and offered up a handshake.
“I’m JD, the building custodian here. What can I do to help?”
“Just keep your eyes open and let me know if you spot anybody hanging around who doesn’t belong here. We’re gonna have one of our guys with her anytime she’s in the building. Tony is the one assigned to watch her today.”
“He won’t interfere with any of the other artists using the studio,” Lauren assured him.
JD nodded, then patted her arm. “It’ll be fine. Keeping you safe from your ex is what matters. Tara’s out with the flu, but I’ll make sure she knows to stay alert when she comes back.”
“She’s the receptionist,” Lauren explained.
“I’d feel a hell of a lot better if this building was more secure,” I told him. “Lauren mentioned that people are given a code for the keypad entry to get in after hours. Can the front door be kept locked during the day, and everybody can just use the keypad to get in until this gets resolved?”
JD looked thoughtful, then nodded. “I’ll have to run it by my aunt – she owns the place – but I don’t think that will be a problem. Once she gives me the OK, I’ll get the codes distributed to people who have space booked, and get the building locked down.”
I thanked him, and he showed us the emergency exits, which were locked on the outside, and hardwired with alarms that sounded when the doors were opened from the inside.
“The only other door into this place is the overhead door in the back of the building. It opens into the supply room so we can bring in deliveries, or big pieces of equipment, but it’s kept locked at all times.”
We traded cell phone numbers, and I introduced him to Tony when he arrived. JD offered to get Tony a folding chair to use, and they headed toward the supply room.
“It’s almost time for my session to start,” Lauren pointed out. “Let me show you the smaller recording booths that I rent to do the audiobooks.”
I followed her down the hall, and she stopped at a door labeled with the number four. She opened it, flicking on the light switch as she stepped inside.
“This is the one I’m using today, but they’re all the same,” she said, placing her purse on the desk. I glanced around the small space, taking note of the acoustic foam panels adhered to the walls and ceiling to dampen the sound, and the microphone attached to an adjustable arm that jutted out from the wall above the desk.
“So, this is where the magic happens.”
Lauren paused in the act of removing her tablet from her bag, giving me a smirk as she quietly murmured, “I thought that was my bedroom?”
I chuckled, then closed the door behind me, since Lauren wanted to keep our arrangement private.
“That was definitely magical,” I agreed, stepping closer and pulling her in for a kiss. Long moments later, I released herand reluctantly took a step back. Her face was flushed, and her lips were slightly swollen. She looked sexy as fuck.
“I’d better let you get to work,” I said, knowing that she was anxious about wasting time on her booth rental.
“Yeah,” she agreed huskily, turning toward the desk to pull more things from her purse. No wonder the damned bag was so big. It was packed with headphones, an insulated water bottle, a tube of lip balm, and…what the hell wasthat?
“Uh, babe, why did you bring a fuckin’ vibrator to work? If you’re feeling a little needy this morning, I’d be happy to help with that.” I moved in close, taking hold of her hips and pulling her back against me until the swell of her ass rested over my zipper. “I could bend you over this desk right now, and with all this soundproofing in here, nobody would hear you scream my name.”
She giggled as she squirmed out of my hold. “I use it on my neck, and the vibration relaxes the laryngeal muscles in my throat, you pervert.”
“Really?” I asked skeptically.
“Yes,really,” she insisted. “It helps with vocal fatigue. There are all sorts of tricks of the trade.” She picked up a baggie filled with hard, plastic straws in various widths. “For instance, straw phonation is an exercise that involves vocalizing through a straw to ease vocal strain and enhance voice control.”
She picked up the lip balm. “And by using this, I decrease the possibility of lip-smacking sounds when I speak.”
“Keeps ‘em soft for kissing, too,” I observed, making her smile.
“That, too,” she agreed. “I do vocal warmups before each session, just like you do before exercising. I hum, do some deepbreathing for diaphragm control, lip trills to relax my lips and facial muscles,” she demonstrated that, and it looked a lot like she was blowing raspberries just like we did when we were little kids. “I hum the scales to help with pitch; I even say tongue twisters to improve articulation.”
I had no idea how much was involved with voice work. It was a helluva lot more complicated than just reading something out loud into a microphone.
