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CHAPTER ONE

‘WHAT DO YOU THINK?’ Unable to suppress the disagreeable sense of disappointlanced up at the stage at Rick—his ‘partner in cri back and forth in his worn Cuban-heeled boots The auditions weren’t exactly going well

Rick abruptly stopped pacing to spear an exasperated hand through his dull gold hair Studying Jake, he snapped, ‘What do I think? I think that Rosie Rhys-Jones, or whatever her nah God knows Marcie is a hard act to follow, but Rosie…’

‘Josie’

‘Josie Whatever…’ Scowling, Rick folded his muscular arms across his leather waistcoat and continued ‘The wo folk with more money than taste, but she’s not lead vocalist material and that’s a fact Bottoers we’ve heard so far fronting a potentially great band like Blue Sky—can you?’

In answer, Jake stared off into the distance Mentally reviewing the past few auditions, he couldn’t help but agree He returned his arresting blue gaze to his friend and the characteristic dihted a rare smile appeared at the side of his mouth

‘You’re right, of course We’ll just have to keep on looking’

Jake rarely elaborated Not unless he absolutely had to But he knew that when it ca a decision ultih Rick had been in the ht of his career Jake had been one of the most successful record producers in the business—he knew that the other ement

‘Is there anyone left outside to see?’ Yawning as he rose to his feet, Jake stretched his arh above his head The movement made his shirt ride up several inches to reveal a taut flat stohs, currently encased in faded dark blue denim

At the sae and ambled across the dusty wooden floor to join hiraveyard out there’ he joked

He feigned an exaggerated shiver, his beht about conducting auditions in an obscure village hall deep in the heart of rural England But Jake knew that doing things this way at least afforded them a certain amount of privacy that wasn’t always possible in London

The music press and tabloids were always keen to knohat he was up to He was the ht several acts froht of his career he’d been caught up in a destructive scandal that had cut short his seely unstoppable rise to the top when it hit the headlines After that Jake had dropped out of producing and pro bands to lick his wounds, reassess his life and reflect on what he ht do instead