Chapter 26

Caleb nodded. "And why you want it." He chewed, swallowed and shrugged. "Sorry. My social skills are a little rusty right now, so I'm sorry if anything I say offends you."

"No, no, no. Not at all." She took a swallow of her iced tea, hoping the chilled liquid would cool off her flaming hormones that seemed to ignite when she was within ten feet of this man. Great. Just great.

"So let's have it. Was this your goal in life?"

Jasmine shrugged. "I think so."

She told him about singing at parties with her cousins, getting her parents to drag her to every country music and country/rock concert and appearance within fifty miles. How she'd bought her first guitar from a second hand store and taught herself to play. How, at the insistence of her parents, she'd enrolled in the University of Texas at Austin but spent every spare minute looking for gigs at every little hole in the wall club in Austin.

She told him about the nights she sat outside by herself, writing music and practicing it.