Gina rubbed my back. “Still it would be nice to be rid of stalker Leo, huh? I’m sure Knox would understand if you needed a break from that.”
Sure, it sucked working with an ex I despised, but I wasn’t one to run away from my problems. And I hadn’t done anything wrong. If anyone should be looking elsewhere for a job it should be him.
“I love this,” I said, gesturing around our tiny dressing room. “Sure, Auden’s great. But nobody packs ‘em in or gets a crowd fired up the way Knox does.”
That man bled sex and charisma. A potent combination when it came to ticket and album sales. He was topping the list of country’s top-earning artists for a reason, and I was proud to say I’d been along for the whole gut-wrenching, scream inducing roller-coaster ride.
“That’s true.” Gina jumped up. “Well, I’m gonna see if I can track Chris down.”
Chris was the third member of our little back-up trio. We usually sang harmony and the crowd ate it up. It had taken a while to perfect it, but after thousands of hours of rehearsal, we had it down.
“When you find her ask if—”
A knock on the door prevented me from asking about the vitamins my friend was going to pick up for me at the store.
“Come in,” I called, expecting Knox. He usually poked his head in to check on us before the show. If there were any last minute changes to the set he liked to fill us in himself so there was no confusion once we hit the stage.
Auden half-opened the door, popping his head inside. “Hey, mind if I come in?”
Gina winked at me before she said, “I was just leaving, Auden. Come on in.” She patted him on the back as she passed. “Good luck tonight, not that you’ll need it.”
“Thanks, Gina. You too.”
“Hey,” I said, smiling as I stood.
We hadn’t been alone together since our little escape to his tour bus and I didn’t know whether he was going to give me the ‘friends’ speech, so I braced myself, preparing to be as cool as possible.
“What brings you by?”
He opened his arms and I stepped into them. Okay, we were off to a good start.
As he held me, I realized for the first time he was a few inches shorter than Knox, with more of a swimmer’s body. Knox loved hitting the gym and had the six-pack to prove it. Now why the hell was I comparing Knox and Auden?
He curled his hands around my face before kissing my lips. “I have some friends in for the concert tonight. I was hoping you’d come out with us for a drink after the show.”
“Oh.” Meeting the friends was a step forward, wasn’t it? “Uh, sure. Sounds like fun.” Another tap on the door made me tense up. Maybe Leo had spotted Auden come in and wanted to give us a hard time. “Come in.”
Knox stuck his head in the door but his smile slipped as soon as he saw Auden.
Auden threaded his hand through mine, bringing it to his lips as he faced his boss. “Hey, man. What’s up?”
“Uh, I was gonna ask you the same question.” He frowned. “Don’t you have a show to get ready for? You’re on in twenty.”
Auden smiled, revealing a slightly crooked incisor that I thought added more character to his smile. “We’re good to go, Knox. All fired up about tonight, to be honest. I’ve got some friends in town for the show and was just asking Cece if she’d like to join us for a drink later.”
Knox’s eyes drifted to mine and I noticed a subtle shift in his demeanour. His hand curled into a fist and he appeared to be clenching his teeth. What crawled up his ass? I thought he liked Auden. Why would he have a problem with us being together?
“Is that right?” Knox asked. “Nice. Well, Auden, I didn’t come here to see you. Mind if I have a word with Cece?”
“Oh yeah, sure.” Auden brushed a kiss across my cheek before he said, “See you later, beautiful.”
I waited until Auden left before I gave Knox the stink eye. “What’s your problem? You don’t like Auden or what?”
He shrugged. “I barely know the kid. He’s got a decent voice, but so do a lot of people.”
I didn’t know why he was trying to downplay Auden’s talent, but it pissed me off. He was also referring to him as a kid a lot. He was a few years younger than me, but I was hardly robbing the cradle, if that’s what he was implying.
“His voice is better than decent and you know it.” I stepped forward, invading his space. Most people were intimidated by Knox but I was one of the few people who wasn’t afraid to call bullshit when I heard him spewing it. “He has more talent in his little finger,” I said, holding my pinky up for effect, “Than everyone else who wanted this gig combined.”
