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“Excellent,” the server says. “I’ll get those up for you in just a moment. Did you want to order anything from the bar menu?”
“No, thank you,” Zane says.
The women both shake their heads.
But I raise my hand. “Yeah. We’ll have a large pizza, pepperoni and mushrooms.”
“Perfect. That will take about fifteen to twenty minutes.”
“Perfect,” I echo.
“I didn’t know you were hungry, man,” Zane says.
I force a smile. “There are a lot of things you don’t know.”
I’m not hungry, but the pizza will take time, and maybe by then Maddie and Bree will have come to their senses. Or, more likely, Zane will get bored and get off elsewhere.
I’m determined to keep this from happening however I can.
“Jesse,” Maddie says, “can I speak to you privately?”
I gape at her. “Nope.”
She huffs.
Does this woman not know what’s good for her?
Then I look to Brianna.
She hasn’t said anything, and she’s looking down at the table.
She doesn’t want this.
My sweet little sister reallydidtalk her into it.
I can’t wrap my head around any of this.
“So, ladies,” Zane says, “tell me about yourselves.”
I’m no lady, but I reply anyway. “Maddie is my little sister. She’s twenty-two, and she’s missing her last semester ofcollegeto be here on the tour with me.”
Maddie scowls at me.
“And Brianna is our neighbor. She’s been a friend of Maddie’s since we moved to the western slope of Colorado, which was a while ago. She’s a cowgirl. A rancher. Works with her father.”
“I got that vibe from the boots.” Zane smiles.
“I think he askedus, Jess,” Maddie says.
Again, Brianna says nothing.
“I’d rather hear about you,” Maddie says to Zane.
“Sure. Most of what you read in the gossip rags about me has no merit at all. I trained as a concert pianist. Jett and I went to grad school together. That’s where we met. He’s a classical singer. When neither of us got anywhere in the classics, we decided to try rock and roll, and we were discovered by a woman who became our benefactor.”
“That’s exactly how it was for Rory,” Maddie says. “She wanted an opera career too, but it didn’t work out for her.”
“And you?” he asks me.
