Cade laughed and slipped his arm around her shoulders and led her back towards the interview room. “We actually do. But if you’re looking for any brown, you can forget about it, we gave them explicit instructions to remove those,” he said as helaughed.
Coming back through the heavy doors, Zoey spotted Jude talking to Richard. Cade dropped his arm from Zoey’s shoulders and stepped back as she beelined over to Jude and slipped her arms around hiswaist.
“There’s my girl,” Jude said. “I was hoping you’d get hereearly.”
“Zoey,” Richard said as he waved over a tall, beautiful blonde Zoey immediately recognized from the covers of several fashion magazines. “I’d like you to meet DonnaTrevose.”
Donna smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Zoey. Jude has told me a lotaboutyou.”
“Oh? He has?” Zoey said, wondering why this model was hanging around her boyfriend. She tried not to feel jealous, but Donna was everything she wasn’t—tall, slim, stunning. Zoey felt dumpy standing next to her when just before she felt confident. She hated feelinglikethat.
“Excuse me,” Donna said before runningafterCade.
“I needed someone to get on the road with Silverlight and make sure all their needs were being met,” Richard said. “Things are really beginning to come together now, Zoey. You have no idea how grateful I am to you for your help. Donna is looking for a career change and being my niece, of course I said Iwouldhelp.”
Zoey kept an eye on Donna as she caught up to Cade, grabbed his arm, and slipped it around her shoulders. Last time she checked, that wasn’t very professional behavior. Richard must have been watching too because he let out a loud sigh and went afterDonna.
“I get the feeling she’s the kind of girl who will do anything to get ahead,”shesaid.
“Nah, she’s not bad, hon. Relax,” Jude said. “Don’t bejealous.”
“I’m not jealous,” she said, not caring that she was lying. “Is she the one who put together theshowtent?”
Jude laughed. “You heard about that? Man, you wouldn’t believe the things I’ve seen this past month. I wish you were here with me.” He kissed her forehead and stepped closer as he fitted her against him perfectly with his armsaroundher.
“I wish I could too, but I’m in school. Once I’m done or if you’re on tour during a break, then I’ll join you," she said before sighing and relaxing against him. "I’m just being sensitive, I guess. It’s been a long time since I’veseenyou.”
Donna returned to Zoey and Jude and cleared her throat loudly until they turned to look at her. “Well, aren’t you two sweet?” she said. “Jude, Rolling Stone wants to take one last photo of the band before the meet andgreet.”
“I’ll be right back, okay?” Jude said to Zoey. “Don’tmove.”
Jude joined the rest of the band as a photographer started shooting them against a silverbackdrop.
“He really loves you, you know,” Donna said. “I know a good thing when I see it, and he is a good thing. You might want to watchyourback.”
Donna disappeared into the crowd, leaving Zoey confused.What the hell did she mean by that?With her mind racing, she replayed what Donna said over and over, but none of it made sense. Deep down she knew she shouldn’t trust her, but she knew she could trust Jude, and that was all thatmattered.
* * *
After spendingthe weekend with Jude in Vegas, Zoey returned home feeling miserable. With all the ups that she got from being with Jude, not being with him felt even worse. Time was dragging without him around, and that was made even worse when he stoppedcalling.
The first month of his tour, he called almost every day. Even if it was just a quick call to say he loved her. But after Vegas, she only heard from him once, and that was right after she left. With him on the road, she had no way of reaching him, and there were too many hours in a day for her to obsess over not knowing what he wasdoing.
She needed a distraction. A big distraction. So she called her old boss atTheRoxy.
“Hey Steve, it’s Zoey Ackerman. I don’t know if you remember me. I worked for you over thesummer.”
“Of course I remember you. You’re working with Richard Black now,right?”
“Yes, I am while I’m going to school. I have some extra time on my hands and I was wondering if you’d takemeback.”
“Actually, I just had an opening and I think you might be perfect for it. How’d you like to book bandsforme?”
“Really? That would be awesome,”shesaid.
“Mostly you’d have to listen to tapes they send in and decide if they’re good enough for a spot. If you find any other bands you think would be a good fit, you can approach them, too. This probably works hand-in-hand with what you’re doing for Black, and it might take up more time than you want, but I think you’d be agreatfit.”
“I love listening to new bands and finding good ones. This will be great. I could use something that'll take a lot of my time. ThanksSteve.”