Page 13 (1/1)

"I certainly hope so," Cade said, trying to keep his tone light and carefree "So what do you do here? Are you on tour with Daph? One of her backup singers?"

Kylie shook her head "I can’t sing as much as I croak," she told hiestured at the boxes and boxes of makeup, more than any sane person could wear in a lifetie, and tonight she’s going to want to look extra-special for the press, so I’ave hi to do, at least"

She smoothed her hands down her dark capris, and he realized she was, in fact, nervous "Want a drink? I can get you one from the bar," he asked

Kylie tilted her head at hiave a small shake of her blond mane with the little flecks of color "I’m on the job, so I shouldn’t drink But you can have one on h," Cade said, and downed the rest of his bourbon He wasn’t ht feltoff and he wanted the liquid courage "How long until the show’s over, do you think?"

She tilted her head, and he was struck again by how pretty she was "Let’s see, she’s singing ‘Hopeless’ right now, so she has about three s until she’s done, then there’s the encore, and then she’ll pop back here so I can fix her up, and then she has press Then lanced at his watch It was already past ten thirty at night Not that he was going to go to bed early or anything, but it sounded as if Daphne was pretty ht Why had she asked to see him?

But at least she had said she’d see him Cade shook his head and took another drink of his bourbon For the last eight ot answers fro, he’d take them

Kylie fiddled with the latch on one of her cases and then glanced over at hih thick lashes "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course"

"It’s nosy"

He s to flirt with hi how much he liked that idea? "I don’tyou?"

Thatwasn’t what he’d expected her to ask "She is She asked ht Had her assistant send me tickets"

"Ah" Kylie shook her head as if to clear it "Right I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to see you"

But she didn’t look convinced In fact, it looked as if she were avoiding his gaze Cade’s stomach clenched and he wanted to ask Kylie if Daphne was still having problems But he also didn’t want to force Kylie to choose between her employer and him, so he simply drained his bourbon and went back to the bar for another

And he waited for Daphne He was already here, after all Might as well see what shook out

By the tie to indicate that things rapping up outside, Cade had downed a few tooDaphne made hilass again, then set it on the bar No ht, really She was lively and feminine and cheery all the tis with a polite smile, and didn’t seem bothered by the fact that they were around her and she couldn’t--or wouldn’t--partake

Why couldn’t Daphne be more like her? Settled, content, and fun to be around? He was drawn to Kylie repeatedly throughout the night, but had to force hi her when it was clear she was one of Daphne’s crew and on the job But he liked her Just her warm, friendly presence here soothed hi a little rattled overall

People began to flood through the back doors and Cade got to his feet, straightening his tie and then shoving his hands into the worn pockets of his sport jacket He tried to catch a gli into the roos and towels being flung about made it hard for him to decipher ho

"Everyone out," an assistant bellowed "Everyone clear the rooe! Go wait in the hall Press, that includes you"

Just like that, the crowd filed toward the door Even the bartender got up from the bar and left Cade moved forward to Kylie’s side, because he didn’t want to be shuffled out with the rest of the crew He was a personal friend, damn it Daphne’d invited him He wasn’t part of the riffraff