Page 3 of Love on Tour
“Are you serious?”
“Never been more. Now go.” Austin pointed to the back room.
Christine thought,What the hell. Why not?She rummaged through the closet, moving aside his numerous T-shirts, trying not to notice the lace camisole, fishnet stockings, and miniskirt. Christine had never worn anything resembling this kind of clothing. And how does a woman leave without her skirt?
She never wore higher than a three-inch heel, but all Christine could find in her size was a pair of black five-inch strappy heels. Luckily, Austin was tall. She guessed at least six foot three. At five feet, seven inches, she wouldn’t tower over him. She’d never been overly graceful and was sure she wouldn’t be able to walk ten feet in these stilts, especially with a sore ankle. But it was the best she could do, and she wasn’t going to let a little pain stop her. She quickly wiped off the mascara that had streamed down her cheeks and reapplied. Then she ran a brush through her hair, glad she’d had a blowout earlier that day. The weather had zero humidity. Maybe, for once, her hair would stay straight. A quick reapplication of her lipstick and she was ready to go in seven minutes.
Austin nodded with a smile. “I love a lady who can get ready fast.”
They stepped off the bus and headed in through the arena’s back door.
“Didn’t you want to walk the red carpet tonight?” Christine asked.
“I did. But I was waiting on my sister. My time slot came and went before I could get here. Family first. I’ll catch it next time.”
A man came running up to them, grabbed Austin, and steered him toward the front of the arena.
“You’re late,” the guy said.
“Sorry, unavoidable. Chrissy, this is Matt Miller, my tour manager. Matt, this is Chrissy.”
Christine shuddered at the name Chrissy.
“It’s Christine,” she said, looking at Austin. “Please don’t call me Chrissy.”
The name Chrissy brought back the taunts from her high school bullies.Chrissy is a sissy; Chrissy is a sissy.How much time would it take to erase such a horrible memory? So far, it hadn’t been enough.
“Hello, Christine.” Matt stopped walking and shook her hand. He looked her straight in the eyes. She froze. His hand was warm and his gaze made her feel at ease. Time stood still. Everyone disappeared from the room. Matt seemed familiar, yet she knew she’d never met him. He was like coming home to a warm fire on a snowy night. This night was shaping up to be a very good one. She held on to his hand a little too long.
“Ahem.” Austin cleared his throat.
Christine released Matt.
Matt smiled and the warm feeling spread through Christine’s body.
“Let’s go,” Matt said, ushering them to their seats before returning backstage. The Bridgestone Arena had twenty thousand seats and was home to concerts and Nashville Predators games. It also hosted events like Disney on Ice and wrestling. But tonight, it held the country music video awards. The floor seats held country music’s top artists and their dates. Farther back on the floor were industry executives. The middle tier was a mix of fans and industry people, and the upper tier wasalmost all fans. They screamed loudly each time they recognized a favorite artist.
The countdown to the show had started. The emcee was at T minus forty-five seconds. Christine looked around. She’d never been this close to so many artists at once. From A-list artists in cowboy hats and bell-bottom pants, to newcomers, every artist was on display. Christine watched them casually chat with each other, just like normal people, and wondered what millionaire singers talked about.
“Look at me and smile,” Austin said when they were seated.
“Why?”
“Just do it,” he said in a firm voice.
She did.
“Okay. Just checking that you don’t have anything in your teeth.”
“Why does that matter?”
“Because you’re probably going to have a close-up on TV, and it would help if you didn’t have broccoli in your teeth.”
“I don’t want to be on TV. I’m a behind-the-scenes kind of person,” she said, looking around at all the cameras. Some hung from the rafters, others were attached to camera operators, and still more were on cables moving around the arena.
“Too late. Smile.”
She looked up. Her face was magnified a gazillion times on the giant screens gracing both sides of the stage. She and Austin gave big camera-ready smiles.
