Page 59 of Love on Tour
“I don’t know. I hope so, but it peaked on the charts so late in the voting season it’s hard to tell.”
Austin sauntered in fifteen minutes before the awards started. Phoebe looked regal on his arm. The dress was a few inches longer than what Phoebe usually wore. She looked like a runway model. Austin saw them and led Phoebe to their table.
“Chrissy girl. Let me see that dress!” Austin reached down to pull Christine to her feet. He let out a slow whistle and turned her around in a circle. “Damn.”
Christine beamed.
“The miracle of Spanx,” Phoebe said, a grimace altering her face.
Christine chose to ignore her.
Austin reached out his hand to Julianna. “Good to see you again. You also look gorgeous this evening. Then again, when don’t you look gorgeous?” He stared a little too long, his gaze dropping below her neck before reaching her eyes.
“Thank you, Austin. As do you,” Julianna said.
Phoebe gave a loud throat clear.
“Huh? Right. I’ve got to go hunt down Matt. He’s holding our seats. Come by our table later,” Austin said, stealing another glance at Julianna.
Christine’s stomach danced a jig at the sound of Matt’s name. She watched Austin and Phoebe walk to their table. She saw the back of Matt’s head but couldn’t tell if Cait was with him.
“Is it my imagination or did Austin just flirt with me?” Julianna asked.
“He flirted. Wish you could have seen Phoebe’s eyes. They were throwing darts.”
“At me?” Julianna’s eyes widened.
“Nope. At Austin.”
Christine no longer felt nervous about the awards. Instead, she focused on the moment when Matt would see her in her dress.
“Promises to Me” did not win the award. Although Christine was disappointed, she was content that it had been nominated. So many songs were released in a year, and being among the top five was still worth celebrating.
“I’ll be back, Julianna. Need a quick bathroom break.”
Christine entered the bathroom and took a passing glance at a woman across the room. She was beautiful with long, flowing, curly dark hair and donned a dress very similar to Christine’s. Christine looked away, envying the woman’s svelte body, once again wishing she could look like that. She decided to stealanother quick look and gasped. There was no woman across the room. It was a mirror. Christine had admired her own image. “Oh my God,” she said. “I’m beautiful.”
When she walked back to her table, she held her head a little higher. Her gait had more confidence and a smile filled her face.
“What happened to you in there?” Julianna asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You seem, I don’t know, different. Like you went in as Clark Kent and came out as Superman.”
“Make it Superwoman and I’ll agree.”
“Whatever it is, it’s working for you.”
Christine got a text from Austin when the after-dinner coffee was served:Two people just left our table. Bring Julianna and come sit with us.
Christine showed the text to Julianna, who shrugged. “Why not?”
Christine spotted Matt before he saw her and had to snap her mouth shut. He looked handsome in a black suit with a white shirt and gray tie. He was standing near the table, talking with someone she didn’t recognize. It gave Christine a moment to get her breath back before he turned and saw her.
His eyes widened and he walked away from his conversation in mid-sentence. “Wow. Austin said you looked amazing tonight, but I had no idea.”
“How red is my face right now?” Christine asked, giving an uncharacteristic titter.
