Page 9 of The Fire Walker
“Hey, I’m Jessie,” she said, her accent hitting me like a ton ofbricks.
“Hey,” I said, almost choking on that one simple word. She was there with her pretty doe eyes, and she split my head in half. Suddenly, I didn’t know what to say, and I was reduced to a blubberingidiot.
“What’s your name?” she asked. “I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to meetyesterday.”
“Dee,” I declared a little tooabruptly.
“C’mon, that’s not your real name.” She smiled crookedly as if she knew the effect she had onme.
“Yes, it is,” I scoffed. “D for dangerous. E for enigmatic and Efor—”
“Egotistical?”
Damn. “I’ve been called vain but never egotistical.” I gave her a wink for goodmeasure.
She rolled her pretty brown eyes and shook her head. The other label rep, the one I knew was Georgie, came out of the restaurant and ushered us in, and I lost my chance to say anything else. Probably a good thing because my foot was already init.
The whole time we sat at that dinner, I hardly said two words back to back, which was unusual for me. Zoe kept kicking my shin under the table and giving me looks. What was I meant to do? If I opened my mouth, I was seriously gonna say somethingstupid.
The conversation naturally revolved around music and the band, which was my favorite topic. Seriously, I could talk about it until I was blue in the face, but right now, I was obliterated by the woman sitting opposite me. Everything she did, my gaze followed, even when I wasn’t looking at her. I’d been reduced to a fifteen-year-old, and it didn’t escape my notice that Georgie deliberately placed herself next to me and kept rubbing her arm against mine. If I edged my chair any further away, I’d be sitting on Zoe’slap.
I got the feeling Georgie was an easy street to go down, but I had no intention of going there. She would be sorely disappointed to find out that I didn’t fit the stereotype. Besides, I had eyes for her PA, who had been looking at her boss disapprovingly all night. That was a glaring indicator rightthere.
When we stood outside again, I was in two minds. I wasn’t into it, but I wanted to be nearJessie.
“Are you coming out?” Simone asked, her arm linked with Chris’sarm.
“C’mon,” he said, nodding toward the waiting car. “It’ll be bloodyhorrible.”
That was code for ‘let’s go and laugh at the joint,’ but even then, I wasn’t sure. Part of me wanted to go out so I could have a few drinks to steady my nerves, and part of me wanted to run back to the hotel…and the huge slice that was left wanted to go so I could have a chance to talk to Jessieagain.
Naturally, Zoe and Will bailed, but Frank came up behind us and pushed me into the car with Chris and Simone, making the decision forme.
Looked like I was going inheadfirst.
The club was justas we expected it would be. Flashy andfake.
It had the whole red carpet and rope business. I was severely underdressed in my denim jacket, jeans, and beat-up boots, but that didn’t seem to matter. Not when Galaxy was sticking their name onit.
What else could I say about the place? Nothing that anyone wouldn’t already know. I really couldn’t care. As soon as we were inside, everyone went straight to the bar, but I hung back, my gaze following Jessie’s every move. All those smart things I’d thought up to start a conversation had fucked off somewhere else. My head was scrambled, and the loud music wasn’thelping.
I leaned against an island table, ignoring the looks a group of scantily clad orange Oompa Loompa tanned girls were throwingme.
Simone appeared beside me, putting a drink on the table in my line of vision. “Scotch,” she said when I gave her a look. “Double.”
“Thanks.”
Leaning forward on the table, my gaze inevitably went to the bar where Jessie was talking with Frank. I scowled at them, and a small part of me was annoyed at him for being so…Frank.
Simone followed my gaze and nudged me with her shoulder. “Have you talked toher?”
“She already shot me down,” I grumbled, fiddling with acoaster.
“Since when did that stopyou?”
I glanced up at her and shrugged. We were good friends, but normally, I’d only talk about this stuff with Zoe. But Zoe wasn’there.
Simone slid her arm across my back and gave me a small hug. “I getit.”
