Page 52 of Bad Habits
“You must be excited,” I said to Auden. “Opening for this guy.”
His smile was faint when he said, “It’s an honour.”
“I’m sure he’ll do great,” Dade said, slapping him on the back. “He’s a talented kid.”
“Thanks,” Auden muttered, obviously embarrassed by the praise from one of his idols.
“So Charli,” Dade said, catching her off guard. “Your sister tells me you might be looking for a job?”
Her eyes widened before her shoulders slumped. “Uh, I was, before this thing with my dad. Now I’m thinking I should be closer to home.”
He nodded, like he wanted to say more, but just reached into his pocket and extracted a card. “My personal contact info. is on there. If you change your mind, give me a call. We should talk.”
I could tell my sister was excited by the offer, but torn between her duty to our family and her own dreams. And I knew, without a doubt, working for Dade Jarvis would be a dream come true for her. Could I really stand in the way of that? Or worse, let her turn it down, even though I could tell how much she wanted it? What kind of sister would I be if I did that?
“Thanks,” she said, curling the card in her hand. “But I don’t think moving to Nashville is in the cards for me. Living a couple of hours away from my folks, at a time like this, would be hard. Eight hours is—”
“It’s an eight hour drive,” Dade interjected. “But the flight’s just over an hour. You’d be welcome to my plane whenever I’m not using it.”
I was pretty sure my jaw dropped the same time Charli’s did. Dade was selling this… hard. And I wanted to know why. “Uh Dade, care to grab a quick coffee with me?” I asked, grabbing the sleeve of his jacket. “I’m dead on my feet.”
He looked from Auden to Charli, as though he was questioning the wisdom of leaving them alone together. Interesting.
“Uh sure, can we get y’all anything?” he asked, Auden and Charli. “Coffee maybe, water?”
“I’m good, thanks,” Auden said.
But Dade wasn’t waiting for Auden’s response, his eyes were trained on Charli.
“Thanks,” she said, curling her arms around her mid-section. “But the coffee here tastes like sludge.”
He smirked. “I bet it does. Something to eat then?”
I couldn’t help watching this exchange with interest. My sister was cool as a cucumber meeting her celebrity crush. What was up with that? Low-key and mellow were not words anyone would use to describe this girl, yet she was acting like Dade was… just a regular guy showing an interest in her. Someone barely worth her time. If she was trying to pique my friend’s curiosity it seemed to be working because he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“No thanks, I’m good.” She smiled at Auden. “You don’t have to hang out here and keep me company. If you want to go with them, or have calls to make or whatever—”
“Not a problem.” Auden claimed the chair I’d vacated, winking at Charli. “Always a pleasure to pass the time with a beautiful lady.”
Dade narrowed his eyes at Auden, like he was questioning his sanity for letting him tag along. “We won’t be long.”
We took the elevator to the main floor and I held my tongue until we stepped off. “What was that about? I thought you said you only work with—”
“I know what I said.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “But I took one look at her… and had a change of heart.”
Uh oh.Dade apparently had a thing for my baby sister, which could be disastrous, for both of them. Linking my arm through his as I led him towards the cafeteria, I said, “I know you’ve had a rough—”
“Don’t,” he warned. “Don’t mention my previousrelationships.” He practically hissed the word, letting me know he wasn’t messing around. This topic was off limits. I couldn’t blame the poor guy. It seemed like the only thing reporters wanted to talk to him about, aside from his upcoming album.
“Fair enough.”
He sighed, squeezing the hand I had wrapped around his bicep. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. You’ve got enough to worry about without me bein’ an ass.”
“You could never be an ass to me.” I loved this guy like a brother, but we got along better than any siblings I’d ever met. No bickering or petty jealousy between us. Just genuine affection and respect. And I wanted it to stay that way. Another reason he and my little sis were a really bad idea.
“I hope you don’t mind that I brought Auden along? I told him what happened and he said he wanted to check in on you.”
“I don’t mind at all.” It was a little awkward at first, but I could tell Auden was there as a friend, to lend his support. And I appreciated knowing that when we hit the road together again,ifwe hit the road together again, he was man enough to forget our one-night stand.
