Page 75 of Country Music Cowboy
The dressing room door swung open. “Ready?” Travis paused. “What’s up?”
“Nothing.” Loretta slipped from the chair, clasping her hands behind her back. “I guess I’m ready.”Breathe. Smile.And put distance between herself and Travis.
CiCi wasn’t the only reason to start putting distance between herself and Travis. It was about self-preservation. Her career. Her reputation. Her heart. She didn’t want to admit that, somehow, someway, he’d found a crack to slip in.
It doesn’t matter.
CiCi had given her the strength to do what she’d been needing to do for some time now: End this. End all the looks and the smiles and the secret touches and the long nights in bed. All of it.
“It looks like something.” Travis was frowning, glancing back and forth between them.
“Looks can be deceiving.” She took a final glance in the mirror.
She hadn’t changed out of her final costume. It was vibrant peacock-colored sleeveless minidress. The fabric was covered in strands of beads and crystals that swayed when she walked. With unsteady hands, she smoothed her hair, added a touch of dark burgundy lipstick, and straightened her shoulders.
Whatever silent standoff was happening between Sawyer and Travis was their problem. She walked between them and out the door, moving as quickly as she could to the hall lined with fans that led to the exclusive meet and greet.
She knew Travis was following her; his boots echoed down the concrete hall of the Staples Center. Not that she turned or looked back. She was too rattled to face him right now. When she faced him, she needed to be calm—firm. Not open for discussion.
The fans were the best part.
So many of the fans lining the hall had LoveJoy posters and shirts for her to sign. She posed for selfies and hugged four different girls who were sobbing over Johnny. They missed him. They’d loved him too. Of course, they were screaming and crying for an entirely different reason when Travis showed up.
She barely glanced his way, wincing as the sound level increased five times over.
He’d smiled. One smile and this was the reaction.
Yeah, she got it. His smile made her pretty damn giddy too.
By the time she entered the meet and greet, she had a steady throb at the base of her neck. She did her best to be charming, make some witty comment or observation, smile and laugh, and move on. Avoiding eye contact with Travis was a challenge because he seemed to beeverywhere—directly in her line of sight.
When they started taking photos in front of the black Three Kings step and repeat, she was relieved. Now she wouldn’t have to see him. But then they were grouped closely together, so close that the scent of mint and leather flooded her nostrils and turned the hard lump in her stomach to something molten and alive.
And you, Loretta, are bad luck.CiCi’s words.
Over the years, she’d tried to convince herself that wasn’t true. That she could make her own luck. But since Margot’s diagnosis and Johnny’s passing, she wasn’t so sure anymore. Maybe CiCi was right. Maybe she was bad luck. Travis had come so far—she didn’t want to be the thing that set him back. She couldn’t be.
***
Travis sat on the leather couch built into the side of the tour bus. With all the tweaks and improvements to the King’s Coach I and II, little things like the hum of the wheels on the interstate were barely detectable. Travis’s fingers slid along the neck of the banjo in his lap, playing through the slight changes Krystal had made to the time song. It perked up the tempo and made the whole thing flow more smoothly. Good changes.
“Better?” Krystal asked, a pencil tucked behind her ear.
He nodded.
“All good changes,” Travis said, glancing across the bus—at Loretta.Bad changes… Whatever the hell was happening between them.
“No surprise there,” Jace sounded off, pulling Krystal against his side. “You’ve got a gift, woman.”
“You’re just saying that because you have to.” Krystal shook her head.
“No, I’m saying that because you’re talented.” Jace kissed her. “And I love you.”
Travis groaned. “You two are on the wrong bus for that.”
“It’s a kiss.” Krystal sighed. “I’m not a fan of this new bad attitude of yours. Since working out isn’t mellowing you out, maybe you should look into getting laid.”
From across the bus, Loretta choked on her water.
