He still felt out of place, though. Here he was in a suit and tie, and everyone else seemed to be in jeans or various states of undress. In the corner, there was a girl in a dress made entirely of what looked like leather buckles, and she was doing lines off of a mirror, which made him frown. Did Daphne know her entourage had drugs? She needed to stay away from that sort of thing if she was going to get better.
Sometimes he wondered if Daphne even wanted to get better. She swore that she did, but then she surrounded herself with people who used, people who partied, people who were the worst kinds of influences to someone with weak willpower.
And maybe he wanted Daphne to be healthy and drug-free more than Daphne wanted it.
Cade took another heavy swig of his drink, disgusted by the thought. Of course Daph wanted to get better. She’d said so, and she’d said she wanted him in her life.
So here he was, ignoring an important medical conference he’d been invited to in favor of sitting backstage, waiting for a pop star and hoping she’d tell him she was eight months clean and she loved him and could they give their strange relationship another go.
And because the thought of a negative answer made him a little queasy, Cade downed the rest of his bourbon and went to get another.
As he waited at the bar, two women wandered into the back room, arguing. One carried a bright yellow polka-dotted pyramid of cases, and the other had an armful of costumes.
“I’m not paying you,” grumbled the one with the costumes. “You cheated.”
“How did I cheat?” said the one with the bright yellow stack of cases. She turned and Cade admired her figure as she bent over. She wore a tight black pair of capris and wedge heels that made her shapely calves stand out. Her ass was full and lush. Maybe a bit more than was considered typically beautiful by today’s standards, but he liked it. After seeing Daphne’s wraith-thinness, he had a new appreciation for a healthy figure, even a thick one. If Daphne looked like this woman did, he’d be unable to keep his hands off of her.
The woman turned to face him, and Cade’s eyes widened.
It was the beautiful girl that had flirted with him at the coffee shop earlier. Kylie. His cock immediately stirred and he shifted in his seat at the bar, uncomfortable. He was just looking, of course. Admiring another woman didn’t mean he wasn’t interested in Daph. It just meant that he enjoyed a fine-looking form. And really, Daphne had looked like that once upon a time, all lush curves and pale skin.
“Cheater,” the one with the clothes said. “You knew she’d fuck up her costumes.”
Kylie’s full red mouth just pulled into a brilliant smile, and Cade couldn’t stop staring at her. “I had a hunch, but I didn’t know for sure,” she told the other woman. She picked up one of the cases and set it down on a table, then opened it up and began to pull out small tubes of makeup. “If she treats her clothes anything like her makeup, you should have known better than to take the bet.”
The other woman just shook her head, shoved a five into Kylie’s hand, and wandered away.
Just then, the bartender handed Cade his latest drink. Perfect timing. Cade couldn’t help but head over toward Kylie, newest drink in hand. There was just something about her that was incredibly vibrant that drew him. And even though he knew his reasons weren’t completely aboveboard, he couldn’t stop himself from approaching to say hello again.
Her head was bent over the box of makeup, and she didn’t notice his approach. It gave him a chance to get a good look at her. She was plush all right, her figure rounded, her breasts plump and straining against the fabric of her tight, low-cut shirt, as if she’d dressed to entice him specifically. He loved a fine pair of breasts, and the bigger the better.
He took another swig of his drink. Great, now he was sounding like Reese.
She was real pretty, though. Her makeup was done in a retro style that emphasized her big brown eyes, and her hair was bleached a bright yellow blond with red tips, and drawn into two ponytails that rested on her shoulders. Her bangs were big and curled, and her entire look was “plump beach bunny.” And Cade loved it. She just looked so vibrant and happy. So damn alive.
Why couldn’t Daphne look half as stunning as Kylie? He knew from recent pictures that Daphne was still stick thin, the only curves on her body her fake breasts. Eight months after going to rehab, she still didn’t have the healthy look he remembered.
Then again, if she’d looked half as tempting as Kylie did, would he have waited eight months to see her again? Or would he have dropped everything and demanded that they get back together? It wasn’t just Daphne’s appearance that made him reticent, though. It was everything. It was knowing she was circling the drain and being unable to help her.