Claire patted Shannon’s hand. Relax. Crawford wouldn’t do anything that would jeopardize the ratings. If he wants to use Morgan, he must figure the guy can carry it off. Where is that waitress?’ Claire added, peering around the restaurant. ‘I don’t want to get to the our seats late..’
The few mouthfuls of steak lay like lead shot in Shannon’s stomach.
‘I can’t believe this. The man has no training, no talent, nothing except his name.’
Claire arched one eyebrow. ‘His name, his gold records, his fans...’
‘He probably has all the acting talent of a—a baboon, and I’m supposed to make him look good?’
‘I don’t think that’s what Crawford expects, Shannon. He says the guy has natural talent.’
‘In bed, maybe,’ Shannon snapped, the words tumbling from her mouth before she could censor them.
‘So you do know what came across in the studio today,’ the agent said softly.
‘What happened today had nothing to do with sex.’ For the space of a heartbeat, Shannon remembered the pressure of Cade Morgan’s hand on her neck and the feel of his mouth on hers. ‘Nothing at all,’ she repeated, forcing the fragmented memory aside. ‘I insulted him. He got even. Period. End. Finished. Why can’t anybody understand that?’
Claire sighed and signaled for their bill. ‘To tell you the truth, that’s what I thought, after I heard the story. But Crawford insisted that wasn’t the case. So, while you were scrubbing off your make-up, I talked to a few other people.’ She cast a sidelong glance at Shannon and smiled guiltily. ‘I told you, they saw the same thing Crawford saw.’
'They saw what they wanted to see.'
'Maybe. That’s why I wanted to see Cade Morgan perform tonight.’ She took Shannon's hand. ‘Look, you know I wouldn’t let you make a bad career move. If there aren’t any sparks or flames or whatever it is all those jokers think they saw...’
‘Of course there aren’t!’
‘Then I’ll be the first to say so. And tomorrow, I’ll convince Crawford it’ll be better to let Morgan do his guest shot and to let you and Tony have another go at that scene. I promised Jerry, OK? What’s the big deal?’ Claire glanced at her watch and slid from the booth. ‘We don’t have much time,’ she said. ‘Morgan’s Marauders come on in half an hour.’
Shannon got to her feet and slipped into her jacket. ‘Believe me, if his group’s anything like him, that’s a perfect choice of names,’ she said grimly, following Claire out of the crowded restaurant. ‘Wait until you see this man, Claire. There’s nothing subtle about him.’
Claire buttoned her coat as they stepped into the crisp autumn night. ‘‘Don’t worry about a thing,’ she said. ‘We’ll watch the performance and then we’ll go backstage and I’ll introduce myself to Cade Morgan...’
Shannon came to a dead stop. ‘I am not going backstage,’ she said firmly. ‘I don’t want to see the man again.’ .
‘Look, you want me to get this idea out of Crawford’s head, right? Well, how do you expect me to do that unless I can tell Crawford there isn’t any chemistry between the two of you? Those mythical sparks everybody talked about...’
‘They're just that,’ Shannon said stubbornly. ‘Mythical. Nothing more.’
‘Fine. Just let me do my job tonight.' Claire tucked her arm through Shannon’s as the light changed. ‘ Trust me, OK? We’ll say hello to Cade Morgan...’
‘Not me,’ Shannon said quickly. ‘I’m not saying anything to him.’
The agent glanced at her and arched her eyebrows. ‘Fine. I’ll say hello, you’ll glare. Fair enough?’
‘And then tomorrow you’ll tell Jerry his idea’s no good, right?’
'If that's what I think, that's what I'll tell him.'
Shannon took a deep breath. ‘Okay. We’ll suffer through a couple of hours of bad music and then we’ll go pay our respects to Cade Morgan.’ She smiled tightly. ‘Actually, I’m sure he wants no more to do with me than I want to do with him. In fact, we’d better make sure he doesn’t know we’re in the house until he finishes performing. Or he might just have me thrown out.’
‘Is his music bad?’ Claire asked innocently. ‘I’m not sure I’m familiar with it.’
Shannon thought of the softly haunting songs and husky voice she’d listened to for years, though she'd sooner have walked through the flames of hell and admit to that.
‘Neither am I,’ she said, lying so glibly that she never had time to wonder why she had lied in the first place.
CHAPTER THREE
Had so many people ever been in one place at one time before? Shannon stared at the stage of the Coliseum, as much surprised by the size of the audience as by its intensity. There had been tickets waiting for them at the box office—courtesy of Jerry Crawford, Shannon was certain, although Claire had ignored her when she’d asked who had arranged for them—and they’d been ushered to two seats in the first row, center stage.