‘Well, I’ve spent the past fourteen years trying to be the best musician and composer I can,’ he answered, following her into a dingy cafe. ‘If I became a “celebrity” along the way, it wasn’t by design.’
‘And now you want to be an actor,’ Shannon said, deliberately ignoring the censure in his tone.
Cade nodded as they sat down in a small booth. ‘It’s not something recent. I’ve wanted to act for a long time. It’s just that the time seems right.’
‘And Jerry Crawford’s willing to accommodate you.’
‘Jerry thinks I’ve got a good chance of making it,’ he said carefully. Shannon looked at him, trying to decide if his remark had been a statement or a challenge, but his smiling expression gave nothing away. ‘What’s good to eat here?’ he asked, zipping open his leather jacket. ‘I’m starved—I haven’t had anything but a cup of coffee all day.’
She thought of her own demanding schedule and managed a polite smile. ‘Neither have I. There just wasn’t time between my exercise class, rehearsal, and the workshop.’ She folded her hands in her lap and looked at him, her grey eyes cool. ‘It must be difficult to work late at night. I suppose there’s a tendency to go out and unwind afterwards and then sleep in the next morning, but then you don’t have to do anything until that evening, do you?.’
‘That’s not exactly the way my day goes, Shannon,’ he said carefully. ‘I keep pretty busy.’
‘Yes, I forgot about interviews and photo sessions and autographs. That must take a lot of time.’
Cade put both hands flat on the table and leaned towards her. ‘Listen,’ he said quietly, ‘I’ve got a terrific idea. Why don’t you tell me why I rub you the wrong way? Maybe if we get it out in the open, I won’t be afraid you’ll put a knife in my back every time you see me.’
‘Having coffee was your idea, Mr. Morgan, not mine.’
‘That’s true, Miss Padgett. Indulging in fantasy was yours. I gather you’d love to think I spent the night in an orgy of wine, women, and song, and the day between satin sheets, but the truth is I had a couple of beers with the guys in the band and then took a cab back to my hotel. At least I was lucky last night—it was our last concert for a while....’ He broke off as a waitress counterman loomed over them, menus in her hands. ‘Coffee and a piece of apple pie.’
‘Just coffee for me, please,’ Shannon said. She waited until the waitress left. . ‘Look, Mr. Morgan, what you do with your day is your business... ’ She paused while the girl slapped two heavy mugs of coffee and a slab of gelatinous-looking pie on to the table. ‘You can sleep all day or take classes in nuclear physics or transcendental meditation for all I care...’
‘I got to bed around two and I was up at six—we had a seven o’clock rehearsal this morning for a new album we’re cutting. We’d still be at it, except we ran out of studio time.’ He forked a small bite of pie into his mouth and chewed steadily.
‘I’m sure you work hard,’ she said carefully. ‘But...’
‘But I’m still sub-human, hmm? Look, I’m sorry you had to find out I’d taken what’s his name, Tony’s part. Jerry was supposed to tell you or your agent. I know it was a shock. ’
‘I don’t want to talk about it.’
‘But I do. Hell, we’re going to be working together, Shannon. We should get all this sorted out.’
‘There’s nothing to sort out,’ she said, trying to sound more polite than she felt. ‘You wanted the part and you got it.’
‘You make it sound as if I got it by royal edict,’ Cade said carefully. ‘It wasn’t my idea—it was Jerry’s. In fact, I told him I had reservations. But he thinks I can handle it. He thinks... ’
‘Look,’ she said quickly, leaning towards him, ‘let’s stop playing games. Crawford thinks you’ll be a better drawing-card than Tony. That’s why he signed you. It’s that simple.’
‘There’s more to it than that, and you know it,’ Cade said, putting down his fork and shoving the plate aside. ‘And Tony hasn’t been dumped—they wrote him in elsewhere. Well, doesn’t that please you?’ he asked after a pause. ‘I thought it would. I mean, if you and he are involved...’
It was impossible not to smile at the thought. ‘Tony and... ? ’
‘No, I didn’t think so. If the guy meant something special to you, you’d have got that scene right.’
Shannon’s eyes narrowed. ‘What, pray tell, does that mean?’ she asked in a softly ominous voice.
‘Now who’s playing games? You know what it means. Crawford says you played the scene flat. Hell, if it hadn’t been for that, he wouldn’t have wanted me.’
‘Yes, I know,’ she asked sweetly. ‘I was present at your audition, remember?’ Her eyes flashed darkly and her voice dropped to a terse whisper. ‘In fact, you might say I was your audition.’
‘Listen, are you still angry at me because I kissed you?’ Cade shook his head. ‘I thought I’d already apologized for that. You were explaining the part—you were so damned condescending—and you wouldn’t admit you had it all wrong...’
‘I did not. Besides, what would you know about it? Tony was playing opposite me, not you.’
‘I told you, I’d read the script. Crawford gave it to me when he asked me to guest star.’ He shook his head. ‘I’m still trying to figure that out. I was amazed that he wanted me in the first place.’
‘Who are you kidding?’ she said before she could stop herself. ‘He wanted you because you’re Cade Morgan. He didn’t care if you were good or bad or indifferent. You know it, I know it—everybody knows it.’