Conquest by S. J. Frost Page A

stepped around Jesse, his arm brushed against him as he passed by. He looked back at him and waved. “Later.”
Jesse lifted his hand to wave, but Evan was already gone.
    Kenny punched him hard on the arm and mocked Jesse’s words. “‘Maybe your label wouldn’t suck if you sealed up those cracks!’”
“I didn’t say it sucked,” Jesse said softly, rubbing his arm.
    “You might as well have! And what was up with the ‘I’m legal’ bullshit to Evan Arden? I can’t believe you said that to him ! What were you trying to do, flirt with him? You’re lucky he blew it off! He could’ve been really offended! He’s like a mega, superstar singer!”
“I know. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
    “Once again, you weren’t. I can’t decide if this was a good night or a bad one, but I’m leaning more toward bad since your mouth just blew our shot at talking to a real record producer.”
A high female voice interrupted with shrill cry of, “Hey baby, I’m here!”
    Jesse cringed at the screech and turned in time to see Kenny’s girlfriend, Carrie, bound in and throw her arms around his friend’s neck.
“I’m sorry I missed the show,” she said. “I just couldn’t get off work.”
    “That’s okay. There’ll be more.” Kenny glowered at Jesse. “Maybe.”
“Uh oh. Sounds like Jesse screwed up again.”
“It’s really great to see you too, Carrie!” Jesse squealed, mimicking her high, bubbly voice.
     
Carrie flipped him off.
    Kenny put his arm around Carrie’s waist and headed toward the door. “Hey man, you know what? I’m going home with Carrie. You can load all this on your own, right?”
Jesse nodded, recognizing his punishment. “Sure.”
    He watched them disappear around the corner, then stood in the middle of the break room looking at all the equipment; three guitars, his bass, his keyboard, his synthesizer, their own mics, backup wires, his bag of extra clothes he always brought in case he wanted to change outfits before a show or put on clean clothes after. He sighed and shook his head.
    Evan Arden. He had just met Evan Arden and let him walk away. He should have offered to buy him a beer, asked him more about what he thought of the show, anything, but what did he do? He stood there like a star-struck idiot. Now it all seemed like a dream that less than five minutes ago, Evan had stood right beside him. Jesse’s mind lit at the thought. It had been less than five minutes, which meant if he was lucky Evan might still be in the bar.
    Jesse dashed out of the break room. He burst through the door leading to the public seating and walked a few paces toward the bar. His eyes scanned for him, disappointment filling him with each face he saw that wasn’t Evan’s. He should have known. A guy like Evan wouldn’t hang out in a place like this any longer than he needed to. Jesse lowered his eyes. He had missed his chance.
    The delicious cologne he smelled before graced his nose. Heat from a body standing behind him warmed his back. He stood motionless, feeling as though he had slipped into a dream and didn’t want to disrupt it.
Evan leaned closer to him, his breath wisped past Jesse’s ear as he said, “Looking for someone?”
    Jesse’s breath fled at Evan’s husky timbre. Slowly, he turned toward him, making sure to not take so much as a fraction of a step back that would increase the space between them. He gazed at him, noticing Evan stood only about an inch taller than himself. “I was looking for you.”
Evan wet his sensual smile with a slip of his tongue. “Is that so? And why would you be looking for me?”
    Jesse fought down the urge to close the meager distance between them and lay his hands on Evan’s chest. Instead he smiled, keeping his eyes on Evan’s. “I wanted to talk to you about my performance and see if you could offer me some tips to be better.”
    “Your performance, huh? Well, I suppose I could help you with that. I saw your guitar player leave with a girl.