200A/N: Oh, reader-peops, I love all of your reviews (thank you!), but y'all are catching onto the fact that things are running a little too smooth in Zade land, huh? Well, they're okay for a little while, but I make no promises about the future ;)
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 17
Despite the late hour, Zoe couldn't sleep. She would say it was because she had been in bed since the middle of the afternoon, but it wasn't as if she had been resting the whole time, especially not the part where Wade was in bed with her. Not that Zoe had any regrets about the way they spent their time. Nope, not one regret existed in her when it came to the hours she and Wade had passed making love together. It had been amazing, as Zoe had expected it would be, and when afternoon turned into evening and they both knew he had to leave, it was so tough to be a grown up and let him go.
"You know I would rather be here with you than on some stage with people screaming at me, right?" he had said, lying beside her still, even though he ought to be long gone.
"Liar," Zoe teased him, only for him to lean down and kiss her in such a way that made her believe every word he said. "Okay, maybe you're telling the truth," she admitted, "but that doesn't mean you can stay here. You have a gig to be at, cowboy," she told him with a sad sigh, knowing she was a fool in encouraging him to leave.
Still, it was his career, just as medicine was hers. If things were the other way around, Zoe knew she would want Wade to be adult enough to tell her she should get up and go to her work rather than roll around in bed with him. Somehow, she doubted she would want to leave him either, and with her job, that could actually put lives at risk!
She had thrown on her robe to walk him to the apartment door, her and Wade sharing at least six goodbye kisses and still he hadn't left yet.
"Baby, can't I just call up Brad and tell him I'm sick or somethin'?" he complained from the door step. "Better yet, you call him. You're a doctor. Yeah, you can tell him I ain't up to performing tonight."
"Well, if that were true, you'd be no use to me either," she quipped, laughing at his almost scandalised expression - he really hadn't been expecting that kind of comment from her apparently. "Oh, come on! After what we did all afternoon, I can't make a dirty joke for once?"
"Sweetheart, you can make all the jokes you want," Wade promised her, "just don't ever doubt that I am always up for any challenge you wanna throw my way," he told her with a salacious smile.
"Go!" she told him then, laughing loudly as she shoved him out the door at last.
When he came back for one more kiss, she was fool enough to let him have it, and then when he was finally gone, Zoe almost wished she had allowed herself to be convinced to lie to Bradley for him.
It would've been nice if Wade could have stayed overnight, but it wasn't as if this was their only chance to do that. There would be other days, other nights, at least, Zoe hoped so. Given the gap between their first and second dates, she was a little worried about how long it might be before they could arrange a third. A voice in the back of her head said that Wade might not exactly try too hard anymore, now he got what he wanted, but Zoe silenced it quickly and firmly. She did not believe that was all Wade wanted from their relationship. Other guys, sure, but not Wade, not when it came to her.
Hours later, Zoe had mostly managed to quell her fears about Wade growing bored of her now, and even pushed aside any passing thoughts of other pretty (and easy) girls throwing themselves at him while he played his set at the club tonight, but sleep still didn't come.
It was past midnight and no matter how Zoe tossed and turned, she couldn't seem to find a way to be comfortable. No sooner had she finally found a place in the bed that seemed to suit her and very nearly made it into some real sleep than her cell buzzed on the nightstand and took her attention.
Zoe sat up, reaching for her phone and checking the screen. She grinned when she realised there was a new text message from Wade and opened it immediately.
Wade:
I hope you're happy, doc. I screwed up on three different songs tonight because I was too busy thinking about you to concentrate.
Zoe:
That's so sweet! :D
Zoe:
Except I know guys don't like to be called sweet, so I take that back. You're still very manly, I promise.
Wade:
You sure seemed to think so a few hours back :P
Zoe wasn't sure why she was blushing, since nobody knew about this conversation but the two of them and she was completely alone in her room, but she would swear she was pink from her head to her toes in that moment. Her thumbs hovered over the keys of her phone as she considered what to type next. Before she got the chance to make a decision, Wade messaged her again.
Wade:
I'd ask if you want me to come on back over when I'm done here, but it's pretty late already, so I guess not.
She had half a reply typed when she changed her mind, deleting it and starting over. This time, Zoe pressed send before she could doubt herself a second time.
Zoe:
I'd be okay with you coming back here. Do you want to?
Wade:
You know that one about bears and the woods, right?
Zoe:
Wow, so romantic :P
Wade:
lol! I'll see you in a couple of hours, doc.
Zoe:
You bet, cowboy.
There was a grin on her face a mile wide as she put her cell back on the nightstand and checked the clock. It would be at least 2.30 before Wade got back to her place and Zoe didn't exactly see herself getting much sleep when that happened. It would be sensible to try and get some rest now, but she couldn't imagine that happening in the circumstances.
"Thank God I'm not working at all this weekend," she said to herself, bouncing out of bed and heading for the bathroom.
By the time Wade got back, she intended to seem as sexy as possible, no matter how tired she probably looked in reality. In the appropriate lighting, the rings under her eyes probably wouldn't show. Besides, with what she had in mind to not be wearing, that really shouldn't be where he was looking anyway!
"Mom, hey! It's so great to see you!"
"It is?" Candice checked, looking bewildered as Zoe hugged her tight and then just continued to grin at her like a fool. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"
"Nope, not okay. I am wonderful," she insisted. "I'm sorry, how are you?"
"I'm just fine," her mother told her, nodding her head. "Zoe, please, tell me what's going on. You look like you slept with a hanger in your mouth"
Zoe giggled at that, covering her mouth with her hand after a few seconds and managing to sober up. "Funny you should mention sleep, because I really didn't get much of that last night."
"Oh, I see." Candice smiled slyly then. "Wade Kinsella?"
"Wade Kinsella," Zoe admitted. "I'm not ashamed to admit that I spent the night with a rockstar. I mean, come on, Mom, it's not like you've never done it."
"I'm hardly likely to try and deny it," said her mother, following her through to the kitchen.
"I'm hardly likely to believe you if you did," said Zoe as she fired up the cappuccino machine and looked for clean cups. "So, you called asking if you could come over this afternoon. I'm guessing there was more of a reason than just coffee?"
"There was." Candice sat down at the counter and put her purse to one side. "I actually came to invite you - and of course, the wonderful Wade, if you'd like - to a party."
"It's not your birthday." Zoe frowned as she turned to face her. "And you don't have any other special occasions you like to celebrate, so this is a work-related party?"
"Yes and no," said Candice, making a face. "Look, the truth is, there are some people I need to impress, potential clients, actually..."
"And you need to show them that, not only can you throw an amazing party, but also show off some of the clients you already have," Zoe said for her, "except you don't have enough people available, or you don't want to make it too obvious that you're showing off your client list, so you need a few 'normal' people like me to come along and even things out, plus make the party look a little more personal. Did I hit all the points?"
"Ten out of ten," said Candice with a proud smile. "I raised you so well," she said, reaching across the counter to take Zoe's chin in her hands.
"You raised me as a publicist's daughter, that's all," Zoe reminded her, pulling away and rolling her eyes for good measure.
The truth was, she didn't really mind so much. She understood the way her mother's job worked, what was necessary to keep her career afloat. Yes, technically, she was being invited to a party purely for her mom's gain in business rather than for fun, but that didn't mean she couldn't have a good time, especially if Wade could go with her. She only hoped it was on a night when he wasn't busy and she could get out of work herself too. The chances seemed slim somehow.
"Oh, you know, you could bring Gigi along too, and whatever arm candy she's wearing this week," said Candice then with the kind of smile Zoe could live without ever seeing on her mother's face ever again.
"I'll ask her, and Wade, and I'll check my schedule for work, if you ever actually tell me when this amazing party is."
By the time she turned back around with two coffees in her hands for herself and her mother, Candice had already placed a formal invitation on the counter and was on her feet, preparing to leave.
"Seriously?"
"I'm sorry, honey, but I have to go," Candice apologised absently, eyes on her cell phone. "I'll see you at the party!" she called as she wandered away and let herself out of the apartment.
Zoe stood in stunned silence for a moment and then just shook her head. "Bye, Mom," she said the empty space in front of her.
She really should be used to this by now.
"Wade Kinsella, that is the fifth time I have heard you yawn since we started this conversation. Now what on earth is wrong with you?"
"Sorry, Lemon," he told her, startled back to reality all too easily by her shrill tone in his ear. "I didn't exactly sleep much last night."
"You should be used to your late nights by now, after so many performances at these clubs and all," she reminded him.
Wade wondered if she could hear the grin on his face at all. Since she was Lemon Breeland and therefore some kind of psychic, he was sure she most likely could. It was the only way to explain what she said next.
"Unless of course you're not just tired because of your commitments to the band. Wade Kinsella, did you finally convince that poor doctor to... to move your relationship along?"
"Now, Lemon Breeland, how do you even know I have been seeing a doctor?"
"We don't all live in big cities these days, Wade, and here in Bluebell, well, you know news - good or bad - spreads like a wild fire. Anybody who is anybody knows that you have been seeing Dr Zoe Hart for a while now and that she might just finally be the amazing woman we have all been waitin' for, the one who can tame wild Wade Kinsella and make an honest man outta him."
That at least made Wade laugh, though he knew it shouldn't. If anyone was ever going to inspire him to settle down one day, he supposed it probably could be Zoe. That said, they had been on precisely two real dates, and so any talk of matrimony was entirely ridiculous. Not that he got a chance to tell Lemon all of that. Nobody ever got a word in with her when she was on a roll.
"Now, I know what you're going to say, Wade, so let me tell you what I have to say first."
"Like I get a choice," he muttered.
"I heard that," she said anyway, before pressing on. "I am sure this Zoe Hart is a fine young woman, clearly smart if she's a doctor, and knowing your taste like I do, probably very attractive, but please, Wade, just... just be careful, okay?"
"Careful of what, Lemon?" he asked her then, just a little confused, since this was not at all what he expected her to say. "'Cause if this is some safe sex talk..."
"Wade!" she snapped at him. "Wash your mouth out, you know I would never... What I'm tryin' to say is, well, you hear such stories about New Yorkers. I remember when George was there and... and those people aren't like us."
"You talk about Northerners like they come from a different planet, Lemon," Wade pointed out. "They are just people."
"I know that, and I'm sure Zoe is very nice and all, like I said, but... but I worry about you. We all do."
It wasn't like Wade to get choked up about much, but folks caring for him, that still took a little getting used to, even after all this time.
"Thank you, Lemon," he said eventually. "You know I appreciate it, but you really don't gotta worry about me. I am doin' just fine and I got no fears where Zoe is concerned. She's... she's special. I wouldn't hurt her for the world and I don't believe she'd hurt me either."
Lemon sighed with relief in his ear. "Then I am so happy for you, Wade, I could just burst," she told him joyfully. "You think you might bring her down here to visit sometime?"
"Hell, if I could come visitin' myself any time soon, I'd be happy enough, Lemon," he promised her, "and I would bring Zoe along in a heartbeat if she said she'd come, but I am full on with gigs right now, and then we gotta start promoting the album and all. It could be a while yet before I get back home for a spell."
She sure sounded disappointed when she heard that and, in actual fact, Wade realised once it was said how sorry he was about the news too. He really could use a week or two down in Bluebell, and bringing Zoe along with him would just be the icing on the cake. Unfortunately, like he just told his friend, that probably wouldn't be happening for a good while yet. It was a shame, but it was just the way it was right now.
To Be Continued...
