"Excuse me, ladies," Jude said to the two women, barely looking at them. "I hope you enjoy yourconference."
He left the fans and headed over to the band. He had been so wrapped up in his own problems that it never occurred to him to ask Dick about Lucky. He just figured with a ridiculous name like that, she'd be grinding on stage with a bunch of dancers while she lip-synced.
Ignoring the other members in the band, he walked up to her. She was far from plastic and despite the sunglasses, he could tell she was naturally beautiful. He briefly wondered if Richard was right about her being good, but as his eyes moved over her body, he only cared about one thing and he knew how togetit.
"Hi, I'm Jude Morrison," he said as he flashed Lucky asmile.
"I know who you are. Everyone knows who you are,"shesaid.
Clenching his jaw, he gritted his teeth. He didn't expect that response. She should have swooned at his feet like theothers.
"Good. Everyone should,"hesaid.
He angrily walked away. He didn't know what he was thinking. Some pop tart in his bed was the last thing he needed, especially on tour. It was better to just keep his distanceanyway.
Jude collected his things from the front desk and went outside. Throwing a large duffel bag over his shoulder, he walked over to the band's new ride, a sleek modern bus designed to hisspecifications.
He refused to slum it in some beat-up excuse for a vehicle. As Jude took his first step onto the bus, he turned towards the band who stood under the hotel awning,lookinglost.
"You guys coming or what?"hesaid.
The glossy black bus had every modern amenity. From Wi-Fi and TV, to mini refrigerators and a microwave. The tan, wide, soft Napa leather seats lined the first three quarters of the bus. In the back was a small room with a bed large enough for twopeople.
"Hey Stan, good to see you," Jude said to the slender grey-haired driver as heboarded.
Jude went all the way to the back of the bus and sat on one of the oversized seats. Reclining the seat all the way back, he put his earbuds in his ears. He figured he might as well listen to Lucky's album and get that out oftheway.
Surprised by what he heard, he skipped through pieces of different songs to get an idea of the wholealbum.
"Shit, that girl's got talent," he muttered under hisbreath.
He looked up to watch as she boarded the bus, enjoying her smile and greatly impressed with her songwriting. When he noticed her look towards him, he leaned back into his seat and smiled. Lucky was the exact combination of talent and beauty he couldn'tresist.
