Taste of Love (14 page)

Madison and Chase made their way into the huge auditorium, which was already packed with thousands of screaming fans. As they made their way to the very front row, she noticed a lot of attractive women giving them dirty looks, envious of their better seats.

She just smiled. If only they knew.

Chase scanned the crowd, looking to see if anyone piqued his interest. His eyes locked on a man, and immediately he tapped Madison's shoulder.

"What's up?" she asked.

"I'm going to go talk to him. He's going to be my new boyfriend," Chase told her, pointing to a man, who in Madison's eyes looked very straight.

"Chase, what makes you think he's even gay?" she asked, not wanting her friend to make an ass of himself, or get pummeled if the guy wasn't gay.

"Look at his hat. It has a rainbow on it. Hello!" He gave a wink, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Madison looked more closely at the guy's hat and nearly died laughing. "Chase, have you ever heard of Pink Floyd?"

"They're a band, right?" he asked, and when Madison only nodded her head, he continued, not enjoying any of her laughter.

"What the hell do
they
have to do with this?"

"Oh, honey." Madison tried to get herself under control. "That may be a rainbow, but it's not a 'gay rainbow'. That was a symbol on the cover of one of their albums. It means the guy likes Pink Floyd, not that he's gay."

Chase narrowed his eyes, not really understanding, then his brows shot up in surprise when he finally comprehended. "No shit! Really?"

"Really."

Chase looked at the man with longing. "I'm glad you notice details like that."

Madison nodded and laughed again, just as the lights dimmed and the opening group bounded onto the stage to play. They were pretty good, no one she had ever heard of before, but they had promise. She was starting to get antsy by the end of their set, impatient for Cameron to get started. She'd never seen him perform before, but had heard his songs and couldn't wait to hear him live.

Finally, he took the stage. The man she thought she knew had been replaced by this other Cameron, a man filled with swagger and seduction. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. He was always full of energy and confidence, but when he was on stage, he was raw and intense. He created magnetism when he performed. She watched as he strutted up to the microphone and belted out a line from one of his most popular songs. It was no wonder he was so popular and successful.

Madison looked around the crowd and noticed that most of the women were singing along, and many were crying. Some were reaching toward him with everything they had, trying to touch his hand, his boot, his leg. The guys were jumping around to the music, pumping their fists and singing too. Everyone looked like they were enjoying the show, and it was no mystery why. She turned her attention back to the stage, and let herself be captivated by Cameron's showmanship.

After the encore, Madison and Chase showed their VIP passes to the security guards and were led back to a large room with a bar and buffet set up. The room was already crowded, and more filtered through after Madison and Chase arrived.

The party was full of half-naked women and a lot of questionable -looking men. It was a completely different crowd than Madison was used to, and she was beginning to feel uncomfortable. She had known there would be a lot of groupies, but she hadn't expected a scene like this.

Making their way further into the room, Madison finally found the one she was looking for. He was the center of attention. He was laughing at something that a woman had said, looking truly happy. He had a beer in one hand, and what looked like a cigarette or joint in the other.

She hesitated for a moment, not sure if she should approach him. Just when she was close enough to get his attention, a woman pushed her out of the way and went up to Cameron. The tall blonde, with legs to die for, stepped right into Cameron's face and shoved her tongue down his throat. Madison's mouth dropped open. Surely that wasn't welcome! You didn't just walk up to someone and kiss them like that!

But then, Madison watched as Cameron pulled the blonde onto his lap.

She'd seen enough. She didn't belong here. She didn't belong in this lifestyle of Cameron's at all. That was very clear to her now. With that realization came disappointment and sadness. They could be friends - really great friends, at that - but anything more would be out of the question.

"Let's go home," she said to Chase, who looked at her with wide eyes.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah." Her voice was so quiet that Chase realized she wasn't suggesting they leave, she was insisting on it. He didn't say another word, but just took her hand.

"Lead the way," he said.

An hour later she was in her bathroom, scrubbing the hell out of the toilet, and cursing herself for being so naive.

M
adison was rinsing suds out of the large garden tub in her bathroom when she thought she heard a knocking sound. She turned the water off and listened closer. This time, she heard it. Now it was more of a pounding.

She ran to the door, hoping that whoever it was didn't wake her neighbors. Was something wrong with Chase? Was something wrong at the restaurant? She threw the door open, not bothering to look through the peep hole, too intent on quieting the person down.

"Cameron!" she exclaimed, pulling him into her apartment and shutting the door. His eyes were a little glazed over, and he was stumbling. She was amazed to see him - he should still be at the backstage soiree, kissing blondes.

"What in the world are you doing here?"

"Why didn't you come backstage tonight?" he asked, dropping onto her couch. "I gave you those passes, and you didn't even show up on my last night in town for a while," he told her with a mixture of disappointment and amusement.

Madison could tell that he was inebriated, but not enough that he didn't know what he was saying or doing. She stared at him for a minute, not sure whether to tell the truth or not.

"I was there," she finally admitted, not really caring if he knew the truth. "You looked like you were busy, so we left."

"I was waiting for you," he told her in a petulant tone.

She couldn't help it. She let the short, indignant chuckle out of her mouth. "No, I really don't think you were waiting for me. It looked to me like you were fairly pre-occupied."

"Would you stop skirting the issue and tell me what's wrong?" Cameron was starting to sound annoyed.

Madison shook her head. "This is so stupid!" she muttered, running her hands through her hair in frustration.

"What's stupid?" he asked.

"You want to know what's wrong? I was there tonight. I don't know what I was thinking, but I was excited to be there, naive person that I am. And the first thing I saw when I found you was some girl sitting on your lap, with your tongue shoved down her throat, fondling her for the whole room to see. Did it bother me? Yes! Do I know why? No! All I know is that it felt wrong for me to be there, so I left. And now, I'd like you to leave." Though she had started out calm, she had ended up yelling at him.

Cameron looked up at her in shock. He couldn't deny that it had happened, because it had. But he had no idea that Madison had been there to see it. And worse, he had no idea why it would bother her. Wasn't she seeing Thomas, after all?

Cameron rose from the couch. "I have to leave anyway. My tour bus is waiting around the corner and we're leaving as soon as I get back on," he said quietly. He walked to the door with Madison following him.

He turned to face her. "I'm sorry about what you saw tonight, but while I'm gone, maybe you should work out why it upset you so much."

Madison looked at the floor and nodded. She knew that he was right, but she was still angry. Trying to find the reason she was upset was a great idea, but not something easy to do.

"Have a good tour, and be careful," she told him, finally looking back up at him.

"Thanks, I will." He smiled. "Don't work yourself to death while I'm gone. Take a break to enjoy life once in a while."

He watched her nod her head, tears forming in her eyes. He took her face in his hands, rubbing his thumbs softly over her cheeks. "Hey, I'll be back before you know it, and then you'll be wishing that I'd leave again."

A tear rolled down her cheek, and he leaned in and kissed it away. For good measure, he kissed her other cheek too. Then before either of them realized where they were going, their lips connected, their tongues passionately dancing together. Soon they were both lost in the kiss, only aware of the sweet sensation coursing through their bodies.

Reality hit them like a tidal wave when Cameron's cell phone began to ring. Madison backed away, quickly wiping her mouth, and again running her hands through her hair. Cameron answered his phone with frustration, then flipped it shut after a few, brief words.

"I have to go," he told her apologetically.

"I know."

"I'll see you soon," he whispered, touching her cheek again. Then he was gone, though she could still feel his touch on her face.

She sat down on her couch, letting the exhaustion engulf her. It was all too much for her to think about. She needed a good night's sleep before she could make heads or tails of any of it.

Over the next few weeks, the restaurant seemed to be busier than ever. Madison finished training her new staff members and opened the banquet room to everyday diners. She was pleased to fall back into her daily routines with minimal interruptions.

On occasion, she would go to the theater with Thomas, or attend a charity function with him, but for the most part, her schedules were back to normal. For that, she was grateful.

Her friendship with Austin was getting back on track too. For a while it had seemed he was annoyed with her, and her lack of presence at the restaurant. However, since Cameron's tour started, their friendship had begun to mend.

The one thing that bothered Madison about Austin lately was his need to bring tabloids to work with him. Every trashy magazine he bought featured a story about Cameron. Many had his picture on the front, exposing his latest flavor of the day. A lot of the girls looked the same, and they were usually in some sort of compromising position.

Austin made sure that Madison saw the pictures, and often read the articles to her. Little by little, it was eating away at her. She knew that Austin was trying to point out how wrong Cameron was for her.

With every picture and every article, it was more and more evident to Madison that Cameron lived a very different life than the one that she led. Madison was certain that his lifestyle was one she would never be comfortable with.

So, no matter what feelings she thought she may have had for Cameron, reason told her that it just wouldn't work out, and that she should stop wasting her time and move on. Her heart, however, heard a completely different tune.

About a month into Cameron's tour, Madison sat at the all-night Laundromat a couple of blocks down from her apartment. She was reading through one of the tabloids that Austin had left in her office. She was studying the picture of Cameron and some blonde, focusing in on his pale skin and dark circles under his bloodshot eyes, rather than what the girl was doing to him.