Rockstar Romeo - Abbie Zanders Page 0,60

to life sucking ass.” The man winked, lifted his glass in toast, and tossed back his own drink. He ordered another for himself and one for me and said, “You know, it’s really true what they say. Misery does love company.”

I thought about refusing the drink. The first one was already filling me with warmth and a pleasant, numbing buzz that was preferable to the sharp ache in my chest. I nodded, changed the order to a ginger ale with ice, and then raised my glass in silent acknowledgment. I had nowhere to go, nowhere to be. I could afford to commiserate for a few minutes.

“A woman?” I asked.

“What else?” He grinned ruefully. “A man?” he asked in turn.

I nodded.

We sat in mutual silence, sipping our drinks until his flight was called.

He tipped an imaginary hat and rose. “Thank you, beautiful lady, for your company. Just remember, this too shall pass.”

Part of me believed him. Another part called bullshit.

Unwilling to spend the rest of the night in the airport, I made a decision. I went down to the car rental agency and got myself a vehicle. As long as I was in New York, I was going to pay my cousin Soraya an unexpected and long-overdue visit.

~ * ~

Jace

The regional airport wasn’t big, and it wasn’t busy at that time of night, which would make finding Eva pretty straightforward. I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.

I checked at every counter and every kiosk, shamelessly using my fame to get information. My hopes rose when one worker told me that a woman matching Eva’s description had inquired about puddle jumpers to LaGuardia before heading to the airport lounge. As far as the guy knew, she hadn’t actually purchased a ticket.

I did a quick perusal of the small bar-and-grill area and came up empty. Leaving no stone unturned, I enlisted the help of a kindhearted older woman to check out the women’s restrooms, but no luck there either.

Thirty minutes after I’d arrived, I had to face facts.

Eva had come to the airport.

She hadn’t bought a ticket.

And she was no longer here.

I made my way over to Ground Transportation, where a bored-looking twenty-something played on his phone.

“Excuse me, can you tell me if you’ve seen a woman here tonight? Beautiful, blonde hair with cherry-red accents and amethyst eyes?”

He didn’t even look up. “No.”

“No, you can’t tell me, or no, you haven’t seen her?”

“Both.”

I leaned over the desk and took the phone from his pale, skinny hand. That got his attention. He looked up, his eyes widening as his gaze went to my face, once again clean-shaven and recognizable, then at my forearm, where the Dark Wing logo was tattooed, then back up to my face.

“You’re Jace Logan.”

I clenched my jaw and nodded. The clock was ticking, and Eva was getting farther away with every moment wasted.

He lifted his company-issued polo to reveal a Dark Wing concert tee underneath. “I’m a huge fan. I have everything you guys ever did. Got all the riffs down.” He leaned back and mimicked an air guitar.

“You play?”

“Yeah. Well, not a real guitar, but gaming, you know?”

I forced a smile. “Tell you what”—I looked at his name pin—“Austin. Help a guy out, and I’ll sign your shirt.”

“Ah, man, that would be so sick. Sure. Anything for you, Jace. Can I call you Jace? Whatcha need?”

I repeated Eva’s description.

“Oh yeah, I remember her. She was hot, man. In an older woman sort of way. Total MIL—”

“Don’t say it,” I warned.

His eyes got huge again. “Friend of yours, huh? No disrespect, man.”

I glared at him.

“Right. So, yeah, she rented a car a couple hours ago.”

“Did she say where she was going?”

“No, but she did add on the GPS navi package and asked about our return locations around LaGuardia and JFK.”

Shit. “Thanks.”

I signed his shirt and went back to the ticket counter and purchased a ticket on the next commuter flight into the city. It was a couple hours away, but I should still arrive before Eva, even with the head start she had on me.

Security was a breeze since I didn’t have anything with me. Once on the other side, I paced restlessly, my mind working overtime. I didn’t like the fact that she’d asked about JFK. It might mean she was planning an international flight as opposed to going back to LA. She wouldn’t actually be thinking of joining up with the Black Raven tour, would she?

I cursed myself for going out with the guys. What I