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and would never be able to finagle another way to get her back on my bus. 
    I shoved my chair back, leaving my stack of pancakes untouched. 
    “Where are you going?” Lane cried as I leapt from my chair. “Come back!”
    I shook my head. “No way. I’m winning this fucking bet. You fight dirty.”
    She poked her lip out. “Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll play fair. Just come back and eat your breakfast before it gets cold.”
    My eyes narrowed, but I didn’t make a move to sit back down. This made me seem like a pouty little bitch, but there was no way I was going to sit across from her while she continued this torture. If I had to keep my distance for the rest of the day to make that happen, then that was what I was going to do.
    Lane crossed her fingers over her heart. “I’ll be good. I promise.”
    I watched her expression sadden for a moment. That look on her face was nearly worse then the seductive one she teased me with only moments ago. Both made me ache to touch her. To hold her in my arms and give her exactly what she needed. 
    Instead of touching her, I sighed noisily before I plopped back down in my chair. 
    She smiled. “Thank you. Now eat.”
    We made it through the rest of our meal without another fight. We talked casually about past friends from high school and what they were up to now. Lane assured me I was definitely the most successful person from our graduating class, while I begged to differ. She was amazing and easily the smartest person I knew. 
    I cleared my throat. “You know there is one other thing I owe you an apology for.”
    Lane propped her chin up with her right palm. “What’s that?”
    “I’m sorry about your job. I know how much it meant to you, and I feel sort of responsible for fucking it up for you.”
    She shrugged, but her face showed it was still a sore subject. “Diana Swagger is a bitch. Going on the bus with you and her tricking me into that stupid contract just showed me her true colors earlier on. That woman would’ve never taken me seriously. She told me that to my face. To her I was there for looks. Hell, in her mind I’m sure she would’ve tried to force me to be your sex slave if it meant getting Black Falcon’s marketing rights.”
    “I detected a sleaze factor from her when I chatted with her on the phone about you, but I still made that deal with her anyway. I guess I was so desperate to get you back, I was willing to make any deal I needed to in order to get you there.” Guilt poured over me. Never in my life had I felt as slimy as the day I made that deal with Diana. It was wrong, and I knew it. After Lane walked in on me with the two topless groupies and then the horrible dinner we had, I knew she would never speak to me unless I forced her. My anger when we first reconnected overwhelmed me, and I lashed out at her every chance I could. I was still hurt by her leaving me at the time. I wanted to get back at her, showing her everything she missed out on, and to prove deep down she still wanted me just as much as I wanted her. 
    Lane stretched her arm across the table and began to reach for my hand. I grinned at how easy winning this bet was about to be, but she pulled her fingers into a tight fist at the last second. “Damn it. I almost forgot.”
    I raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you go ahead and lose so we can get this over with. You know you want to come back on that bus with me just as much as I need you there.” 
    “Because I’m tired of fighting with you over a stupid job. Winning this bet means you aren’t allowed to complain at all, and I like that idea.”
    It was never her job I didn’t like. It was the idea of her using it as an excuse not to give in and finally be with me that pissed me off. I’d admit that it would be hard to allow her to tie herself down to a job in Texas without bitching. If she took a job, she wouldn’t be able to just drop everything and join me on tour like I wanted. Being with her all the time was my