The Winner Takes It All (Love in L.A. Book 3) by Audrey Harte Page B

started to say, but trailed off as Casey walked up just then.
    “Hey, Erin. Do you mind if I steal Annie for a minute?” Casey said as he leaned down to greet Erin with a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.
    “Not at all. I need to use the little girl’s room anyway.”
    After Erin left in the direction of the restrooms, Casey cleared his throat before speaking. “Hey um, look… I’m sorry about last night. I know I may have overreacted, but when I saw Trey kissing you, I just saw red.”
    “And I totally get that, but what upsets me is that you actually thought I was kissing him back. And it bothers me that you think I’m the kind of girl who would do something like that.”
    Casey nodded as he grimaced slightly. “I know you’re not.”
    “Then you should start acting like you trust me. I trust you when you’re gone for weeks and have all these beautiful girls throwing themselves at you when I’m not around. Do you have any idea how hard it is to not let my imagination get the best of me and not dwell on whether you might have a moment of weakness one time and give in to one of them? It fucking kills me knowing that you’re hundreds or thousands of miles away from me at any given time and I sometimes I can’t stop thinking that maybe one day the distance will be too much for you or you won’t miss me anymore or that you’ll meet someone else you like better. But I believed you when you told me you loved me.”
    “I meant every word, and I appreciate your trust. Please don’t think I’m some kind of prick and take that for granted. I know it isn’t easy having me gone so often.”
    “It’s torture, baby.”
    Casey smiled, chuckling at the pained expression on Annie’s face. He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the nose. “I’m sorry. It won’t be like that forever.”
    “Is this the last tour you’re going on?”
    “Well, no. I hope not anyway.”
    “Then how many more years will it be like this?”
    Sighing, Casey rubbed his face. “Babe, I don’t know. And we don’t know what your future holds, either. What if you win this thing and are doing shows in Vegas?”
    “Well at least I would be in one place and not traveling around everywhere.” Annie bit her lip and looked up at him. “We haven’t really talked about this, you know—what’s going to happen if either of this wins the competition and has to move to Vegas.”
    “I know.”
    “Would… would you consider moving to Vegas if I won?”
    “Of course I would. I don’t know if I could make it happen like right away, but I’m definitely open to it. What about you?”
    “Yeah, as long as I can find a job here, I would totally move here for you.”
    Casey pulled her into his arms and hugged her, kissing the top of her head. “Okay then, that’s settled then. You forgive me for overreacting?”
    “Mmmhmm,” Annie agreed. “Forgive me for being an idiot and trusting Trey to just have a friendly dinner with me?”
    A low growl escaped him first, but he agreed to forgive her as well. “No more dinners with Trey.” Then he added on a please.
    “No more anything with Trey, hon. Trust me. I don’t want anything to do with someone like that. I gave him a fair chance, just as I try to give most people. He crossed the line.”
    “Alright, let’s not talk about that asshole anymore. We’ve given him enough of our time.”
    “I agree. Anyways, congrats on making it through to the next round! I’m so proud of you!”
    “And you, princess. Can you believe we’re finally here? We’re going to be on TV now. Are you ready for this?”
    “More than ready. Being here has been the best thing to ever happen to me… besides meeting you, of course,” she said teasingly.
    “I hope you always feel that way,” he said as he leaned down to kiss her. “I hate to kiss and run, but I have to meet the guys and start planning our next performance.”
    “Yeah, I saw that they are offering a vocal coach and pianist for the singers if we