Cowboy Casanova

Chapter 31

FAITH POV: Tim and I are in the dressing room alone. I managed to skip the red carpet by trading the appearance for a performance on stage. Gary thinks he won, but I rather sing than be interviewed any day. 

"Of all the dresses I've ever worn in my career, this is by far the tightest." I say, trying to pull it away from my boobs. The dress was meant for the red carpet, so I'm supposed to be changing into my performance gown. 

"Yeah. It's fairly sexy though." He says, laughing at me. "Here, let me help." He says, pulling down the zipper. I gasp for air, as I suddenly am allowed to breathe. 

"Thank you." I say, grabbing onto the counter for leverage. He lets the dress hit the floor. I feel his breath against my skin. Michael Buble's Feeling Good comes on the radio. Tim moves my hair over to my other shoulder as he proceed to kiss my neck. My jaw drops as the sensation is unbelievable. I moan accidentally, and Tim stops. He wraps his arms around me and laughs. 

"What the hell was that?" He asks, continuing to laugh. I try to catch my breath. 

"It's- uh..." I say. "I've never felt like that before..." I tell him. Feeling his embrace makes me feel home. 

"That's because I'm gone." He says. "Everything's better now." I laugh. 

"Everything?" I ask. 

"Everything." He says. I laugh again. The door clicks as if to open. Gary pops his head in. 

"You close to ready?" He asks. 

"Almost." I say. 

"Sweetheart. You aren't even halfway." He says walking in. Tim tenses. 

"I couldn't get the dress off." I justify. He nods and grabs my other dress. It's white, with sparkling details. It's beautiful. 

"Let me help you." He says. I step on the dress and he pulls in all the way up. It's a strapless, and it hugs my curves, yet stretches, so I don't feel like I'm going to faint. 

"This is gorgeous." I say. He nods. 

"You look stunning baby." Tim says, a little teary eyed. I want to say thank you, but I can only smile at him. Gosh, this is harder than I expected. Gary calls in everyone to attack me with extra makeup and hair products. I wish I could just go on in a t-shirt and jeans like I used to. 

I'm standing back stage, next to go on, when I look on the screen to see Carrie on stage. She looks a hell of a lot different than she did at the New Years party. Her makeup is darker, her outfit is more risky, and she's owning the stage like it was her own. 

"You can hold any girl that you like, fall in love when it's easy at night. But, you'll wake up wondering why she ain't ever something better. When you're lost and run out of road, find what I already know. In the end close is all there is, but you won't find this. No, you won't find this." My jaw drops as the song is clearly aimed to me and Tim. 

"Fuck." Is all Tim can utter. I look at him with disbelief. 

"There's once in a lifetime and there's once in a while. Oh, the difference between the two is about a million miles. Oh, you might get lucky while the moon is looking up, but in the truth of the morning, the stars will be long gone." She sings, then repeats the chorus. Gary is astounded. He immediately finds her publicist. 

"You can hold any girl that you like, fall in love when it's easy at night, but you'll wake up wondering why she ain't ever something better. When you're lost and run out of road, find what I already know. In the end close is all there is. Oh, in the end it's me you're going to miss 'cause you won't find this. Oh, you won't find this." The crowd loves her. They cheer loudly, and she receives a standing ovation. She has another song in her set, if not two. Hopefully, those go off without any personal references.